JOHNNY DEPP to play Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland"

Johnny Depp and Disney announced at the Walt Disney Studios Showcase in Hollywood, that he will play the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland...Depp also agreed to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.

-JustJared.com

How radical is that~? Johnny always blows me away.

It seems evertime Burton does a new film he calls Johnny up and says, "Im
doing this new film...who do you wanna be?" To which Johnny replies, "The
crazy one."

Hehehehe.

POP Picks

1. Sendhil Ramamurthy:

• I do watch Heroes fanatically, but I chose Sendhil to audition for Prince Dastan because of his authentic looks and his voice. Anyone who has played the games knows the Prince has a unique and soothing voice.

Prince of Persia Movie

THE PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME movie is reportedly in production now in Morrocco. Release has been pushed to 2010. Still that is better than 2020. :)

I have been waiting for this for years...dredding any small mistakes that will cause this awesome story to fail. Too many video-game-movies tossed about in Hollywood eventually end up falling into the wrong hands. Thankfully the one i have long dreamed about for the big screen has caught the attention of Hollwood and has made its way into the right hands. Those hands belong to Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates Trilogy, etc.). I am excited! Especially after seeing the leaked set pics. The set looks like it will be intricate and gorgeous--pretty much spot-on with the game.

I have mentioned that I had a few people in mind for the leading role...the one Jake Gyllenhaal landed...and even though I am glad someone I really like got the role I figure I will still post those I thought of as accurate for the leading man. Pics are from JustJared.com

OH YEAH... I have yet to mention what I think of Gemma Arterton being the female lead simply because I dont think much of it. I find it odd that she is white (just as i have Dastan being Jake, but mostly I am annoyed that they have already scrapped the original character's name. I am not sure why they have done this but i sincerely hope that is all they have changed about the wonderful little firecracker known originally as "Farah". She is now called, "Tamina". Hmmpf.

Prince of Persia: Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal has been cast as the Prince of Persia. I am more than a little surprised at this for a number of reasons. Having declared my surprise let me say this... I am a rather HUGE Jake Gyllenhaal fan--and am always psyched about seeing him in absolutely anything.

On the other hand, I am kind of wary of the casting of this film. Firstly because of the apparent nationality of the characters. I have played all three of the Prince of Persia games up, down, and sideways, since I discovered them years ago. In fact I got a PS2 primarily to play this game since all i had at the time was a Nintendo Gamecube. (With the PS2 were added bonuses like the GTA series and a much advanced selection of grown-up games to enjoy.) I have a unique love for the story behind the Prince because I am, in fact, female therefore i digg the romanticism. The games are fantastic because of the story development, the incredible scenery (graphics) and cinematography, and the era. The combat is killer and all but many games offer this now (even though POP hails as the first that i recall with such an intereactive gameplay and puzzle theme).

Anyway--Jake is not what i expected. I figured the casting director would choose someone of a specific nationality for this role--or at least someone who appeared to be of the correct "make and model". Prince is quite obviously not a white guy. Either way, though, I do believe Jake can pull it off. They must've needed him for hot-factor and namesake. Here is a pic of Jake as the prince .

The Differences in the Winds

Every three months or so, the world transforms right before my eyes. The change in setting brings about a certain level of hope that things will he headed for the better, in all aspects of life. These transformations are msot beautiful in the spring and the fall. Spring and fall have separate moods that brings out different sides of the Earth. These two seasons influence everyone and everything in their paths.

As one may see, our environment changes in many ways during the sping and fall. Spring is always refreshing and new. The Earth wakes from the winter cold, and begins to look, feel and smell healthy. The grass and trees become full and green, like sparkling emerald gems on the horizon. Bradford Pears bloom pale pink and white. The dogwoods small delicate flowers float around in a gentle breeze. Animals are coaxed from their shelters to rush about and play in the warm beaming sunshine. On the other hand, fall is enveloping and romantic. The Earth cools down, and the gentle breeze becomes cold gusts of wind. The leaves on trees melt into brilliant reds, oranges, yellows, and purples. They tumble about in the cold wind, crushing beneath the feet of people shuffling across concrete sidewalks, exposing the sharp crooked branches that held them in spring and summer. All of the little creatures begin to tire out and prepare for the coming winter. The landscapes of spring rejuvenate people's spirits, while the landscapes of fall enchant them.

