Welcome to the Cinema Cafe Podcast, the film podcast, by the fans for the fans. Join us as we review new movie releases, talk some film news and share our general love for all things cinema. Also, newly added, book reviews!! We review a lot of movies that are adapted from books, and we've generally read those books beforehand, so we also like to have in-depth discussions on the differences between the original book source and movie adaptation. Enjoy!!
And we are back with another installment in our Fantastic Short Film
Friday series, as we continue to showcase films released in
the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.
It's
time for another amazing short film for all you short film lovers
out there. Like every kid I grew up reading Aesop's Fables, and this tale is one of Aesop's most classic and enduring fables, but with a twist. I love the old style of animation used in the short which almost feels like paper cut animation, and the tone of the piece, the pacing is just fantastic. Here is the 4-minute French fable La Queue de la Souris (A Mouse's Tale) from filmmaker Benjamin Renner.
Here's the synopsis:
An underdog story about a mouse who comes across a lion and tries to keep him happy long enough to come up with a plan to survive.
This ones a short short so there really isn't more that needs to be said. It's just a magical daily dose of hope and courage. Honestly if it was me, I'd probably have already been eaten. I just love underdog stories.
Check this out if you want to see a beautifully animated fable. Check this out if you like to watch stories about the little guy rising up and overcoming adversary (cliched I know but wonderfully done).
Enjoy this weeks dose of short film goodness with La Queue de La Souris (A Mouse's Tale).
And we are back with another installment in our Fantastic Short Film
Friday series, as we continue to showcase films released in
the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.
It's
time for another amazing short film for all you short film lovers
out there. It's not often that you have the feeling that you're getting the chance to see the start of an upcoming artist, the start of animator that could hit it really it big one day. This short is a great example of how talent and ingenuity with hard work can create something magical regardless of experience or budget. Here is the 3-minute animated short Crayon Dragon from filmmaker Toniko Pantoja.
Here's the synopsis:
A girl is commissioned to paint over an old concrete illustration, in
which to her surprise, [she] sinks into. She befriends a painted dragon
who has a wing missing.
Toniko Pantoja created this short for a second-year project at CalArts animation. I just love the old school look and feel to this piece, like watching a storybook come to life, like being young again. There's great talent at work here and I'm just amazed by the results.
Check this out if you want to something both vibrant and heartwarming. Check this
out if you want to remember the beauty of being a child filled with wonder.
Enjoy this weeks dose of short film goodness with Crayon Dragon.
And we are back with another installment in our Fantastic Short Film
Friday series, as we continue to showcase films released in
the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.
It's
time for another amazing short film for all you short film lovers
out there. This weeks short is a beautiful animated bit of zombie action that is both short and sweet. Here is the 4-minute French animated short Apocalypse Pizza from filmmaker Andres Fernandez.
Here's the synopsis:
A group of delivery workers try to deliver pizza and movies in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.
It's a simple premise beautifully executed in the best comedic video game way possible. The animation is fresh and while the story is familiar, the way its animated and shot and just the simple fact that its in Paris and there's a group of people who are living during the zombie apocalypse and are intent on bringing customers some microwaved pizza and dvds is so charming it borders on brilliance.
Check this out if you, like myself, enjoy a good zombie film. Check this
out if you like beautifully animated works that will leave you smiling from ear to ear.
Enjoy this weeks dose of short film goodness with Apocalypse Pizza.
And we are back with another weekly installment in our Fantastic Short Film Friday series, as we look to showcase films released in the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.
This week we have for you a French animated short called Oedipe, a slight retelling of the classic Greek myth now told by Thierry Bleton, Frederic Caro, Renaud Madeline and Jonathan Perez. It has English subtitles so don't worry. Here's the official synopsis:
After consulting the oracle, Oedipus announces to his girlfriend that his destiny is to kill his father and marry his mother. How will Oedipus choose between destiny and freedom?
Since this is a French short, I couldn't find out much information about it or rather I could, but couldn't read the main website. Still, the short is a lot fun. It's nicely animated (looks a lot like the Disney Hercules style of animation- blocky characters right out of ancient Greek art), is a Greek myth so it's a tragedy (although slapstick and light-hearted) and it even has a musical number in the middle!! What more can you ask for?
If you can read French and want to find out more information about the short go: here.
So there you have, a school lesson told through animation and song. As always, sit back, relax and get ready to find some joy in whimsical tragedy.
