Movie & TV DVD Releases this week. July 28 2009
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astonishing
Giving this set a bad rating because you already bought an earlier set is doing any potential buyers of this set a grave injustice.
It is, simply, astonishing. Why? Start with digital transfers from the original camera negatives and magnetic tracks. Add commentaries for the majority of episodes. And multiple commentaries for several episodes. Add Rod Serling's college lectures used for commentaries. Add interviews with cast and crew members. Add isolated msic scores. Add intros and outros. Add network promo spots. Add the TWILIGHT ZONE radio dramas and comic books...I could go on but why bother? If you are a TWILIGHT ZONE FAN, you won't be disappointed.
Twilight zone
I am a real fan of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. I bought the 42 VHS collection of Twilight Zone via Columbia House Canada and paid nearly $1500.00 for the entire collection more than ten years ago. What a deal to obtain the DVD collection with all the extras for a fraction of what I paid for the VHS. The quality is excellent. One little note: there is no close caption for the season one but no problem for seasons 2,3,4,5. Thank you Amazon. I live in Québec canada and it took only five days to receive the collection by regular mail.
The Twilight Zone- The Complete Definitive Collection
I didnt get into this show until the past year or so. Ive heard of it in the past but I wasnt born until the early 80's so I didnt get to see it as much as id like to of. Now I can see all the great episodes on DVD and really get to appreciate the genius of this show. This box set contains all 156 complete episodes of Rod Serling's groundbreaking series along with exciting extras.
List of Episodes for all 5 seasons-
Season 1
Episode 1: 'Where is Everybody?'- Earl Holliman stars as a man on the edge of hysteria in a deserted town. Despite the emptiness, he has the strangest feeling hes being watched.
Episode 2: 'One for the Angels'- A Salesman cleverly eludes death. But if he lives a little girl must die in his place. Only the salesman greatest pitch can save her.
Episode 3: 'Mr. Denton on Doomsday'- A drunk of a gunslinger finds his fast draw abilities can be restored by drinking a magic potion.
Episode 4: 'The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine'- an aging former movie star lives and dreams in the past. She refuses to leave her screening room until she disapears.
Episode 5: 'Walking Distance'- Martin Sloan is plays a frazzled executive who learns that you can go home again after he steps back in time and meets his mom his dad and himself.
Episode 6: 'Escape Clause'- A hypocondriac exchanges his soul for immortality and indestructibility.
Episode 7: 'The Lonely'- A covicted murderer incarcerated on a distant asteroid and is dying of lonliness.
Episode 8: 'Time Enough at Last'- A Bookworm yearns for more time to read, then a nuclear holocaust leaves him alone in the world with lots of time, plenty to read and an ironic twist.
Episode 9: 'Penchance to Dream'- A man whos terrified of falling asleep in fear he might die. His pursuer? A mysterious vixen he meets in his dreams.
Episode 10: 'Judgement Night'- 1942, a german wonders why he is on the deck of a British Steamship with no memory of how he got there and impending doom.
Episode 11: 'And When the Sky was Opened'- Col. Clegg Forbes 'Rip Taylor' and 2 astronauts return from their space flight. They soon discover that no one remembers them as if they never even existed.
Episode 12: 'What You Need'- Two bit thug thinks hes found the key to a better life.
Episode 13: 'The Four of us are Dying'- Gifted with the ability to change his face Arch Hammer devises a plan to elevate himself.
Episode 14: 'Third from the Sun'- William Surka and a friend steal an experimental spaceship and go off to an unknown planet.
Episode 15: I shot an Arrow into the Air'- The worlds first manned space mission goes awry stranding the crew on an asteroid.
Episode 16: 'The Hitchhiker'- Alone on a cross country trip Nan Adams has a blowout. Surviving the incident, she gets back on the road, only to see the same hitch-hiker everywhere she looks.
Episode 17: 'The Fever'- Tight fisted Franklin Gibbs is not happy when his wife wins a trip for 2 to Vegas. But things change when he falls under the spell of a slot machine that calls his name!
Episode 18: 'The Last Flight'- World War One flying ace flies through a mysterious and lands at a modern U.S. Airbase in the year 1960.
