Coraline

I am not a Neil Gaiman fan. I like his stories, but am not wowed by them as much as other people seem to be. However, I am a fan of good animation and Coraline became an instant must-see when I saw the trailer.

We saw the 3D version, so I'll just get these comments out of the way. At first, I thought the depth and surrealness of the layered 3D images really enhanced the mood of the film. Eventually, I stopped noticing it except for a few specific scenes or images. I had become saturated by it; the 3D effect was now normal in the same way you forget about a movie being black-and-white or subtitled (for me, anyway). That my eyes sometimes had problems focusing on the screen didn't help. The trailers, which included Up and Monsters vs. Aliens, were also in 3D and I suspect I'll have the same experience watching those films (both of which I want to see) as well.

The stop-motion animation was quite good, as you'd expect from the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I don't know how to evaluate the acting, except to note that I never noticed it, which is a good thing in my mind. As for the story itself, Coraline is a fairly typical fairy tale of a misguided girl who finds a fantasy world that turns into a nightmare. I see a comment on IMDB calling it "imaginative," which is true if you aren't exposed to as much fantasy as I am. I'm as jaded as hell, I guess, but to me, the story was a fairly paint-by-numbers affair hitting all the notes I'd expect it to. And the last act, when our heroine has to vanguish the villain, offered no suprises. It's wasn't even especially dark and not so much scary as mildly creepy. But the story kept my interest (I wasn't analyzing it as I watched), even though I failed to connect to the titular character.

I liked it and would recommend renting it. Terri thought it was "ok."

I'm not the only one

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump

The Curious Case of Is This Movie Over Yet?

This post is spoilerific and I won't bother recapping the plot.

The curious thing about this Benjamin Button isn't that he was born old* and grows young** but how my attention drifted while I watched it. During the first third (I'm totally guessing), I was distracted by how characters just didn't quite look right. Benjamin's appearance was off, but since he was supposed to be weird old guy, I'll give it pass; however Daisy was a mess. As a young girl, she looked like CGI and her speech didn't match her lip movements. The middle third, when Benjamin gets out of the house and does stuff, was very engaging and I have no complaints, except that again, Daisy in her twenties didn't quite look right. I thought the attack on the sub and the machine gun fire was especially visceral. And in the last third, I was left thinking what an effing jerk Benjamin was to Daisy and Daisy to her daughter. It was during this phase that I wanted to look at my watch, wondering when this movie would end.***

Throughout, I was trying to work out the timeline and everyone's relative age, and I'm not convinced that it all works out. Too often, I just couldn't tell how old Benjamin was supposed to look and I was distracted trying to figure it out based on his chronological age. Another bit that bothered me was how the letters and postcards sent by Benjamin to Daisy and her daughter ended up in his diary. This implies Daisy put them there--notice that it is missing the photos and other inserts when she is handed the diary--but at other times, she indicates that she hadn't read it. It makes sense to me that she would have read it--all of it--and may even be responsible for the missing pages.

This film has a lot in common with Forrest Gump. A titular male hero is doesn't fit into society. He goes on adventures and has experiences well outside the mainstream. A childhood love he can't connect with, but eventually does. A loving, single mother who accepts him for what he is. A recurring theme of death. Their Southern roots. Hell even the boarding house vs. retirement home stands out to me. Both films involve watching the hero's journey through a number of smaller stories, all strung together in one amazing/unbelievable life. This does mean we see scenes that aren't really needed to the overall story or seem too contrived but are still enjoyable. And when woven together, end-to-end, they make for an entertaining, but not incredibly deep, movie going experience.

* Thankfully, still baby-sized.

** At some point, growing smaller, breaking the symmetry of his birth. He should have died a baby the same physical size as an old man.

*** Behind us, a few rows back, there was a young couple in their twenties (I'm guessing), who were getting punchy at the end. Their giggles and guffaws started being distracting. And when the credits started, he said something to the effect of "finally!"

Christmas Bolt

On Christmas day, Terri and I saw Bolt. Yes, it's a kids flick, but it is pretty darn good. It is/was available in 3D, but we only saw the 2D version. When I watch a 3D movie in 2D, there are always a few shots were are obviously catering to the 3D effect and it takes me out of the movie for a bit. Bolt was no exception, though the worst-offending shot happens right at the end. And really, that's the problem with 3D films as a medium. While it has effect on the movie-going experience (much as IMAX can), it doesn't serve the story. But this is old news.

