Monday, February 16, 2009

Coraline in 3-D

3-D you say? Isn't stop motion animation in 3-D already?! Okay, so as duly noted I am a huge fan of Henry Selick. The Nightmare Before Christmas is absolutely amazing and I think the world needs to be filled with more stop motion films like this. Along with that I think that Neil Gaiman is one of the great writers and for me everything he writes turns into golden donuts. Yummy.

So yes yes I know you all know this. What I find delightful is the fact that I went to this movie on opening day, of course, but I was really put off by the fact that I was forced to watch this movie with 3-D glasses. Wearing glasses on glasses is a bit uncomfortable, but not only that there was a bad taste in my mouth left from my 3-D experience with Nightmare in 2006. The movie left me dizzy and less than impressed with the 3-D animation becoming more 3-D. So really I thought the 3-D was gimmicky. I was really reluctant to participate in what I thought was an attempt to draw more viewers on opening day.

You can see where this is going. I cannot tell you how amazing this film is. Again the story is fantastic and the design is DYNAMITE. What I love about the 3-D is that this film was recorded specifically for a 3-D experience. Meaning that for every second there are 24 stills to slowly move the animation. This is typical for any type of film really... but this film had a still for the right eye and the left eye to create the 3-D effect. And the result was phenomenal. The foreground, middle-ground, and background were presented in such a designerly way. I have never seen 3-D movie look so beautiful. I don't want to watch this film without that experience ever again and I hope that they develop something so the home-viewer can have the same enjoyable experience. Unfortunately this movie will only be in 3-D up to three weeks after it's initial release so if you haven't seen it yet I urge you to see it before time runs out.



Coraline received a 88% "Certified Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes and from me a 4 out of 5 stars.

8 comments:

redstarmama said...

Ok, we saw Coraline on saturday, and I completely concur with your review. My kids were glued. Greer kept her glasses on the entire time,and took them home with her. We are going to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3d next month at the IMAX. Hopefully the good experience continues.

Anonymous said...

Claymation is so neato!


Just kidding...you don't have to explain to me that Claymation is a trademark...I only have to make that mistake around you once to learn my lesson.
I think I'm gonna have to see Coraline soon now that I know the 3d is a limited time thing.


Anyway, so I was playing my Nintendo DS (darn those video games...wasting time...making Meridth so angry!) and a character popped up on screen that totally made me think of you.

Watch this & read the lyrics on the right of the screen and tell me what you think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWB8J6YxVXQ

Meridth McKean Gimbel said...

Jenn I'm so glad to hear it. Let us know what you think of Monsters Vs. Aliens... (I love animation!) I can't wait to watch movies with our own kids :)

Tim- We miss you like crazy. We were actually thinking of starting a "Big Wig Movie Club" blog and simulating our college experience (how desperate can you get?!)

btw if I were forced to be an anime character I would definitely want to be this Ashley.

also, yes Tim, I automatically cringed when you said "Claymation." Heehee.

Noah And Kai said...

What are you danging on my blog?

Meridth McKean Gimbel said...

I wanted a prize.

Will said...

Um, Coraline scares me. There! I'm man enough to admit. Now where did I last put my blanky?

Noah And Kai said...

I'll still give you a prize. Actually, even though there are more than 3 comments, only 2 have paid it on forward. So, I'm still short a forwardee.

Meridth McKean Gimbel said...

What the deuce?!!! Yippie! Yay for being a whiner. (Jk) I'm totally undeserving Stephanie. But I'm greedy too so what can I say?!

...and Will... I think adults are scardy-cats. I asked Jenn's kids, Greer who I think is 2 and Declan who I think is 5, and both thought we were ridiculous for even asking if the movie was scary. I actually remember being weaned on The Dark Crystal and the Labrynth and moves like that that were pretty dark and I LOVED 'em. But to each his own. I also remember Megan (my older sis) getting freaked out while reading Roald Dahl's The Witches. (I thought she was a baby but really it just wasn't her thing.)