This time around, I have two movies that aren't really what you'd expect from me. Although considering some of the crap that I watch (and love), that's pretty much a nonsensical statement. Both of these were released in 2009, and Tim Burton served as Producer for each. Without further ado, I present my take on two lesser known Tim Burton offerings.
Coraline
This is a dark fairy tale about a girl who moves into a new house and discovers a secret door that leads to... the same house, except everything, including her parents and neighbors, are better. She can stay permanently, but there's a catch.
Coraline is completely done in stop-motion photography and 3D (there's a 2D version on the DVD too), and the overall look is very cool. Adapted from a novella by author Neil Gaiman, the story is rich and detailed and full of memorable characters. Some of the scenes are breathtakingly beautiful and others are quietly terrifying. There's an excellent mix of humor and horror here, and it's definitely not for the wee youngsters. For you? Well, I watched it (Netflix) and was so blown away that I held on to it for a week so that my daughter Rachael could watch it. She loved it too, and it's on my Amazon to-buy list now. Really, do yourself a favor and watch this one.
9
9 is the second animated release for Focus Films, after Coraline. In this one, 9 refers to a rag doll that awakens to find the world destroyed. He manages to find dolls 1 through 8, there's a lot of bickering and then they defeat the evil Skynet Brain Machine. So life can begin again, or something, I think.
This movie is visually stunning but it's all for show. The story is major letdown, and it's not because they tried and failed. You are intentionally left without much more than hints about what happenned to humanity (I think it's an alternate universe, it's certainly not ours). Why rag dolls? Hints. How did they come to life? Hints. What happens next? Are there any people left? Animals? Who knows?
9 is short enough - 79 minutes - that it wasn't a complete waste of time, but don't expect much more than a pretty face. It's shallow. Like me.
Summing Up
Absolutely, positively see Coraline. Flip a coin on 9, there's worse out there.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Pop Some Popcorn, It's Rocket Jones Movie Review Time!!!
Posted by Ted at 3:09 PM
Labels: Cult Flicks
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5 comments:
We have Coraline. Have had it for ages. Haven't gotten around to watching it. We do that kinda shit.
I loved Coraline, particularly after I read some article about how painstakingly they did the scenery. I mean, they handpainted popcorn to be cherry blossoms... one by one by one. I can barely have the attention span to paint my toenails.
Haven't seen 9 yet but it's on my "watch before apocalypse" list.
rocketjones.blogspot.com; You saved my day again.
I liked 9 alright. It was on a tight time budget because they wanted to release it on 09/09/09, according to my nerdy animator friend.
I was wondering how Coraline was going to show up on film. Loved the book. Gaiman's awesome.
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