Alice in Wonderland has always scared me when I was a kid. I think it still does scare me a bit now. One look at the concept art Disney released on the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film and its enough to peak anyone’s interest, no matter how queasy one may be with the trauma the weird story inflicted on you as a child. Aside from the great effects, costume and all that we can be sure though that the movie, which won’t be coming out till March of next year, will be as surreal and weird as the story since Tim Burton will be the one directing it. No problem with me now though I will never consider it a children’s story and won’t be bringing the kids to see the film (not sure if it’s going to be PG anyway) until I deem it not scary.

Cast includes Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock, and Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat. For a longer list of the cast visit Alice in Wonderland’s IMDB page.

Here are some of the pictures that were first published in USA Today. As you’ll see they really do capture the magic of Alice in Wonderland.

You’d think that any film with Brad Pitt on board will ensure that things will roll smoothly. I guess Columbia Pictures know better and wouldn’t bank their money even with the super star of stars on board if they figure that the script isn’t up to par. Up to par with what though, I don’t know. What we know for sure is that Columbia Pictures president Amy Pascal just backed out from backing “Moneyball” after reading the final draft of the script.

The “Moneyball” script was written by Oscar-winners Soderbergh and Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List). It is based on the Michael Lewis’ non-fiction novel about the Oakland Athletics and their GM Billy Beane. According to Amy Pascal the decision to back out was due to the fact that they got “a much different final draft” than the one they agreed to produce. It must be so different for them to decide to pull the plug when it was already scheduled to shoot tomorrow in Phoenix.

Director Steven Soderbergh and star Brad Pitt is now left scrambling around looking for another studio to fund the film. No news yet as to how they are doing on this one but you can be sure that for them this whole fiasco came from the left field.

As for Columbia only the film coming out and the box office will tell if they made the right decision or if they’ll be regretting it all when “Moneyball” starts raking in cash. Of course, that’ll only happen if “Moneyball” actually gets to go on production.

More than 5 years old and this TV movie still moves me to tears each time I see it. Gracie’s Choice is about a 17 year-old girl who all her life has taken on the responsibility of raising her siblings, a sister and three brothers who all have different fathers, because of the irresponsibility of their addict mom. Kristen Bell plays the part of Gracie and Anne Heche, who was nominated for an Emmy for the role, played the mother.

The family’s state has been horrible for years but things came to a boiling point when the mom was jailed sending the kids to institutions that meant tearing the whole family apart. Gracie steps up to the plate with their grandma helping her as she struggled to provide for the family, do well in school, and somehow raise the kids well. Things go well enough for them with Gracie even meeting a wonderful guy who loves her and helps expand her horizons, until her mother gets out of jail. The grandma, who is very easily manipulated by her daughter agrees to let her stay with them despite her continuous drug use and the financial strain she brought by cashing in the kids welfare checks and using it all on herself and her boyfriends. Gracie finally fights back, knowing full well that she’ll lose her family if they stay with their mom, and decides to adopt her own brothers.

Kristen Bell and Anne Heche played their roles very convincingly so much that it tears my guts up just watching the movie. Anne Heche is so effective in her role that you can’t help but pity her despite the utter disgust you’ll also feel at seeing how bad her kids has it because of her.

What’s even more remarkable about the TV movie is that it is based on a true story. Reader’s Digest first published the story of Amy and her family. I’ve been looking for updates on them but so far haven’t found any. You can’t help but really admire the real Amy and hope for the best for the whole family.

This is one must watch TV movie. I should know I’ve seen it several times and it never fails to tug at my heartstrings and inspire to be better at the same time.

I never saw the original “Taking of Pelham123” movie because it was made before I was even born. It is hailed as a classic though, which makes the expectations for the remake (Don’t call it that in front of Denzel Washington…) pretty high. The 1974 “Taking of Pelham 123” stars Walter Matthau as the transit police lieutenant working to rescue passengers on the train hijacked by four armed men. The new version, coming out on June 12, changes things up a bit with the hero, played by Denzel Washington, inexperienced when it comes to crime-fighting since he’s a train dispatcher and not a policeman. The new movie is also more current and relevant in this post 9/11 world, making references to the Iraq war. The hijackers’ demands has also risen with inflation and is now $10 million, 10 times more than the $1 million actor Robert Shaw and his fellow hijackers asked for back in 1974.

With the movie premier no more than a few days away Denzel Washington and his other co-stars are busy promoting the movie. John Travolta, who takes over the role of Shaw, is notably absent from all the promotional hoopla. He’s taking time to grieve with his family for the loss of his teenage son, Jett, who died last January. In Travolta’s official website he thanked his co-stars and the production team saying, “Tony, Denzel, Luis, John, James and Sony Pictures stepped up without hesitation to help promote this wonderful film, and their unselfish efforts have allowed my family the additional time to reconcile our loss.” And though he couldn’t be physically present he has done his part by encouraging his fans in his letter to watch and enjoy the movie.

When I watch movies I almost always go with a positive mindset. I go to watch movies to enjoy it and not to find flaws. For this reason I do not call myself a film critic but a movie enthusiast. I guess as corny as it sounds my enthusiasm for movies makes the title more apt.
I know movie critics actually exist to critique a film and not criticize it but sometimes critics can get on anyone’s nerves, mine included. Granted that all movies are not equal and a lot of movies deserve the bashing they get (I have given bad reviews for such movies myself) but in my opinion movies should just be enjoyed as they are. Sure we’ll give reviews and notice both the great moments and the really dumb ones but what matters to me is my mindset when I go to watch a film. Am I setting too high an expectation? If you know that a movie sucks and still go watch it then I think it’s your fault for being dumb enough to waste your time and money. If you go watch something and find out that it isn’t enjoyable to you then I guess you have the right to grumble. That to me is just fair.

