I went to see Alice in Wonderland on Sunday. Two reasons. Tim Burton and I love AiW (the Disney version anyway – it was so kooky!). And I was not disappointed! Tim Burton is a creative genius and AiW had the great costumes, sets and storyline to bring AiW to life.

AiW begins with a young Alice interrupting her father while he was discussing trading with foreign countries with his business partners. He asks her if she’s had that dream again and she nods, a bit frightened. Back in her bedroom, she explains the dream to him. We the audience recognize that this is not a dream but a memory.

So then the movie skips ahead thirteen years and Alice is 19 and her father has passed away and her mother has sold out to her husband’s partner. But the partner has a son and everyone expects Alice to marry this guy. But he’s a fuddy duddy and he has a ferocious mamma. When he proposed to Alice in front of everyone, Alice spots the White Rabbit and takes off after him. And falls down the hole…

Once in Underland, Alice discovers that she’s not sure who she is and no one else either! They keep asking her if she is THE Alice, the Alice from the Prophecy that will restore the White Queen to power. But Alice is pretty sure she’s not that Alice and keeps trying to wake herself up from her dream.

And here we run into everyone we know and love from the fairy tale. The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp was excellent!) and the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter was perfect!).
And I really liked the actress who played Alice. She was perfect too. So here is one happy fan. Tim Burton still wows and I say if you like his work definitely go check out Alice in Wonderland.

It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson's Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they're not happy: Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy's mother. As Percy adapts to his newly discovered status as a demi-god (his father is Poseidon), he finds himself caught between the battling titans of Mt. Olympus. He and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy's mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.

When I first saw the preview for this movie, I learned it was based on a series of books. I read all the books and was even more excited to watch the movie.

I'm going to over the plot and then talk about the differences from the book that I didn't really care for.

After Percy is attacked by a fury and demanding he turn over the lightning bolt, his BFF Grover takes him home. Grover tells his mom, Sally, it's time to go. Off they drive. Sally is trying to explain who Percy's father is but they are interrupted by a Minotaur. Percy makes it to camp,
but the Minotaur has his mom.

Percy wakes up and learns he's a demi god. His father was a god. The god Poseidon. Grover is a satyr and his teach is Chiron, a centaur. Grover shows him around. Percy spots Annabeth, daughter of Athena training.

A game of capture the flag starts and Percy is on Luke's, son of Hermes, team. Percy is about to capture the flag when Annabeth kicks the crap out of him. Percy hears a voice advising him to head towards the river that's just right by him. Percy dips his hand in and is energized. He then beats Annabeth and captures the flag.

At dinner, Hades appears and demand the lightning bolt in exchange for his mother. Percy prepares to sneak away from camp. He is met by Annabeth and Grover. But they stop by Luke's cabin for advice. Luke gives them his favorite shield and a pair of winged shoes he stole from his dad's house. (Luke has daddy issues) Luke tells him to getting into the underworld is easy, getting out is tricky. Since Persephone likes to have visitors, she leaves pearls scattered around. You stomp on the pearl while thinking of where you want to be and wha la! You are out from the underworld.

Percy and the gang find the 3 pearls. One at Medusa's lair, one in Nashville, and one at the Lotus Hotel. The Lotus hotel is place that lures you with games, food and gambling. It makes you never want to leave.

With the help of his father's voice telling him to snap out of it, Percy and the gang make it out of the hotel. Only they thought they were there for a couple of hours. They were there for days. Did I mention of the bolt isn't returned to Zeus by the summer solstice, war will start? yeah.

Off they go to Hollywood, where the entrance to Hades is at. They arrive at the palace and Persephone meets them. Percy swears to Hades they don't have the bolt. But what happens to be hidden in the shield? The bolt. Hades is about send Percy and the gang, I forget where, when Persephone distracts Hades and knocks him out. She gives the Percy the bolt. However, there are now 4 of them and they only have 3 pearls. Grover stays behind.

They make it to the Empire State building with only 10 minutes to spare. Luke arrives. He didn't expect them to make it out. He wanted war to start so that the gods would destroy each other. Percy and Luke battle it out. Percy wins.

He makes it just in time to return the bolt. Percy explains it wasn't him who stole it, it was Luke. Hermes looks surprised (which he shouldn't since he knows what luke is going to do). No more war. Poseidon asks for a moment alone with Percy.

Turns out Poseidon was forced to leave Percy and his mom. the more time he spent with them, the more human he became. Which is why Zeus passed a law saying parents could not be in contact with their children.

