With Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll’s birthday on the horizon, we wanted to follow a few films down the rabbit hole and explore some of the fantasy worlds portrayed in the Victorian-era novel. Ignoring the recent blockbuster monstrosity that is Tim Burton’s movie, we ventured into the pool of tears, got advice from a caterpillar, and attended a mad tea party to find out what movies explore the same kinds of themes that the English author made synonymous with phantasmagorical adventures and self-discovery. Check out our gallery of Alice-inspired cinema past the break, and tell us your picks in the comments below.

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SOPA Blackout Day is in full swing, with Wikipedia, Reddit, BoingBoing, and other Internet giants blacking out entirely and thousands of other sites — including Flavorpill — creatively demonstrating their solidarity. (We hope you agree that censor bars aren’t a great look for us.) There’s also been something of a backlash against the online outpouring of opposition to SOPA and its Senate counterpart PIPA, from the usual suspects in Washington as well as groups like the MPAA, who sent this nasty note about the protests.

But not everyone in the entertainment industry supports SOPA. Stop the Wall, a site that you can also use to make a quick and easy phone call to your senator about the legislation, has posted an open letter to Washington from a group of artists that includes Aziz Ansari, Trent Reznor, The Lonely Island, MGMT, Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Troma honcho Lloyd Kaufman, and many others. “As creative professionals, we experience copyright infringement on a very personal level,” they write, but they don’t support SOPA because they “have benefited immensely from a free and open Internet.” Read the full letter after the jump, and then, if you haven’t already, get on the phone with your representatives to add your voice to the anti-SOPA chorus.

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Today at Flavorpill, we examined the last words of 25 geniuses. We argued over Nerve’s rankings of Terrence Malick’s limited filmography. We watched Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Moby, and Stephen Merritt sing “Science Fiction Double Feature” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We were amused by some of the horrible things that strangers have said to the readers of The Hairpin. We wanted the adorable tote bag pictured in Apple’s 1983 gift catalog. We wondered if someone at Chevy was inspired by Dear Photograph when creating this new ad. We couldn’t decide which of these pop culture Chuck Taylors would go with more of our wardrobe: the Breaking Bad ones or the pair inspired by The Walking Dead. We looked at some of the cartoon world’s most impressive facial hair. We learned an interesting new self-esteem technique from Jenny Slate. And finally, we found Anne Rice’s recent catty comments against Stephenie Meyer rather hilarious — but we’re also suddenly curious as to who would win in a Lestat vs. Edward showdown.

Yesterday in The New York Times Book Review, David Orr wrote, “Fantasy of any kind tells us that the world we know is not the only one, nor the most enduring — and that truth can be anything but an escape or comfort.” And yet, magical realism and fantasy have been creeping into our book lists with ever-increasing frequency. For this reason, we asked Lev Grossman to curate a group of his favorite fantasy novels. Grossman is the author of The Magicians and Codex, and is the book critic for TIME magazine. He has also written for The New York Times, The Believer, The Village Voice, Salon, and Wired, among other publications, and his latest novel, The Magician King, is out now.

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1. Vulture reports that super star composers T Bone Burnett and Danny Elfman will join forces to score Gary Ross’s highly-anticipated film adaptation of The Hunger Games. They say that you can expect the soundtrack to be “sophisticated, cerebral, soulful, and rebellious,” which would normally elicit an eye roll from us, but considering their resumes, we’ll make an exception.

