This is topic Coraline (2009) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Emma Tomiak (Member # 1862) on 02-06-2009, 07:00 PM:
 
I really enjoyed this film. I was hoping for something similar in tone and style to The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I wasn't disappointed (like I was with The Corpse Bride).

Visually it's quite stunning. Very bright colors, strange looking characters as well as the animation style kept my eyes glued to the screen. The story is fun, although a wee bit hard to follow at times. I was afraid at that it would be too childish after watching the first 20 minutes, but as it progressed it moved into darker territory.

This is definitely not a movie for young children. Some of the scenes and characters are good nightmare material. Plus, there is some partial nudity (not the good kind ).

I will definitely be seeing this again. I might even crack and see it in 3D. 4 1/2 stars.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 02-07-2009, 07:28 AM:
 
This is one of the most continually creative movies I've ever seen. Almost every moment there is something new to look at. The story is fresh and fun. Screening we attended had lots of young girls (about grades 4-6) who were quiet and very into the movie.

This is one of the best 3-D movies I've ever seen. The effects are subtle and very much a part of the story. 3D really makes this a better movie, which is a very rare thing.

The circus scene looked to me like a mighty salute to the great George Pal, who used this type of animation many many years ago.

Story is a bit slow in spots, so it doesn't get our highest rating. Ideal audience is 8 and above...it is definitely NOT for very, very young children. And, the story is makes it very entertaining for adults.

Rating B+

Oh, the theatre scene in "button-land" is worth checking out by itself. Emma referred to this scene in her review.
 

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Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 02-08-2009, 03:12 AM:
 
Beth and I and some friends of ours saw a print at the AMC Mercado 20 this evening. The 3d show at the AMC Cupertino Square was sold out.

Overall it was a cute movie. I enjoyed a lot of the subtleties and facial expressions. The story kept me interested, though the ending seemed predictable.

The presentation was good, print quality was excellent though reel 3 had a light base scratch on the far left. What was more surprising, is that the entire film was run in analog sound. While the mix was well balanced, the overall volume was much lower than I would have liked. The trailers and snipes were clearly digital sound though. We stayed through the credits and I noticed only DTS and Dolby Digital logos were present. I'm guessing that this print lacked an SDDS track. Do other AMC theaters have digital readers other than SDDS installed or is AMC an SDDS only shop?
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-08-2009, 03:21 PM:
 
Sean,

When Digital sound was introduced with the three competing formats, AMC announced it was selecting SDDS for all of it's theatres. Because most films are still being released with all three formats, I guess AMC never bothered to replace or add another type of digital sound system in existing SDDS venues except for their major theatres. When the Waikiki twins were still in operation, house #1 had SDDS-8 only but it's twin, the #2 was a SDDS-8 house as well as SRD. Consolidated premier theatres are now the Ward 16 with four of it's large auditoriums, #7 to 10 that has SDDS-8, DTS as well as SRD. With the exception of some of the other houses at the Ward thatmight have additional digital sound system, all of Reading's Consolidated theatres existing houses are still using it's original digital sound system as far as I know. Because I am not familiar with Regal's Honolulu theatres, I do not know if they have any theatres that have more than one digital sound system

-Claude
 

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Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 02-08-2009, 04:09 PM:
 
Coraline is from Focus Features, the one major US distributor that does not regularly print SDDS. (So Milk, also, lacks it; though apprently Burn After Reading did have SDDS.) Focus is Universal's specialty division.

AMC continues to have a lot of deployed SDDS equipment, but they do have SRD in a bunch of places as well. The impression I have is that a relatively small number of AMC auditoriums have multiple digital formats, and there's usually one or two SRD screens in each multiplex.

--jhawk
 

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Posted by Julio Roberto (Member # 4976) on 02-08-2009, 04:42 PM:
 
Here, once again, we have a 3D movie that has little competition. It's the only "children" movie of the top 10 at the BO and suitable for adults as well. It's the most valued and liked by the public. Here are the public critics scores from rottentomatoes:

First number is the 1 to 10 rating. Then estimated money grossed over the weekend.