Episode 19: 'The Purple Testament'- Lt. Fitzgerald has found his own special wartime hell. Looking into the faces of his men prior to battle he has the ability to see whos about to die.
Episode 20: 'Elegy'- 3 astronauts land on a remote asteroid where everyone is frozen in place.
Episode 21: 'Mirror Image'- A woman spies her exact double at a bus station and becomes convinced the double is trying to take her place in this world. A fellow passenger thinks shes crazy..at first.
Episode 22: 'The monsters are due on Maple St'- Inexplicable events cause the residents of Maple Street to errupt into rioting. Residents suspect alien invasion.
Episode 23: 'A World Of Diffrence'- Arthur Curtis thinks hes an average businessman living a normal life. Or is he an actor playing a businessman in an office thats really a set?
Episode 24:' Long live Walter Jameson'- A history teacher who talks about the past as if he lives it.
Episode 25: 'People are Alike all over'- Space expidition crashes on Mars.
Episode 26: 'Execution'- man in 1880 about to be hanged for shooting a man in the back.
Episode 27: 'The Big Tall Wish'- Over the hill prizefighter gets a boost from a lil boy whos a big fan in a disillusioned world.
Episode 28: 'A Nice Place to Visit'- After being shot to death a theif encounters white haired pip who gives him everything he wishes.
Episode 29: 'Nightmare as a Child'- A schoolteacher who has blocked out the details of her Mother's murder and encounters a strange little girl.
Episode 30: 'A stop at Willoughby'- Advertising exec cracks under pressure of his job dreaming about a peaceful town called Willoughby.
Episode 31: 'The Chaser'- Roger Shackleforth, desperate to win the affection of the beautiful Leila, slips her a love potion.
Episode 32: 'A Passage for Trumpet'- After commiting suicide an unsuccessful trumpet player is given a second chance at life.
Episode 33: 'Mr. Bevis'- A good natured, accident prone eccentric whos guardian angel gives him a chance at success.
Episode 34: 'The After Hours'- A woman discovers that the floor of a department store on which she bought a gold thimble dosent exist.
Episode 35: 'The Mighty Casey'- Baseball team with a robot player.
Episode 36: 'A world of his own'- Noted playwright who discovers he can make anything appear or disappear by just describing it.
Season Two
Episode 37: 'King Nine Will not Return'- WWII captain/a vast desert. Where is his crew and why are futuristic jets flying overhead?
Episode 38: 'The Man in the Bottle'- A curio shop owner thinks hes found happiness when a genie he discovers in an old bottle grants him 4 wishes.
Episode 39:' Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room'- Small time hood is ordered to commit a murder he dosent want to perform.
Episode 40: 'A Thing about Machines'- A man despises any sort of machine, and he'll experience a new kind of terror when he learns the feeling is mutual.
Episode 41: 'The Howling Man'- During a walking trip in Europe Ellington loses his way and meets an insane monk claimed hes captured by the Devil.
Episode 42:' Eye of the beholder aka Private World of Darkness'- Janets hideous face has made her an outcast all her life. As she waits for her last chance surgery, she ponders the consequence of failure.
Episode 43: 'Nick of Time'- A superstitious newlywed becomes obsessed with a penny fortune telling machine.
Episode 44:' The Lateness of the Hour'- Dr. Loren and the faultless Robot services he invented.
Episode 45: 'The trouble with Temptation'- An aging actor who longs for the old days when his wife was alive. Hes given a glimpse of the past.
Episode 46: 'A most unusual camera'- Two thieves find out a camera they have stolen take pictures of the future.
Episode 47: 'Night of the Meek'- Christmas in the Twilight Zone. Art Carney as a forelorn department Santa who takes to drinking.
Episode 48:'Dust'- A man about to be hanged for running over a little girl. The girls father uses magic dust and a change comes over village.
Episode 49: 'Back There'- A man who travels back in time to Lincolns assassination.
Episode 50: 'The Whole Truth'- Automobile compels used car dealer to tell the truth. He cant sell a single vehicle on his lot until he comes up with an unusual idea.
Episode 51: 'The Invaders'- A flying saucer lands in the attic of an isolated house. Spaceship begins to stalk old woman.