2. Fans of Neil Gaiman should not expect HBO’s adaptation of American Gods to follow the book exactly. Says Gaiman: “The plan right now is that the first season would essentially be the first book, with divergences. You don’t want the people who’ve read the book to be able to go, ‘I know everything that’s going to be happening.’ Well, no. You know a lot more than anybody who is starting from here, but we will do things that will surprise you, too.” [via Zap2It]

3. Ai Weiwei’s mom says that Chinese authorities are now seeking nearly $2 million in fines and unpaid taxes from her son, who was recently imprisoned over the issue for three months. Ai’s disputing that number, and demanding that his accountant, who is still being detained, be released in order to help him deal with the situation. [via The Daily Beast]

4. Lil Wayne says that he plans to retire when he hits his 30s — which is only a few years away. “I’m bowing out still on top, I’ll make you all want me when I retire,” he told XXL magazine. “I honestly think [my career] is unfair to my kids. Honestly this is the real truth. So about 30, 31, 32, I got to get ready [to retire].” We’ll believe it when we see it. [via NME]

5. For some reason, this makes us extremely pleased: According to new findings from Ancestry.com, Kate Middleton (or rather, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) and Jane Austen are eleventh cousins, six times removed. [via People]

Bonus link: Screen Rant’s 20 Favorite Movie Robots

We were a little bit late in reading Jorian Polis Schutz’s analysis of manly manes in the last issue of Cabinet, titled “Barbers and Barbarians,” but we’re glad we did. Schultz writes, “The savage impulse must withstand the perennial opposition of forces for shortness — for there is always a national mythology of hair to grow out of and into.” This got us thinking about great writers’ hairstyles through time, from ancient Greek poets to the conceited French intellectuals of today. If hair doth make the man, then the following writers stand against the grain in these times, acting as iconoclastic reminders that one can still be manly (perhaps even more so) with an irrepressible hairdo. So let your hair down and enjoy the following modern scribes’ tangled tresses.

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Recently wed creative power couple Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman decided to give the world “a very Bowie Christmas gift” by recreating a scene from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth and posting the clip on YouTube. Amanda (with some badly drawn on Jennifer Connelly-style eyebrows) plays Sara, and Neil has a brief cameo as a mulletted David Bowie (with Christmas ornaments replacing Jareth’s crystal balls). Click through and let us know what you think of their dark twist on the original version.

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Today at Flavorpill, we found solace in the fact that Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” topped Maura Johnston’s list of the 20 worst songs of the year. We played pin the mustache on Hall & Oates and looked at 15 of the greatest mustaches in Coen Brothers history. We read a 6-year-old’s scathing review of the Spider-Man musical. We enjoyed Videogum’s retrospective of the best viral videos of 2010. We were surprised by how drunk the Tri-State Area is. We wondered how much Julian Assange is getting paid by Knopf to write his memoirs. We watched Paula Abdul slur inspirational things in the teaser clip for her upcoming show, Live to Dance. We found it hard to believe that a Blu supporter really vandalized Jeffrey Deitch’s bathroom. We were creeped out by this animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Christmas poem “Nicholas Was…” And finally, we loved the cover of the latest issue of Seattle Weekly so much that we wanted to gay marry it.

According to a recent New York Times article, picture books are losing popularity as over-eager yuppie parents push their toddlers toward “big-kid” alternatives. Although illustrated stories by Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, and Maurice Sendak have continued to receive their widespread dues, children’s publishers have been forced to decrease their overall multi-media output and, in turn, the platform for new titles. In protest of this culturally impoverishing trend, here are five stunningly illustrated children’s books that are as engrossing and educational for kids of any age as their text-only counterparts.

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1. T.I. — who is still on probation following his release from prison in March — was arrested with his wife on drug charges last night after deputies say they smelled marijuana. They’re both currently out on bail. [via TMZ]
2. Exciting news: “Twitter for iPad takes advantage of the iPad’s fluid touch interface, letting you move lots of information around smoothly and quickly — without needing to open and close windows or click buttons.”
3. An adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s comic book series The Sandman is coming to TV. A movie version has been in development since the mid-’90s. [via Heat Vision]
4. A 51-year-old woman is suing Diddy, saying that he fired her because of her age two decades after she helped launch his career. [via Yahoo! News]
5. We might keep watching The Office if Harvey Keitel is Steve Carell’s replacement. [via E! Online]

Bonus link: 32 ice cream cone tattoos