MTV Movies Blog › alice in wonderland

To the surprise of few, "The King's Speech" came out of Sunday night's BAFTA awards show with seven of its 16 eligible awards in hand, including Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay, Leading Actor, Supporting Actor and Actress and Original Music.

These big wins certainly shorten the gap between "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network" for the Best Picture race as we head toward the Oscars. Though "The Social Network" originally struck many as the favorite -- and it did land a few big awards at the BAFTAs, including Best Director, Adapted Screenplay and Editing -- "The King's Speech" has picked up speed in recent weeks, with the string of BAFTA wins only furthering its momentum.

For those of you still upset about the slights at "Inception" for Oscar nominations you'll be happy to know that Tom Hardy was awarded the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award. It's an obvious recognition of the talent he displayed in "Inception" last year, and the film was also awarded for Production Design, Sound and Special Visual Effects.

Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, christopher lee, Harry Potter, inception, J.K. Rowling, natalie portman, stephen fry, the king's speech, The Social Network, tim burton, toy story 3, True Grit

The new year is here, and with it a time for reflection on the past year and things we resolve to do better in the coming 365 days. The New York Times talked to some studio executives last week about whether Hollywood had learned its lessons from the flops in 2010 and was going to lead us into a great year for movies in 2011. Amy Pascal, Sony's co-chairwoman shared: "We think the future is about filmmakers with original voices. Original is good, and good is commercial."

Original voices maybe, but original film stories not so much. Despite the fact that some of this year's most-loved films were new ideas ("Black Swan," "Despicable Me" and "Inception"), the biggest moneymakers followed the too-familiar trend of sequels, reboots and remakes ("Toy Story 3," "Iron Man 2" and "Alice in Wonderland"). And while studio execs might be professing that change is in the air for 2011, looking at a list of next year's films shows a whole lot of the same.

Here's a breakdown: Of the 93 films hitting theaters next year, 29 are original; 28 are either adaptations or based on true events (but not twisted into thrillers like "Apollo 18" and "The Rite"); 34 are either reboots, remakes or sequels; and two are documentaries (hi there, "African Cats" and "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never"). After the jump we'll take a look at them and see if studios really have learned lessons from 2010's biggest flops. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, arthur, battle los angeles, black swan, breaking dawn, captain america, cowboys and aliens, Despicable Me, Fast Five, green hornet, green lantern, Hall Pass, hanna, harry potter and the deathly hallows, how to train your dragon, inception, iron man 2, no strings attached, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, priest, rango, Rio, Rise of the Apes, Scream 4, Source Code, sucker punch, Super 8, the dilemma, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Muppets, The Sitter, The Smurfs, the thing, the tourist, thor, tintin, toy story 3, your highness, Zookeeper

Last week, we here at MTV Movies Blog asked you -- the members our well-informed, movie-loving readership -- to vote for your favorite film of 2010. You responded with vigor, casting 5,000 votes in the course of one week (nicely done!).

There were 34 movies included in the poll, ranging from indie darlings like "The Kids Are All Right" to mega-blockbusters like the year's highest-grossing film "Toy Story 3." In truth, however, the race came down to just two movies, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," proving that both series' fan bases have some seriously devoted members.

In the end, "Potter" beat out "Twilight" by a narrow 449 vote margin, with "Deathly Hallows - Part 1" amassing 46.5 percent of the total vote to "Eclipse"'s 37.5 percent -- together accounting for a whopping 84 percent of votes. In a shocker, the 3-D animated comedy "How to Train Your Dragon" beat out all other comers to notch a distant third with 10.74 percent of the vote, while Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller "Inception" (2.09 percent) and Disney's critically acclaimed Rapunzel retelling "Tangled" (0.52 percent) took the #4 and #5 slots, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 -- in races separated by just a handful of votes -- were "Toy Story 3" at #6 (0.32 percent), "Black Swan" at #7 (0.3 percent), "The Social Network" and "Easy A" tied for #8 (0.28 percent) and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" at #10 (0.24 percent).

