Off with their heads! - Alice in Wonderland

I know it's a little late to write about Alice in Wonderland, but the movie still isn't showing in Brazil - where most os my readers live - so it's not THAT late. To those who haven't watched it yet, I promise no spoilers :)

I had huge expectations on this film and it was totally disappointing for me. I don't want to dissuade anyone from watching it, au contraire! I think everybody should have their own opinion. But if my advice is worth something, I would tell you to lower your expectations and you'll have higher chances of leaving the movies feeling fulfilled. 

So here are my ups and the downs on Tim Burton's Alice:

THUMBS UP:

- All the aesthetics and effects are amazing, specially in 3D - Tim Burton is all about it, so I'm glad he didn't disappoint in that. I read some reviews saying the 3D was awful but I really don't know what they were talking about as I haven't found a single flaw.

- The costumes by Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood are great, specially in the Kingdom of Hearts. There's one specific dress that I loved which resembled a lot of Alexander McQueen's creations. I didn't find a real image of it, but here's the sketch by Atwood:

- The makeups are stunning as well, in all characters. 

- The soundtrack is SO Tim Burton, I loved it! Specially when Alice falls in the hole.

- Helena Bonham Carter. She is the best, always. 

THUMBS DOWN:

- I found the plot awful. Lot's of things happen but they don't go deep in any of them; Ii's a flat movie.

- All the marketing around it make our expectations higher and higher and the movie doesn't give all the emotion it promises. That's the worst thing that can happen in cinema, in my opinion. The word of mouth is what makes a movie and if people watch it with their expectations too high and it's not that great the reviews tend to be terrible. 

- The characters don't have soul, they lack in depth being totally superfluous to the story. At the end, I didn't care care what happened to any of them, and that's a serious problem. I think it's crucial to sympathize with at least one character to find a film interesting.

- Talking about characters, all the marketing was based on the Mad Hatter (see picture below) so I expected him to be crucial in the story and Johnny Depp to be perfect in that role. None of these happened.

- It ends with a song by Avril Lavigne. Period.

- There are some embarassing scenes. But I won't say more because I promised no spoilers.

- Mia Wasikowska makes a boring Alice lacking a big dose of emotion.

- Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. She looks amazing, but the character is just nothing.

Designer Ashley Payne's work on Puma-McQueen collaboration

Even after PPR Group having communicated that McQueen brand will be kept alive, Puma hasn't decided yet if the collaboration between the two brands will keep going. Yet, footwear designer Ashley Payne, from Detroit is working on it as a personal project, improving her portfolio in the most creative, beautiful and functional way I've seen lately. She has just designed these amazing convertible 3-in-1 moto boots very accurately and creatively based on the Puma-McQueen collaboration concept.

Here's her portfolio, and here's the Puma-McQueen official site.

Lady Gaga on Brit Awards 2010

AMAZING performance! Alone on stage with perfect presence, perfect voice, perfect music choice, perfect look, and all dedicated to McQueen...

And of course I couldn't not talk about her outfit. First time she doesn't show her curves. She looks like a pine covered in snow - it would be just perfect for Christmas time :)

Long Live McQueen

I was sure there would be tributes to king McQueen on this NYFW. But honestly, I was expecting more. Some just ignored the fact that one colleague had just commited suicide and kept the show going without any kind of pronounciation, which is not nice at all. They should have done it even if just as a PR action, right? I think so. But some didn't disappoint, and here I highlight crazy Betsey Johnson. Simple and touching.

 

Here are some other tributes:

Patti Smith playing at Milk Studios; 

Naomi Campbell’s Fashion for Relief Haiti show;

I was devastated by the fact that the McQueen house's show in NYFW was cancelled., though. He worked  so hard for that and that would be just the perfect opportunity to pay the greatest tribute to him - and I'm positive that everybody would appreciate having the opportunity of standing in ovation for his creations for the last time. But of course, that's a very personal matter and I completely respect the family's decision.

Long Live McQueen - you'll always be a great source of inspiration for our generation and the next to come.