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Coraline (2009)
Released By: Focus Features   Rating: PG   In Theaters: 2/6/2009
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Studio: Focus Features
Genre: Action-Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Henry Selick
Language: English
Official Website: http://www.coraline.com/
Theatrical Release: 2/6/2009
Home Video Release: 7/21/2009
Cast: Ian McShane, Jennifer Saunders, Teri Hatcher, Dakota Fanning, Dawn French
Published ID: 324639
UPC: 025195016445, 025195053495, 025195055147, 025192051944, 025192050251,
Plot: A young girl walks through a secret door and discovers a parallel reality that is eerily similar to the life she already knows, yet deeply unsettling in a number of ways, in director Henry Selick's animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman's international best-seller. Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones (voice of Dakota Fanning) is fearlessly courageous, and perhaps far too adventurous for her own good. Coraline and her parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman) have recently relocated to Oregon from Michigan. Bored in her new home since her parents are distracted by work and she has yet to make any new friends, Coraline passes the time by exploring her new neighborhood with an annoying local boy named Wybie Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr.). But after paying a visit to her eccentric neighbors Miss Spink (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Forcible (Dawn French), a pair of aging British actresses, and crossing paths with the outright weird Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane), the precocious young girl becomes convinced that her new surroundings are just as dull as she'd initially suspected. Shortly thereafter, Coraline discovers a hidden door in her new house, and decides to investigate. Venturing into the eerie passageway inside, Coraline emerges into an alternate version of her own reality. At first glance, this strange new world seems even better than the real thing; there her parents aren't distracted by work, and Coraline is always the center of attention. There's even a mysterious Cat (Keith David) that's fascinated by her every move. But when Coraline's button-eyed Other Mother (also Hatcher) attempts to make her stay permanent, the frightened young girl must summon her resourcefulness and bravery in order to find her way back home and save her real family. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Absolutely Stunning!
Added 11/7/2009

I'm not a die-hard movie critic, but I do enjoy movies immensely. I'm 18 years old, and I LOVE Coraline. The theme is dark and wonderfully done, weaving both Neil Geiman's book and Henry Selick's genius. I won't leave any spoilers, although I would recommend parents view this before letting their younger children watch it, especially if they frighten easily. There are some pretty intense scenes at the end!

Oh, and the 3D version is wonderful too, especially in Blu-Ray! I hate when movies are overtly 3D, to the point that watching them in 2D is very choppy and contains unnecessary scenes (Journey to the Center of the Earth, anyone?) But Coraline delivers a beautifully flowing movie and no scenes jumped out to me as being too overdone for the 3D effects. EVERYONE needs to watch this movie!

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Delightful!
Added 11/6/2009

I'm a middle-aged, grandmother-type lady. Animation of any sort is not my usual cup of tea. Having said that, Coraline totally drew me in from the beginning frames. The movie is filled with interesting, imaginative characters that make the story a masterpiece. Coraline struggles with her family and is drawn into an "alternative" family who lives behind the wall. The family behind the wall is wonderful at the beginning: I most love the father figure as he sings at the piano, and the beautiful garden he has made for Coraline. But things are not always as good as they first appear and Coraline comes to realize the treasure she's got at home.


0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Good family movie, even for young ones
Added 11/4/2009

Got it at Target, didn't know much about it beforehand but it looked interesting. Watched it with the kids (almost 4 and almost 2) and they loved it. The next day the older one even wanted to watch it again. It's the perfect level of scariness for toddlers/preschoolers, but adults won't be scared. A little creepy at times, maybe, but nothing that will traumatize them, especially if you are right there watching it with them. We went to the coraline web site and our daughter loves the create-a-flower game. Seeing on the website some photos and videos of how it was made might make it more fun for your kids. The single disc version has virtually no extras (and as a collector I LOATHE dual-sided discs).
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Whose The Audience For This Flick?
Added 10/31/2009

For starters the stop motion animation and 3-D effects are pretty darned good here. That's about it. My complaint with alot of 3-D movies is that they fashion the movies around the effects at the expense of the story. There's a story alright but the problem here is that when it's not confusing it's downright creepy. Who were they targetting for this flick? Little kids who might get the bejesus scared out of them? Disaffected adolescents who glory in unsavory imagery? Whatever! Ultimately "Coraline" is just a waste of time.
0 out of 3 people found this helpful.
A Kid's Review - This is an awful, pointless story
Added 10/31/2009

