Pop Culture Buzz

“CORALINE”

*** 1/2 STARS

MOVIE SYNOPSIS:
Adapted from the Hugo Award-winning, internationally best-selling novel, “Coraline” is a spine-tingling tale about a curious girl who unlocks a mysterious door in her family’s new home and enters into an adventure in a parallel reality. On the surface, this “Other World” eerily mimics her own life - though it is much more fantastical. In it, Coraline encounters different versions of her own life, including off-kilter neighbors and an Other Mother who attempts to keep her forever. Ultimately, Coraline must rely on her resourcefulness, determination and bravery to get back home.

As a fan of stop motion animated films such as “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Chicken Run” and “James and the Giant Peach” I could hardly wait to see Henry Selick’s newest film treat on the big screen. I am glad that I went into this film not knowing a single thing about the plot or characters. “Coraline” is an instant family classic chock full of originality, clever story telling and eye popping imagery that surprised the socks off of me with it’s twisted tone and dark humor.

This is not your average kiddie film with cutesy talking animals and Disney sing-a-long songs; “Coraline” provides some truly creepy images and tense moments towards its climax. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the screen, every moody scene and fanciful image in this film crackles with originality and complex details. You notice right away that all of the clothing is hand stitched and the backgrounds and props have been meticulously created. I can already tell that I will need to see this movie more than once to appreciate all of the work that went into creating this intensely dark bedtime story. This movie is a “must see” on the big screen, in fact I plan on seeing this kooky treat aain but this time in 3D!

“DEFIANCE”

* 1/2 STARS

MOVIE SYNOPSIS:
“Defiance” is set in the eastern regions of German Nazi-occupied Poland (now western Belarus) during World War II, the film is an adaptation of Nechama Tec’s “Defiance: The Bielski Partisans”, which is based on a true story. Tec’s book told how Polish Jews came together for common protection and to oppose the German occupation of their homeland. “Defiance” stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, and George MacKay as four Jewish brothers from Poland who escaped the Nazi persecution and fought back to rescue fellow Jews.

“Defiance” wants to be as moving and important as “Schindler’s List” but it can’t get past it’s glitzy Hollywood direction and “paint by numbers” script. Daniel Craig does a fine job as a defiant Jewish rebel but the amounts of flaws that are in this film outweigh anything worth recommending. This lavish war film suffers from too much Hollywood storytelling and doesn’t show enough true human emotions.

What was really hard for me to do was get past the terrible Russian accents to truly enjoy the film even as an action thriller. There were too many cheesy plot devices and unrealistic characters for me to believe that this story was based on something that actually took place. About a quarter of the way through I was comparing this film to the cheesy 80’s classic “Red Dawn”, that’s how bad it was. I say skip this film altogether!