‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ and ‘A Bigger Splash’ on Local Screens (Sun., 5/29/16)

Alice Through the Looking Glass – Once upon a time a man whose real name was Charles Dodgson wrote, under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, two of the greatest books in the language: Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. The works still astound in their unbound whimsy and staggering imagination. But for some reason that wasn’t good enough for Tim Burton who, in 2010, directed a version of Wonderland which thanks to his, well let’s be nice and call it “aesthetic,” turned it into a pointless display of special effects and needless scenes of combat and bloodshed. That’s Tim! So now comes Burton’s version of Looking Glass. He’s not the director this time around, that would be James Bobin, but he is producer and this one, with returning stars Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Fry, and many more, appears to be just more of the same. You’re free to make up your own mind of course, but if you’re looking for me I’ll be at home reading a good book. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

A Bigger Splash – Okay, here’s a question: Does Dakota (50 Shades of Grey) Johnson ever make a movie in which she keeps her clothes on? Because she doesn’t in A Bigger Splash. But then, in her defense, none of the leads in the movie do, and that means you get to see Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Ralph Fiennes being unscrupulous to one another in a gorgeous villa on the Italian island of Pantelleria wearing nothing but what the good Lord gave them. So I know what you’re asking: How in the world did we all end up here? Swinton plays a rock star who goes to the island to recover after throat surgery, bringing along her filmmaker lover Schoenaerts. They’re toasting nicely in the Mediterranean sun … until Fiennes shows up as Swinton’s former lover and record producer, and he’s brought along his teenage daughter played by Johnson. It’s all kisses and smiles until people start doing things they shouldn’t be doing with people they shouldn’t be doing them with. It’s mind-games and mayhem and then—well I don’t want to give it away. Just know that it’s being billed as an “erotic thriller.” Luca Guadagnino directs from a David Kajganich screenplay which in turn is based on the 1969 Alain Delon/Romy Schneider French film La Piscine. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

3) Hearty Sunday dinners aren’t just for the meat eaters or the financially comfortable. Grab some friends and head over to Brillobox for the Starving Artist Sunday Suppers. Every Sunday, the restaurant’s chef creates a different hearty vegetarian meal and offers it for just $7 to give you a break from your regularly scheduled ramen du jour. You’ll want to get there early, as the special only goes until the food runs out (and at that price, it will). 5 p.m. 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield.

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