animated films i didnt think id like and one i was suprised i didnt like

When CORALINE appeared in theaters earlier this year i immediately wanted to see it. neil gaiman+henry selick+music by they might giants+french and saunders seemed like a great combination. when my wife put the kibosh on seeing it in theaters, i rushed to rent the DVD and was really suprised at how uninteresting i found it. i was floored. the day earlier, i watched THE IRON GIANT directed by the mythic and wonderful brad bird (the incredibles and a crapload of simpsons episodes) and was shocked at the reverance i had for it. i heard it was good but man, it was like wall-e esque in terms of inspiration.

why didnt i like coraline? perhaps it was a bit too childish for me. that is strange given the general love i have for childlike wonder and amazement. the plot didnt pull me in the least. the visuals however, were fantastic and kept me watching albiet staring at the clock quite a bit. i probably would have appreciated this in the theaters quite a bit more especially with 3D. i think the problem was that there was nothing in the script for the adults. the message was pretty simple and clearly directed towards children. the main part directed towards adults was the macabre and gothic style stop motion. perhaps ive been spoiled by pixar who plant adult oriented material throughout the entire film.

why did i love the iron giant? it was really directed towards children but the obvious themes of warfare, mistrust, and preconceived prejudices (towards robots?) give it an adult sheen. i would say that this is sort of an anti-the day the earth stood still. alien robot comes to earth to pal around with humans. in both films, humans are the monsters AND other humans are the heroes but in the iron giant, the robot is the hero. to risk spoiling the film, ill stop now but the ending is heartbreaking and then heartwarming (pixar?). the moral is that everyone is free to act on their free will and that preconceived notions (towards robots ?) end badly.

i didnt hate coraline by any means but im definetely disappointed but i legimately did love the iron giant

an alice in wonderland not to show the kids...

ive been meaning to watch some jan svankmajer for a while so when i saw Neco z Alenky aka Alice i was immediately engrossed in this crazy ass vision of alice through the looking glass. everything was creepy and had a wierd gothic touch to it. i expect nothing else from the land of crazy surrealism, czechoslovakia. to those of you unfamiliar with czech surrealism (wow. that sounded snooty), folks like vera chitlova and the 'guy who did report on a party and its guests' (dont feel like looking it up) have had some wierd films but are great to watch. even early milos forman is a bit wacky (fireman's ball and the superb loves of a blonde come to mind).

svankmajer specializes in stop motion animation and virtually the entire cast save for alice is a stop motion character. being only familiar with the disney take, it was wierd to see the backdrop of alice so dark and rundown. given the original text, i shouldnt be suprised as it seemed a bit macarbe and altogether, a profoundly disturbing story for children.

disney certainly created a wonderful piece of animation and i do remember being wierded out as a kid but this would give me nightmares. whether it was the clacking of the teeth on the rabbit or the vaguely hassidic jewish looking mad hatter, it was definetely a unique watch.

that being said it was fascinating and clocking in at 85 minutes, it never gets dull and is certainly a continually fascinating film to watch.

bring on more czech stuff!
4/5