Episode 52: 'A penny for your thoughts'- Flip of a coin gives banker the power to read minds.
Episode 53: 'Twenty Two'- Woman is terrified of returning nightmare involving number Twenty Two.
Episode 54: 'The Odyssey of Flight 33'- Flight 33 picks up a tail wind and is blown off course. After corrected the flight arrives at its destination- a billion years of course.
Episode 55: 'Mr. Dingle, The Strong'- A timid salesman is given super strength by a martian experimentor.
Episode 56: 'Static'- an antique radio starts to broadcast programs from an old mans youth that only he can hear.
Episode 57: 'The Prime Mover'- Ace Larson discovers his business partner can move things with his mind. They set out for Vegas and win.
Episode 58: 'Long Distance Call'- Before Grandma died she gave Billy a toy telephone. When he uses it to talk to her, his parents dismiss it as imagination.
Episode 59: 'A hundred yards over the Rim'- 1847, a western settler sets out to find medicine for his son, he returns with much more than medicine.
Episode 60: 'The Rip Van Winkle Caper'- Thieves put themselves into suspended animation for 100 years after hiding a million dollars worth of gold bars.
Episode 61: 'The Silence'- Archie Taylor offers man half a million dollars if he can keep quiet for a year.
Episode 62: 'Shadow Play'- a man trapped in a reaccuring nightmare.
Episode 63: 'The Mind and the Matter'- a book on the power of thought enables a worker to recreate the world exactly how he wants it.
Episode 64: 'Will the real Martian please stand up'- State troopers follow tracks from an unidentified flying object.
Episode 65: 'The Obsolete Man'- In a future state where religion and books have been banned, a librarian is judged obsolete by The Chancelor and sentenced to death.
Season Three
Episode 66: 'Two'- Two lone survivors of a nuclear Holocaust must start the world anew.
Episode 67: 'The Arrival'- A plane lands safely but all passengers and crew are missing.
Episode 68: 'The Shelter'- When a UFO invasion appears eminent, friends and neighbors are reduced to selfish conniving animals in a fight over one familys bomb shelter.
Episode 69: 'The Passersby'- Civil War Confederate Soldier stops at a house, he soons realizes everyone who pass are dead.
Episode 70: 'A Game of Pool'- a brilliant pool player in a show down.
Episode 71: 'The Mirror' - a poor and ambitious central american farm worker overthrows his countrys tyranical leader.
Episode 72: 'The Grave'- Notorious badman puts a curse on hired gun.
Episode 73: 'It's a Good Life'- He knows your every thought, every emotion. He can eliminate all you hold dear. Who is he? A six yera old boy.
Episode 74: 'Deaths'- Head Revisited- A former Nazi captain returns to a concentration camp to relive the good old days- until his long dead victims appear to deliver overdue justice!
Episode 75: 'The Midnight Sun'- Earths orbit has changed drawing closer to the sun and promising imminent destruction. Or has it?
Episode 76: 'Still Valley'- A confederate soldier gets a chance to win a Civil War for the South.
Episode 77: 'The Jungle'- A businessman and a trip to Africa. A voodoo curse is placed upon him.
Episode 78: 'Once upon a Time'- A janitor living in the year 1890 and a time traveling helmet.
Episode 79: 'Five Characters in Search of an Exit'- clown, hobo army ranger are trapped in a enormous cyclinder.
Episode 80: 'A Quality of Mercy'- A soldier gets a new perspective on war when he is forced to experience it from the enemy's point of view.
Episode 81: 'Nothing in the Dark'- an old woman has fought with death a 1000 times and always won but she thinks a wounded policeman at her door is Mr. Death. Is He?
Episode 82: 'One More Pallbearer'- Eccentric millionare offers use of his bomb shelter to 3 people who wronged him.
Episode 83: 'Dean Mans Shoes'- a vagrant steps into a murdered gangsters expensive shoes and is taken over by the dead mans ghost.
Episode 84: 'The Hunt'- An old hillbilly and his hound dog find themselves meet a gatekeeper who tells them theyre at the entrance to Heaven. One problem.. Dogs are not allowed.