I don't think that this movie should be in the family section of any movie store. We watched this movie as a family with my 8 and 10 year old sisters, and it seems like several VERY nasty parts and language (see other reviews) were just thrown in to make it PG. Most of the story was just stupid, confusing, scary extra scenes and characters that seemed like they had nothing to do with the plot at all. This movie has everything it should have to be rated PG-13: murder, violence, anger, stalkers, night time, full moons, ghosts, bad language, nasty scenes, eyeballs, sharp objects, etc - except for the fact that it isn't the "scary" most 13 year olds look for because it is animated.

The plot is this - a girl named Coraline is very angry at her parents because they don't pay much attention to her. She finds a door in the wall and goes through it where these doll-like people seem to be her other-mother and other-father. She thinks they are very nice and keeps going through the door despite warnings not to. Finally they turn evil, she gets locked in a cell-type thing, and then gets out. She goes back through the door and somehow starts reversing the "spell" I guess and somehow turns the walls and everything white. Then she meets a cat (I have no idea if any of this is relevant to the plot or not; it is incredibly hard to tell) and goes through the door back to her house. Back through the door the next day; has some sort of battle with killing and anger, then goes back to her real house. Then she goes through the door AGAIN and kills her other mother, somehow she gets her parents out of a snowglobe, and then she throws a bag down a well and has a happy garden party. You have NO IDEA how confusing this movie is! It has no point or moral, unless you think that it is good to kill people you don't like and that is what you'd like to teach your children!!

The 3-D animation was horrible even with our big 48 in? TV.

Coraline goes through the door at least five times, and it gets very repetitive. My entire family was actually jumping for joy when it was over! I would have paid the $1.99 we paid to rent it if I didn't have to watch it in the first place! All in all, this is sort of like a cross between Orphan (rated R) and The Wizard of Oz (rated G). Yeah, I wonder how they got PG from that...

0 out of 4 people found this helpful.
Absolutely Stunning!
Added 11/7/2009

I'm not a die-hard movie critic, but I do enjoy movies immensely. I'm 18 years old, and I LOVE Coraline. The theme is dark and wonderfully done, weaving both Neil Geiman's book and Henry Selick's genius. I won't leave any spoilers, although I would recommend parents view this before letting their younger children watch it, especially if they frighten easily. There are some pretty intense scenes at the end!

Oh, and the 3D version is wonderful too, especially in Blu-Ray! I hate when movies are overtly 3D, to the point that watching them in 2D is very choppy and contains unnecessary scenes (Journey to the Center of the Earth, anyone?) But Coraline delivers a beautifully flowing movie and no scenes jumped out to me as being too overdone for the 3D effects. EVERYONE needs to watch this movie!

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Delightful!
Added 11/6/2009

I'm a middle-aged, grandmother-type lady. Animation of any sort is not my usual cup of tea. Having said that, Coraline totally drew me in from the beginning frames. The movie is filled with interesting, imaginative characters that make the story a masterpiece. Coraline struggles with her family and is drawn into an "alternative" family who lives behind the wall. The family behind the wall is wonderful at the beginning: I most love the father figure as he sings at the piano, and the beautiful garden he has made for Coraline. But things are not always as good as they first appear and Coraline comes to realize the treasure she's got at home.


0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Good family movie, even for young ones
Added 11/4/2009

Got it at Target, didn't know much about it beforehand but it looked interesting. Watched it with the kids (almost 4 and almost 2) and they loved it. The next day the older one even wanted to watch it again. It's the perfect level of scariness for toddlers/preschoolers, but adults won't be scared. A little creepy at times, maybe, but nothing that will traumatize them, especially if you are right there watching it with them. We went to the coraline web site and our daughter loves the create-a-flower game. Seeing on the website some photos and videos of how it was made might make it more fun for your kids. The single disc version has virtually no extras (and as a collector I LOATHE dual-sided discs).
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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