As a result people, too, change during the seasons. There is a distinct difference in any person's mood depending on the time of year. THe energy in the spring air causes people to become more active and think more positively. SPring is lively and joyful. Spring affords us a beautifully set stage to venture out and enjoy life. We celebrate our holidays with colored eggs, fireworks shows, and wild vacations. Many find themselves craving the unique companionship common of a body of water. Therefore the masses migrate torwards lakes and beaches to ski, boat, swim, sail, and surf. People tend to buy their pets in the spring, take their children to the playground, and spend their weekends at the local campground. People also wear different clothing in the spring such as sandals, shorts, and sun dresses. People enjoy more independant activities such as frolicing around tending to their gardens and falling asleep in their hammocks while reading a book on a lazy spring day. Fall has a dramatically different effect on people. The activities become more family oriented. People migrate indoors to appreciate their families; celebrating their holidays with little colored lights strung up on the rooftops and around all shrubbery and bare branches. Fall attire is different from spring-wear, because as the winds become chilled, people crave the protection from the elements offered by a luxuriously plush sweater. People regularly don items such as big comfy jackets, thick socks, and sharp leather boots.

There is a wonderful relief that comes along with the differences given to us by these two seasons. They are gateway seasons that immediately raise up our hopes and relieve us of elemental stress factors. Spring brings relief from the blistering cold of winter. As the ground begins to thaw, people always find themselves feeling ecstatic because they no longer need to wear the layers of clothing and sharp leather boots of winter and fall--or stay inside on sunny days. We can all bask about in the glory of our new world. Absent the messes created y being cooped up inside eating handsomely decorated cookies left over from filling meals. Finally we are free! Oppositely, fall brings relief from the scorching summer sun and the painful sunburns associated with it. No more sweaty-day pony-tails or fake tanners to stay ahead on the fashion scene. No more mosquitos to nag us while we try to enjoy the muggy summer evenings on our porches suffocated by the unique choking smell of citronella torches. Finally! We are exhausted. We are quick to surrender to the cozy fireside sofa with our marshmallow securely stabbed by a long flimsy stick.

The thick line between summer and spring is obvious. The twain seasons are the barrier seasons soothing us as we tire from the harsher times of year--summer and winter. Some people appreciate one season over the other, but all of humankind has distinct adoration for them both.

Poor Boy

Is one's lot in life determined by factors of chance coming into play to create fame and fortune, or is one's destiny shaped by their education, ability to reason, and ability to intelligently relate to others? Pieces of the answers lie in the life circumstances of a young man named Rusty. He grew up an unwanted child. He was passed from family member to family member until his grandmother died and he was delivered into the hand of Childhaven. Childhaven is the orphanage from which he fled at the age of about thirteen. He was given very little guidance, and even though he has caushgt breaks in his life he has always had a tendancy to fail.

Trouble began somewhere in between the lines as our educational system failed poor Rusty. He is now a twenty-one year old ex-felon who cannot spell even the simplest of words, that is other than "Correctional Facility". This inability to spell and write alone, without taking into consideration, any further lack of knowledge, has impaired him from being able to obtain a job requiring anything more than the repetition of a menial task. As one may have guessed, when Rusty went to apply for a job at a temporary agency with a friend, whose education was superior, the friend received the better paying job while Rusty left with the lower-income laborers. He was mystified as to why, yet assuming it to be his "BAD LUCK". Rusty's position was created not by chance, but by a heartbreaking lack of educational resources to draw upon.

At the same time, Rusty's poor ability to reason has created chaos. When Rusty left prison he found that he had inherited $8600 from his long-deceased father's estate payable on his twenty-first birthday. Was it chance that within a month the money was squandered with nothing to show for it? After cashing his check, Rusty had stopped at the very first gas station and bought the very first car he saw without so much as a test drive. He then opened a bank account, telling all of his "friends" of his good fortune, but without proper reasoning he left his checkbook where it could be very easily stolen. Likewise, Rusty cheated on the only person who ever truly loved him. He was discovered in his love's own home, naked, running from the bedroom with his brainless, dimwitted equal, both exclaiming their innocence. Now Rusty is penniless with a broken-down, impounded car, and no one to love him. These events are definitely the result of less than brilliant reasoning (less than average even), not the hands-of-fate.

In view of that, Rusty relates to others the best way he knows how. In his attempt to create self-esteem he has boisterously clamored for his little accomplishments to be viewed as the children of some "greater knowledge". He declared that he graduated college, but of course the truth is that he merely attempted to complete a horticulture class while in prison. These very detectable fallacies only cause others to ridicule him, and stay as far away from him as possible. Rusty is a joke to all of his acquaintances not by chance, but by his inability to intelligently relate to others.