Bolt is a non-Pixar Disney film, and while it lacks the gravitas (I should probably find a better word there, but I won't) of Pixar stores, I found it engaging and fun. It has several of the storytelling cliches (fish out of water, buddy movie, road movie, etc.) but they are executed well. The characters are interesting, even if John Travolta's voice in the lead role was a bit distracting at times. I was also distracted by the kid in the seats to my right who couldn't sit still and decided the railing make an excellent jungle gym.

Synopsis: excellent, all-ages entertainment.

Zack & Miri

I am a Kevin Smith fan. I have enjoyed every one of his movies, with the exception of Jersey Girl, which I haven't seen. Mall Rats isn't bad; it's just not good. When it was released, it suffered from too high expectations. When I watched it, my expectations were so low that I was pleasantly surprised. Even so, Terri liked it more than I did. She's all about the fart and poo jokes.

Given that, I was predisposed to like Zack and Miri Make a Porno. For all the raunchy humor and bawdy subject matter, it's rather a sweet little movie. And again, I find myself saying "If you like this kind of movie or if you're predisposed to see it, you'll like it. If you don't, then you won't."

Two flaws stand out to me:

1. The plot is predictable. It follows a familiar story arc of romantic comedies. Though I knew this going in, I was hoping for a twist other than the porno angle. I often complain about plots which can be solved if people simple talked to each other, and we certainly find this here. But it is a staple of the genre, so I'm willing to give it a pass.
2. The makeup of Miri, played by Elizabeth Banks, is too perfect. While I acknowledge that all actors on camera need to wear makeup, the final look needs to fit the character. Miri's look is too soft and too professional for her. She really needed to be more plain and less glamorous.
   

Yes, there are shots designed to shock, but I still thought they were funny and never felt that they crossed any line. Yes, it's a "hard R" (having originally been rated NC-17 and reduced to R on appeal with no edits), but only for those who find sex porn more offensive than the torture porn that gets shat out into theatres every year. I'd much rather watch simulated sex than simulated mutilation. But that's a rant for another time.

Luminescent

We saw Stardust last night. I am of two opinions about this move:

1) It is a really good movie. Well acted, engaging, and fun. I was really taken in by the leads and even the minor roles really made their mark. Except for Robert De Niro, who seemed to be channeling Robin Williams.

2) It was a really predictable plot. That's what you get with fairy tales, I guess, but the surprises were few and I was taken out of the experience a few times by noting the foreshadowing and looking for the payoff scenes.

A few critics have compared it to Princess Bride, which is not really appropriate, in my opinion. They are telling different stories and while I see Princess Bride as a comedic fantasy, Stardust is a fantasy with comedic moments. It's a subtle, but important, distinction. No matter. People who liked the former will like the latter, and I recommend Stardust to anyone who likes fairy tales.

Spiderpig

The Simpsons has seen better days. Now, Terri and I watch it mostly out of habit; besides, it is still more entertaining than most sitcoms even if it long ago jumped the shark (though I can't say precisely when). When I first heard of The Simpsons Movie, I was not thrilled. At best, I figured it would be mediocre. I had visions of the X-Files movie, which seemed rather pointless except to grab some theater dollars. When The Simpons started getting moderately positive ratings over at Rottentomatoes, my hopes were lifted.

While not a great movie, The Simpsons was entertaining and often funny. It felt like a long episode, but not in a bad way. As with (practically*) every other episode, the plot ended up resolving itself, resetting Springfield and the Simpsons family back to square one, and the movie will not affect any future episodes except as call-back jokes during the regular season. I would definitely recommend it as a DVD rental for any casual Simpsons fan (figuring that the hardcore fans will have already seen it in the theater).

* I think the one episode that effected following episodes the most was the death of Maude Flanders, which then drove a few Ned-based plots later on.

Overdue Update

Has it been a month already? Ugh. Having that joke there for that long makes Baby Jesus cry.

In that time, I've managed to severely exacerbate my plantar faciitis. When I stretch that calf, it feels like I'm rubbing a blister against the heel of my shoe. Except I'm barefoot. So I am back to icing and naproxin/Aleve. I just can't wear the therapeutic sock, the one that keeps my foot at a right angle, because I just do not sleep well with it. I wake up every time I need to roll over.

