16 something million in weekend box office which is close to 1/3 of its budget.  not bad for a "scary kids" movie.  everyone on the internet mentions how there's like half a dozen actual kids at the theater and the rest are grown ass men and women.  surprisingly, i didn't see any hot topic mall rats or scenekids at my showing but that's probably because burton's name wasn't attached to it.

surprisingly, i didn't see any hot topic mall rats or scenekids at my showing but that's probably because burton's name wasn't attached to it.

What? every commercial I've seen says "From the creator of Nightmare before Christmas"(or something similar) with no mention of anyone else involved.

They say "From the director" of NB4X which is 100% accurate.  Burton came up with the idea and helped fund it.  Burton didn't even write the movie.  He wrote a little poem on a napkin and then left to direct Batman.  He visited the set like 5 times throughout its production and Disney attached his name to it after the success of Batman Returns.

Saw this tonight. Loved it! It's a kiddy film but unfortunately it's TOO SCARY for kids. Still, the sheer mastery of the stop motion animation is enough to sell it to me. The story is WHIMSICAL and eerie I guess, solid enough, but wasn't what awed me. It was definitely a sight and sound experience for me.

It was funny because the theatre was mostly adults. The movie itself had like four previews before it, one of them was some shitty comedy with Matthew Perry and the other three were animated movies from pixar and shit. It's clearly being billed as a kids movie, at least someone thinks it is, but I saw THREE, yes THREE groups of kids leaving with their parents, several of them crying. These were young kids mind you, probably like 5 or younger. It takes a definite turn for the creepy towards the end and maintains a darker tone through. It's nothing that will scare someone older than TEN but it's sort of hard to place. Too scary for kids, but too childish for adults? I dunno.

I do recommend it though, if only because it was a really unique little movie and not something you see very often at all. It was like... Lemony Snicket meets Terry Gilliam meets stop motion.

At Are You Screening, a reviewer's 7-year-old son comments on Coraline.

“I want to live here forever,” but you don’t realize that you don’t really, because pretty soon it would suck, because it isn’t real… and living all the time in not real stuff would get creepy. That’s what that scary part is about. Coraline is really cool though, because she’s brave and does what she knows is right. It was awesome.

I've been pretty curious about Coraline, so I think I'll see this some time.

edit: That piano song is fantastic, theres seriously no longer version of it? Its great...

when gaiman approached selick 3 years ago he said "i want the soundtrack done by they might be giants make it happen."  tmbg recorded 2 or 3 songs but only that one got used.  hopefully the dvd contains those extras.

you really don't need a longer version as it sounds like every TMBG song ever.

admittedly more fitting here than in most films that might use one.

Like a lot of people, i suspect, i was expecting this to be aimed purely at the Nightmare Before Christmas crowd (i really like that film, but you know what i mean). I'm pretty pleased to hear that it's going down really well, especially here, where i expected ti to take a massive slating. I like Neik Gaiman, though i havent read this one, so i think i'll hop down to the cinema when it comes out here (i don't think its out yet?)

On a seperate note i really don't know whats so brilliant about that song. I mean it's alright but its nothing astonishing.

On a seperate note i really don't know whats so brilliant about that song. I mean it's alright but its nothing astonishing.

not so much the song itself but the importance of it in context to the story.  the song is like 20 minutes in but about 60 minutes into the film "something" triggered in my brain and i'm like "ohhhh, i get it!".  if you want it spoiled:

beldam/other mother fabricated the other world but her "puppets" contain the good essence of her spirit.  the fabrications try to warn coraline but they do it subtly.  their warnings become less subtle as beldam reveals her monstrous form.  the last line of the song is of the most importance "our eyes will be on you, coraline."

there's a surprising amount of details in the story telling that are easy to miss.  it doesn't ruin the plot if you miss them, but if you pay attention you'll get a lot more enjoyment out of it.  for example, pay attention to the doll in the opening sequence before it's ripped apart. 

it's one of those rare films that should be seen more than once to pick up every little detail.

i dunno, i don't watch many movies but music in films are one of those "it's in the background, enjoy it if you want" kind of deals.  in action films you have heavy drums and stuff to drive the action but in general music (especially licensed songs) are just slapped around with no attention to atmosphere, pacing, or storytelling.

it's a song that actually tells the story.  it's different from a musical like sweeny todd or rent because it's not intentional; it's something you'd totally expect your piano playing friend to just make up and sing to you.  i can't explain this well because film is usually a "once in a blue moon" type of thing but the OST in general sounds like it belongs in the movie rather than licensed to sell CDs. 

i don't think referencing the recurring theme of button eyes really counts as subtlety

it was a good movie. i do not think it was genius or particularly nuanced but it was very nice-looking

i don't think referencing the recurring theme of button eyes really counts as subtlety

it was a good movie. i do not think it was genius or particularly nuanced but it was very nice-looking

not the theme but the motive

other father and other wybie were protecting coraline from the beginning; he wasn't talking about beldam's eyes, he was talking about HIS.  he was forced to kill coraline at the end and willingly gave her the soul before he died.

EDIT: also, the word beldam (which several characters use to refer to other mother) means an ugly old woman but i believe gaiman meant it literally as "belle dame" or fine lady and could possibly be a reference to john keats "la belle dame sans merci" which means "the beautiful lady without pity."

Yeah I wouldn't READ INTO IT too much. It wasn't particularly subtle. The story was OK, a little clumsy towards the end but still good. But it was still stuff that a kid could grasp without a great deal of difficulty, and while ADULTS can take away a little bit extra, i don't think it was a nest of symbolism. I think sometimes there is a tendency for people to INVENT symbolism in the case of a clever movie, song, game, book, tv show etc. Thats my message to the fanboys,....

I really loved this! The atmosphere, the animation, the music, the story, the characters, everything really was very great. I was actually pretty creeped out, I didn't see this as a children's movie at all, honestly.

Marcus could you explain some of the details you're talking about? I'm interested.

Also I saw some trailer before it started with a bunch of sack people, with "9" or something? Anyone know about that?

oh fuck you mean that one with a sort of similar visual style (it's not really similar. i don't know what it's similar to) but the title is a number? with aliens or something? i saw a preview for that and it looked good

oh it was 9. i don't know anything about it but i'll see it if i don't have to pay 9$... what a ridiculous amount of money

Saw this in 3D and it was awesome.