Yes that's right, it's time for another installment of Fantastic Short Film Friday. Part 2 of a 5 part series, this week we take another gander at one of the nominees for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards for Best Animated Short. That short is Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty. Directed by Nicky Phelan and written/voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty is the story of how fairy tales have both the power to both enchant and frighten and how grandmother's really do know best.
You can find out more information about the short here. Here's a little info concerning the short from it's website:
Inspired by a character in Irish writer Kathleen O'Rourke's stand-up comedy show, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty first came to the screen in a 5min short film directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Brown Bag Films in 2008. Currently zimmer-framing her way around the international film festival circuit, 'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' has already collected a number of audience awards at film festivals in Ireland, America and Australia. The short film will have an Irish theatrical release through Paramount Pictures this year and will receive its television debut on Ireland's public service broadcaster, RTE.
The short is a lot of fun and very reminiscent of the classic fairy tales I grew up reading and the animation is a nice mix of CGI and traditional. As always sit back, relax, think of fond memories of your grandmother, and enjoy the ride of Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty.
Hi everyone!! Since I started to update this blog regularly with film news, reviews and whatever else catches my fancy, I wanted to dedicate at least one post each week to a type of filmmaking that I feel is sorrily overlooked: the short film.
I've always enjoyed watching short films, but it's always been hard to see many of them since they generally only play at small film festivals. Thankfully with the advent of such things as Youtube, it's been much easier to find short films. However, there's so many to sift through that I'm often asked which one's are good because I can honestly say this, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, "a bad short film is the most brutal of tortures. Even though they may appear short, some make it feel like you've been sitting there for hours begging to get away."
So each Friday I will be shedding light on a short film that I feel is worth a look, or as it'll be known as, Fantastic Short Film Friday. Last Fridays short, Sebastian's Voodoo was the first spotlight of the Cinema Cafe's Podcast new feature.
This week I want to spotlight an animated short film called Tarboy. I've been unable to find out much information about the short, but I do believe it's directed and animated by James Lee with music by Hania Lee. It's a fun short about discarded robot souls found form and the revenge they take on their evil oppressors. I love the almost cut-out, black paper, deeply shadowed art deco minimalistic animation of this feature and I absolutely love the soundtrack. So just sit back and enjoy. If you want more information on Tarboy you can check out: here.
Who would have thought, a touching anmation about Voodoo Dolls. Here's a 4-minute animated short called Sebastian's Voodoo from director Joaquin Baldwin about "a voodoo doll who must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death." I had never heard of Joaquin until this animated short, but evidently he's an award winning animator and director from Paraguay.
Sebastian's Voodoo was shown at last years National Film Board of Canada competition. No idea how it fared, but after watching this short, I feel it reasonable to say that we can expect great things from Mr. Joaquin Baldwin in the future. Also of note: he's not one of the Baldwin brothers.
The Holiday Season is almost over, but after coming back from Houston and still in the festive mood, I thought I'd share one of my favorite MGM animated one-reel shorts from 1939, Peace on Earth. Directed by Hugh Harmon, the short is about a post apocalyptic world where animals have replaced man. It's animated beautifully, the story is timeless and timely, and frankly I love these old cartoons.
So sit back and enjoy a story where two young squirrels ask their grandfather: who are these "men" from the lyric 'Peace on Earth, goodwill to men'...
In this week's podcast, we will review September Issue, The Princess, and the Frog, and Avatar.
For this particular post, we'll focus on this 2009 Disney movie, the first 2D movie since Home on the Range.
It was great watching a Disney princess film just because I haven't seen one since Mulan, which was ages ago. The overall story is a classic one--a girl in distress, and she needs to find her way out of the situation she's in and falls in love with a prince, while still looking beautiful. But what I like about this movie is that it took a classic story, and made it it's own. I know that sounds a bit cliche but here's a few examples of what it's still unique.
1. The princess, the lead character, is black, and she's not an African princess but an American girl who grew up in New Orleans, which brings me to my next reason.
2. The location is New Orleans, LA and the time period is early 20th Century. This is not a far away land, or some distant time, long long ago. Granted it's not contemporary, but the place and time is still identifiable to us (or at least our grandparents perhaps?).
3. Changing the story for an updated audience. It seems like these days, kids have "higher" thresholds for content that may be perceived as more mature. In the movie, the villian was definitely darker than most villians of Disney past, and also *SPOILER ALERT* the movie does touch on death, where a lot of times it seems to be glossed over. *SPOILER END* The story itself on how it evolves also isn't very "typical."
