Coraline

Coraline

I saw the movie Coraline last week. It was the first movie for which the 3D process worked for me. You know how some people have posters up that look like random squiggles and if you stare at them long enough a 3D image emerges? Well, I've never been able to see that image, and I've been to a few movies where the 3D process was supposed to be working, but either the glasses were too small for my massive head, or I was sitting in the wrong spot, or something. When I bought my ticket for Coraline, I was given a pair of very cool looking 3D glasses, which looked more like Raybans than anything else. I put them on doubtfully, and I think the previews were also in 3D, but it didn't seem any different to me. I was thinking that I needed to have my depth perception checked when Coraline started. Suddenly, it looked like someone had placed an old Victorian lace frame around the screen. I had to look twice before I realized it was not real. At last, I was seeing a movie in true 3D. The depth of field in the movie is amazing,and it helps to create the illusion that this is truly a real and complete world we are watching. I also appreciated that the filmakers didn't try to jab things at the audience just to make us wince.

The details and creativity in this movie is amazing. However, in my mind, the story falls a little flat. Neil Gaiman is very creative and his book American Gods is one of my favorites, but the story is stretched too far, and the humor seems targeted more at adults. The movie isn't targeted at the same type of audience who would go see Finding Nemo or Cars. It's really going to be appreciated more by teenage goth kids and urban hipsters who will understand the effort the incredible stop-motion animation must have required. I think that watching this movie was, for me, a perfect example of the difference between appreciating a movie and enjoying a movie. I think it was amazing to watch and I loved it, but I am having a difficult time imagining to whom I would recommend it. I think an eight year old child might become restless, and I think it is too scary for a five-year old. After all, Coraline's big decision, the engine of the movie's plot, is whether or not to remove her eyes and replace them with buttons.

Ewww.......

Watching Milk


I went to see the movie Milk this evening. It only played in Harlingen one week, and I missed it. The only other theater it is playing in, or has played in for that matter, is in McAllen for two shows a day. I'd say there were about twenty people in the audience. During the first ten minutes of the movie, eight of them walked out when Sean Penn and James Defranco kissed. The only other time I have seen that many people walk out of a movie was during American Psycho . It is interesting to me that two men kissing gets the same reaction as a psycho killer chainsawing two women to death. I guess they thought they were at a movie about the history of the dairy industry? It's too bad they left because the movie is powerful, and Sean Penn as Harvey Milk is astonishing. I can understand someone having the skill to portray emotions like sad or happy, but to somehow recreate the sheer charisma of an individual requires real artistry. Go see it.

Slumdog

Slumdog Millionaire

Last Monday I went to the movies immediately after work. I've been very busy, so I haven't made time for movies. I was very glad I went. One of the great things about movies is their ability to show us worlds we woudln't normally see. Slumdog Millionaire does so by taking us into the changing world of modern day Mumbai. I'm sure the movie was shot on a digital camera because of the way it grabs and traps images, espcially if the figures on screen are moving quickly. Digital cameras have a type of visual stutter that makes them look different from film. Also, Danny Boyle used this technique in 28 Days Later. It gives his movies a sort of documentary feel while keeping them visually pleasing.

The performances by the children in the movie are amazing, and the frame story is a clever and novel way to tell the story. The music is great also. And be sure you stay for the Bollywood style dance number during the end credits.