Coraline

Henry Selick, the director of " The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach", once again takes us to a world full of imagery and wonder...but this time...some of it is actually frightening. It was filled with such magic and enchantment that I completely forgot that it was a dark tale..until the occasional scares filled the air. It has some highly fun and amusing characters in it also, and that is the strongest thing of the movie. After viewing it, I came to the conclusion it was basically an "Alice in Wonderland" tale (girl entering new and strange world, plus the cat that talks makes it obvious) but this world has a dark twist. Filled with a great cast and terrific visionary, I feel this movie is fun for all ages (who says kiddos shouldn't be scared?)

When Coraline moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents. She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true. When the Other Mother invites Coriline to stay in her world forever, the girl refuses and finds that the alternate reality where she is trapped is only a trick to lure her.

"Coraline" is a dark and creepy animation that follows the style of Tim Burton in "Corpse Bride" or "The Nightmare Before Christmas" with non- likable characters. In addition, there is no subtle message for children. Therefore, it seems to be primarily recommended to adult audiences. The nightmarish environment is supported by awesome cinematography and a great music score. None of the characters is totally likable .My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Coraline"

First - if you see this movie, try to see the 3D version - not all presentations are in 3D. Second, know that this movie is way too dark (IMHO) for kids under 10. Not only could the visuals be too intense, but the pacing is not that of a children's show.

OK - that said, this movie is great. The strength is in three areas: visuals (scenery, characters, and little 'details'), style (this is movie is simply a work of art - a very dark and offbeat style) and emotional impact (the film visually evokes a lot of childhood feelings about growing up).

The basic setup: A little girl and her parents move into a big, mysterious old home. One night, she learns that a little door in the house opens into a passageway to a parallel world. In this world, there are alternate versions of her parents, friends and everything ... as she journeys back and forth, she learns more and more about this world ... and the story progresses from there.

If that sounds a bit too simplistic, there's more to it in the full story. Plus, it's presented in a serious and dark tone - which adds to it's mystique. The only area I can knock it is in a tame use of 3D. There are definitely some spectacular 3D parts, but the way it's used in general makes it fade into background

If you're drawn to the visual aspects of movies, then this is must-see movie for 2009.

The Movie Coraline is an animated film well worth watching more than once. SPOILER ALERT The movie starts out introducing Coraline, voice actor Dakota Fanning, who is new to the Pink palace and is soon introduced to the black cat, voice actor Keith David, and Wybie Lovat, voice actor Robert Bailey Jr., who both are stalking Coraline. We then meet her mother Mel Jones, voice actor Teri Hatcher, and her father Charlie Jones, voice actor John Hodgman. Corallines' new life is shown to be less than wonderful as she meets her other tenants and is unable to realize her dream of gardening. Soon she discovers another world, which is much better in every way tailored specifically to Coraline based on information gathered by a spying Coraline doll carried by Coraline unknowingly. The other mother quickly turns villainess, as she is unable to get Coraline to do what she wants. With the help of the black cat, Coraline is able to escape the other mother and return home saving other children's souls who were less fortunate than she was. As well as her parents who were trapped to lure Coraline back to the other world.

The movie end with Coraline now happy with her real world and realizing she had everything she needed there all along. The theme of wanting more than what you already have and not seeing how good you have it is common among films today. However, the creative imagination of Coraline takes a spin and makes a very unbelievable situation seem plausible. The motif of the movie is seen often as the theme is drawing on what is real and what is too good to be true. When the sound and lighting are as controlled as in Coraline the Director can really impress upon the viewer a believable world that you can see yourself involved. The songs used make the world's first the regular world and then the other world seem like a place of dreary and boring plainness and then a world of pure imagination yet also terror. When the other world is dissolving the technique of fading the edges into white is pure genius.

The angle also helps you see through a subjective viewpoint in the majority of the scenes, even though it is not truly the camera angle but how the slides are drawn to show certain angles. The theme is so crucial in Coraline because few people would think the way Coraline is acting at the start of the movie might even be bad but as the movie progresses you see how she is flawed in her original outlook and judgments of her parents and new neighbors.

When i saw a teaser of this film i didn't imagine it would be a fantasy/horror movie for kids. That's great because there aren't many, and it must be difficult to display a colorful world with the right amount of frightening elements not to leave a child having bad dreams up to adulthood.

Coraline is a girl who wishes she'd had more attention from her parents, a prettier place to live and better neighbors. After she discovers the entrance to an apparently enhanced version of her reality, she'll soon find out that too much perfection can't be real.

Good and imaginative story, delighting visuals, creepiness from the beginning and a couple scary scenes make this an enjoyable film.