Coraline is not merely eye candy, but clever story-telling as well

The newest wave in multiplexes all across the country is 3D movies that utilize technology as a substitute for good old fashion story telling. Coraline, the newest film from the director of the Nightmare Before Christmas, is a good example of how the 3D format doesn’t have to overshadow good filmmaking. The film uses stop-motion animation to tell the eerie story of a young girl looking for a more fulfilling life.

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) is a precocious young child who is nursing the effects of her family’s recent move to Oregon. Highly imaginative and full of energy, Coraline feels neglected by her parents who seem to be preoccupied with their careers while failing to pay attention to her. Coraline’s hopes for a more satisfying life are realized when she discovers a secret door in her new home that leads to an alternate version of the life she is currently living. Her new world is realized with a new set of “other” parents who look eerily like her real ones, but are strangely different. Here Coraline is showered with gifts and praise night after night. Like all such fantasies though, her new life comes with a startling price. When Coraline realizes that her new parents are set on keeping her in their reality forever, Coraline must rely on her craftiness and determination to make it back home.

Although Coraline feels more like an exercise in style than in substance, it’s simple story is carried along nicely by its stunning visuals. Audiences will more than likely find themselves swallowed up in the pictures rather than in the narrative, but the simplicity of the story is what it needs to be; a dream-like sort of tone that captures a mood rather than preaches an overwrought message. Coraline is the proverbial Alice in Wonderland, who doesn’t realize what she has, until she almost loses it all. While the message is simple enough for children to grasp parents be warned; this film is not for the very young. The film’s PG rating is earned with disturbing visual imagery that is emphasized not with gore, but with some dark themes the story suggests. You will probably want to leave your 6 year- olds at home for this one.

3/5

If He doesn't call...he doesn't care. 'Nuff Said.

New York Times bestselling authors Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s self-help book for women entitled He’s Just Not That Into You is the type of manual that is supposed to lift women from the pits of self-loathing and into a life of relationship/marital bliss. The book offers what it describes as no-nonsense advice to understanding men and deconstructing the age old question as to why they never call back after what seemed to be a positively picturesque first date. Here, I’ll save you the 10 dollars Amazon.com is charging for the book, and give you the answer. He’s not interested…at all. It seems simple enough doesn’t it? Which begs the question, why does such a book need to exist in the first place, let alone be made into a movie?

The film revolves around the lives of several different couples all trying to answer the question, “is he really that into me?” Gigi is a happy-go-lucky brunette who can’t seem to learn the lessons from one date to the next. Guys never call her back, and go out of their way to avoid her, so naturally she decides to stalk them to get the answers she needs. She soon meets Alex (Justin Long) whose job it is to give her “relationship advice” nothing more, nothing less, although I’m sure you can already guess who these two are dating by the end of the movie.

Beth (Jennifer Anniston) has been dating and living with her boyfriend Neil (Ben Affleck) for 7 years. Beth’s frustrations have mounted to an all-time high when it appears that Neil is still nowhere near tying the knot. “I’m committed” he cries, but with no ring to prove to Beth that he is. Ben (Bradley Cooper) and his wife Janine (Jennifer Connelly) have a seemingly happy marriage until Ben, in his self-pitying gets tangled up in an affair with Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Throw in Drew Barrymore’s character of which I still can’t figure out the purpose, and you’ve got a film that despite a talented cast’s best efforts ultimately falls doom to too many plates spinning at once without a strong handle on any one of them.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking. I’m a male. How could my brain even remotely begin to understand the complex inner workings of these social constructs and the problems they pose? Perhaps you’re right, but the reason the film doesn’t work is not because of the acting, or even (here’s the surprise) the subject matter. It’s simply the fact that there are too many plots evolving at once, with not a satisfying pay-off for a single one of them. There are throw-away characters that add nothing to the story in the least There are in fact, great pieces of writing. Take for example, Drew Barymore’s sharp and witty monolouge about her longing for the “good ole days” of a guy picking up a phone and calling as opposed to the numerous modern day mediums from which she must face rejection i.e. email, and myspace. Women and men alike would do well to listen to her advice and realize that relationships cannot be reduced to mere formula, despite Hollywood’s best efforts to convince us so.

2/5

Taken – This Week’s Guilty Pleasure at the Movies

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a retired secret agent now living in the United States. Recently divorced, his days are spent taking it easy, and trying to get close to his 17 year-daughter Kim, who lives with her mother and ultra rich step-dad. Bryan is the type of guy whose years on the force have made him suspicious of the things he sees around him. For this reason, he is a bit hesitant to permit his daughter to travel to Paris with friends. Within minutes of arriving at their Parisian flat, Kim and her friend are abducted by a group of masked men. Kim manages to connect with her Dad right up until the kidnappers break into the bedroom and steal Kate. Using a 15 second phone recording that contains the voices of these masked men, Bryan is able to ascertain their language, jobs, boss, location, and wherabouts. I’m not kidding. 15 seconds. From here the tale of vengance kicks in as the audience is expected to gleefully watch our hero beat criminals to a pulp using a variety of skills he has acquired that include wire tapping, car-flipping, French speaking, wind-pipe severing, electrocuting, and the ever-popular espinoage. The only point of the film seems to be that there is virtually no situation that is even remotely too hard for Bryan to get out of. Seconds before the abductor takes Kim, Bryan warns him on the phone of the impending doom he and his accomplices will face if they do not return his daughter. The next hour and half completely deliver that promise. There are no stakes, and virtually no consequences connected to Bryan’s vengeful path of destruction. Unfortunately, the massive number of bodies that begin to pile up serve not only as collateral damage for Bryan’s mission, but for the flimsy plot as well.
Taken is the kind of rare movie that you face as a film “critic” that is hard to digest. It finds itself in that confusing territory of a movie that is fairly well made and actually fun to watch at times, but at the same time completely forgettable and unoriginal. I guess you might call it a guilty pleasure. For what it does, it does right. It raises your adrenaline for a minute or two, not allowing you to look away from the screen. If that is the only thing you are looking for, then enjoy. If not, you won’t be disappointed to see what’s playing next door.

2.5/5