Episode 85: 'Showdown with Rance Mcgrew'- TV cowboy finds himself in a real old west Saloon where Jesse James challenges him to a showdown.
Episode 86: 'Kick the Can'- an old man at sunnydale rest home discovered a secret to regaining youth.
Episode 87: 'A piano in the House'- A critic uses a magical piano player to disclose his party guests hidden selves.
Episode 88: 'The last rights of Jeff Mrytlebank'- came back to life at his own funeral, Jeff hasnt been the same. Townspeople want him out.
Episode 89: 'To Serve Man'- The Kanamits, 9 foot tall aliens arrive on Earth. To Serve Man.
Episode 90: 'The Fugitive'- Old Ben, A fugitive from Outer Space with a heart of gold.
Episode 91: 'Little Girl Lost'- a 6 yr old who can be heard but not seen and has vanished into a 4rth dimension.
Episode 92: 'Person or Persons Unknown'- David wakes up to find himself in a nightmare, no one, not even his wife or mother know him, all evidence of his identity has disapeared.
Episode 93: 'The Little People'- Spaceship commander declares himself a god when he lands on a planet populated by people smaller than ants.
Episode 94: 'Four O'Clock'- Political fanatic has determined that at 4 p.m. he will eliminate all his enemies by shrinking them.
Episode 95: 'Hocus Pocus and Frisby'- Frisby is a loud mouth braggart whos boasts attract the attention of aliens.
Episode 96: 'The Trade-Ins'- An elderly couple visits the New Life Corporation hoping to transplant their personalities into youthful bodies.
Episode 97: 'The Gift'- An alien crash lands in a village and befriends and gives a present to a little boy.
Episode 98: 'The Dummy'- A Ventriloquist is convinced that his dummy, Willie, is alive and evil.
Episode 99: 'Young Mans Fancy'- Newlywed couple return to grooms childhood home, the ties of the past prove to strong to resist.
Episode 100: 'I Sing the Body Electric'- Anne must learn to understand and accept that her new grandmother can be tender loving and thoughful even thought she is a Robot.
Episode 101: 'Cavender is Coming'- Carol Burnett stars as Agnes in this tale of a klutzy usherette rescued from poverty by a guardian angel.
Episode 102: 'The Changing of the Guard'- Donald Pleasance is Professor Ellis Fowler, forced to retire after 51 yrs of teaching. Fowler is startled by a ghostly appearance of former students..
Season Four
Episode 103: 'In His Image'- Alan Talbot dosent understand why his hometown seems unfamiliar, why he is driven to kill and what are the noises in his head?
Hes about to get answers when he comes face to face with his double.
Episode 104: 'The Thirty Fathom Grave'- submerged submarine, 20 yrs after it was sunk by Japanese during World War II.
Episode 105: 'Valley of the Shadow'- Phillip Redfield finds himself trapped in a small town where people can reverse time.
Episode 106: 'Hes Alive'- Peter, 'Dennis Hopper', a smalltime Nazi Leader, yearns for more power.
Episode 107: 'Mute'- 12 yr old girl who loses her parents in a fire and dosent speak.
Episode 108: 'Death Ship'- 3 astronauts discover a wrecked duplicate of their spaceship and their own dead bodies!
Episode 109: 'Jess Belle'- Billy Ben finds himself enchanted by the beautiful Jess Belle who soons learns the danger of buying a love spell from a witch.
Episode 110: 'Miniature'- Charley Parkes is a shy bachelor who discovers a miniature doll alive inside a 19th century dollhouse.
Episode 111: 'Printers Devil'- Newspaper editor on the brink of suicide, someone presents an unusual deal.
Episode 112: 'No Time like the Past'- Paul travels back in time to try to prevent some of historys catastrophes.
Episode 113: 'The Parallel'- Astronaut finds himself back on Earth in a world similar to but not quite his own.
Episode 114: 'I dream of Genie'- George rubs a magic arabian lamp and a genie emerges to grant him one wish.
Episode 115: 'The New Exhibit'- About a Wax Museum
Episode 116: 'Of late I think of Cliffordville'- A bored wealthy businessman, gets a chance to go back in time and start over.