Hit the jump to see how the rest of the 34 movies fared. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, Best of 2010, black swan, Easy A, harry potter and the deathly hallows, how to train your dragon, inception, Tangled, The Social Network, the twilight saga eclipse, toy story 3

As part of our Thankful Week here at MTV News, we've selected the top five folks in entertainment for whom we're most thankful. Tim Burton is high on our list (check out the story here), due in large part to the overwhelming success of "Alice in Wonderland" and his 20-plus innovative years in the biz. Lucky for us, we chatted with the man himself recently about all things "Alice," and got a few quick updates on four of his upcoming projects: "Dark Shadows," "Frankenweenie," "The Addams Family" and "Maleficent." Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, dark shadows, frankenweenie, Maleficent, The Addams Family, tim burton

I've been adhering to a self-imposed ban on all things "Inception." I found the first trailer to be utterly captivating in a non-revealing sort of way, in many ways reminiscent of how I felt after seeing the debut trailer for "The Matrix." Subsequent ads have spoiled some of the story particulars, most notably (spoiler alert?) that the wacky vistas we've glimpsed are quite literally the stuff of dreams. The story in some way deals with people who have the ability to explore sleeptime fantasies and nightmares. To what end I have no idea, but this isn't the first time we've seen Hollywood explore the REM state.

Dreams are an old motif in film, stretching all the way to Hollywood's earliest efforts. Sometimes they pop up in the midst of a story, the better to illustrate a particular character's fears and anxieties. Other times they serve as a framing device, with most of the story in question occurring in a sleep-created fantasy world. In honor of the Friday release of "Inception," I've decided to take a look back at some of my own favorite dreamscapes from Hollywood's past. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, Dreamscape, inception, nightmare on elm street, the wizard of oz, total recall

A few missteps aside, Tim Burton turned in a solidly entertaining film with his live-action adaptation -- more a sequel, really -- of "Alice in Wonderland." This is thanks in large part to the performance turned in by Mia Wasikowska, who led the cast as Alice. The movie ends in an interesting place as compared to many other blockbusters: while there certainly could be a sequel, the conclusion could also just as easily serve as an end point. For Wasikowska, it is just that... for her character at any rate.

"I don't think [a sequel is] really necessary," she told MTV's Josh Horowitz in an interview at the press junket for "The Kidd Are All Right," the Lisa Cholodenko-directed comedy that opens next week. "I think it was left in a really good place. I think it's sort of good where it is." While she may not necessarily be willing to put on the blue and white dress again, Wasikowska admits that she continues to feel the aftershocks of taking on such a high-profile role in her professional life. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, Mia Wasikowska, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Let me be clear: I really enjoyed Tim Burton's take on "Alice in Wonderland." The story delivered a worthwhile continuation of Disney's original animated film while sticking to the twistedly whimsical spirit Lewis Carroll's classic book. A lot of folks felt the same way.

Then the movie ended. Like many, I was shaken by the... interesting creative choice made in the final minutes when Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter performs a CGI-assisted dance -- the Futterwacken -- to a techno beat. In the below clip from the Blu-ray/DVD's bonus features, out next week on June 1, Depp expresses some concerns of his own.

We've also got this exclusive Q&A with the superstar actor that Disney passed along. You can read more from Depp after the jump. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, johnny depp, tim burton, Video

1. "Clash of the Titans" ($61.4 million)
2. "Why Did I Get Married Too" ($30.2 million)
3. "How To Train Your Dragon" ($29.2 million)
4. "The Last Song" ($16.2 million)
5. "Alice in Wonderland" ($8.3 million)

Sam Worthington and 3-D seem to be a winning combination as "Clash of the Titans" — the actor's latest film and the newest entry into the 3-D marketplace — easily won the weekend box office with $61.4 million. Combined with the tickets sold during midnight showings, the swords-and-sandals epic has earned a domestic total of $64.1 million. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, clash of the titans, how to train your dragon, the last song, Why Did I Get Married Too

1. "Alice in Wonderland" ($34.5 million)
2. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" ($21.8 million)
3. "The Bounty Hunter" ($21 million)
4. "Repo Men" ($6.2 million)
5. "She's Out of My League" ($6 million)

Given the massive success of James Cameron's "Avatar" and now Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," it's certainly looking like 3-D is the format to beat. For the third weekend in a row, "Alice" scored the top prize at the box office with a $34.5 million haul, just a 45% drop from last weekend's $62.7 intake. As of now, the film is sitting on top of a domestic gold pile worth $265.8 million. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Repo Men, She's Out of My League, The Bounty Hunter

1. "Alice in Wonderland" ($9.9 million)
2. "The Bounty Hunter" ($7.7 million)
3. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" ($7.4 million)
4. "Repo Men" ($2.2 million)
5. "She's Out of My League" ($1.9 million)

Moviegoers can't seem to get enough of the confusing world of "Alice in Wonderland," as the 3-D fantasy adventure from Disney and director Tim Burton continued to hold onto first place at the box office going into its third weekend in theaters. "Alice" managed $9.9 million on Friday, bringing the feature's current domestic total to $241.1 million. Read more...

Tags alice in wonderland, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Repo Men, She's Out of My League, The Bounty Hunter