The end. Well, ends with Percy and Annabeth sparring.

Ok, for the most part I enjoyed the movie. Yeah, i know it's different from the book, but that's expected. This is the stuff that bugged me the most.

1) Persephone. Ok, the bolt is due by the summer solstice right? So why is Persephone with Hades? Shouldn't she be up on Earth? Also, in the books, Percy describes her looking.. faded. Like the place sucked her life force. She was dressed in dark colors but not what I imagined the goddess of Springtime to look/dress like.

2) Dionysus and Ares. So they have Persephone, who doesn't even show up in the book and they don't have Dionysus?? He helps Chiron run the camp! I wanted to see an unhappy guy in leopard print at the camp. Geez. And Ares, yeah I can see cutting him out. But I think it would have been cool to see Percy kick his butt.

3) Clarisse. In the book, Clarisse is trying to pick on Percy when he arrives. After soaking her with toilet water, she's the one who comes to kick his butt during the capture the flag game. Not Annabeth. And no one knows Percy is the son of Poseidon until Percy is shoved/moved ( I can't remember) into the water by Clarisse. That's when the trident symbol appears over his head. If they are going to make the second book into the movie, I hope they introduce her cause she kind of plays a big part.

4) The pact. No mention of the pact by the 3. The pact to not have children. that's why Percy being the son of Poseidon is such a big deal and why he's all alone in his cabin. Also, no mention of the great prophecy. No oracle.

5) Nothing about Kronos and Luke teaming up.

That's about it. Other than those things, I still enjoyed the movie. I do plan on watching the sequels. And even if you haven't the read the books, I think you'll still enjoy the movie like my husband did.

A young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries to win the heart of Victoria (Sienna Miller), the beautiful but cold object of his desire, by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star. His journey takes him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village. On his odyssey, Tristan finds the star, which has transformed into a striking girl named Yvaine (Claire Danes). However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. A king's (Peter O'Toole) four living sons - not to mention the ghosts of their three dead brothers - all need the star as they vie for the throne. Tristan must also overcome the evil witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who needs the star to make her young again. As Tristan battles to survive these threats, encountering a pirate named Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro) and a shady trader named Ferdy the Fence (Ricky Gervais) along the way, his quest changes. He must now win the heart of the star for himself as he discovers the meaning of true love.

Stardust

Ok. I'll try and give you the plot of the movie.

The magical world beyond the wall, there is a king dying. He summons his three remaining sons. He had seven but four were murdered by remaining living brothers. You see, only one son can become the king's heir. So tradition the sons all try to kill each other. The surviving son is king. Just as the king makes an announcement, one of the sons is pushed out the window. His ghosts joins the 4 ghosts hovering about. The kings takes off his ruby necklace. As it turns into a diamond he says, "he of royal blood" who find the stone and turns it ruby again will be king. He throws the necklace out the window. The two remaining brothers must find the necklace before the other does.

As the necklace is thrown out the window, it hits a star named Yvaine. It knocks her out of the night sky and sends her crashing to earth. Well the magical side. Three ugly old witches witness this and set out to find the Yvanine. The heart of a glowing star can restore youth and beauty. So they want to find Yvaine and kill her so they can be beautiful again. Lamia takes the remains of the last star they captured so that she can be beautiful and sets out to capture Yvaine. However, every time she uses magic, Lamia loses a bit of her youth and beauty.

Tristan lives on the other side of the wall that separates the magic world from the real world. He is love with a girl named Victoria. But Victoria is not interested in Tristan. She tells him that Humphrey has gone all the way to another town to buy her a ring. Tristan announces he would go the ends of the earth for her. When they see the falling star (Yvaine) Tristan said he would find the star and bring it back to Victoria. Well now Victoria is interested in Tristan and says "You have a week."

So, we have all these people looking for Yvaine. Tristan gets to her first by way of a magic candle. Which he didn't know was magic. While bringing her back, they run into the princes, Lamia and a pirate. The pirate, Captain Shakespeare helps them by not revealing Yvaine is a star and by giving them safe passage. He notices that Yvaine is falling for Tristan.

I watched this movies because someone said if I liked Princess Bride, I would like this movie. I did enjoy the movie however Princess Bride this is not. It's still a cute movie though. And even though it seems likes a lot going on, it's not confusing to follow and the story flows. Check this one out if you get a chance.