As excited as i am for the release of Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, i would like to take a minute to give due regard to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which i am probably slightly more excited about, and is due for release in 2010. Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar! Must say, well chuffed at the precision of Burton's casting! Quite right, sir.
More so than the fact that my favourite kid's book of all time is Lewis Carroll's Alice, I think im slightly snarl-ish about Jonze's film because it has already attained the pinacle of that hipster hype that all cult-films-to-be are guilty of, all while it hasnt even been released yet. I remember when Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette was due for release--it was the same scenario. Pre-release, so many beautiful stills embellished articles in all the trendy magazines; so many hipster writers revelled in the glee of the ANTICIPATION of a neo-S. Coppola film. But the pre-viewing previews were more appetizing than the film was delicious.
I'd love to have a word with Jonze at this point in his film's journey to release. I'd ask him, "With this much hype, are you not crapping your pants in a frenzied panic attack over the gigantic shoes you have crafted for yourself which you are going to have to face and fill sooner or later, despite having stirred up enough anticipation to have conveniently deflected the question of it's exact release date? Does it float your boat (and find your lost remote) to frequently stumble on delightful stills, so strategically leaked for the peaking of the public, on the blogs of cool kids the world over?"
Nonetheless, im dying to see the film. But i do applaud Burton's quiet diligence. Who will be the better man in this battle of kids' book adaptation?
pics: imdb & google
