the Dalaverse

Just got back from "Alice In Wonderland." Okay, so I fully admit that my Lewis Carroll knowledge comes entirely from the Disney cartoon and a book of poems I still have sitting next to The Elephant's Child right this very moment (including "The Walrus and the Carpenter," "The Jabberwocky" which always made me sad for some reason, and my favorite "Turtle Soup"), not the actual Alice books. I have no idea how I managed to escape childhood without reading them, considering my grandmother Libby LOVES Carroll. Possibly I was too preoccupied with her/my Oz books.

Which brings me to my point, actually: This movie and I were made for each other.

You know how two of my childhood favorite movies are "Return to Oz" and "Labyrinth"? This is like that, except Alice gets to slay a dragon instead of just letting her talking chicken lay an egg or resisting the disturbing allure of David Bowie's package, respectively. I went to see it mostly because of my Tim Burton affection, expecting both the film and Johnny Depp would be beautiful to look at as always. But because of what Burton did with it, I effing loved every second. The critics can suck it. I felt like I was seven years old again, and it was awesome.

We did see it in 3D, about which I have basically no opinion ::shrugs:: It looks cool enough most of the time and doesn't give me a headache, but I find it distracting for quick-moving action sequences, and I don't know that I'd miss what visual effect it does add were it not there.

Then I tried to win a Kirk out of the claw machine, to join the Spock I got last weekend, but he was at a funny angle and his head kept getting in the way of one of the talons. Dammit, Jim! You ruined my claw machine cred! (I am a fucking master of the claw machine, no joke. I snagged six substantial stuffed prizes during my one evening in Tivoli. If there were an Olympics for carnival games, I would be the Apollo Ohno of the claw machine.)