Alice Upside Down | Belinda Dao

April 29th, 2008

Alice Upside Down at Fashion Island

Yes, it’s coming. The movie based on the growing pains and life experiences of Alice McKinley from The Agony of Alice. (For those of you not in the know, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the author of the more popular Shiloh trilogy, has another series that I refer to the Alice books in which Alice McKinley is the protagonist.) I picked up my first Alice book in fifth grade on a whim and have avidly awaited the arrival of each newly published book ever since. (Side note: I’m currently a college senior.) This movie is, therefore, a BIG DEAL. I followed its progression on IMDB, the movie’s official site, and various other sites and waited and waited (and waited) for its release. To my dissatisfaction, I could never find a definite release date or any new updates. It took weeks/months before any good details regarding the movie came about. You can imagine my surprise when I walked by Build-A-Bear at Fashion Island and saw this:

I know! Out of the blue, something related to the Alice movie. Apparently, the Newport Beach Film Festival was holding a screening of the movie at the Edwards movie theater at Fashion Island on Saturday (April 26th) at 1pm (no, not free…duh! who gives anything free anymore?) and there was an autograph signing with “Alice” aka Alyson Stoner at Build-A-Bear beforehand. Out of everyone there, my sister, A, was probably the oldest followed by me. Everyone else there was either a parent (they don’t count since they were probably dragged there) or teeny-bopper. I bet those teeny-boppers (we were all them once) were more excited to see her because she’s starring in Camp Rock with the Jonas Brothers. For me, it was all about Alice (the movie). If I had known the man sitting next to Alyson was Sandy Tung, the director, then I would have brought up all my issues with the movie (i.e. casting, story line from what I’ve seen, etc.). Many people, including myself, are disgruntled, particularly about the casting of Elizabeth. I won’t get into it, but read the threads on IMDB and you’ll know what I’m referring to. Anyhow, I was ecstatic to hear about Alice Upside Down. Unfortunately, I had a prior commitment which couldn’t be skipped so I didn’t see the movie. Hopefully, I’ll be seeing Alice Upside Down sometime soon. (The movie is apparently going straight to DVD, but lets cross our fingers for a theatrical release. Alice deserves it, to say the least.)