This past weekend my buddy & me went to check out the stop motion animated film Coraline. We're both BIG fans of SM animated films like, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" & "Mad Monster Party?!", as well as all those R/B holiday TV specials, such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
SM is a relatively lost film making art which I'm glad is still produced once in a while. It's a time consuming, tedious, monotonous, nerve wracking process of moving a figure or object mere fractions of an inch, clicking off one or two frames of film until you have (hopefully) fluid movement. When I was a kid, my brother, friends, & me used to take my fathers (usually without permission) Super 8 camera to make our own lame SM films.
Coraline started out as a book written by Neil Gaiman whose mostly known for his arguably "classic" comic book work such as "Sandman". He's also known for producing tales such as "Stardust" which was recently made into a film. His most recent book, "The Graveyard Book", was released to much acclaim.
Coraline was adapted for the screen and directed by Henry Selick, A master of the modern day SM process. He previously directed the heralded films, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" for Tim Burton, and "James and The Giant Peach".
While I enjoyed the book, but more so the recent graphic novel, I felt a bit let down by the film (Don't yell at me Cate!). While the SM and 3-D processes were absolutely AMAZING, the story seemed to drag a bit. It saddened me. It was a visually beautiful film & the voice cast headed by Dakota Fanning and Terri Hatcher were excellent. I think the main reason for the letdown is the extreme hype some of these films are receiving.
Perhaps when it's released on DVD I'll enjoy it more, viewing it from the quiet comfort of the cemetery I call home.
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SM animation notwithstanding, I thought it was a slightly disturbing portrayal of a very good story. But then this is the first flick I've seen outside the house since Wall-e. So much for my movie critic credentials!
& I have credentials?- Not! Yes, the story is a bit dark & disturbing, but that's not always such a bad thing, is it? Look at Mother Goose stuff & stories from the brothers Grimm. Then again I'm not a kid, I just act like one.
Anyone who shares their thoughts about something or someone is a critic. Some people just get paid for it. ;^}
I'm sure most people know by now Wall-e won the Academy Award for best animated feature, but I was a bit let down by that film as well.
I'm not sure what's wrong w/me these days. Perhaps it's the environment I'm viewing them in? I tend to enjoy movies more when I watch them undistracted by myself. On the other hand there are some films that I like to share w/someone I care about to see their reaction to it. I think I'll need to re-watch both of those films in my crypt!
Forgive my ramblings- Haven't had my coffee yet. The elixer of life.
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