Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children: The Movie Premiere

It is not every day that you get an invite from 20th Century Fox to see the premiere screening of a new movie, especially a fabulous book made into movie. When I received the invite to attend the Tim Burton Fan Event and screening of Miss Peregrine's Home of Peculiar Children, I knew I had to accept especially since it is my god daughter's favorite book. Last Thursday, September 8th, I found myself at the TLC Chinese Theater in Hollywood with my god daughter and her mother. 

Upon arriving, we received these cool passes that were our tickets in. 

The afternoon/evening would include the ceremony for Tim Burton's Hand and Footprint Ceremony followed by the screening of the movie.

Here is Jax's view of the evening's events:
The night was amazing. Seeing Tim Burton put his hands in the cement was pretty cool (even though I could barely see haha).

I'd say the highlight of my night was meeting Ransom Riggs. I was definitely starstruck when I saw him. I could barely get words out of my mouth because his work just truly amazes me. I've had dreams with his characters and imagined I was there with them. He's just agh! Sorry for lack of a better word, but so freaking amazing. I honestly felt like a movie star.

I also met Deep Roy who was in one of my favorite movies growing up (The Never Ending Story). It was really fantastic. 

The free kid cocktail and popcorn was a plus.

I really enjoyed the movie too.

Honestly, the whole thing was an honor and I had so much fun. Quite possibly some of the most fun I've had in my life! I don't know what other words to use than that it was amazing and awesome.

Thanks Jax for your thoughts on the evening. And  I am definitely with Jax. This was a fantastic evening and Tim Burton did a great job adapting Ransom Riggs' book for the big screen. Make time to see this movie when it comes out at the end of the month.

Check out this trailer with Tim Burton talking about the making of the movie: 

Movie Information: 
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, in theaters September 30
From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience.

When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies.

Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is.

Starring: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O'Dowd, Ella Purnell, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, with Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed By: Tim Burton

Rated PG-13

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Into The Woods - Movie Review

So I (Carolyn) absolutely adore Into the Woods, and the movie adaptation is excellent. Here's some of my thoughts on the movie. First, what I enjoyed:

James Cordon as the Baker, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Emily Blunt as the baker's wife, Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel's Prince, and Chris Pine as Cinderella's Prince are all outstanding. Superb casting and performance. (Magnussen and Pine are particularly perfect and hilarious).

Daniel Huttlestone and Lilla Crawford (as Jack and Little Red Riding Hood, respectively) both gave good performances.

The music is just as excellent as the original. 'Agony', 'It Takes Two', 'On the Steps of the Palace', 'Your Fault', and 'No One is Alone' were particularly excellent. 

The set and the costumes are all far better than the original.

*minor spoilers from this point onward*

I was glad that they didn't back down on the...er, metaphorical implications of the Little Red Riding Hood storyline (which I totally though Disney would cut out). They also didn't remove the more unsavory bits from the original: the blinding of Rapunzel's Prince and the Stepsisters, the, er, foot mutilation of the Stepsisters, the infidelity of both Cinderella's Prince and the Baker's Wife, the death of some characters, and the (relatively) unhappy endings for others.

Similarly, they didn't back down on the other great thematic ideas present in the original: the difference between good and nice and right, the idea of only falling in love with the concept of a person (destroying the idea of love at first sight), the idea that people can become enslaved to their desires, the idea that all of the characters' problems (at least initially) are all because of their parents (one generation screwing over the next).

(Also, THEY KEPT MY FAVORITE SCENE IN THE ENTIRE PLAY, aka the scene where Cinderella confronts her prince, which is so thematically important and poignant). 

What wasn't my favorite (aka all the things that I think were better in the original):

Meryl Streep as the witch was interesting, but she didn't have the same...presence that Bernadette Peters did (although, really, no one does). I did think that her performance got better over the course of the film, though.

I was a bit sad that they cut out the character of the narrator, which also meant that there wasn't a connection between the Mystery Man (later revealed to be the Baker's father) and the narrator. Additionally, the separation of the casting for Cinderella's Prince/The Big Bad Wolf, as well as the separate casting for The Witch/Cinderella's mother was a bit disappointing (I liked the thematic implications created by tying those characters together).

The over-the-top hilarity and humorous tone of the original was lost, which led to some of the more tongue-in-cheek lines falling a little flat.

They did remove the reprise of 'Agony', which was a bit...disappointing, for fairly obvious reasons.

Rapunzel neither died nor went mad (as she did in the original), which did detract from the witch's character arc. In the original, Rapunzel doesn't simply reject the witch and cut her out of her life (as she does in the movie); instead, after her prince is blinded, she is banished to wander in the desert (where she gave birth to twins - also something that was cut). This leads her to go mad, which in turn leads to her being accidentally stepped on by the giant in front of the witch. Rapunzel's story is never fully resolved - she simply tells the witch to get out of her life and then she's not seen for the rest of the movie. The witch's death was also new, and I didn't mind that too much except for the fact that it meant that she wasn't actually present when she sings 'Children Will Listen' (an incredibly thematically impacting song, the sort of end message that is left for the audience); instead, it is relegated to a softer background song and the focus is on the baker as he talks to his son (in the original, the baker is talking to his son at the beginning of the song but the focus is mostly on the witch as she sings). Thus the change from "children won't listen" to "children WILL listen", which communicates the key thematic idea that while children may not obey their parents, they will absorb their parents' words and the twisted messages sent with, is almost lost.

Watch the Official Movie Trailer: