Movies: ALL THE MOVIES!

My goodness. It has been a while since I have posted. I blame Master's Degree, Sickness, Vacation and First Week of School. Lots to catch up on, so lets get down to it. My first installment will be regarding all the fairy tale movies coming up.

H&G: a modern day retelling of Hansel and Gretel. 
"...I have always been struck by this fable’s portrayal of adult women. The stepmother and the witch are portrayed as heartless villains. Whereas the father, although also complicit in the abandonment of the children, is portrayed as caring and loveable. In reading about the history of the tale, I discovered that Wilhelm Grimm revised the traditional tale several times. He changed the mother character into a stepmother and he also made her less sympathetic. According to folklorist Jack Zipes, Wilhelm Grimm “deepened the characterization of the father and stepmother so that he becomes much more caring and concerned about the children and she becomes more coldhearted and cruel.” This sharp gender dichotomy, this demonization of the adult female characters, was an element of the story that I wanted to explore and challenge. 

This was my starting place for writing H&G." - Danishka Esterhazy, Writer (Begins touring to film festivals Fall 2013)

Hallmark Transforming "Mirror Mirror" Comic Into Family Movie "The Hunters"
"Hallmark Released Synopsis: Carter and Jordyn Flynn (Payne, Forbes) aren't the average mom and dad. For them, a typical workday can take place anywhere in the world, raiding ornate museums and evading pursuing authorities as Hunters, protectors of powerful fairy tale artifacts that are anything but make believe. (Edit FTNH: Definitely sounds like a special annex of Warehouse 13!)" Victor Garber and Michelle Forbes will star.

This sounds right up my alley! I love me some Warehouse 13. Hallmark does not instill a lot of confidence, based on it's past movies (aside from it's Snow Queen), but it could be really cool! I certainly want to read the graphic novel now.

What a Fables Movie Must Have, According to Creator Mark Buckingham
"I think if it doesn't have Snow White and Bigby [Wolf] in it, then... [that's a problem]. They were such a core element of the first 50 issues of the story. So I think their romance, their relationship, is a really core aspect of the series. Beyond that, the beauty of Fables is it has such a rich cast, and you can really cherry-pick a lot of different aspects from it, and create a really good story, even if you don't necessarily follow the entire narrative."

Maleficent First Footage Reactions and Full Cast
"Maleficent is the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well." (Full Cast)

First Footage Reactions from ScreenCrush: "To give you some idea of what was shown, it imagines the famous Christening scene of baby Aurora. The three fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) fly to the castle, ready to bestow their gifts on the child. As soon as the green fairy, Fauna, is about to present hers, the candles are snuffed out and a dark whirlwind heralds the evil witch herself. “Well, well,” says Jolie, accompanied by a villainous, whispered cackle. Scenes flash forward as we see Aurora growing up into her teenage self, while Maleficent, engulfed in a green flame, casts the famed curse we can all probably recite from memory." (More from Once Upon a Blog)

Tatum Channing's Werewolf Assassin in Jupiter Ascending
In this sci-fi version of Snow White, Tatum Channing plays the Huntsman character, an albino assassin half-wolf. In Channing's own words, "I’m a splice, splices are essentially built in a test tube. I’m a hybrid wolf and human. And half albino, so I’m a little defective."

I am rather excited for this, but I hope it doesn't mean we can't have a Cinder movie too.

Disney's Next Animated Feature (Unofficially) is Giants
They are apparently doing to "Jack and the Beanstalk" what they did for Tangled and Frozen, which was highly successful in Tangled, but debatable in Frozen. There are so many plot details over at Once Upon a Blog, so please go over there and see them! The pics on the blog are not from Giants, however!

TV: OUAT execs want to "move beyond fairy tales"

The doors to other worlds in Wonderland.

I KNEW IT! I knew it!

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz admit that they are planning to expand the Storybrooke universe beyond fairy tales:

Here’s what I find interesting about the characters you’re adding this season. Mulan is a Chinese historical figure. Captain Hook is an early 20th century literary creation and Lancelot is a fifth-century possible historical figure. Those aren’t fairy-tale characters.

KITSIS: Go back and look at the pilot when you see Henry’s book and the book flips [through the pages of illustrations from different stories]. Also the episode with the Mad Hatter when you see all the doors [to other worlds]. If you Tivo-pause those doors there are some that look different than what you might think.

HOROWITZ: Fairy tales are ground zero. They’re the first stories we hear … Will Chewbacca show up in Storybrooke? Probably not, because that’s a Lucasfilm property.

KITSIS: But he’s welcome to!

While sad for those of us who were hoping to see less-well-known fairy tales in Storybrooke (though I gave that up when I first heard the name "Maleficent"), this opens up whole new universes for the writers. Now that they have re-framed the show to focus on storybook characters, not fairy tale characters, us fairy tale nerds can just move on, and stop clinging to the "but that's not a fairy tale character" line, and embrace it.

AND it means Dr. Whale as Victor Frankenstein is even more likely!

Sorry, folks. I will have real content soon, not just OUAT stuff. Its just been really busy, and OUAT came out last night, so the internet is abuzz. I have yet to see it, but I will let you know when I do.

Movies: Oz: The Great and Powerful

Ok, folks. I am breaking my rule here. I have always insisted that Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz are not fairy tales. They did not start out in oral tradition, they were invented by white guys within the last two hundred years and written as children's books. Do we call The Chronicles of Narnia fairy tales? What about Un Lun Dun? And, of course, the opposition argues that Hans Christian Anderson did the exact same thing. And Oscar Wilde. Why do we count those? And then I would say, but fairy tales have little characterization and are always short. Blah blah, back and forth. Feel free to weigh in in the comment section.

HOWEVER. I'm actually getting a little excited for the new movie coming out, Oz: The Great and Powerful. Io9 has brought my attention to this interesting behind the scenes video:

While we didn't really get to see any of the setting, and James Franco as an actor still worries me, the characterization of Oz sounds really interesting and spot on. And he and Mila Kunis are in love with the BOOKS, not just the movie, which is fantastic! 

Still could be a train wreck, but I am hopeful! 

Movies: Angelina Jolie talks Maleficent

(From Geektyrant)

Io9 tips us off to an Angelina Jolie interview where she gives us a glimpse into the Maleficent movie:

"It's not anti-princess, but it's the first time they're looking at this epic woman...I hope in the end you see a woman who is capable of being many things, and just because she protects herself and is aggressive, it doesn't mean she can't have other [warmer] qualities. You have to figure out the puzzle of what she is. It sounds really crazy to say that there will be something that's good for young girls in this because it sounds like you're saying they should be a villain. [Maleficent] is actually a great person, but she's not perfect. She's far from perfect... In general, it's a very good message to say, "let's look at something from the other side." But then also, what our challenge will be - and the script writer [Linda Woolverton] has already cracked it - is not to simplify it, not to just reverse the story but tell a bigger story that doesn't point the finger [at Princess Aurora] either. It doesn't flip it." (Full Article)

I am fascinated by this movie.  As the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil," she is one of the few Disney villians who doesn't have a clear motive, aside from just being evil. Yes, she says she should have been invited to the party, but what does the Mistress of All Evil want to be at a baby's christening for?

The hook might be in her response when Merriweather says she wasn't wanted. She seems genuinely surprised. The rest of the scene, her feelings are veiled under a zen superiority and biting sarcasm, before the curse and maniacal laughter ensues.

I think there is a lot to mine here, in a character that most of us just took for granted as EVIL. I love that they are not vilifying Sleeping Beauty, just expanding the story to include Maleficent's point of view. 

It is also kind of refreshing after all the talk of Evil queens in the Snow White adaptations, and how women fall in to the categories of virginal innocent heroine, or slutty evil bitch. (And this one).

Movies: The OTHER Disney Dwarves (Burpy, Hotsy, Baldy...)

 

We have come to know and love the seven dwarves from Disney's Snow White (Grumpy, Dopey, Sneezy, Sleepy, Happy, Bashful, and Doc). But how did they choose those names? Io9 introduces us to the 40 bastard brothers of the seven dwarves whose names didn't make the cut:

1.) Awful
2.) Baldy
3.) Bashful
4.) Biggo-Ego
5.) Burpy
6.) Daffy
7.) Deafy
8.) Dippy
9.) Dirty
10.) Dizzy
11.) Doleful
12.) Dopey
13.) Dumpy
14.) Flabby
15.) Gabby
16.) Grumpy
17.) Hickey
18.) Hoppy
19.) Hotsy
20.) Hungry
21.) Jaunty
22.) Jumpy
23.) Lazy
24.) Neurtsy
25.) Nifty
26.) Puffy
27.) Sappy
28.) Scrappy
29.) Shifty
30.) Shorty
31.) Silly
32.) Sleepy
33.) Snappy
34.) Sneezy
35.) Sneezy-Wheezy
36.) Sniffy
37.) Snoopy
38.) Soulful
39.) Strutty
40.) Stuffy
41.) Swift
42.) Tearful
43.) Thrifty
44.) Weepy
45.) Wheezy
46.) Wistful
47.) Woeful

The Disneywiki profiles a few of these strange characters:

"WHEEZY: Stubby. Always behind or last in processions. Fatter and shorter than the rest.
JUMPY: (voice: Joe Twirp) Excitable. Goosey type. Talks fast. Mixes his words, as "See's aleep in my sled."
BALDY: (voice: Cliff Arquette) Bashful. Floppy ears. Giggles. Twists buttons. Gets red in the face.
—Story outline for October 22, 1934, for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs[1]"

" JUMPY: He is in constant twitchy fear of being goosed, but is not goosed until the last scene. Whenever he hears a noise behind him, he starts, and his hand automatically protects his fanny. He is als exceedingly ticklish. He is always helping Sleepy finish his sentences or explaining to Snow White just what Sleepy is trying to say. Type of dialog:
Sleepy: As a rolling stone gathers no... (Falls asleep)
Jumpy: (Laugh) Slood old geepy. He means a stolling rone mathers no goss - a goling mone stathers no ross - a molling gone rathers no - oh, dab!
Sleepy: (To Snow White) Now you know."

 "AWFUL: The most loveable and interesting of the dwarf characterisations. He steals and drinks and is very dirty. The other dwarfs have impressed on him that he is a soul beyond redemption. This fact he never questions. He feels powerless against the evil in him and accepts his damnation cheerfully. He is the perpetual fall guy for the others. He is blamed and punished for everything that goes wrong and, even when punished for somebody else's misdeed, he takes his medicine with a cheerful "I deserve it." He is very clever, a faithful dog absolutely devoted to the other dwarfs, who seem to him far above him. He speaks in short, jerky sentences, like the Practical Pig, but his voice is a bit more chipper and cheerful. There is always understanding between him and the dwarfs' animals. Awful is always afflicted with irresistable urges againt which he is helpless.
—Story draft for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, made in November 1935.[3]"

 "Deafy is a happy sort of fellow - he always tries to make clever remarks, but he misinterprets other people's attitudes toward him. He feels, lots of times, that they are saying something about him, or that they have made some remarks, which they haven't at all - he takes exception to the most ridiculous things. Throughout the picture Deafy and Grumpy are always clashing. Deafy will pick up one word of the conversation in the early part, and whereas the conversation topic might have changed completely, he still sticks to the first thing that he heard, and in this way we hope to get some comical situations out of Deafy.
—Story draft for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, made in early 1936.[3]" (Full Article)

I personally would have liked to see Big-Ego, Hickey, Hotsy, Jaunty, Neurtsy (what?), Shifty, and Soulful. It's nice to know that Dreamy and Stealthy from Once Upon a Time weren't that far off!

Movies: Q & A with Snow White and the Huntsman Director Rupert Sanders

 

A recent Q & A with Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders on Screenrant has made me a bit more confidant in his interpretation of the classic tale, and more hopeful that Kristin Stewart can pull off her role. 

On casting Kristin Stewart: 

Yeah, I think we were looking for someone who was obviously a great actor first and foremost but also someone who’s incredibly physical. Everyone thinks she is Bella from Twilight. I think she’s such a good actor that she encompassed that role so well that people think that’s how she is. When you meet Kristen, she’s so far away from that character. I’d first seen her in ‘Into the Wild’ and I was really blown away. I remembered that she was the girl from ‘Panic Room,’ ‘Welcome to the Rileys,’ ‘The Runaways,’ and now ‘On the Road.’ She’s one those actors who does these smaller films and then she does these big movies and she’s really managed her career so well in that way. She’s incredibly spirited and very kind of wild and also she’s got this kind of this alchemy to her. You’re not quite sure what it is about her but on screen she’s just incredible. And when you see her act you realize why she is such a huge movie star and why she’s going to continue to get bigger.”

 On Charlize Theron's "very real" performance:

When you’re playing an Evil Queen you can go into pantomime very quickly. I think what she did so well and what really we all felt was the best kind of root for the character was that she wasn’t playing pure evil. I don’t think anyone’s born pure evil. Things happen to them growing up that make them who they are and I think that’s very true with her backstory that you see later in the film. She’s a very disturbed character who’s desperately got to find this heart because she needs to live forever. It’s as simple as that. She’s dead on the inside but she’s determined that she will avenge her family and the tribe that she was with that was constantly brutalized by kings and other kingdoms. She’s determined that the world will feel the suffering that she felt and she will stop at nothing to do that. She’s driven by some dark machinations but she’s also incredibly wounded and fragile underneath that. You can relate to her, because we understand the things she’s gone through and why she’s become evil. She’s not just sitting around with a white cat on her lap and hacking people’s heads off. Her evil comes because of how distorted the character has become. So she plays it very real and I think that’s really the success of the character. She’s incredible to watch."

On why he chose "Snow White":

“I think it’s because it’s the best fairy tale. I don’t like them when they get too princess-y. I don’t love balls and sleeping beauties, that kind of thing. I think the great thing about ‘Snow White’ is those images have scarred me since I was a child with the Queen, the mirror, the taking of the heart, the huntsman and the enchanted forest. So really, my goal was to re-appropriate those myths and those symbolic devices. Each of those ideas is so deeply psychologically embedded and that’s why the stories have lasted so long. People still have a thirst for them internationally. So it was a great opportunity to go back to that source material and create something very new and contemporary with it but in keeping with the Grimms fairytale version of it. We’re not polishing it up to make it something that it isn’t.”

On the tone and imagery of the film:

"One of the first things that I did was I went out and found a group of fifteen contemporary artists around the world and I’d give them an idea and they’d start to sketch it. I’d call them again, we kept up this kind of constant accumulation of imagery in which we created a bible. And then I made everyone who came into the film read the bible, understand the world and understand the mechanics of the world, the physics of it, why the dark forest is what it is, why the enchanted forest exists. What is the spell? What are the three drops of blood? What’s the symbolism? What’s the mythology? So once everyone had that, I think they really were able to go into a very rich world that was already kind of designed for them. Knowing that as an actor is like getting into costume. Once you know the world you know how your character fits into it.” (Full interview)

It seems that Rupert Sanders did his homework. He tried to delve deeper into the fairy tale itself and ask questions of it to come up with his expanded version of the story. He was haunted by the dark images of the story as a young boy, and has never seen the Disney Snow White. While I know many would argue that Snow White is very princess-y, as she has things happen to her, rather than taking agency, I think the story could be interpreted in several different ways. I agree with Rupert Sanders that it is almost as dark a story as The Juniper Tree. Many people just see the Disney version overlaid on the tale. Read the Grimm's version over at SurLaLune, and you be the judge.

Check out some additional footage that looks pretty damn awesome (with a worrying psychodelic Lisa Frank forest in the middle): 

TV: Interview with Meghan Ory, Little Red in Once Upon a Time

 

TV.com has an interview with Meghan Ory, Ruby/ Red on Once Upon a Time. While most of the interview is fluff ("Will there be a romantic interest for your character?" - seriously? After "Red-Handed," that is all you can think to ask?), there are a few interesting bits:

"You've done a lot of work with Ginnifer Goodwin, she's kind of a scene partner for you, which of her characters would you say she's more like?

Ginnifer is such an amazing actress she's not really like either of them. I think Ginnifer just IS Snow White. When we were shooting on the top of the mountain, there were all these birds around, and I'm not even joking: one of them landed ON her hand. Everybody's just like, 'Okay, you actually ARE Snow White, the reincarnation of Snow White.'"


What were some of the psychological fairy tale connections that stayed with you?
"A lot of Red Riding Hood is about warning young girls from predatory men, to see the wolf was losing your virginity back in the day, so I thought that was really interesting. I read a quote from Charles Dickens who said 'Little Red Riding Hood was my first love, and I thought if I could have married Little Red Riding Hood I should have known perfect bliss.' She's like the image of innocence and purity and all of that, before she meets the wolf and goes through her transformation, and I thought that was really cool and its an interesting history to be a part of." (Full Interview)

I'm glad that at least Meghan Ory and Gennifer Goodwin did their fairy tale research! It's very encouraging.

Interview: Once Upon a Time Creators Respond to Show's Disneyfication

 

Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis were at Wondercon and chatted with the audience about their hopes for the future of the show. Spinoff Online has an article about the panal. (Full Article). 

They responded to the accusations that the show is "light and fluffy":

"Although Once Upon a Time may be filled with fairy tales, magic and true love’s kisses, the one thing the television drama is not, creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis told Spinoff Online, is light and fluffy.

“I constantly read people that are like, ‘It’s so light, like Disney!’ [The Evil Queen] ripped her father’s heart out to enact a curse, and [Belle] cut her fiancé. How much darker can you get? Throw in cancer?” Kitsis said over the weekend at WonderCon in Anaheim, California."

