The Oscars are about more than office pools, fashion, and celebrities. It’s also a chance to learn more about that most collaborative of art forms, the movies. It took more than 3000 people to make “Avatar,” and only a couple of dozen were on screen. Slate has an excellent explanation of one of the more obscure awards, sound editing. Take a look and pick your favorite to win the award on Sunday night.
“It’s never too early to teach children what is possible in terms of quality of performance, writing, direction and cinematography,” says Nell Minow, author of the Movie Mom blog at beliefnet.com.
Tim Burton’s 3D “Alice in Wonderland” extravaganza comes out this week, so it’s a good time to take a look at Alice’s many cinematic trips to Wonderland and of course Through the Looking Glass as Well. Burton’s film combines elements of both.
Alice in Wonderland began with a real Alice. Her name was Alice Liddell, the daughter of a clergyman. Oxford mathematics professor Charles Dodgson told Alice and her sisters a story to entertain them on an outing. It was published in 1865 as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. As a mathematician, there are many puzzles in the book, which is structured around a deck of cards, and in its sequel, Through the Looking Glass, structured around a chess board. The books also have a number of word puzzles and references to people Dodgson and the Liddell family knew and to the culture of the time, like the parodies of popular poems. It has remained one of the most popular and influential books for children and their families ever since. And as soon as the movies began, versions of Alice’s story began to appear on screen, starting in 1903 and including Disney’s popular animated musical version in 1951. It is certain that Burton’s version will not be the last.
A new DVD called “Alice in Wonderland: Classic Film Collection” includes several Alice movies including a silent live-action film from 1915 and two of Walt Disney’s earliest films, an ambitious combination of live-action (four-year-old Virginia Davis as Alice) and animation (just about everything else) called Alice’s Adventures in Cartoonland, produced in 1935. It also has “Alice of Wonderland in Paris,” an animated film featuring the voice of Carl Reiner, and the terrific 1972 British live-action theatrical release starring future Phantom Michael Crawford, Peter Sellers, and Dudley Moore.
I have one copy to give away to the first person who sends me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Alice” in the subject line and tell me your favorite wonderland character!
Is it All Right for Children to Use Bad Words On Screen?
Posted on March 2, 2010 at 3:59 pm
As I have already discussed, the red-band (mature material) trailer for the upcoming film “Kick-Ass” has an 11-year-old character played by a now-13-year-old girl using extremely crude language. The New York Times article focused on the accessibility of the trailer online, though it is supposed to be limited to adult audiences. But there is another aspect I’d like to look at as well. This movie is the third in recent months to feature a child using very crude or obscene language as a source of humor or as a signifier of coolness. I think it is because we are now numb to the shock value of even the strongest language used by adults, so all that is left is to have those words said by children.
In Cop Out a child who is referred to as the top local car thief uses a string of obscene epithets, kicks another character in the crotch, and then is himself kicked in the crotch. Bobb’e J. Thompson, now 13, has pretty much made a career of being the outrageous kid in movies like the 2008 release Role Models, where his character’s extreme and raunchy language is supposed to be funny.
We have a lot of rules to protect child performers. Their work hours are limited and the production is responsible for making sure they do not miss schoolwork. Their earnings are set aside so they cannot be appropriated by managers or family members. I do not want to impinge on anyone’s freedom of expression or artistic integrity, but I do not think that is what is at stake here. This is just exploitation of children who are not capable of protecting themselves. If an adult approached a child in the playground and used that language, he’d be arrested as a sexual predator. Is it really all right for us to allow children to use that language in a movie?
in 1951. It is certain that Burton’s version will not be the last.