coraline

as a rule, if movies are made for kids and involve creepy stop motion, i like them. i can't believe i still haven't seen the corpse bride. so i was pretty excited when i heard about coraline and read good reviews. i've never read the book, so i had no real expectations going in. 

the movie did not disappoint. the plot is roughly about a young girl who discovers a magical world that seems a million times better than her own. but (shocker) it's not. though there's nothing new in this story, it's the delivery that is so great. even before it's revealed that coraline's wonderful alternate world is actually a pretty scary place, there a few clues that should raise an eyebrow (her alternate parents have buttons for eyes--wait, what?!). then, when the full transformation takes place, her alternate mother becomes a pretty freaky villain. prepare yourself. 

in fact, i thought this movie had a really good insight into parent-child relationships. it's pretty intense for any movie, especially one geared for children, to delve into the theme of love as consumption. after the movie, my mom (visiting stl for the weekend), remarked that she would never have taken us to see the film as children. for younger children, i would probably agree with my overprotective mother, but on the other hand, this is exactly the kind of kids movie i'd take an older child to see. when did fairy tales become un-creepy, anyway? 

though i just watched the film in lame 2d, there is a also a 3d version in theaters. i thought the movie was beautiful and would love to see selected scenes in 3d, but a full feature might be pushing it.