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Wednesday, November 11
Earlier today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the list of 20 animated movies that will be considered for nomination at the Oscars, which air March 7, 2010.
The Best Animated Feature category traditionally consists of three nominees. (We should add that the use of the "traditionally" is kind of funny, considering the category is less than 10 years old). But according to Academy rules, if at least 16 movies are submitted for consideration, then the number of nominees increases to five.
Among the potential contenders already released are Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, Disney's A Christmas Carol, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Monsters vs Aliens, Ponyo, and Up. Also being considered are several titles yet to be released, such as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Planet 51, and The Princess and the Frog.
Although it's not likely, there is a slight chance the whole five-nominee thing might not happen. Variety cites the fact that for a title to qualify, a print of the movie must first be submitted to the Academy by this coming Monday. In addition, a movie can be disqualified simply on the basis of bad quality. The nominating committee has to confirm each of the 20 entries by awarding each a score of at least 7.5 (on a scale of 6 to 10). Titles falling below that range will not be eligible for competition.
Posted 11/11/2009 by Rich Z
Related: The Princess and the Frog | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Planet 51 | Up | Monsters vs. Aliens | Coraline | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | A Christmas Carol | Ponyo | Fantastic Mr. Fox
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Tuesday, February 10
With a better than expected 3rd place performance and $16.3 million at the box office last weekend, Coraline surprised skeptics, but whether it did well enough to satisfy investors remains unclear. A lot is at stake for Laika Entertainment, a fledgling studio with dreams of one day rivaling Pixar in the animation world. Coraline is its first feature production and cost upwards of $35 million to make. Much of the money for this initial project came from Nike founder Phil Knight (pictured), but the eccentric billionaire is holding off on further financial commitments to see whether the film really does turn out to be a financial as well as a critical success. So, for now Laika remains in suspended animation. Nine follow-up projects are being contemplated, but so far none have been greenlit. And without definite work ahead, some of the stop-motion animators who helped put Coraline together have been laid off.
Posted 2/10/2009 by Bill
Related: Coraline
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Sunday, February 8
With Coraline opening on Friday, reviews called the movie aimed at families "dark." Will audiences find Coraline to be too dark, especially for children? When ReelzChannel spoke to the cast, we heard a variety of opinions. Director Henry Selick, as mentioned in our Coraline review, said: "I'm more concerned about the parents being scared...the eight-year-olds can hold their mom's hand."
When author Neil Gaiman was asked if Coraline was "too scary," he replied:
I hope so. I think a little bit of fear is a wonderful thing. And in 'Coraline' what you're telling them is that here's something big and it's something scary and it's something that's worth being a story. Look, she's a smart kid, and she doesn't have magical powers, and she's not the 'chosen one,' there's nothing cool or magical going on. She's just like you and she's going to win. And for most kids, and not for most parents, they read 'Coraline' as an adventure. I think for adults it tends to be much scarier. For adults you've got a number of things going on. For an adult, a story about a child in danger, that's big. That's scary. That's dangerous. And also of course, for adults, they get to watch it, and all sorts of long-forgotten, long-buried, repressed, and abandoned childhood memories start coming to the fore and worrying them. And children don't have repressed memories because that's where they live.
Coraline star Teri Hatcher also felt that there's more to Coraline than "darkness:"
I think it's really an individual family's choice. I think you hear about three-year-olds going to see 'The Dark Knight' and I didn't take my 11-year-old to see that movie. I think whenever you have an opportunity to communicate with your kids in an open and imaginative humorous way, which this movie provides, I think even if there are scary feelings that come up I think the communication behind that and the message in this movie makes it worth seeing as opposed to some of this scary kind of trash that's out there that I think is influencing some of our children on the Internet or in video games.
Whether audiences find Coraline scary or not, it hasn't stopped the movie from receiving extremely positive reviews.
Posted 2/8/2009 by Ryan
Related: Henry Selick | Teri Hatcher | Neil Gaiman | Coraline
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Wednesday, February 4
In Coraline, a young girl discovers a secret door in her new home and finds an alternate world -- and life -- that appears better than the one she has. But as the movie's promotional alphabet cards warn, Be careful what you wish for.
With director Henry Selick's inventive stop-motion animation, the latest 3-D technology, and a script based on Neil Gaiman's terrific novel, is it too much to wish for a movie that will dazzle kids and parents alike? A movie worth the price of admission and the overpriced tub of popcorn? Find out in our Coraline review.