The one thing that was slightly a disappointment was the music, there were only 2 pieces that I thought were enjoyable and the others fell flat. But I still enjoyed the movie so I'd give it a "Bring Your Lunch From Home" because you do not want to miss it.
I wanted to mention a 5 minute animated short film I came across called Alma, about a little girl who comes across a small shop with a doll displayed in the shops window, that looks surprisingly very much like her. And you know what people say curiosity did to the cat right? Ran right over her. I don't have much inform concerning the short, but here's some information about the short's director directly from the films site, http://almashortfilm.com.
Alma is Rodrigo Blaas’ first short film as a director. Originally from Spain, Rodrigo Blaas has worked in animation for more than ten years, in Spain and in the United States.
Seizing the possibility of directing his first independent short film, Rodrigo Blaas asked some of the best artists in their field to take part in this independent project: French animator Bolhem Bouchiba, character designer Carlos Grangel and Sergio Pablos, ArtDirector Alfonso Blaas, music composer Mastretta and sound designer Tom Myers.
It's a bit freaky, weird and cute, all things that make Alma a winner for me. It's been making the festival circuit and winning awards and for a short time (I don't know how long) you can view the short for free. I've added the video below so check it before it's gone. It's definitely worth your time. Here's a big congrats to Alma's director Rodrigo Blass and here's hoping we see more from him soon.
Way back in the 1980's, my dad & brother, both who were into anime, showed me this film...kinda. I say kinda, because the version I saw was called Warriors of the Wind, which was a cut version of the original Japanese film, named Kaze no tani no Naushika. Back in the 1980's, the majority of Anime that was shown in the USA, whether movies or cartoons, did not have the best of dubbingm and were sometimes cut. Especially the cartoons. They were dubbed horribly, but since we were children, we didn't really care that much. That was the case for me with this film, but as I grew older and learned of such things, I always wanted to see the true version of this film. Thanks to the new owners of Marvel Comics releasing Studio Ghibli films on DVD, I was finally able to see Hayao Miyazaki's genius in it's true form.
Our heroine, Princess Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, is a peace loving girl who can communicate with the insects of the Toxic Jungle, like the Ohmu, the intelligent giant armored caterpillars who's eyes dictate their mood. When a ship crashes into the Valley of the Wind, Nausicaä and the citizens of the valley get caught up in a war between Tolmekia & Pejite, with the Tolmekian's taking over the Valley of the Wind to retrieve a creature of unimaginable power. What will become of the Valley of the Wind? Will Nausicaä be able to stop this war and save her people?
For those of you who watch anime, you have most likely seen the work of Hayao Miyazaki, who's makes timeless movie after timeless movie, at least in my opinion. Out of all of Miyazaki's movies, this is my personal favorite. Even though the Warriors of the Wind version was cut, I was always enamored by the world he created, and the visual way he brought it to life. This was one of the movies that got me into Japanese animation in the first place. The vibrant beauty of the Valley of the Wind, the unique design of the insects of the forest, and the awesomeness that was Nausicaä's glider just won me over from an early age. Not to mention that the soundtrack to the movie is simply beautiful, which is to be expected from any of Miyazaki's films. This film is considered to be the first Studio Ghibli film, even though it was made before Studio Ghibli was founded. I have yet to see Miyazaki's latest film, Ponyo, but with his constant track record of animated masterpieces, much like Pixar, I cannot wait to see it.
I talked about this wonderful independent animated film way back in one of our earlier podcasts. To call this film brilliant, audacious, mesmerizing, and an incredible single-minded vision would do this film a disservice since it must be seen to be believed. Written, produced, directed, and animated entirely by American artist Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues, is a 2D computer animated retelling of the Hindu story of Ramayana, interspersed with narration by Indian shadow puppets and with musical interludes voiced and sung by 1920's jazz vocalist Annette Hanshaw. It's a lot to process, with 4 different types of animated styles and again, it was all done by one animator!!! God, this film is amazing. And even after the passing of many months since I first saw this movie, its beauty still haunts me.
You can watch it free at: http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/. The reason and story behind why the movie is under common's licensing is almost as good as the actual movie, so go to the site and check it out. I guarantee that after watching it for free, like me you'll rush out to buy the dvd, if only just to help, however little, this wonder animator named Nina Paley that breathed something so magical into life by herself where you can't help but marvel at such an achievement.