Does anyone ever ponder the possibility that our over-all education of people and the world can weigh so heavily on our levels of happiness and satisfaction? As you see, Rusty has no hopes for a skillful or easy job. He has no true friends. He has no love. He has but a sliver of the world he dreamed of for himself as a child. In Rusty's downfall, chance did not hit him like a Mack truck head-on. Rather, his lack of education, incapacity to reason, and inability to relate to others has painstakingly taken years to mellow into his psyche, and influenced his world, his dreams, and all that he could have potentially become...possibly forever.

state of the election

Our country is so special, and all too often i hear young people express general disgust for the government and country as a whole. It really alarms me that people my age (specifically those 20-25) have such a distaste for all things govermental and political. Note that I am not personally identifiable as part of a specific party. I am more like an observing third party who has reached a place of direction and has decided to get involved.
This is in no way meant to be a negative reflection on President Bush, but I have noticed that most of the young people i know think of him as a power-hungry "sneaky-uncle" who will use and twist everything we have ever been told about the world for his own benefit, and that he will sacrifice our lives in mass numbers just to win his own personal battles.
In fact, I can see how some of us would be very wary of the gov't because of these things seeming to be true, but every one of us has to eventually realize that what happens in the future depends on us. i do not personally have any problem with our current president, and I have not complained much because i actually did not vote in the last presidential election--and then eureka--it is clear to me, I sat around and and did nothing to prevent him from being in office again because I was convinced that my vote wouldn't make a difference.
Almost everyone i know affiliates themselves with the republican party seemingly because they feel that it affirms their distinct morality and further concretes their individual identities as strong and conservative christians. They act as if it makes them more honorable and mature than the "confused" people who are "humanist". This may be due to my living in the south, and more so because i am in the "bible belt" or "heart of dixie". Either way, the fact is that i cannot believe i have been so young and impressionable to have been persuaded to think that everyone i knew would vote for the other side, so why bother voting at all. I mean in my mother's "hometown" you can hardly utter a word about true demorcracy and freedom without some older person coming in and vanquishing your ideas by pounding you with their idea that there are "no gray areas" and that "freedom" is the product of governmental control.
Be reminded that I am not stating these as the beliefs of all republicans, only those who i encounter in my life. That is basically my account of a struggle to be heard in my region. It is the only reason I can think that my friends and equals have lost almost all, if not all, of their trust in the goverment.
So on a more positive note, I want to add for anyone who is understanding me that not only do we need change--we need to make it well known that things ARE CHANGING. I believe that for the people in my age group it is much more important that you SHOW the change you make, not just CLAIM that it is happening or has happened. Think of us as the biblical character Peter, if you must, who has to SEE it to believe it.
The most important point is that saying something like, "We Will Be Different," or "We want to reach out to the young people across the country . . ." absolutey will not suffice.
It is my personal understanding that though many people believe my age group to be rebellious or self-alienated the fact is that we are STRONG, INTELLIGENT, INDEPENDANT, and we can be VERY DRIVEN. It has not seemed to be easy to convince us of something if you cannot back your claims up. You cannot just reach out to us; you must embrace us. I honestly havent felt a strong indication that many of us are "followers", and I am happy to say that the young adults you see in the "Borat", or on any given program on MTV are not at all worthy representatives of us as a whole. We are not a whole!
Having stated that we are so diverse that we cannot really be thought of as a "whole" it is my intention to have someone recognize that we are so wide-spread in our views that we cannot be reached by one party alone any more so than people of faith can be adequately served by a single denomination.
I sincerely hope that my words are met with an open-mind because the world is changing rapidly and my generation feels left out in the sense that it mostly feels like people in authorative positions only persuade others of their same background. I would like to see a restored faith in the government. I want to see more optimism as a result of my equals KNOWING that they are heard and that they have helped (and can help) change the world.
After all, collectively we are going to play a major part in the future development of this country once we all decide to get involved and be pro-active -- so how about forgetting all of the things that have been done to make us turn against our leaders. I cannot stand seeing the country divided against itself, and it is sending a terrible message to my generation and those to come. It is absolutely detrimental to the future health of our citzens and country.
What we really need is to send a message that exudes the government's constant efforts to make this a better country for every single citzen as an important individual -- each as a special part of the elaborate masterpiece known as the "American Dream".
At last, there is someone running who is not thought of as a "completely lovable" or "instant winner" for the presidency. I honestly feel that we have major hurdles to clear in our effort for _____ as our next presidential leader, but if you can exude a a believable love for the american people there will be a historical victory, accompanied by a forgiving sigh of relief---that sigh from a country that knows it is finally in good hands.
Thank you for trying to change the world.