4,3 - He's Just Not That Int… $27.5M
5,5 - Taken $20.3M
8,7 - Coraline $16.3M
1,3 - The Pink Panther 2 $12.0M
2,7 - Paul Blart: Mall Cop $11.0M
9,4 - Slumdog Millionaire $7.4M
7,7 - Gran Torino $7.2M
3,3 - The Uninvited $6.4M
4,4 - Hotel for Dogs $5.8M
3,1 - Underworld: Rise of th… $3.9M

Coraline is, by far, the most liked film, only surpassed by slumdog millionaire. Only Torino comes somewhat close to Coraline's ratings. It obliterates the rest of the movies currently on BO's top.

So little competition, good movie, good demographics (PG), no other 3D movie in the top ten, and yet it's only #3 for opening weekend.

Where are the "2, 3 times the gross of 2D movies" and the "$25, high profit 3D tickets?"

Of course when given the choice of watching Coraline in the same or nearby theater in 2D or 3D a lot of people are gonna fork the $2 extra to watch it 3D. Besides the novelty, they may enjoy it more. But when "all" theaters become 3D or when "all movies" become 3D ... then it's a non-issue.

If Coraline opened 2D only, people would still watch it in about the same number, but the truth is it would be hard to justify a $2 price increase w/o something like the excuse that it's in 3D.

But since 3D does cost more to produce and exhibit, it's only logical 3D grosses more as for profits to remain (about) the same. It would be different if all theaters could project 3D with only $1000 in special optics adapters and the movie grossed much more. That would be real extra profit. But if a theater has to spend $100k to do 3D ... getting extra gross doesn't necessarily transforms in getting extra profits. Just helping pay for the extra expenses.

Needless to say Bloody Valentine is mostly gone now at #16 and about $50m total gross. Pretty good, but not spectacular surcharges and all things considered.

I'm looking forward to watch this movie. I think it may be my cup of tea.
 

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 02-08-2009, 08:06 PM:
 
CINEMA: Great Escape Omaha 16, Omaha, NE
AUDITORIUM: 8
PRESENTATION: RealD Digital Cinema
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Puny sound, puny subwoofer
RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

I pull up to the multiplex and immediately find parking right in front. I walk in and not a soul is to be seen...customer nor employee. There is NOBODY manning the ticket booth. NOBODY manning the snack bar. NOBODY manning the auditorium hall entrance. NOBODY.

Through a back mirrored office window, I spy a girl flipping something in front of her face for her own personal amusement. I think she spies me, but she ignores me.

After about five minutes of standing around, an employee comes out of the auditorium hall. "Can I help you sir?"

"Are you selling tickets?"

"Had to take a bathroom break."

He sells me a ticket.

There's nobody in the auditorium, so I try out several different rows to decide where I'll sit. The screen is too high off the ground (like eight feet) and too far from the stadium seating to be any good. I finally settle on the floor seating. I guess we'll see how good 3-D looks from below the screen. (Just fine, actually.)

There's supposed to be a video pre-show, but nobody's bothered firing the lamp. When a woman with her five kids comes in, they turn it on...out of focus, crooked, and aimed to the left. Woman to her kids: "Oh no! We'll NEVER find a good seat!" Sarcastic, yet accurate. They sit in the top row. The auditorium does end up close to half full by the time the movie starts.

Before the trailers, the sconces kept dimming, then lighting up, then dimming again. They stayed on full strength during the trailers, which was really annoying for the 3-D effect.

Oh yes...Eventually, a movie was shown.

THE PLOT: A girl finds a portal to a parallel universe. Wackiness ensues.

The visuals are great except when fast-moving flying creatures appear...they flicker like the Atari 2600 Pac-Man ghosts. But it's a beautiful movie.