On their relationship with Disney:

The show has also incorporated multiple nods to ABC’s parent company Disney, from Belle (Emilie de Ravin) sporting the same name and dresses as the heroine in the animated Beauty and the Beast to Mickey Mouse’s hat from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” short in Fantasia appearing in the background of a recent episode.

However, the drama’s dark tone has led to some tensions with Disney, most notably when one of Snow White’s dwarves was stabbed in a courtyard.

“Obviously at first when they heard there was eight dwarves and we killed one, they wanted to talk to us about that!” Kitsis laughed.

“We had a discussion,” Horowitz said.

Despite that, the creators said working with Disney has gone smoothly, and they have the company’s full support to mess with or incorporate parts of their mythology wherever they see fit.

“They’ve been great, they’ve been very supportive,” Kitsis said. “Even in the pilot, I think it was the first time they showed Snow White giving birth or wielding a sword on TV — this was the beloved franchise of Disney and they said, ‘OK, go have fun!’ We’ve had Disney references from the beginning, even in the pilot when Emma wishes on the blue star, because we can and because they’re fun and we’re fans of Disney.”

That balancing act between the show’s darkness and the lighter Disney moments is one of the main challenges of writing Once Upon a Time, the two admitted.

“It’s tricky, but it’s what’s fun to us about the show, which is to tell different kinds of stories but have them fall under the umbrella of one tone,” Horowitz said.

It sounds like the process is rather schizophrenic. Adam and Edward want to create a dark, edgy fairy tale and Disney wants the light and fluffy. And it is light and fluffy, did you watch the Dreamy episode, Adam and Ed? Pink jellyfish dress. While the creators think they can have that tonal discrepancy, I think that is what is putting a lot of audience members off.

What do you think? Does it work? Or does it tonally clash?

TV: Interview with Robert Carlyle on his Role in Once Upon a Time

The Daily Record posted this wonderful interview with Robert Carlyle, who talks about his experience on Once Upon a Time, his character, his family, his childhood in Glasgow, and fairy tales. (Full Article)

Highlights

On where his portrayal of Rumpelstiltskin came from: 

"Instead, he was inspired by son Pearce to perfect a role he calls 'the most theatrical of my career'.

Robert, 50, said: 'The voice came from my wee boy Pearce, who is six. He always walks around the house going ‘dehdehdehdehdeh’ in all these strange voices.

'Pearce goes into a wee world of his own when he’s playing with his toys. So that’s what I based the character on. This real childlike thing.

'That’s what Rumpelstiltskin is… he’s like a kid. So I thought, if I can find some kind of voice like that but also make it kind of creepy and bizarre.

It’s also a bit freakish when Rumpelstiltskin has that childlike quality then suddenly can turn and get very dark.'"

Why it is 'the most theatrical role' of his career:

 “These characters are very much larger than life so the playing of them has got to be that way too. You can’t walk on with a naturalistic performance. It just wouldn’t work. At drama school I did a lot of work with masks. You put one on and it frees you in a way. You’re able to change everything about ­yourself.

“So I look in the mirror and don’t see myself any more. That, ­combined with Commedia dell’Arte – Italian high end farce – and the way I move and strike poses as Rumpelstiltskin is where all that comes from.”

Movies: New Footage and Behind the Scenes Featurettes for the Snow White Movies

Thanks to Io9, we have some fresh new footage from Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, and I am surprised to say it makes me rather excited and optimistic for the movies!

First we have some adorable clips from Mirror, Mirror. Tarsem Singh, the director, has said that he is rather appalled at the "hammily off" trailers for his film, and these clips show a little more of the charm and subtle humor that the trailers bulldozed. Here are my favorites (see here for the rest): 

And next we have some magnificent behind-the-scenes footage for Snow White and the Huntsman, discussing the Bathory-like VERY EVIL Queen, the stunning and well-thought-out costumes, and some thrilling heroics by Kristen Stewart! (Original article with one additional featurette).

Very exciting! Squee-worthy action sequences, and costumes that are just works of art. They remind me of McQueen fashion. Though did anyone notice King Magnus was from Gondor?

TV: Interview with Once Upon a Time's Jennifer Morrison

While most of the responces are what you would expect, it turned out some interesting tidbits. Here there be SPOILERS.

