Coraline is a pre-teen girl who just moved into an apartment in a decrepit old house with parents that all but ignore her. Shes forced to eat like a rabbit and mom and dad seem more interested in the vegetable books they write than their child.
Sharing the house with them is a strange old man who used to be a circus performer and two former Vaudevillian old maids. A creepy kid and a skinny old cat round out the cast.
The house is haunted. Coraline discovers a long, corrugated passage that leads to the other house with the other mother and the other father.
Unlike Coralines real parents, they spoil her rotten with gourmet food and tantalizing desserts. The other vaudevillians and the other circus performer put on amazing shows. Everything in the alternative world is perfect exceptall the people have buttons for eyes.
Creepy.
On the surface, Coraline is a terrific 3-D stop-motion animated feature. The temptation is to think its a childrens story. Parents will pack up the kiddos, haul them in by the score and love the theres no place like home moral.
And, no doubt, kids of all ages will enjoy the exceptional effects. Theyll giggle with glee as skittery, off-kilter characters pop in and out of the story, and as widgets and gadgets, imaginative thingies fairly fly from the screen and sometimes sit so close to your nose youll be tempted to touch.
Those are the basics.
Dig a little deeper and Neil Gaimans (Stardust, MirrorMask) is very original and award-winning story, and Gaiman and director Henry Selicks (The Nightmare before Christmas) screenplay is a superb horror story.
Punctuating this quite bizarre and very entertaining story are places where Selick and the animators do such a good job that youll swear its a four-dimensional movie and not three.
Mr. Movie rating: 5 stars
Rated PG for mature themes. It opens Friday, Feb. 6 at the Carmike 12 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
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Kudos to Battelle Film Club for bringing 'The Hedgehog'
Kudos to Battelle Film Club for bringing 'The Hedgehog'
The Hedgehog is a subtitled French film from 2009 that finally got released in the U.S. last year, and thanks to the Battelle Film Club , it will be seen in the Tri-Cities.
The story centers around Paloma, an 11-year old girl whose interests are philosophy and art.
No one in her family can relate. Her parents barely speak to each other much less to Paloma. The disconnected mom talks to plants, and the psychiatrist but can’t talk to her daughter. Dad is nowhere to be found.
'The Vow' for romantic eyes only
'The Vow' for romantic eyes only
The Vow is based on a true story.
Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams play characters Leo and Paige. Their story and that of the real life couple the film is modeled after have little in common. Married, careers on the upswing, he produces music and she’s an artist growing in fame. And they are very, very happy.
Then comes the traffic accident. She has serious head trauma. When Paige eventually comes around she remembers nothing about Leo or their life. All her memories are up to a year or so before she met Leo.
'Big Miracle' not so big, but miraculous
'Big Miracle' not so big, but miraculous
You can legitimately call Big Miracle the feel good movie of the year.
Never mind that the year isn’t very old. It is hard — however — not to like an “inspired” by a true story flick about saving endangered whales.
An inspired John Krasinski — from TV’s The Office — anchors the movie and leads an equally inspired cast of who’s who actors. Best known are Drew Barrymore and Kristen Bell. Supporting them are Ted Danson, Tim Blake Nelson, Dermot Mulroney and others.
35th Annual Portland International Film Festival begins
35th Annual Portland International Film Festival begins
The 35th Annual Portland International Film Festival has begun. It runs through February 25. For film fans this one is loaded. There are 140 films from 36 different countries — 93 are features and 46 shorts.
Portland isn’t that far from Tri-Cities art film lovers. This entry reviews a few films from the first weekend and Monday. I’ll be posting reviews throughout the series until its conclusion February 25th.
Friday, February 10
'The Thing' among those things to be left alone
'The Thing' among those things to be left alone
Mary Elizabeth Winstead ( Scott Pilgrim vs. The World ) is Kate Lloyd, a paleontologist asked to accompany a not-so mad-acting mad scientist on an expedition to Antarctica.
They’re checking out the discovery of a frozen alien and its ship. The movie is The Thing and other than Winstead, the only other slightly recognizable actor in the cast of mostly unknowns is Joel Edgerton, whose star rose recently in Warrior . He’s an American helicopter pilot and as close as the characters get to a love interest.
-- Local show times, theaters, trailer.
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