Episode 117: 'The Incredible World of Horace Ford': Toy Designer spends most of his time reminiscing about his idyllic childhood. But when he gets a chance to go back to those years, he gets a bitter taste of reality.
Episode 118: 'On Thursday we leave for Home'- Leader of a strander outpost in space for 30 yrs.
Episode 119: 'Passage on the Lady Anne'- young couple books passage on old ship.
Episode 120: 'The Bard'- Jack Weston is an untalented would be writer wohse career takes off when the ghost of William Shakespere writes his script.
Season Five
Episode 121: 'In Praise of Pip'- An alcoholic bookie regrets that he wasnt a better father to his son, 'Pip', critically wounded in South Vietnam. A visit to an amusement park gives them both a second chance.
Episode 122: 'Steel'- The future, robots and asteroids.
Episode 123: 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet'- A salesman recovering from a nervous breakdown spots a gremlin on the wing of his plane.
Episode 124: 'A kind of stopwatch'- magical stopwatch that can stop everything except him.
Episode 125: 'The last night of a Jockey'- Mickey Rooney is Grady, a former jockey banned from horseracing.
Episode 126: 'Living Doll'- Erich is displeased when his wife buys an expensive doll for his stepdaughter. He becomes even more displeased when the doll tells him it dosent like him.
Episode 127: 'The old man in the cave'- a mysterious guardian helps a tiny community.
Episode 128: 'Uncle Simon'- Barbara Polk has taken care of her detested Uncle for 25 yrs waiting impatiently to inherit his wealth. But his will states she must take care of his robot.
Episode 129: 'Probe 7, over and out'- Lone survivors of 2 annihilated planets.
Episode 130: 'The 7th is made up of Phantoms'- a trio of national guardsmen conducting war exercises.
Episode 131: 'A short drink from a certain fountain'- an aging man desperate to keep up with his younger wife tries a youth serum.
Episode 132: 'Ninety years without slumbering'- man believes he will die if his grandfather clock stops.
Episode 133: 'Ring a Ding Girl'- Hollywood Star Bunny Blake gets an unusual gift from her town fan club.
Episode 134: 'You Drive'- Oliver Pope hits a boy on a bike killing him.
Episode 135: 'The Long Morrow'- 40 years in suspended animation.
Episode 136: 'The Self improvement of Salvador Ross'- Salvador will stop at nothing to win Leahs love. He even trades his youth for money.
Episode 137: 'Number 12 looks just like you'- at age 19, everyone must undergo an operation which makes them beautiful and identical to everyone else. But Marilyn refuses.
Episode 138: 'Black Leather Jackets'- 3 tough looking guys on motorcycles move into a suburb. Dont drink the water.
Episode 139: 'Night Call'- Lonely and confined to a wheelchair Elva Keene starts to get numerous mysterious phone calls. Terrified, she screams the words that will doom her.
Episode 140: 'From Agnes, With Love'- A computer technician must dela with the queen of all femme fatales, a computer names Agnes who wreaks havoc on his love life.
Episode 141: 'Spur of the Moment'- Woman chased by mysterious figure in black.
Episode 142: 'An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge'- Confederate spy spared death when the rope meant to hang him breaks. Or does it?
Episode 143: 'Queen of the Nile'- a columnist,a movie star and a secret.
Episode 144: 'Whats in the box'- Joe sees a secret revealed and its horrible consequences on his tv set.
Episode 145: 'The Masks'- Knowing he is about to die, Foster summons his heirs to his mansion for a bizarre Mardi Gras ritual and gives them the inheritance they so richly deserve!
Episode 146: 'I am the Night, Color me Black'- an execution day and pitch black skies.
Episode 147: 'Sounds and Silences'- Roswell, a boisterous man who loves noise. But when his wife leaves the volume in his life goes haywire.
Episode 148: 'Ceasar and me'- Ventriloquist Jonathan West is no match for his evil dummy- Little Ceasar, woh grabs the chance to set him up for a fall.
Episode 149: 'The Jeopardy Room'- man has 3 hours to escape from a room with a ticking bomb and a gun pointing at his head.
