Coraline

M: Where to start. We were excited to see this, and went out to a late showing on Valentine's day. (Can you say "Romance.") Steve Salles, who we usually agree with, gave the movie 4 stars. And we loved Nightmare Before Christmas (same director), so we had fairly high expectations. As it turns out, this was the creepiest movie I have ever seen. It was well done, and beautiful at times, but absolutely creeped me out. Do not, I repeat, do not, take your kids to this movie, unless you want them to have nightmares about the evil versions of their parents taking out their children's eyeballs and sewing buttons in their place. I am giving this a bonus for looking good, otherwise my review would be lower. 2 1/2 stars.

V: Yeah, I was a little bummed about this one. It was really super well done. But, man! I had heard it described as creepy. It was downright scary. There was little to lighten it up or provide comic relief. Could have been really good, but I think it just stayed too dark and frightening. I saw it described as "horror fantasy." Keep that in mind, and like M said, don't take your kids! There was one scene with a They Might Be Giants song - fans will notice it right off. I guess they (TMBG) were going to do a lot more music for the film, but as it turned more and more creepy, TMBG had to be left behind. I think it would have been better --could have infused some dark humor. As it was, it was just dark. So, on the positive side . . . If you think of it as a Halloween film (as it definitely should have been marketed as such and released then!!) and you're looking forward to being scared - then by all means, go see Coraline. Again, it is really beautifully done, and the 3D was cool, very realistic. So, in the genre of horror flicks, I give this 3 stars.