I recently read posters on a comics board painting Neil with the same pretentious full-of-himself brush as Grant Morrison or Mark Millar, and then my vision went red. It is a fortunate thing that I can't actually reach through the internet and out of people's monitors to choke them.

Emmett and I saw Coraline today also. It was ravishing. Like sj, I disliked the intrusion of Whybe into the climactic moment of the movie. In the book, Coraline sets the trap for the hand with great forethought. She wins because she's a better strategist, not because she had a lucky arriving friend and they hit it with a rock. Pff.

Otherwise: Genius! Emmett clutched my arm for much of the movie as it was quite creepy. I kind of loved that they moved to Ashland, Oregon (with bits of the Shakespeare Festival on view).

Between this and Mirrormask I have to wonder about the family dynamics between Gaimain's daughters and his wife.

Also, I will be avoiding buttons for a while now, thankyouverymuch.

I've been talking to a couple of friends who claim they've figured out a way to build button-eye prosthetics for me. Why yes, I want to have button eyes for Halloween.

Jilli - when you find out would you mind terribly passing the info onto me? Em really wants to go as Coraline for Halloween. Joe and I want to go as Other Mother and Father.

he was was so disconnected from events going on around him and flat of affect, I had an easier time connecting to and sympathizing with Eli.

"flat of affect" describes how he came across to me... I felt sympathy for Eli because she's just hungry, while Oskar seemed more amoral and cut off from humanity. Neither actor ever pulled me out of the story. They were both amazing.

The people I saw this with were talking about how they felt that Hakan was messing up gathering blood because he'd been doing this for years and was just getting weary of it and careless. It makes sense that Eli would need someone more methodical if she loses control at the scent of blood.

Ash & others,

I connected to Oskar because of the bullying. So I was just about in his court from moment one. I felt really sorry for him the entire time. I was really horrified at the pool scene. I know kids are mean to each other, but damn.

My new favorite cable channel is MGM HD. Just this weekend, I DVRed Bergman's Persona, and Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black.

My new favorite cable channel is MGM HD

Huh. Maybe I need to get an HD tv. Oh yeah, after we pay the rent stuff. Maybe next decade.

le nubian:

I know what you mean, and that was actually one aspect of the story I was looking forward to seeing what the story did with (bad grammar day for me). I also connected with his being around drinking adults... that scene worked for me. He is anchorless, and entertains himself with (apparently) books that give him knowledge about crimes. Which suggests that he is ideal to replace Hakan.

I love that all of these characters seem very alive and interesting, with their own things going on.

"THIS is ALL stop-motion??? Holy shit!!!"

Well, some of it was CG. (Like most of the mouse circus.) But I've never seen CG and puppets so well integrated before, anywhere.