From the Huffington Post:

I think the producers have indicated in previous interviews that there will be a resolution to the Kathryn storyline fairly soon. So in terms of where you're filming now, has the balance shifted between Emma and Regina at all, or has Regina still got the upper hand? By the point we're at right now, it does start to balance out a little bit. There's more and more building against Regina in terms of proof for other people in town to realize that maybe, she isn't just a good mayor. Part of the curse has been that people have not questioned things; they’re sort of in this haze where they don’t really think outside of what's been the norm from day to day for the last 28 years. Now, all of the things that have been set in motion because of Emma being in town are forcing people to sort of wake up a little bit at a time and go, "Wait a second, why would she do this?" So, Regina is starting to lose her footing in terms of her hold over everyone in town. There does start to be a little bit of a power shift -- or at least some sort of a power balance -- because once you plant those seeds of doubt then she's definitely not as all powerful as she once was. 

The March 25 episode will see Emma kidnapped by the Storybrooke version of the Mad Hatter. What can you reveal about that episode and what he wants from Emma?It was probably the most fun I've had so far shooting episodes. It's one of my favorite scripts. I had such an amazing time. Sebastian Stan, who plays the Mad Hatter, he’s such an extraordinary actor. It was so great coming to work with him every day. He did such cool stuff with his character. I mean, there was not a second I didn't believe he really was this guy. So, from that perspective it was just such a good time. 

It does start to plant some interesting seeds in Emma, because it's another person saying to her some of the things that Henry has been saying. She can still justify it away in the sense that, "Well, maybe he read the book. Maybe there's another copy of the book. Maybe he heard about the book." But it is really the first time that there are little chips in Emma's armor in terms of her thinking; not necessarily that there really is a curse and that everybody really is a fairytale, but I think it’s really that turning point for her to realize that there is something very dark and possibly dangerous going on that she needs to try to figure out.

Can you tease anything else about the story lines you're currently filming?I feel like the whole season -- the way I’ve put it metaphorically is -- we’ve been sort of climbing up the roller coaster. It’s been sort of like one notch at a time. Climbing, climbing, climbing, climbing. By the time we get to episode 20, we're hanging at the top. At 21 and 22, we're just flying down. So, all these little pieces of things that have been set up, all these little puzzle pieces that have been planted all along the way for the whole season, a lot happens really fast. All of it starts to come together very quickly. It's going to be a whirlwind at the end. (Full interview)

I like the idea that Emma's presence is causing the haze to lift, though we haven't really seen much evidence of that in recent episodes. I also feel that episode 21 is a bit late in the season for interesting things to start happening. Her description of "climbing up the roller coaster... one notch at a time" is pretty accurate, and I prefer stories that start at the top of the roller coaster. It's nice to know that there are puzzle pieces, though, and that the pace will pick up soon!

I am excited for the Mad Hatter episode! I've been dying for another character to start remembering their fairy tale lives.  Life is more interesting when that happens.

Ads: Behind the Scenes for The Guardian's Three Little Pigs Ad

From Creativity:

"It was clear that BBH needed to tell a story to demonstrate the news cycle. But which one? "We couldn't pick a current-affairs story for fear of it dating," said David Kolbusz, creative director. "And writing a revisionist history of a historical event seemed insensitive." So they went with fairytales. BBH also created scripts for "Humpty Dumpty," "Hansel & Gretel" and "Cinderella." But Mr. Rusbridger is a big Orwell fan, so the "Animal Farm" parallel won out.

Creatives studied trailers that gave the most plot away -- "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," for example. Mr. Ledwidge also wanted the spot to feel like a trailer to a big movie, something like "The Dark Knight," for example. "I liked that the film inhabited its own parallel universe that was familiar but also allowed the viewer to embrace elements of fantasy," he said. "A mashup of old-fashioned nursery rhymes with a slightly futuristic contemporary world." Mr. Ledwidge looked at nursery-rhyme illustrations from the 1920s to the 1950s and based the costumes around those. The pig heads were cast from original molds from the Royal Ballet Co.'s production of "Beatrix Potter." The spot was filmed over two days, in two 20-hour shoots." (For Full Article and video).

This is an incredible ad. It is beautifully shot, very funny, and packs a wallop of truth. It reminds me of Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime books, which set fairy tale crimes in a police procedural context. Granted, the conceit of the pigs' villainy is not a new idea (The True Story of the Three Little Pigs), but it certainly gets it's point across. While I think this was the best tale to choose, I would love to have seen the "Humpty Dumpty," "Hansel and Gretel" and "Cinderella" versions.

The article also contains an old advertisement, demonstrating how viewing an event from three points of view can give you very different impressions as to what happened. Very smart. I am a fan of The Guardian.