Coraline
Coraline is amazing. Complete, spectacular eye candy set in charming spooky story. It was so much fun to watch that if it hadn't been completely sold out at Lloyd Center on Friday night, I would have been tempted to buy another ticket and see it again immediately. I can't remember the last movie that I've felt that way about. It's not Shrek, and if you're looking for a light-hearted funny kids movie, go find some other film. But it's beautiful and charming and sinister, and the 3D was subtle and fit the story perfectly instead of "OMG! Look at me! I can throw all this stuff right in your face! Isn't that fun?!" It reminded me of a less scary, less violent version of Pan's Labyrinth, so if you enjoyed that movie, you'd love Coraline. It is kid friendly depending on your kid... parents may want to see it first.
There were also a ton of insider jokes. It was set in Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, so her neighbors are all performers, and when Coraline and her parents go into town, there are crazy Shakespearean actors running around. One of Coraline's out-of-town friends refers to Oregon, pronouncing it incorrectly (Ory-gone instead of Ory-gun. Yikes). He gets smacked on the head. Plus a ton of other little things, and I'm sure I only caught part of them. Very silly.
Friday night was really fun. Half of the people who went to my showing at 5pm were crew, and the other half were family/friends of crew, or that's how it seemed, anyway. There was lots of applause at the beginning, and EVERYONE stayed until the end of the credits at the end (where there's this awesome 3D effect thing, so even if you aren't usually a credits person, make sure you stay til the end if you see it in 3D), cheering at various points as names came up in the small print. For the 8pm showing, which was the official DIY Coraline Crew release, there was a red carpet and everything. Aaron and I weren't that cool, but my brother and his girlfriend were there. Heather's childhood friend was one of the animators. The rest of the night was a bit of a bust, since Mary and Aaron and Pat were sick, so we went home and watched Battlestar Galactica instead of going out (and that episode was amazing too).
If any of you are planning on seeing Coraline in 3D (and you totally should!), you probably have two weeks to do so. And then another 3D movie is coming out which is going to replace Coraline in all the 3D theaters.
There were also a ton of insider jokes. It was set in Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, so her neighbors are all performers, and when Coraline and her parents go into town, there are crazy Shakespearean actors running around. One of Coraline's out-of-town friends refers to Oregon, pronouncing it incorrectly (Ory-gone instead of Ory-gun. Yikes). He gets smacked on the head. Plus a ton of other little things, and I'm sure I only caught part of them. Very silly.
Friday night was really fun. Half of the people who went to my showing at 5pm were crew, and the other half were family/friends of crew, or that's how it seemed, anyway. There was lots of applause at the beginning, and EVERYONE stayed until the end of the credits at the end (where there's this awesome 3D effect thing, so even if you aren't usually a credits person, make sure you stay til the end if you see it in 3D), cheering at various points as names came up in the small print. For the 8pm showing, which was the official DIY Coraline Crew release, there was a red carpet and everything. Aaron and I weren't that cool, but my brother and his girlfriend were there. Heather's childhood friend was one of the animators. The rest of the night was a bit of a bust, since Mary and Aaron and Pat were sick, so we went home and watched Battlestar Galactica instead of going out (and that episode was amazing too).
If any of you are planning on seeing Coraline in 3D (and you totally should!), you probably have two weeks to do so. And then another 3D movie is coming out which is going to replace Coraline in all the 3D theaters.