Sneak Peak: Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Release Date 5 March 2010 (USA) Director Tim Burton Cast Mia Wasikowska (Alice Kingsley), Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter), Helena Bonham Carter (The Red Queen), Anne Hathaway (The White Queen)

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"Downal wyth Bluddy Behg Hid."

Loosely translated, that's "Down with the Red Queen."

In Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, a ragtag group of misfits revolts against The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who — since overthrowing The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) — has been ruling with an iron fist.

Alice returns to Wonderland 10 years after her first visit, reuniting with familiar faces.

"Alice, you're terribly late," the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) coos. "Naughty."

CGI and motion capture technology helped Tim Burton recreate Wonderland's curious environs. Twenty-year-old Australian actress Mia Wasikowska (Alice) found herself hobnobbing with characters both tangible (The Knave of Hearts played by actor Crispin Glover) and virtual (the March Hare, entirely computer generated).

As for the Mad Hatter and The Red Queen — two of the more memorable characters in Alice in Wonderland — Burton turns on the sympathy button by showing us the very things that make them human. The strange hue of the Mad Hatter's hair and eyes is attributed to mercury poisoning while The Red Queen's temper is said to be caused by a tumor growing in her head.

With Burton's penchance for wit and flair and the film's superb cast of supporting actors (Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit; Alan Rickman as Absolem, the Caterpillar; Christopher Lee as the Jabberwocky), Alice in Wonderland might just be this year's most promising movie.

Essential Ads: 2008

Louis Vuitton: The Climate Change Project photographed by Annie Leibovitz featuring Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola and Catherine Deneuve

Disney: Dream Portrait Series photographed by Annie Leibovitz featuring The Little Mermaid (Julianne Moore as Ariel and Michael Phelps), The Sword in the Stone (Roger Federer as King Arthur) and Sleeping Beauty (David Beckham as Prince Phillip)

Burberry photographed by Mario Testino featuring Sam Riley

Gap: Create Your Own Gap photographed by Mikael Jansson featuring Hugh Dancy and Catalina Sandino Moreno

Gap: Holidays Winter 2008 photographed by Michael Thompson featuring Jason Bateman and Jennifer Hudson

Essential Movie Posters: 2008

Gomorrah (Italy) • Ballast (USA) • Waltz with Bashir (Israel) • The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (USA) • Flash of Genius (USA) • The Order of Myths (USA) • Burn After Reading (USA) • La forteresse (Switzerland) • The Song of Sparrows (Iran) • Blindness (Canada/Brazil)

Essential Quotes: 2008

i. On Jessica Simpson: “Blond like Clorox sunshine. Breasts like plucked guinea hens: undercooked and overstuffed. Jackknifing legs that split the air like seesaws. She’s got that high-maintenance pout. She’s got her own money: She can buy your house just to use the toilet.” —Lisa Taddeo (“The Case for Jessica Simpson”: Esquire, 05.2008)

ii. “The fact that George Clooney is handsome is a priori truth. Triangles have three sides, and Clooney is handsome. Yet the terrible thing about the Net is that even priori truths are called into question.” —AJ Jacobs ("It’s Clooney, by George”: Esquire UK, 11.2008)

iii. “You have high expectations for people because you have high expectations for yourself.” —Gisele Bündchen (“Gossip Girl”: GQ, 07.2008)

iv. “If you eat Chinese food, your farts come out like Chinese food. If you eat Mexican food, your farts come out like Mexican food. And milk, it’s like, you can smell the warmth in the fart.” —Megan Fox (“Obsession”: GQ, 12.2008)

v. On her high school life: “I didn’t fit into the popular group. I wasn’t a hippie or a stoner, so I ended up being the weirdo. I was interested in classical ballet and music, and the kids were quite mean if you were different. I was one of those people that people were mean to. When that happened, instead of being a doormat, I decided to emphasize my differences. I didn’t shave my legs. I had hair growing under my arms. I refused to wear makeup, or fit the ideal of what a conventionally pretty girl would look like. So of course I was tortured even more, and that further validated my superiority, and helped me to survive and say, ‘I’m getting out of here, and everyone is a heathen in this school. You don’t even know who Mahler is!’ ” —Madonna ("Madonnarama!": Vanity Fair, 05.2008)

vi. On men: “When we ask you how our asses look in a particular pair of jeans, you should always be brutally honest and completely positive at the same time. How you accomplish this is up to you.” —Leslie Mann ("10 Things You Don't Know About Women"; Esquire, 04.2008)

vii. “Teach your children everything that you're not because they will pick up on everything that you are.” —Rachel Hunter ("What I've Learned"; Esquire, 04.2008)

viii. “I just finished shooting my second film. I’ve got nothing lined up after that. My plan is to see what happens. God laughs when you make plans.” —Sam Riley (“Creative Business”: GQ, 02.2008)

ix. “Big into yoga? Cool. You’re gonna die. Eating nothing but oats and acai berries? Excellent. You’re gonna die. Whatever your name is, it’s soon to be featured on the business side of a tombstone. Your ticket is booked. One way, nonstop to the undiscovered country. You know this already. Everybody does. But it’s easy to forget. Because living, with its drama and its errands, its gossip and its headlines, conspires to make us forget.” —Benjamin Alsup (“Reminder of the Month: Death!”; Esquire, 04.2008)

x. “There's an old saying that God exists in your search for him. I just want you to understand that I ain't looking.” —Leslie Nielsen ("What I've Learned"; Esquire, 04.2008)