The story is aimed directly at the 8-15 year old girl crowd. It was fine, maybe could have been told better. There's a lot of stuff in here as visual fluff to extend the run time (like said theater scene, for example). It had that vibe that it could be brilliant...but just...wasn't.

Maybe I should go see this again at the Warren.
 

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Posted by Emma Tomiak (Member # 1862) on 02-10-2009, 01:08 AM:
 
Just saw this again in 3D. It was just amazing. I was even more drawn in than I was during the show I screened. And I'll admit, this is the first time I've ever seen anything in digital 3D. I'll bet everything else I see in 3D will be a disappointment compared to this. Just wow.
 

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Posted by Tony L. Hernandez (Member # 3524) on 02-18-2009, 01:50 AM:
 
Saw Coraline last Sunday in 2D via 35mm film at the Metrolux 14 in Loveland,CO. Let me just say that this ranks up there with one of the most amazing pictures I've seen in a long time. The first reel is a little slow, but is by far made up for with the amazing animation. After that, the movie takes off. The storyline is wonderful but the unique,eccentric characters and the breathtaking animation keep your eyes and mind glued to the screen. My favorite characters were Ms. Forcible and Ms. Spink and I loved the "other" mother...she looks like an animated version of my hairdresser.
This is a must see for anyone who enjoyed "Nightmare Before Christmas" and should be seen on the big screen.

A+
 

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 02-18-2009, 04:28 AM:
 
Egad! Wait till you see it in 3D!
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-19-2009, 12:58 AM:
 
Just saw this movie in 3D. It was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. Nowhere near Nightmare Before Christmas, not even in the same league. I noticed that much of the animation was pretty jerky, as if there were "slowdown" or "lagging" as we say in the gaming industry when frames are dropped. Some scenes seemed like they were 12 frames per second or less. Even NBC was smoother on the same size screen.

The 3D effect was OK. Most of the time I forgot I was even watching it in 3D until something popped out of the screen, which was rare. It was Real D with some nonsense in front of a single projector lens. I am not yet sold on 3D, keep trying. It's not the wave of the future. You fail, 3D.

Don't know if I'll get this one on DVD.

I also noticed digital gobbldygook between some trailers and when it switched to 3D. Not sold on digital cinema yet either if this is common. Screen was dirty on the bottom half, but it was unlike any screen dirt I had seen before. It looked very strange and was not present during the preshow.
 

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Posted by Julio Roberto (Member # 4976) on 02-19-2009, 05:08 AM:
 

quote: Joe Redifer

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Screen was dirty on the bottom half, but it was unlike any screen dirt I had seen before. It looked very strange and was not present during the preshow.

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Was this stadium sitting? Where about were you sitted with respect to the center? Was the screen curved or tilted?

I think you may have been treated to either Silver Screen Curse , polarization disparity, angled de-polarization crosstalk, dirty 3D glasses, defective or miss-installed (angled) z-screen, or all-or-none of the above

Welcome to the wonderful world of perfect 3D of the 00's and beyond that will revolutionize the industry and triple the profits for everyone. Nothing like the old bad film systems of the 50's.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-19-2009, 03:06 PM:
 
All of the Coraline 3-D shows I've been around to look great except that the movie is kinda dark and that doesn't help the already low light levels.

Mark
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-19-2009, 03:20 PM:
 
The "dirt" was mostly at the bottom right, but pretty much all over the bottom side. I was seated both horizontally and vertically centered in the auditorium. And what's with the digital gobbledygook when it switches to 3D and before the projector started playing trailers?
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-19-2009, 06:13 PM:
 
I don't know why that "digital gobbledygook" thing can occur when the RealD system is activated. Sometimes you see that blocky stuff or a really bright green screen for a split second. It's a great way to remind viewers they are not watching film.

There are workarounds that can be applied to the time line in the server's software to black out that stuff -if the manager, projectionist or whoever is doing the work will check into it.

quote: Joe Redifer

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Don't know if I'll get this one on DVD.

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