Not all movies need to be great ones with very deep stories and/or super cool cutting edge animation. What matters is that there are movies that we can all go to and relax for a while and forget your worries for an hour or so.

How about you? Why do you watch movies?

I can’t believe that the first Toy Story came out FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. Boy, does that make me feel old!
Toy Story 3 is coming and it’s trailer premiered on Entertainment Tonight.

What’s new with this movie is that it will be in 3D. Knowing Pixar we can prepare for one hell of a 3D experience. Story-wise the writers didn’t do a cop out and made sure they came up with a very interesting albeit somewhat upsetting storyline. Like the little kids who first watched the movie 14 years ago Andy has grown up and is going off to college. This leaves Woody, Buzz and the rest of the toys no space in his life. Fortunately or unfortunately, we don’t know yet which until we see the movie or Disney releases another trailer that will actually reveal something about the story, Andy decides to leave the toys in a daycare center where other kids can get to play with them. From that we can only imagine all the kind of kids the toys can encounter and all the adventures the toys can have.

If you have any kids or enjoyed the movie a decade ago this is one movie to watch out for. The movie is set to be released on June 2010 so there’s plenty of time to wait. In the meantime you can watch the latest Toy Story 3 teaser trailer though you won’t get much there because it doesn’t show anything about the story. Something we’re used to when it comes to Pixar trailers. Enjoy!

I have said it once, and I’ll say it again. I don’t watch horror flicks in movie theaters. Not that I can’t appreciate them but because I end up wasting my money since most of the time I have my eyes closed. With all the good reviews “Drag Me to Hell” is receiving though I am seriously thinking about at least giving it a try. If I do end up missing more parts than I actually get to watch I can always catch it in DVD when it comes out.

“Drag Me to Hell” is receiving praise from all over for being a throwback in time when horror films managed to still be more fun to watch than just plain scary. That isn’t to say that director Sam Raimi didn’t make the film scary, at least if you’re a 10 year old or someone like me, but if you prefer the really truly disturbing horror flicks of late then this won’t be scary at all to you.

“Drag Me to Hell” was co-written by Sam and Ivan Raimi. It stars Alison Lohman who plays a bank officer who is cursed by an old woman (played by Lorna Raver) when she refuses to give the woman an extension of her delinquent mortgage. The movie is getting good reviews though not for its plot but for the really funny B-movie stunts and effects. Now that’s a horror film that I might be able to actually watch without regretting my decision the whole time I’m in the movie house.

I was one of those that helped Night at the Museum 2 grab that number one spot at the box office this weekend but am really surprised that it managed to overshadow Terminator. Of course, I shouldn’t really be especially since I am one of those who plan to see Terminator this coming weekend instead having preferred to see the other movie. Just goes to show that people for the most part still do put their kids wishes ahead of their own. Besides how can a PG-13 movie win against a PG movie when your kids and nephews aren’t teenagers yet?

The bad news for Terminator though is that even without considering Night at the Museum’s performance it didn’t do that well in the box office, at least considering the amount of money poured into it. During the five days that it’s been running it has only earned a total of $67.2 million. It took $200 million to make the film. According to Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Dan Fellman they are not disappointed with the figures at all since they know that the sci-fi flick has a narrowly defined niche audience.

The weekend box office closed with “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” at No. 1 with $70 million, “Terminator Salvation” at No. 2 with $53.8 million, “Star Trek” slipping to No. 3 (not surprising since it’s already the movie’s 3rd weekend), and “Angels and Demons” at No. 4.

It’s been quite some time since I’ve been to a movie theatre packed with kids and I must say that I did enjoy hearing them laugh. I think I enjoyed the sound of laughter more than I did the movie. That doesn’t mean though that Night at the Museum 2 wasn’t funny because it did have some good moments even if I did have to fight boredom towards the middle of the film. Thankfully Kahmunrah was there to destroy the world and save the movie because for me he provided the biggest laughs. Hank Azaria really did a great job with all the three characters he played, i.e. Kahmunrah, The Thinker, Abe Lincoln. The rest of the cast did their jobs pretty well too though I was a bit disappointed with how little they made use of Robin William’s talent.

As for the plot of the story there isn’t much you can say about it because there’s really not much of a story beyond Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) running around, in, and under the Smithsonian trying to save his wax friends and the world from Kahmunrah. The attempt to add depth to the story by giving us a lesson on doing what we love was more like an afterthought just so we can say that the movie had a story beyond trying to get some good laughs out of the audience. The ending was fun but ruined by the oh so corny appearance of the reincarnation/complete opposite of Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams).

All in all the movie was funny enough but I could have lived without seeing it on the big screen.

Empty promises. That’s what the Slumdog kids got when their government promised to give them new homes in the suburbs. That was about three months ago and still no word from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority. What’s worse is that not only are they not getting the promised newer nicer houses but their old shanties have been torn down.

Last week it was Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail’s home that was demolished by the municipal crews. Early today it was Rubina Ali Qureshi’s house. Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail played the young Salim while Rubina Ali Qureshi played the young Latika. In a very sad case of life imitates art Rubina tearfully told the Associated Press, “I’m feeling bad. My house had been demolished. I’m thinking about where to sleep.” So much for the applause what these kids is a clean safe home where they know they just won’t get evicted without being given notice, which is what happened according to Rubina’s stepmom Munni Qureshi. Qureshi says that the police did not give any notice before the demolition. In fact Rubina, who was in a nearby market when the demolition started, ran back as soon as she heard the news but returned only to find rubble. It’s not as if she could do anything about it and judging from the police’s heavy handed tactics, which lead to Rubina’s father getting beat for resisting,she was better off not being there during the whole process. Of course that doesn’t give any comfort when night falls and they end up huddled together under the stars with no roof over their heads…