Well I am back from my Cruise vacation to Bermuda, and I thought I'd go with an aquatic theme for this week of Movie reviews. To start, we'll go straight into the Pixar bin of quality with their aquatic masterpiece, Finding Fabio...Nemo! For me, it was around this film when I started to realize how good Pixar really was, in terms of just making fantastic film after fantastic film. Finding Elmo...Nemo is no excepetion to their list. Even the tag line of the poster on the left is priceless as well. "There are 3.7 Trillion Fish in the Ocean. They're looking for one."
The fish they are referring to are Marlin, voiced by Albert Brooks, and Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres. Both put in an absolutely brilliant performance, once again showing how well Pixar chooses their voice actors. Marlin is an over-protective father, due to a tragedy in the opening of the movie, which is another one of Pixar's attempts to make me feel sad emotions. His son gets kidnapped by a diver, and he ventures out into the vast ocean to find him. Along the way, he meets Dory, a very forgetful fish who manages to help him on his journey. Meanwhile, Nemo is trapped in a fish tank in a Dentist's office with other fish, with more great voice acting choices, who've clearly gone somewhat crazy living in it, and has to get out before the Dentist's niece takes Nemo away for good. It is the journey itself where the film really shines. This is a film that can appeal to many parents out there, who are afraid to let their children out of there sight in fear of what might happen to them. In his search for his son, Marlin learns that he can't shield Nemo from the world forever, just like he can't be afraid of the world forever either.
Not just the main characters make the movie so good, but all the minor & really minor characters as well, from the Seagulls to the Swordfish to the Crabs. Pretty much like all Pixar films, I really can't say anything bad about this movie. I personally believe that Ellen really steals the show as Dory, putting in a simple hilarious & brilliant performance, which plays perfectly against Albert Brooks' Marlin. She knows exactly what to do whenever life gets her down.
If, for some reason, you haven't seen this film yet, please do. It's yet another masterpiece in Pixar's long list of masterpieces.
You all know the theme. You all know the characters. You all know that the word "DO'H" is in the English Dictionary now. What more can really be said about one of the most popular series ever on Television, if not the most popular. The Simpsons are still going strong today, after so many seasons on FOX. Eventually, they pretty much had to make a movie, and this 2007 release was it. Mind you, I have not actually watched the Simpsons TV show for a while now, as the newer comedy styling of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, & Maggie cannot compare to the first...I'd say 10-11 seasons of the show. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this movie back in 2007, and it really didn't disappoint. After watching it again this past Friday, I probably laughed as hard yesterday as I did in the movie theater back in 2007. For the most part, the plot is actually well crafted in "Simpsonian" style, pretty much making it literally what the title suggests, being The Simpsons Movie. With it's grandiose story line, I felt that this was a very good representation of what a Simpsons movie would and should be like, touching on classic movie type scenarios yet not stopping to poke fun at them either. Overall, if you're a fan of the Simpsons, like me, and even if you haven't watched the show in forever, like me, I do highly recommend this film to you. It is, as Mr. Burns would say, excellent.
This 2009 CGI animated 3D family film is from Dreamworks studio, and is the story of Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) who on her wedding day gets struck by a falling meteor which causes her to grow 50-feet tall. She is quickly captured by the US military and taken where other monsters are held being held, a brilliant scientist who turned himself into a cockroach, an indestructible gelatinous blob called Bob, the missing link fishman, and a 350 foot giant insect who became big after being struck with radiation. They must join forces and protect California, as an alien mastermind tries to take it over. It’s Monsters vs. Aliens and we’re just the collateral damage. But yeah, no one dies here oddly enough.
Let’s talk first about the 3D in the film. Monster vs. Aliens is the first animated feature film produced in Real 3D rather than just converting the film print after into 3D, which added 15 million more to the overall cost of this film. And frankly, it was pretty much wasted. Some of the 3D scenes were good, like in the beginning someone is playing with a paddle ball and the ball bounces back and forth, seemingly striking viewers at random, and there are some nice space debris scenes in 3D, but overall, yeah not that impressive. The 3D never feels immersive like it did with Coraline 3D, or even Bolt 3D. The 3D here always feels like a gimmick and a not entirely good one. It really feels like the art of using 3D technology in films took a step back here.
I had very high expectations for this one. The trailers and tv spots made the film look fun and inventive, while still retaining the old charm of the old Godzilla and other monster movies. I’m a big fan of the cinema known as Kaiju (which means Strange Beast), films where giant monsters battle humanity or one another, popularized during the 50’s at late night drive-ins. Such examples of this are Mothra, Godzilla, Rodan, etc. However, this movie also harkens back to such great early creature films like The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Fly, The Blob, Attack of the 50-ft Woman, Them!, etc. So after the melding of so many classic conventions and characters how did this movie hold up?
