Steineded
How sad is this?
Curt
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Brooklynn
There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
jwhitener2400
Watched 21 minutes of this 71 minute flick. All I could handle. Really wanted to like it but here's the problems: a) So far the mom has just cried or been on verge of tears in every scene. Really? In front of dinner guests at a "party"? Man that'd be fun! Oh and way to take out your failed writing career on your 8 year old daughter.b) Didn't take Hollywood long to ruin the entire movie by adding sexual deviancy to the mix. Really? An 8 year old boy playing the Queen of hearts. Director is clearly a pedophile. Let's just groom them young. Congrats pervert.Do not let your children watch this movie for any reason, unless of course you want them to be homosexual.
Morbius Fitzgerald
This is a little different to my previous reviews but overall, it may be hard for some of you to believe...but I love film. Its the only medium that, I feel, can either collect our dreams and offer escapism or show us the cruelness of reality. Phoebe In Wonderland is strangely enough both of these things, a combination I haven't seen since Return To Oz.The plot centers around Phoebe Lichten (played by Elle Fanning), a girl with a social disability (I'm not that great on the details) who loves Wonderland. She signs up for the school performance of Alice In Wonderland while dealing with the everyday bullying from all of her classmates who just don't understand her. She befriends the Drama teacher and surprisingly gets the part of Alice and does a good job with the role.Now the core theme of this film, from what I gathered, was social acceptance. When she is told about her problem, she gives an oral based on it and what its like to live with it. Amazingly, you'd think that would be the most depressing thing about this film. This film has many moments where you can't help but feel sorry for this girl but this scene is actually a moment in the film where she is accepted amongst her peers.Now this film, even within 24 hours of seeing it, has become a personal film for me. I have asperges and I've had a hard time making friends and, like Phoebe, my escape is in the arts (film for me) which made her all the more relatable. Don't get me wrong, her social problem is much worse and her exclusion is much worse (her little sister actually wanted "another one" which shows the lack of understanding children have overall with problems such as this).Can I also say that I loved the scenes with Phoebe and Miss Dodger interacting. She literally felt like the only person that understood her, and that includes her parents. This character is someone that I would consider a great character. She played the role with a kind of "Willy Wonka" type persona (although she doesn't put up death traps for the kids to walk into). She was different and her methods were unusual but she got the job done. I also love this one scene where the Principal had previously taken her out of the play and she actually physically told him where to "shove it" because the Principal was a spineless and eventually, she's put back in.Overall, its worth checking out. I mean its not for everyone but I do think that overall its a great movie. So if you're into the "realm" of childhood (which, I thought, was hit right on the head), this is for you.
dbh850
Acting, directing, costumes, cinematography all splendid. Elle Fanning is a brilliant actress - such a delight to watch. Everyone was marvelous.The film is artistic, passionate, compassionate, REAL, heartfelt, intelligent, insightful... it skillfully brings the viewer into the life of a family struggling with a difficult and baffling problem. Why does a person in a loving family behave in ways that cause problems? Just STOP DOING IT. That's how it feels - the family members, school, and the person with the problem ALL want to know what the heck is going on. The film does a beautiful job showing this.I'm baffled to see all this talk about - and in the filmmaker's description apparently, Tourette's syndrome but not OCD. Absolutely baffled. Did the screenwriter not know he was creating a character with a pretty bad case of OCD? I'm completely flummoxed by this.In fact, the most obviously evident symptoms, very early in the film, were those of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I think the film did a SPLENDID job of showing the torments of OCD. It's an anxiety disorder that can be crippling. So many of her behaviors were textbook OCD. The things she had to do to be sure she got into the play - or to protect herself from bad things happening, the excessive hand washing. I don't know what was up with her knees - I must have missed that.The Tourette's was less prevalent in the film. It caused problems, that's for sure. But OCD is more prevalent in the film - it's the symptom we see the most of. Spitting is uncommon with Tourette's - thank goodness. And swearing is uncommon, as well, although people often thing that's the only symptom. Tics are small motor movements and sounds such as throat clearing, sniffing, coughing etc. are quite common. It's common to see blinking, shrugging, grimacing or mouth opening, kicking...I've been asked if I thought she was psychotic. If she literally was seeing and hearing those characters, then yes, there was a psychotic disorder. But psychosis is so rare in young children. She's so young - and I don't know if the filmmaker was depicting her fertile imagination, so it's impossible to say. Psychosis is not a symptom of Tourette's syndrome or obsessive-compulsive disorder. I love to see films that depict these sorts of problems and show the full complexity of the PERSON. I loved how the mother was angry at the doctor and refused to accept it. I loved how she accused him of not really caring, of wanting to just shove her daughter into a diagnostic box and medicate her instead of really being helpful. I loved that because I've sat in a room with that very same mom a number of times. A mom with ENORMOUS love and concern for her child - Felicity Huffman was brilliant. Bill Pullman was brilliant, as usual. Bailee Madison gave us a perfect little sister - a tough spot for a child to be in.Love the film. Is shows a REAL family with REAL struggles. It shows REAL parents trying to weave their way through the difficult and confusing waters of a troubled child. It shows a REAL child who doesn't understand what the hell is going on and is frustrated because she doesn't know how to articulate what she's experiencing.I don't hate the shrink; I often do in films. He's okay. Not great, but not horrible. I'm accustomed to shrinks in films being idiots. Or lechers. Ugh. I wasn't all that crazy about him, but he wasn't horrible. The way he handled his pad and pen... c'mon! You don't do that! It's a splendid way to SHUT IT DOWN. If that was the filmmaker's goal, it was spot-on. A sort of averageish… or maybe a bit less than average - shrink. Good job with that.The high school principal was an idiot. I hope there isn't ONE like that in the world. Probably is. Sigh...This film is wonderful. I strongly recommend it to anyone... it should be shown in schools. It should be shown in homes. It should be shown in churches. It shows REAL people - parents with their own personal struggles and disappointments dealing with a difficult child and staying together, loving each other, accepting all their flaws and CHOOSING LOVE - choosing to stay together and live each day together - through struggles and through happy times. It is REAL.
kill-the-boxtrolls
This movie is about a 9-year-old whose obsession is Alice in Wonderland. Although she has mental illness but the school sets up a play about Alice in Wonderland more like a musical and Phoebe requests to play Alice but everyone wants a try out for Alice (which is not a responsibility...) Phoebe has a sister named Olivia, played by the charmer Bailee Madision at about 7 years of age. Phoebe is obviously older than her sister but has a spitting illness, when something doesn't go her way that makes her angry, she starts spitting on people which I kinda eww'ed about. I don't think this film could be for little children due to strong foul language and rough crude humor. But in that case, I really enjoyed a kind of spin-off of Alice in Wonderland called Phoebe in Wonderland but there's also other versions of Alice in Wonderland with a character-name-in-title thing, Malice in Wonderland that almost rhymes with Alice and some other versions I can't think of. Phoebe in Wonderland was tres delightful and imaginative for me, with a little inspiration and imagination, you get to see your own wonderland only through a Child's eye. Which is called Child's point of view. I'm young but I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed every minute of this movie and laugh at every five humorous minutes. It's comic and drama, good for the whole family viewing. In that case, it reminds me of movies like My Girl but different. She as a friendly sister and is already taught to get over an over dramatic little sister. Bailee Madison still had her charming touch on Bridge to Terabithia but still wins the hearts of millions at only her tender age of ten. Every actress and actor did well performing dramatic acting and comedy mixture, well done.
