Alice

I have never been a big fan of Lewis Carroll's Alice story. I remember watching the Disney movie years ago and thought it was just alright. I also read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Children's Literature a few years ago. I thought the story was entertaining, but again have never been a really big fan. So I wasn't sure what I would think of Alice, the made-for-tv movie I borrowed from the library. The cover caught my eye one day at work, so I put it on hold. When I finally got to pick it up, a friend who was working told me it was really good, and that is was kind of like Tin Man. So then I was a bit intrigued, but also a bit worried (I love the first part of Tin Man, but later episodes get a bit weaker). Little did I realize I had nothing to fear: Alice was fantastic!

While it seemed a bit daunting, being three hours long, that time just flew by! I'd like to say the Wonderland portrayed in Alice was enchanting, keeping me captivated, but that would be a lie. This Wonderland is a dark place, especially for people of our world trapped there. I think that makes this version a whole lot more grown up, much like Tin Man. And in many ways Alice reminds me of D.G. But where D.G. sort of loses her spunk by the end of Tin Man, Alice remains independant and awesome right to the end.

Alice is also backed by a really cute Hatter, played by Andrew Lee Potts. I thought Potts was awesome, especially since he looked to be of a similar age to Alice (confession time: I watched Disney's Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp a few weeks back and it was really creepy watching him hit on someone who seemed waaaaay younger. Wasn't a fan of the movie in general, but that creepiness really didn't help).

After watching Alice, I did feel enchanted by the story. So much so that I'm planning on adding it to my video collection. It was a fantastic, adult look at Wonderland, and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys fairy tales, and to everyone who just likes a good story. Enjoy!

Once Upon a Time

I wandered into The Bookshelf today and found this random game. It sounded amazing, so I picked it up.

Once Upon a Time is a game that involves telling fairy stories. One player is the storyteller, who starts telling a story. They have cards with different fairy tale elements (such as events or characters), which they get to play when those elements come up in their story. Other players use their cards to steal the story from the storyteller, becoming the new storyteller themself. The winner is the player who gets through all of his or her cards and successfully guides the story to their ending card.

I have played one round of Once Upon a Time so far, and I love it! In fact, we had so much fun playing it that we might make a blog dedicated to the stories we come up with from this game!