Coraline --

[peter johnson]

Reverent Powell made a brief mention of this flick in a Recent Viewings thread, but I think this weirdness deserves its own --

I see where some are saying that "Monsters vs. Aliens" is the first 3-D film they've seen -- Coraline was playing the trailer for "Monsters" in 3-D, so I got a pretty good taste of it, though the 3-D trailer that really blew me away was the one for Tim Burton's "9" -- coming in September.

Anyway, Coraline features a script based on Neil Gaiman, who is one of the best overall writers out there today.  The 3-D animation is all tabletop, with models, much like "The Nightmare Before Christmas", so there is immediately something to be technically in awe of.  That said, I thought the film tried to straddle a line between childrens' film and adult film.  I know if I was 6 years old, the vision of the vampire-bat Scotties would haunt me for months, and not in a good way.

Parts of the movie are stunningly beautiful, with some of the best images in any film I've ever seen, eg:  The garden on The Other Side, the Mouse Circus, etc.  It also has truely disturbing and disturbed imagery, eg:  The vaudivillian sisters in the basement in the "real" world.

Being a huge Neil Gaiman fan, I was pre-disposed to love this film, and sort of surprised that I left with reservations.  Dang it, some of it just didn't work for me, and what did didn't completely make up for what didn't.  I can make my eyes burn just by thinking of some scenes -- the visuals were simply overpowering the story at times, and I had been led to believe that the 3-D was to be used sparingly & not just to make things leap out at you.  Well, there's quite a lot of things leaping out at you, thankyou very much, and it can leave you feeling a tad seasick.

Ultimately I suppose people should see this & get their own impressions.  I would recommend it to some folks I know & not others, depending on their tastes.  Not an unabashed winner like I hoped it would be, but certainly worth seeing.

peter johnson/denny crane

[Rev. Powell]

PJ, I pretty much agree with everything you say. CORALINE gets 4/5 stars from me.

I wrote a little more about CORALINE on my blog here.  Note that I emphasize how the movie's not weird--that's because the blog's about "weird" movies, and compared to some of the other stuff profiled there (like EL TOPO) it isn't weird.  Still, it's a little bit weird for mainstream moviegoers, I'll grant that.

I read Gaiman's book after I saw the movie and I really think they did a great job of adapting it.  I think the book, if anything, is weirder and more unsettling than the movie. 

I'm not really a fan of the whole 3-D experience; it's nice for a change of pace but I'm really glad every movie isn't in 3-D.  It gets hard on the eyes, especially for us older folks. 

[WilliamWeird1313]

Loved it.

That's all I have to say.

Loved it.

[Pilgermann]

I'm basically programmed to get enjoyment from stop-motion animation, but aside from the beautiful technical work I think that this was an enjoyable film.  The voice acting was well done (not once did I think to myself that I was listening to Dakota Fanning speaking Coraline's lines), the soundtrack was unique, and although the story isn't particularly profound I like the way it became more horrific as the film progressed.  The 3D effects are neat an' all, but I think I'd rather watch a regular presentation next time around.

[Mofo Rising]

I just watched this tonight. I thought it was fantastic.

I'm not a really big fan of Art, with a capital "A." Mostly because most of it is just so much hyperbole about nothing. However, I love artisans, and the artisan-ship in this movie is second to none. Just the thought of these people spending hours upon hours crafting little automatons, right down to the stitching of each individual fabric, makes me happy beyond belief.

As for the content... I am NOT a fan of the rating system in this country, but this movie fully encapsulates the term "Parental Guidance." You need to know your kid before you let them watch this, because it is by design horrifying. Of course, some of my favorite memories of movies/books I ingested as a child involve me being completely terrified. Try reading some John Bellairs books sometime. I'm a jaded/cynical adult these days, and would love to be able to go back to being bug-blank scared by a movie.

I did not get to watch this movie in the original 3-D. I watched it in blue-red 3-D on DVD, which I don't recommend. It doesn't work very well, and you completely lose the detail and color pallete of the film, which is fantastic. However, I would like to say that now that the technology for the polarized 3-D is more widespread (and not just available in Captain EO and IMAX showings), I think it should be used more often. If it can be used effectively enough to seem natural, it ceases to become a gimmick. The beginning of true 3-D in film will seem jarring, until we get used to just viewing it as another technical method.

From Ebert's review:

"It's more or less impossible for me, anyway, to be scared by 3-D animation. The process always seems to be signaling, 'I'm a process!' I think it's harder to get involved in a story when the process doesn't become invisible. I hear from parents who say, 'My kids didn't even notice the 3-D!' In that case, why have it in the first place?"

I would say that the reason the 3-D is so obtrusive to Ebert is because he has spent the last several decades watching 2-D films, not because 3-D is a gimmick. Another case of loudly proclaiming that "these talkies will never catch on!"

Anyway, as a movie, I really enjoyed Coraline. I still wish I could have seen it in the original 3-D, as well as Up.