Episode 150: 'Stopover in a quiet town'- 2 people wake up in a strange town where everything appears to be fake.
Episode 151: 'The Encounter' - ' A rare non syndicated episode'- Fenton, a WWII Vet, proudly shows his captured sumurai sword to Arthur Takamuri, a young Japanese American gardener- who picks it up and instantly knows he must kill his host!
Episode 152: 'Mr. Garrity and the Graves'- Jared Garrity makes a living reserecting the dead in the old west.
Episode 153: 'The Brain center at Whipple's'- Callous factory owner Wallace Whipple automates his plant, putting thousands of men out of work, Smugly self satisfied, he has no regrets.. At first.
Episode 154: 'Come Wander with Me'- a singer journeys to the backwoods to find authentic folk songs.
Episode 155: 'The Fear'- An unknown creature hidden in the shadows terrorizes a hysterical young woman a state trooper whos there to help her.
Episode 156: 'The Bewitchin' Pool'- For children distraught by feuding parents, a special swimming pool offers admittance to a happier, simpler place.
There are tons of extras on these DVDS. Some of the extras include Conversations with Rod Serling, Photo Galleries, Billboards, Alfred Hitchcock Promo, Everything you could imagine. Enjoy it.
Delightfully creepy
This uncommon animation starts with tween-aged angst, the kind that demands independence but still wants mom and dad close by. Her busy parents don't have much time for her, though, and her new, remote home doesn't offer much reward for her explorations (other than some rather kooky neighbors). So, even if it's not wholly conscious, Coraline wishes for a nicer place and parents that pay more attention.
As the movie's tagline says, "be careful what you wish for." Like Alice down the rabbit hole, Coraline finds a secret passage to a more magical place. Soon, however, the magic turns dark. That's where the brilliant animation really comes into its own. The stop animation (or at least the look of it) bring to mind Tim Burton with a macabre touch of Brothers Quay. You know your child best - skittish ones might find some of the imagery a bit much. Still, kids' stories (like Alice in Wonderland) have always had dark edges. That deliciously spooky sense, plus some great animation, really set this movie apart from the usual.
-- wiredweird
DVD & BLURAY specs
Universal Studios Home Entertainment have announced the US DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Coraline on 21st July 2009. Based on the book by Neil Gaiman, this stop-motion animation written and directed by Henry Selick follows an adventurous girl who finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.
Available on single-disc DVD, two-disc Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc, all include both the 2-D and 3-D version of the main feature and come packaged with 4 pairs of 3D glasses. Features are outlined below...
Single-Disc DVD
* 2-D and 3-D Presentations
* 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
* English, French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
* English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
* Feature Commentary with Director Henry Selick and Composer Bruno Coulais
2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD - As above plus a bonus disc with the following content:
* Digital Copy of Coraline 2-D Version (Expires 07/31/2010)
* Deleted Scenes
* The Making of Coraline
* Voicing the Characters
Blu-ray Disc - This is a Blu-ray Combo release which comes bundled with a standard-def DVD that includes the 2-D version of the film (AV specs as per the DVD releases), audio commentary, and a Digital Copy of the film. Features include:
* 2-D and 3-D Presentations
* 1080P 1.85:1 Widescreen
* English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
* French and Spanish 5.1 DTS Surround
* English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
* U Control - Picture in Picture (2-D Feature Only)
* U Control - Tours and Voice Sessions (2-D Feature Only)
* U Control - Picture in Picture Animatic (2-D Feature Only)
* Deleted Scenes
* The Making of Coraline
* Voicing the Characters
* Creepy Coraline
* Feature Commentary with Director Henry Selick and Composer Bruno Coulais
* D-Box
* BD Live - My Scenes Sharing
* BD Live - The World According to Henry
* Disc 2: DVD with standard-def 2-D version of the film, audio commentary & 2-D Digital Copy of the film (expires 31st July 2010)
Jeepers Creepers! Where'd You Get Those Peepers?
