Tag Archive for 'cats'

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Coraline DVD Buying Guide – Release July 21

There are three different flavors of Coraline DVD. There is a standard one disk DVD, a “Collectors Edition” two disk DVD set, and a BLU-RAY HIDEF + DVD Set. The prices for the movies, as could be expected, go up in the order I have presented them. The single disk DVD has a few features, the two disk Collectors Edition DVD has the same as the single disk, and adds some more, and then the Blu-Ray DVD has all the features from the other disks plus even more.

It looks like you can already pre-order the Single Disk Edition, the 2-Disk Collectors Edition, and the Blu-Ray + DVD Edition on Amazon.

From looking at the descriptions, it looks like I could live without the Blu-ray edition because all I would care about are those two featurettes. For those of you who will want deleted scenes (like me), you will want to spend the extra cash for the 2-Disk DVD set.

There will be 3D Copies of the Movie on all DVDs!

But before you get too excited about that, my sources say that the 3D effect will be anaglyphic. So it will use the red and green old-fashioned sort of 3D, which I guess makes sense because they can’t really do the polarizing on regular televisions. All the editions will have both a 2D version and 3D version of Coraline, and will include 4 pairs of 3D glasses for viewing. The Blu-Ray edition will also have a normal DVD version of the movie so that if you don’t have a Blu-Ray player yet, you can still enjoy Coraline on a normal DVD player.

I’m pretty sure if you’re at my site, you are aware of what Coraline is about. Here are the juicy details about the various DVDs:

Coraline Blu-Ray DVDBonus Features Only on the BLU-RAY HI-DEF DVD

Creepy Coraline– Looks like a “making of” style featurette with Director and screenwriter Henry Selick and author of Coraline novel Neil Gaiman.

BD-Live– If you have a Blu-Ray player with an Internet connection, you can access interactive content online. This includes:

  • The World According to Henry – Feature wherein Henry Selick talks about adapting Coraline to a movie. The approaches he took, and also what he loves about Coraline.
  • My Scenes Sharing – For sharing favorite scenes with your friends. (Sounds dumb at first blush, but maybe it’ll work like social media – we’ll see.)

U-Control on 2-D Feature– This looks like it’s a feature where you can stop at places in the movie to see details about the making of the feature. This is called “Universal’s exclusive signature feature” by the official release. Included are set tours, voice-over sessions, animatics, and other details.

Coraline 2 Disk Collectors Edition DVDBonus Features on the BLU-RAY HI-DEF DVD and the 2-Disk Collectors Edition DVD:

Deleted Scenes – ‘Nuff said. I’m excited to see these!

Digital Copy of Coraline– Apparently there is a digital transfer of the film which you can put on your iPod, Mac or PC so you can take the movie Coraline with you. So you can watch it all day, or night.

Voicing the Characters– The cast and filmakers who worked on Coraline discuss how they found their voices for the characters, and also about the making of the film.

The Making of Coraline– Hosted by screenwriter and Director Henry Selick, this feature is about the making of the film, hand-building everything and stop motion animation.

coraline-standard-dvdBonus Features Available on BLU-RAY HI-DEF DVD, the 2-Disk Collectors Edition DVD, and the Single Disk DVD:

Feature Commentary with Composer Bruno Coulais and Director Henry Selick This is a pretty standard feature on DVDs these days. Sometimes it can be really great

Coraline Synopsis (Ho Hum)

The Good News is that You Can Already Pre-Order Them

Pre-order Coraline Blu-Ray + DVD 2 Disk Collectors Edition

Pre-order Coraline 2-Disk Collectors Edition DVD

Pre-order Coraline Single Disk Edition DVD

Don’t miss my Everything Coraline page.

Mad Tea 1: Chat Noir Studios

MAD TEA stands for Monster Art Dolls Toy Etsy Artists. It’s a stretch I know. See this page for details about MAD TEA.

This week we have chatnoirstudios on tap. Char Noir Studios sells unusual and strange art dolls, illustrations, sculpture and jewelry. They are also evidently familiar with Cthulhu, because they have a Cthulhu Figures category and a Pet Shop of the Old Ones.

There are so many amazing dolls at this shop that I really had to think hard about what to post here.

cthulhu-doll

First off, we can’t go very far without mentioning the Cthulhu Doll itself. This baby is 8 inches tall and all his tentacles are posable. The artist makes her dolls by starting with a bendable wire armature and then covering them with fabric.

mai-li-new-edition-hex-cat

Chat Noir has a whole series of “Hex Cats” in the Pet Shop of the Old Ones. Like the Cthulhu Doll, this Hex Cat is fully posable. The artist makes the eyes herself, and this cat is made with velour and plush.

mojo-minkeys-bette

If you’re looking for something a little more cuddly, there is the Mojo Minkey Bette. I like to think that the word “Minkey” here is a’la Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau: “Do you have a leasanse for your Minkey?”

