CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[kal]

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From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas comes:

Coraline (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy w/ 3D) out on Blu-ray on July 21, 2009!

Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00288KNJU/curtpalmecrtp-20

"A dark and creepy film about family relationships directed by Henry Selick of Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach fame, Coraline is based on the haunting book Coraline by Neil Gaiman. The first stop-motion feature shot in stereoscopic 3-D, Coraline features big-headed, stick-bodied animated characters with huge eyes and demonic grins set against menacing backgrounds and an undercurrent of spooky music. Coraline is a teenager who has just moved to an old house in the middle of nowhere with her writer parents and she is bored, bored, bored. Her only companions are an annoyingly talkative boy Wybie (short for Why Born), some eccentric neighbors from the theater and circus, and a strange, button-eyed doll with a marked resemblance to Coraline which Wybie found in an old trunk of his grandmother's. When Coraline finds an old door hidden behind an armoire and papered over with wallpaper, she convinces her mother to unlock it, only to find a wall of bricks. When Coraline revisits the door later that night, the bricks magically disappear and she discovers a strange pathway to another world where everything is just what she wishes for. In stark contrast to the real world where Coraline's parents just don't have time for her, her "Other Mother" and "Other Father" in this alternate world are the perfect loving, attentive parents who anticipate her every need and desire. Initially comforted and quite happy in this new world, suspicion that things may not be quite as they seem grows inside Coraline and her disquiet is furthered by the mute "Other Wybie" and a strange-talking cat that seems to move between both worlds. Eventually, Coraline discovers some dark secrets about her "other parents" and the seemingly perfect "other world," but it may be too late for her to escape back to the real world. Teri Hatcher is especially effective in her dual (voice) role as Mom and "Other Mom" and Dakota Fanning also gives a great performance as Coraline. Coraline is a disturbing, intriguing film that both captivates and frightens. (Ages 11 and older)" --Jim Emerson

It's also our newest reference quality disc with perfect picture and sound!

Coraline (Universal) Video: 5/5 Audio: 5/5

[kal]

Help support our forum! Purchase from Amazon.com using our links and a small percentage of your payment automatically goes towards supporting this site at no cost to you!
-------------------



From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas comes:

Coraline (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy w/ 3D) out on Blu-ray on July 21, 2009!

Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00288KNJU/curtpalmecrtp-20

"A dark and creepy film about family relationships directed by Henry Selick of Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach fame, Coraline is based on the haunting book Coraline by Neil Gaiman. The first stop-motion feature shot in stereoscopic 3-D, Coraline features big-headed, stick-bodied animated characters with huge eyes and demonic grins set against menacing backgrounds and an undercurrent of spooky music. Coraline is a teenager who has just moved to an old house in the middle of nowhere with her writer parents and she is bored, bored, bored. Her only companions are an annoyingly talkative boy Wybie (short for Why Born), some eccentric neighbors from the theater and circus, and a strange, button-eyed doll with a marked resemblance to Coraline which Wybie found in an old trunk of his grandmother's. When Coraline finds an old door hidden behind an armoire and papered over with wallpaper, she convinces her mother to unlock it, only to find a wall of bricks. When Coraline revisits the door later that night, the bricks magically disappear and she discovers a strange pathway to another world where everything is just what she wishes for. In stark contrast to the real world where Coraline's parents just don't have time for her, her "Other Mother" and "Other Father" in this alternate world are the perfect loving, attentive parents who anticipate her every need and desire. Initially comforted and quite happy in this new world, suspicion that things may not be quite as they seem grows inside Coraline and her disquiet is furthered by the mute "Other Wybie" and a strange-talking cat that seems to move between both worlds. Eventually, Coraline discovers some dark secrets about her "other parents" and the seemingly perfect "other world," but it may be too late for her to escape back to the real world. Teri Hatcher is especially effective in her dual (voice) role as Mom and "Other Mom" and Dakota Fanning also gives a great performance as Coraline. Coraline is a disturbing, intriguing film that both captivates and frightens. (Ages 11 and older)" --Jim Emerson

It's also our newest reference quality disc with perfect picture and sound!

Coraline (Universal) Video: 5/5 Audio: 5/5

[ecrabb]

The wife and I just watched Coraline tonight. Holy crazap... Stunningly gorgeous picture quality, and the DTS HD Master Audio track was REALLY good. Definitely a reference disc, and really great demo material. There's plenty of dark/dim/starry night shots, but there was one night scene in a garden where the plants are all lighting up from within... Wow! The blacks and colors were just amazing. Totally immersive, magical film - especially on a CRT.

In case you don't know, the film is mostly stop-motion (with a little CG/compositing) and was shot on 11-megapixel actively-cooled digital imaging cameras, so there was no film grain. Totally pristine transfer... The detail at 1080p is really something to behold... Total eye candy.

If you like the Tim Burton stop-motion magical world genre, this is a definite keeper.

SC

[ecrabb]

For the tech/photo geeks, here's the cameras they shot the film with:
http://www.princetoninstruments.com/products/imcam/megaplus/#11

[WanMan]

Was this movie really stop-motion and not just CGI to made to look that way?

[kal]

Definitely stop motion. It's amazing the amount of work that goes into it. Everything was done by hand. For example, there are many sweaters that the characters wear that were all hand knit on extremely tiny needles:

[kal]

Definitely stop motion. It's amazing the amount of work that goes into it. Everything was done by hand. For example, there are many sweaters that the characters wear that were all hand knit on extremely tiny needles:

[ecrabb]

Oh, yeah... incredible stop motion. I think the only CGI was some compositing for a few effects... The sets were just unbelievable. And those sweaters and the fabrics... The detail was amazing in the BD. The depth-of-field was so cool in some of the shots. It so easy to "pull focus" in stop motion - something that's very difficult in live action.

This film has a great style, and the massive amount of hand labor and the design effort really comes out when you watch the movie.

Can you tell I liked it?











SC

[Person99]

I have to agree with the others. This movie is incredible looking. I fist saw it in the theater on the Sony 4K LCoS PJs. Looked pretty good there. I saw it a week ago in my theater with the DLP which has highter on/off and ANSI CR than the theater PJ. The detail is incredible, there is no grain, no noise, nothing. I thought given the resolution limitation that my theater would not look as good as the 4K machine, but it seemed to be just as detailed. The thing that really blew me away with the depth that this had.

[WanMan]

Agreed, it is a good looking BD. Truly surprising they shot real stop motion.