Well, it’s not as good as I was hoping it would be. Perhaps a CGI animated movie about monsters destroying things just can’t be done well, or maybe it’s just because Dreamworks generally makes crappy movies. My friend commented, maybe Pixar can do it, but this movie has really shaken me.
There are some nice homage’s if you’re a fan of the monster genre. The military comments that we need to Destroy All Monster which is reference to the great 1968 film of the same name, and if you know what to look for, there are posters layered throughout the film like little Easter eggs. And the animation overall is quite nice, San Francisco is breathtaking as is the giant alien robot the monsters fight on the Golden Gate Bridge. That fight scene is amazing. Personally I think the giant robot is the best aspect of the movie. It looks like one of those plastic Easter eggs that when you open them you find candy inside. The robot looks stunning and totally kicks ass.
However none of that hides the incredible pacing problems this film has. While this should feel like a light and fun action comedy, there were stretches where it was incredibly boring, where you have all these monsters and aliens standing around and nothing really happens. I mean one of the monsters is like a 100 stories tale and all he does is blow snot. It’s just sad use of creatures. And while the dialogue was witty, most of the movie fell to the same problem most Dreamworks animated films fall too, an over reliance on pop culture and stupid, “look at me I’m funny” kind of jokes. For example, The US President when first confronted by aliens busts out a keyboard and plays Herbie Hancock’s Rockit as he dances all around, finally ending the piece with a Vulcan peace sign. Ugh. Also, I know we live in the MTV generation, but I think it was an odd choice for this movie to have so many quick cuts. Generally that’s used for budget constraints and because most people have short attention spans, but this is animation, you can draw whatever the hell you want, so why bother with fast cuts to hide what you aren’t doing? I don’t get it. An overreliance on flash over substance is the Dreamworks norm though. However that’s not the worst part.
I mean you have a movie about a bunch of giant creatures destroying everything, so it should be fun right? But truthfully the action really isn’t that interesting. First off, it should have been Monster vs. Monsters because the aliens concept wasn’t utilized enough. You have this alien being with high-tech weaponry that can destroy things in an instant, and yet none of it is every used on a simple human girl. The whole alien aspect of the film took a back story to the monster aspects and I think that really hurt the film because it’s not just Monsters, but Monsters vs. Aliens. Also the action got a bit too chaotic at times, as all these bright colors flash by at incredible speeds, and robots explode everywhere, it’s hard to keep track of what you’re seeing.
Still, the one thing I always fault Dreamworks for, their dependence on named voice talent, really helped the film here. All the voice talent is great. I know you dislike her, but Resse Witherspoon as Susan was surprisingly good here and her voice worked for her character. Will Arnett as the Missing Link is just faux machismo personified. Hugh Laurie as Dr. Cockroach, PHD was a nice nod to this House tv show character. Seth Rogen was really fantastic here as Bob the indestructible goo. The same laid back persona he uses in his live action films, really works as he ratchets things up 10 notches and plays this really dumb yet loveable blue blob. Steven Colbert was also nice as the President of the United States, although he’s not utilized enough. Rainn Wilson as the Alien Gallaxhar was only okay. I think after The Rocker, I can’t stand his voice anymore. Even Keifer Sutherland was in this one as the general W.R. Monger (get it?) who was in charge of the monsters. Overall I was really pleasantly surprised with the voice cast.
While a step back from last year’s Kun-Fu Panda, I don’t think this is as bad as the Shrek 3 and Madagascar 2 dreak that Dreamworks puts out. It’s mildly entertaining, and I think kids will get a kick out of all the action scenes. Things are very bright and flashy equipment constantly go boom. So I give this a “dvd/matinee” rating. The story had so much potential and could have been so much better, but as with most Dreamworks animated films, it’s a slightly wasted effort here.
This 2009 stop motion animated gothic horror film, is based on the Neil Gaimen novella of the same name. Neil Gaimen is a prolific comic and novel writer and it’s always nice to see his works adapted into film, all the more better is that he usually writes the screen plays. Anyway, Coraline is directed by Henry Selick (who is just one of my favorite directors working today, directing, The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach films) and is the story of a young girl named Coraline Jones who finds a door into an alternate world where more positive and fun versions of her parents exist, where her wildest imaginations come true, and where she finally feels appreciated. However, darker things lurk behind the happy façade, and in the end Coraline must find her way home before she is lost forever and becomes another lost child.
