I recently rented and watched Coraline, the movie adapted from a Neil Gaiman novel by the same name. I was pretty impressed with the film, and it was quite pleasing to watch and experience.
The movie is about a young girl, Coraline, who moves into a new apartment-house. Her parents are both very busy working on their gardening catalog, which they hope to sell and make lots of money, so Coraline is left seeking parental love. She's also bored in her new place, surrounded by strange and quirky neighbors. A neighborhood kid gives her a doll that happens to look a lot like her, though it has buttons for eyes.
Things start getting strange for Coraline, and the line between reality and fantasy is blurred masterfully. The way the movie is filmed is aesthetically beautiful, yet slightly strange and twisted, reminiscent of Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride.
All in all, I liked the movie. The visual effects were amazing, the accompanying music fitting, and the story intriguing. It seems like a great movie for a child, as I imagine their eyes would be wide with wonder at what they are seeing. The movie is available in 3-d, if you happen to have glasses or something to watch it in, which could make it even more enjoyable. I can easily recommend this movie to you for a family film, or simply as a snuggle-up-and-watch-a-movie-together film, too.
