'Coraline' => 'Nightmare Before Christmas'

Not much I'm going to be able to add to the deserved buzz around Henry Selick's 'Coraline' other than to implore you to see it as soon as possible. 'Coraline' is miles beyond "Nightmare Before Christmas" both technically and aesthetically. And it's much more fun than the flawed (but still interesting) "James and the Giant Peach."

My only real caveat is the 3D presentation and that's probably my own damn problem. I've got a pretty wack lazy eye and my depth-perception is rather lacking in the real world. I have been watching 3D stuff in theatres since at least 'Jaws 3D' and have never seen anything that works for me (with the exceptions being certain parts of Disneyland's 'Captain EO' and the title credits of 'Friday the 13th 3D.') So the 3D effect was lost on me. I am almost wholly depth-perception challenged-please feel free to direct me to the appropriate support group.

I will note for the record that the snazzy glasses were quite comfortable and while the depth effect was nil (to me) it was akin to watching an ordinary print (although I still had to wear the glasses.) I flipped the faux-Ray Bans up from time to time and noticed that sometimes the image looked like a normal print (although a bit brighter, like a slightly over-exposed print) and the 3D stuff was only used in scenes where it would deliver a really pronounced effect. 3D only seems to work on stuff moving along a horizontal access. So putting it out in 3D may have been an afterthought. A couple obvious in-your-face tricks stand out but nothing that is going to seem inappropriate if you have to see this in plain ol' 2-dimensions.

Probably one of the best looking stop-motion works ever.

Jerry Beck's Cartoon Brew led me to some interesting articles on 'Coraline' and Henry Selick. Like a cool interview with Selick here on the AVClub and another one over at Aint It Cool.