Posted 2/4/2009 by reelz
Related: Henry Selick | Neil Gaiman | Coraline | Coraline 3D
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While doing press for Coraline, author Neil Gaiman heaped praise on the director chosen to adapt Gaiman's novel The Graveyard Book into a movie, Neil Jordan. The story, about an orphan who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard, may seem a somewhat unusual choice for Jordan, but Gaiman told ReelzChannel the choice was a natural one.
At the first lunch that I had with the guys from [production company] Framestore -- I was in London -- we settled down for a lunch, and it was really just to talk. Really, we were just trying to have the kind of conversation that establishes that we do all have the same kind of film in our heads. And what's interesting is the three of us at the table kept going back to 'Company of Wolves,' [Jordan's 1984 movie] in terms of what we were talking about.
Gaiman was far from finished:
[Jordan's] a writer and director, he's a really good writer, he's a novelist as well. He is one of those people who just makes movies, and sometimes they're hits and sometimes they're aren't, but they are a tremendous body of work when you look at it. He's comfortable with special effects, he's really good with actors, and all of his films have wonderful sort of textured look to them, and if you want somebody to direct a film that is all set in a little graveyard on a hill, and it covers sixteen years...so we sent the book to Neil.
Sounds like The Graveyard Book is in good hands, but what about Gaiman's other works, such as the Sandman graphic novel? Is anything else in a stage of adaptation?
"Yes," he said, then paused. "'The Graveyard Book.'"
Posted 2/4/2009 by Ryan
Related: Neil Jordan | Neil Gaiman | Coraline | The Graveyard Book
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Wednesday, January 28
Still more than a week to go before Coraline debuts and already Neil Gaiman is getting another one of his books adapted for film. In an appearance on the Today Show, Gaiman announced that The Graveyard Book would be made into a movie to be directed by Oscar-winning writer/director Neil Jordan. The book, which just last week received the the prestigious Newberry Award for children's fiction, opens with a triple knifing and follows the story of a toddler who is orphaned by the murders only to be raised in the graveyard by ghoulish but benevolent ghosts. Unlike Coraline though, it appears to be a live-action venture, rather than stop-motion animation, that the filmmaker has in mind here.
Posted 1/28/2009 by reelz
Related: Neil Jordan | Neil Gaiman | Coraline | The Graveyard Book
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Monday, January 26
How many intriguing and imaginative angles can you find to promote a new movie? Even amid the avalanche of trailers, magical boxes, gothically illuminated letters, and mysterious keys, this latest promo video really stands out. In it, Coraline author Neil Gaiman explores koumpounophobia, the fear of buttons. It's a real phobia apparently and one that Coraline makes the most of. Now Gaiman does his best to make it even more contagious with an amazing deadpan Rod Serling-like monologue that has already drawn comparisons to Hitchcock giving us a tour of the Bates Motel.
Posted 1/26/2009 by reelz
Related: Neil Gaiman | Coraline
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Monday, January 19
Three new trailers replete with dancing mice, flowers with childlike voices, and button eyes open more still more windows into the parallel universe of Coraline. The first of the three was singled out by Coraline author Neil Gaiman as being "a bit more like the film than others I have seen." Early reviews from advance screenings also continue strong, with an animation professional and a lucky father both giving the film high marks for the way it creates a unique and engaging otherworldly experience.
Next Showing: Coraline opens February 6
Posted 1/19/2009 by reelz
Related: Neil Gaiman | Coraline
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Monday, January 12
Some walls in New York, DC, and Chicago have gotten a Coraline make-over with button-eyed portraits and otherworldly themes as part of the continuing quirky guerilla marketing campaign for the upcoming movie.
Other random real world walls have had mysterious black Coraline keys attached to them. But contrary to rumors that these are part of some kind of scavenger hunt, Coraline author Neil Gaiman confirms that sometimes a key is just a key. The rumors are, he suggests, likely just part of an attempt to hike up the value of the keys to sell them on ebay.
Next Showing: Coraline opens February 6
Posted 1/12/2009 by reelz
Related: Neil Gaiman | Coraline
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Tuesday, December 30
From giving out secret boxes to releasing illuminated alphabet cards across the internet, the marketing campaign for Coraline has been a wonder unto itself. Now, with its February 6, 2009 release date just around the corner, the Coraline blitz keeps chugging along in the form of six new behind-the-scenes videos, which cover a wide range of topics, from character introductions, hair textures, and even animating mustaches.
That should keep fans occupied. At least until the next marketing item shows up.
Posted 12/30/2008 by reelz
Related: Coraline