Two movies we saw are 1408 and Ratatouille. Both were good for completely different reasons. 1408 impressed me with the reasonable (and even not-so-reasonable) actions the protagonist took given his circumstances. Ratatouille was just a joy--an animated film that was clearly aimed at adults with humor thrown in for the kids, rather the reverse. The quality of the rendering and animation was actually distracting for the first ten minutes. It also showed yet again that you can still have state-of-the-art CGI while maintaining the tradition of stylization and caricature rather than having "realistic" human forms.

My Favorite Movie of the Holidays

I had wanted to see Pan's Labyrinth since I became aware of it back in the fall. And yes, there is a reason it is 97% on the Tomato Meter (as of this post). It's a wonderful film, a haunting and brutal 20th century fairy tale. I recommend it to anyone old enough to see it (it is rated R for a reason and it is sub-titled). The storytelling is very direct without tricks of time shifting and it never tries to trick the audience with twists. It's beautiful without trying to be and dark without being gratuitous. I loved it.

Catching Up

We saw the new Bond film, Casino Royale, Tuesday night. I was mostly bored. Several points of the plot annoyed me. The poker hands felt staged and unnatural in the way badly choreographed fight scenes do. I am not a Bond fan, so maybe this movie just isn't for me. Or maybe it just wasn't that good.

I am running a Truth and Justice campaign called Generation Zeta, based around ideas found in X-Men: Evolution and Runaways. I have a review of T&J in the December issue of A&E.

The Changeling campaign ended due to GM burnout. We all understood, but will miss it. In it's place will be a science fiction campaign based loosely on March to the Sea and using Mutants & Masterminds as the base systems since some level of psionics is expected. In preparation, I have been creating an SRD for Mutants & Masterminds. Having the PDF of the rules helps.

Lastly, some more work pictures:

Tuesday Night Out at the Movies

Given the heat, going to the movies is a fine alternative to sitting around the house sweating (we don't have air conditioning except for the portable that we have running in the bedroom). But since neither of us like crowds, we did not exercise the movie option this past weekend. The choices were Superman, Pirates, or Clerks II. I just noticed those are all sequels. Huh. Anyway, I chose the last one.

Any Kevin Smith fan will like (if not love) Clerks II. If you liked any of his other films (namely Clerks, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), then you will like this movie; if not, then you probably won't. I laughed or smiled the whole way through. I don't feel compelled to give a full review (there are plenty of those on the web), but I do feel compelled to recommend it.

X-Men: The Last Stand

It's a full-fledged mutant jamboree, but one that blunts thematic and character development in favor of narrative expediency.

That pretty much sums up my feeling about the movie. I liked it better than this reviewer, enough to recommend, as it hit most of my fun-with-mutants buttons. Thematic and character development on this scale with this many characters is better served with an ongoing series, anyway. For example, I like what they did with Kitty Pryde's powers and her various tricks, but we never got to know her as a person. The effects are very good and I really liked the character designs (and any critism about characters, such as Kitty, not matching their counterparts in the comics (or X-Men Evolution or ...) can be left at the door). The film juxtaposes missed opportunities with some obvious and clunky writing (Magneto's last words in the film are painfully cliché), but I enjoyed it.

Computer Animation, Robots, & Writing

I was writing my latest zine for A&E when I wrote the sentence "I have a dislike for most computer animation that tries to portray people as realistically as possible." After I finished the paragraph and I looked again at this opening sentence, I edited it down to "I dislike most computer animation..." The "have a... for" construct was unnecessary. Even so, I think including the padding of those words weakens the statement and softens the "dislike" expressed and therefore might be appropriate in some cases. My shortened, perhaps harsher version definitely feels tighter and terser, but I am not sure it is necessarily better.

This is the full text of the paragraph:
I dislike most computer animation that tries to portray people as realistically as possible. There is a point where a character model is not realistic enough to pass for human but too realistic to be considered stylized. It exists in an aesthetic zone that I describe as "creepy." Give me The Incredibles over The Polar Express any day. For robots, this creepiness not only includes appearance but extends to behavior and speech. Once robots are so realistic that they are no longer creepy, they will find acceptance, though perhaps at the cost of paranoia and "robo-phobia."