"Coraline" is a frighteningly beautiful fantasy, filled to the brim with delightfully bizarre visuals and one-of-a-kind characters. Some may say that it's too dark for young children, and indeed, it is, in essence, a family-friendly horror movie. But I suspect that most children will find it more dazzling than scary; through the painstaking but rewarding process of stop-motion animation, writer/director Henry Selick retains the essence of the original novel by Neil Gaiman, crafting a tale that's just creepy enough to thrill audiences without sending them running out of the theater. It's also presented in 3-D, although the process isn't as impressive as you might think it is. I stared at the screen through a pair of special glasses, and yet I never flinched or covered my eyes when something came at me from off the screen. No matter--dimension isn't important as long as a fun story is being told.
With "Coraline," we're once again invited to explore an alternate world hidden amongst our own, specifically within the walls of a house (Gaiman has tackled this subject before with films like "Mirrormask" and stories like "The Wolves in the Walls"). In this case, the alternate world is a lot like ours, except it's better. That's exactly why it appeals to Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning), an adventurous young girl leading a very dull life. Her parents (voiced by Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman) are too busy writing articles for a gardening catalogue to take any notice of her. She's surrounded by eccentric but boring neighbors in her new home, which was once a Victorian house but is now an apartment complex. There's nothing worth exploring inside or outside. Worst of all, she never feels as if anyone is listening to what she's saying. Maybe it would help if they didn't keep calling her Caroline.
Then she discovers a small door hidden behind a wall of an old parlor, a door that covers a tube-like portal leading to the alternate version of our world. Things are so much more interesting there, including the people, who are reflections of the people in Coraline's world. There's one small physical difference: They all have black buttons instead of eyes. When we first see Coraline's Other Mother (also voiced by Teri Hatcher), we immediately sense that something sinister lurks behind that vacant, artificial stare; she's a little too sweet-natured, a little too accommodating. It's as if she wants Coraline to stay in this alternate world forever, not as a daughter, but as a prized possession. Coraline's suspicions are confirmed when the Other Mother hands her a box containing two black buttons, a spool of thread, and a needle.
There comes a point when Coraline must not only rescue her real parents, who have been kidnapped, but also free the souls of three dead children, who have been imprisoned in the alternate world for who knows how long. With the help of a special green stone, Coraline will play a game with the Other Mother, a hide-and-go-seek game, a finding-things game. If she loses ... well, let's just say that losing won't be a good thing for her.
Another fitting way to describe this film would be to call it a Good vs. Evil fable, where a wise but non-complacent hero battles it out with a malevolent force. Coraline is daring, but she certainly isn't fearless, which only makes her that much more relatable as a character. She even has to be helped at specific points, as seen when the local cat appears in the alternate world; we quickly learn that, once in this world, he has the ability to speak like a human, specifically in the voice of Keith David. (Is it the independent nature of cats that inspired Gaiman to make this character a bit haughty?)
As with any good fantasy, "Coraline" features a number of side characters, each with a unique personality quirk. Coraline's downstairs neighbors are Miss Spink and Miss Forcible (voiced by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French), former actresses who speak as if they were trying to be heard in the balcony section. I don't know whether or not it's unfortunate that we only see their Other selves giving a performance (to an audience primarily made up of Scottish terriers). Her upstairs neighbor is Mr. Bobinsky (voiced by Ian McShane), an eccentric circus performer who gets from point A to point B using only acrobatic poses. He claims to have a troupe of mice training for their next performance, although the only mice we see belong to the Other Mr. Bobinsky; the show they put on for Coraline is one of the film's best scenes.
Finally, there's Wybie Lovat (voiced by Robert Bailey, Jr.), a boy not much older than Coraline. He's awkward and timid, always hunched over, always sneaking up on Coraline, forbidden from entering the apartment complex because of his grandmother. This character was not in Gaiman's novel, and truth be told, I'm not sure he was needed for the film. He and Coraline have a few interesting scenes together, but there's always the sense that the story would have been just fine without him. It certainly was when Gaiman wrote it. Be that as it may, "Coraline" is still a fantastic explosion of creativity, a haunting, vibrant fantasy teeming with visual goodies. It's a dark film--not unpleasantly dark, but dark nevertheless. It works in much the same way as a bedtime story, many of which hint at the possibility of bad things happening. You know your children better than I do, but keep in mind that many are more fascinated by the macabre than by the mundane.