Coraline (2009)
It's taken me too long to get round to watching this, but I'm glad I finally did! It's a bat shit crazy magical leap into a stop motion world (which by the way is ridiculously well done). Coraline is a girl who finds a mysterious door in her new home, which leads to an idyllic version in an alternate world with her 'Other Mother' and 'Other Father', who of course have buttons for eyes.. and then it gets kind of odd, in the good way that these films often do.
It was originally a book written by Neil Gaiman, but you have to give credit to Selick for his eery style on the sets and the colourful characters, including the two retired burlesque actresses voiced by French and Saunders, and the odd russian gymnast voiced by Ian McShane, all neighbours of Coraline.
Something I noticed was there were some beautiful shots in the film, especially considering it's stop motion and some things would have been more difficult to film. I tend to appreciate films more when it is clear of the attention to detail and effort put into making them, be it CGI battle scenes or in this case movement of individual hair strands on a model for example. Also considering it's 3D (which unfortunately I haven't seen it in) and it was brought out around the time when this 3D boom began, there aren't an overwhelming number of shots to take advantage of it, unlike some films which seem to be made purely for the fad.
I should mention, that a lot of people were/are still misled due to the advertising when this was brought out which said 'From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas'. This caused people to think it was a Tim Burton film, but actually it was Henry Selick's film, and Tim Burton just wrote and produced it. Selick was also behind James and the Giant Peach, a film which for me is full of nostalgia, and although there are many good Roald Dahl adaptations (The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), for me this has to be my favourite as it really brought the magic of the book to life, and then gave more by transforming what began as a live action film into beautiful stop motion. I wish more people would recognise Selick's work, and not think it was someone elses, as he's brilliant at what he does.
If you haven't seen Coraline then if you get the chance I would, as it's not just a children's film; it's an easy going, enjoyable but cleverly done animation and deserves being watched.
It was originally a book written by Neil Gaiman, but you have to give credit to Selick for his eery style on the sets and the colourful characters, including the two retired burlesque actresses voiced by French and Saunders, and the odd russian gymnast voiced by Ian McShane, all neighbours of Coraline.
Something I noticed was there were some beautiful shots in the film, especially considering it's stop motion and some things would have been more difficult to film. I tend to appreciate films more when it is clear of the attention to detail and effort put into making them, be it CGI battle scenes or in this case movement of individual hair strands on a model for example. Also considering it's 3D (which unfortunately I haven't seen it in) and it was brought out around the time when this 3D boom began, there aren't an overwhelming number of shots to take advantage of it, unlike some films which seem to be made purely for the fad.
I should mention, that a lot of people were/are still misled due to the advertising when this was brought out which said 'From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas'. This caused people to think it was a Tim Burton film, but actually it was Henry Selick's film, and Tim Burton just wrote and produced it. Selick was also behind James and the Giant Peach, a film which for me is full of nostalgia, and although there are many good Roald Dahl adaptations (The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), for me this has to be my favourite as it really brought the magic of the book to life, and then gave more by transforming what began as a live action film into beautiful stop motion. I wish more people would recognise Selick's work, and not think it was someone elses, as he's brilliant at what he does.
If you haven't seen Coraline then if you get the chance I would, as it's not just a children's film; it's an easy going, enjoyable but cleverly done animation and deserves being watched.
Coraline: I almost fell down a well yesterday, Mom.
Mother: Uh-huh
Coraline: I would've died.
Mother: That's nice.
Henry Selick <3
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