Opening This Weekend

So as many of you know, I have a teeny tiny crush on Neil Gaiman. Like many a fangirl, I was hooked once I read his Sandman graphic novel series. I enjoy the stories he writes and the voice (the dreamy, dreamy voice) in which he writes them.

Coraline, a movie based on Gaiman’s book of the same title, is opening this weekend. Word on the street is that it’s pretty good. The animation, done almost entirely in stop-motion, is supposed to be great. I’m really looking foward to seeing it but unfortunately we’re pretty busy this weekend so it looks like I’ll have to wait a bit. But if you have the time check it out.

FYI, it’s kind of dark, so I wouldn’t take tiny little kids to it–maybe those 9+ would be okay? (I have a hard time judging this sort of thing since I don’t have older kids.) It is by the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, after all. As A.O Scott said in his review for the NY Times:

There are many scenes and images in “Coraline” that are likely to scare children. This is not a warning but rather a recommendation, since the cultivation of fright can be one of the great pleasures of youthful moviegoing. As long as it doesn’t go too far toward violence or mortal dread, a film that elicits a tingle of unease or a tremor of spookiness can be a tonic to sensibilities dulled by wholesome, anodyne, school-approved entertainments.

So there you go: if you take your kids you can rest assured that you’re giving their “sensibilities dulled by wholesome, anodyne, school-approved entertainments” a much-needed tonic. (But then again Mr. A.O. Scott doesn’t have to get up with your kid when they wake from a nightmare at 3am.)

So to sum up: go see Coraline but please don’t get mad at me if it freaks out your kids.