- I hadn’t developed any real interest in seeing this, having only seen the trailer once leading up to it, but I went with a friend and I’m glad I did because it was quite enjoyable. I think the stop-motion style keeps bringing up comparisons to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but perhaps because I don’t remember that movie so well it reminded me a lot more of Beetlejuice, especially the Other Mother’s bug furniture lair once she had revealed her true self. Everything about it is visually fabulous.
- On the one hand, I like seeing updated fairy tales that are done in the scary, disturbing way that classical fairy tales were actually done rather than the Disney-fied version of things, but on the other hand I’m disappointed to see a modern writer continue to work with villains who are evil, ugly, childless, step-motherish women. Come on, really? Can’t we move past this trope?
- We saw this in 3D and I thought the parts created solely for the enjoyment of 3D viewers were kind of silly (but still enjoyable). I love how it’s always something sharp and pointy coming out of the screen at you.
- The title sequence was great and I loved how the 3D worked with the layering of the textures on the title cards as well as the text on the other images.
- It’s kind of sad when fairy tale kids go through these elaborate mental exercises and illusions to escape the monotony and parental indifference in their lives, only to return and not have anything change. A darker film, like Pan’s Labyrinth, would have killed Coraline off at the end.
- The two aged and seasoned actresses were absolutely frightening with their heaving bosoms (bosoms are the only way to describe breasts like that). Imagine my horror when they showed up nearly naked during their fantasy sequence performance.
- I don’t hate 3D technology like I thought I would. I have yet to see a live-action 3D movie, so I’ll reserve full judgement until then. As long as the filmmakers eventually get over the novelty of the medium and stop including 3D shots that don’t feel natural simply to give the audience a rise, I’ll be okay with it.
- This was just delightful. I don’t really have much more to say than that.
Coraline
Hooray for cautionary tales for kids!
IMDB Plot Synopsis A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life...