Coraline is playing in 2000 theaters, 1000 in 3D, and 1000 in 2D, and is a movie with a lot of firsts. Coraline is the first stop-motion animated feature ever to be entirely shot in 3D and is also the longest stop-motion picture ever released, at 101 minutes. It’s also the first animated film to be distributed by Focus Features. Let’s hope Focus releases many similar pictures like this. They’re following up this release with the beautiful animated dark sci-fi film 9, so yeah, I have high hopes for the future of animation to come out from Focus Features. It looks like they’re going all in with this endeavor.
Coraline is the perfect picture for adults and children. The screening I attended was full of 6-8 year olds and they were all loving it, and their parents were laughing and enjoying themselves too. It makes a perfect balance of simple imagination for the children and complex dreamlike beauty for the adults. What makes this picture even more fascinating is that I can see children loving it for how magical it makes them feel, how whimsical the story is, and then coming back 15 years later to the film, and seeing it in a whole new light and enjoying it for numerous other reasons. It transcends age limits, and that’s a really hard thing to do, in effect, making Coraline a near perfect movie. However I will say this, it can be a bit dark at times, and the ending is pretty intense, but I still feel that it is an all-ages film, and I don’t think kids will get too scared by it.
Let’s talk about the animation. I was just floored. I’ve always stated that I think clay-animated films are just some of the most technical and beautiful films to look at. Coraline, takes things up a notch, melding the beauty of stop-motion with the flair of cgi. Going from dream world to dream world, carnival to opera, it just all looks amazing. My favorite parts were where the parallel world starts to unravel, and it literally looks like string unraveling, you see the threads come undone, fading to emptiness- to white. It was, wow, it just looked amazing. This film took more than 3 years to make and you really see all the care and love that went into the making of this film.
Coraline is an American kids film with a European feel that is more interested in moving from one fantastic dreamscape to the next rather than having a traditional narrative story. If I had to liken it to anything, I would say Coraline is the closest an American made film has come to capturing the feel of a Miyazaki film. This felt like Spirited Away without the mythos, the simple magic of My Neighbor Totoro.
It also hits all the high-notes of an all ages films, with a character that uses courage, resourcefulness, and determination to achieve her goals and save all that she holds dear. It’s a moral tale on the ease of accepting things that seem too good to be true, a kind of Alice in Wonderland tale, if Alice came to a world where everything seemingly revolved around her, the ideal of every children’s fantasy, and yet the harsh reality of an unforgiving and chaotic world.
People unfamiliar with Gaimen’s work may not know this, but much of his work consists of the darker sides of the reality we know, and how easy it is for people to become lost, fall through the cracks and become forgotten. What I’ve always found fascinating about Gaimen is that he is able to take such dark themes, frightening concepts, and write books for children and young adults.
Like I said before, this is one of the most visually beautiful animated films to come out in a long time. Director Henry Selick creates another movie that I truly believe is timeless, like his Nightmare Before Christmas. I saw it in 3D, and while I don’t think it’ll detract from your enjoyment by seeing it in 2D, I do feel that the 3D aspects really add to the overall feel of the story. The 3D is incredibly immersive, never feeling intrusive, more a technique than a gimmick. So I give Coraline, a “bring your lunch from home because you do not want to miss this one.” Definitely see it, it’s amazing, and try to see it in 3D if you can. This film is a work of art, period.
Kaze no tani no Naushika. Back in the 1980's, the majority of Anime that was shown in the USA, whether movies or cartoons, did not have the best of dubbingm and were sometimes cut. Especially the cartoons. They were dubbed horribly, but since we were children, we didn't really care that much. That was the case for me with this film, but as I grew older and learned of such things, I always wanted to see the true version of this film. Thanks to the new owners of Marvel Comics releasing Studio Ghibli films on DVD, I was finally able to see Hayao Miyazaki's genius in it's true form. 
This 2009 stop motion animated gothic horror film, is based on the Neil Gaimen novella of the same name. Neil Gaimen is a prolific comic and novel writer and it’s always nice to see his works adapted into film, all the more better is that he usually writes the screen plays. Anyway, Coraline is directed by Henry Selick (who is just one of my favorite directors working today, directing, The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach films) and is the story of a young girl named Coraline Jones who finds a door into an alternate world where more positive and fun versions of her parents exist, where her wildest imaginations come true, and where she finally feels appreciated. However, darker things lurk behind the happy façade, and in the end Coraline must find her way home before she is lost forever and becomes another lost child.