If you’re more into historical drama, you’ll like the next, my favorite. It’s a mermaid being attacked by a sea monster.

captured-ooak-mermaid-and-seamonster-1

captured-ooak-mermaid-and-seamonster-2

I love this piece! The mermaid is wearing opera gloves. What more can you ask for?

Well, that’s it for this week’s installment of MAD TEA. See you next week for more Monster Art Doll Toy Etsy Artists.

Day Seven: Peculiar Quote of the Day

Very sleek and fat did the cats appear, and sonorous with purring content.” ~ H.P. Lovecraft (Author, 1890 – 1937) From The Cats of Ulthar

Happy Birthday Edward Gorey

Edward Gorey – 1925-2000. You are missed. Wikipedia entry here.

My favorite couplet by Edward Gorey.

Edward Gorey The Glorious NosebleedEdward Gorey The Glorious Nosebleed

Darkinthedark does not claim copyright on these images. If you are the copyright holder and object to their presence here, please contact me and I will remove them.

See one of my favorite Edward Gorey quotes here.

Buy Edward Gorey Collectibles on eBay

Movie Review: Coraline

Welcome to another movie review at darkinthedark dot com. At some impressionable point in my young monsterhood I had the distinct misfortune to be exposed to a virulently wholesome substance known to mankind as the “After School Special.” These were TV shows where kids would learn that people who misbehave are fated to be confronted by their parents and later be treated in a stern but ultimately loving and forgiving manner. I know I’m not the only one to bear scars from these shows. I recently heard a grown woman complain that every time her mother hugs her, she gets an After-School Special flashback and pulls away. What does this have to do with Coraline? We will soon find out.

Screen shot from Coraline 5

Before I get too deep into the review, I have some things I have to make clear:
1) I read Coraline when it came out and enjoyed it.
2) I avoided all the hype about this movie to the point where I refused to read anything about it or watch any of the trailers. I didn’t even know it was in 3D!
3) Thanks to Pixar and Aardman studios I expect BIG things out of animated movies.

The basic story is that Coraline has just moved with her parents into a rental house that also contains some strange neighbors. Coraline is bored with everyday life and feels neglected by her busy parents. While exploring her new house, she ends up discovering a passage to a sort of mirror world where everything is magical and everyone loves her. In the other world there is an “other mother” and “other father.”

The Other Mother (also known as the Beldam) is a very interesting character. In the beginning of the movie, the Other Mother is actually pretty hot, and seems loving and friendly. The Other mother cooks delicious food and does special things for Coraline. But as the movie goes on, the Other Mother changes, and not for the better.

Coraline Screenshot 4

I think the number one problem with this movie (and with the book) is that its baked-in wholesomeness kills the suspense and makes the proceedings inevitable. While it is offbeat and creepy, underneath all that delicious darkness is a cloying After School Special morality-tale flavored sweetness. I was also left wishing we could find out more about the Other Mother. How old is she and what is she really? At the end the Beldam changes into something resembling a spider.

Here are the good things:

It’s in 3D. This made it really fun. There were parts of the movie where people in the theater (including me) were ooh-ing and ah-ing out loud at the cool 3D. Definitely awesome.

It has some insane and magical spectacles. Whenever I see a Pixar movie or something by Aardman Studios (who do the Wallace and Gromit films) there is inevitably some point where I am shocked and amazed at how imaginative and brilliant they are with their medium. With animation, the sky’s the limit. Coraline has several scenes (all orchestrated by the Other Mother) where they really take full advantage of the medium, especially one featuring the crazy neighbors from downstairs in their theater playing a mermaid and Venus from Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.” Just brilliant.

It has some darkness. There is a lot of darkness. Rats, rot, and general darkness. For example, the “other father” becomes imbecilic at the end. Half in a sad way and half in a creepy way. If you know me you know I love the dark.

Coraline screenshot 3

And that’s kind of the way it is. It was good. My friend the Diabolical Doctor Francois liked that one of the main characters was a cat. And this is definitely a movie where if you’re even considering seeing it, you have to have to have to see it in a theater. Otherwise you may as well just not see it. (Update: Go here to download my Papercraft Coraline Doll.)

Creepy Factor: 4 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 2 out of 5
Weird Erotic Tension Factor: 1 out of 5 (unless you’re into old ladies with enormous bosoms in body stockings) Also the Other Mother is kind of hot in a Jan Svankmajer-meets Cruella DeVille way.

Coraline – Based on a book by Neil Gaiman – Directed by Henry Selick – 2009

Purchase Coraline DVDs on Amazon

Don’t miss my central source for information on Coraline: Coraline Central.

The flying monkeys let our technician out for a minute and he snuck away into the light of day. Thanks for your patience during this difficult transition.
I ated Tinkerbell.

Fhtagn Spoken Here.

... the attic, a vast raftered length lighted only by small blinking windows in the gable ends, and filled with a massed wreckage of chests, chairs, and spinning-wheels which infinite years of deposit had shrouded and festooned into monstrous and hellish shapes.
The Shunned House
H.P. Lovecraft




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