The Buzz on Halloween

     One of my favorite holidays, Halloween, is right around the corner and with it not only comes trick or treaters and endless amounts of candy-but also the time old tradition of spooky movies on rerun. Thought not exactly considered a "Halloween" movie per se, I decided to review one of my favorites that seemed appropriate for the occasion. 

     Coraline is a stop motion animation picture directed by Henry Selick, which also combines CG effects to give the characters more realistic appearances. Not only does the storyline appeal to my attention, with mixes of fantasy, realism, and dark humor, the special effects really stand out. Even though the movie is animated, using stop motion creates a sort of human quality to each character in the film, which can also be seen in other movies by Selick like The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. Also, the movie is very detailed in every single scene, often adding whimsical touches and creativity along the way. A feature that really stood out to me was the stark contrast between Coraline's real world, and the "other" world she enters through a portal in the wall. Everything is the same in the other world as it is in Coraline's real world, except the real world is abnormally bland and gray. There is a constant state of winter and in Coraline's other world its as if everything comes to life; there is a vibrancy that is executed in the perfect way. At the end of the movie we come to realize that this "other" world is not all it's cracked up to be and the timeless motto "what shines isn't always gold" fits just right. Only when Coraline comes to grips with her own reality, does it regain its "color." As far as I'm concerned, the movie deserves two thumbs up and I can't wait to watch it when the holiday nears.

Zombie Apocalypse?

One movie I have recently picked up from  my local Redbox is World War Z, starring Brad Pitt. Starting the movie, I was not sure what to expect considering the plot circled around an attack of zombies; needless to say, there have been some pretty cliche "zombie" movies that have premiered in the box office recently. However, about 30 minutes in and I was hooked already. Finishing the movie I was pleasantly surprised to realize that World War Z doesn't portray the storybook version of zombies. These zombies are more lifelike, which in turn makes the movie more realistic and more relatable. In the movie, there is a deadly virus that has been spreading and nobody knows where it originated. The side effects of this virus turn those into flesh eating monsters, and the process of transformation is over exaggerated in a cinematic way...but the theory is not improbable. After all, a few years back we had an incident in real modern time of a man eating another's flesh. Other than the two thumbs up I give to this film for being realistic, the CG and special effects also were well executed and the entire storyline left me captivated and entertained throughout the whole movie. I do wish there was a little more elaboration on the ending, as the movie sort of finished abruptly with a war between the humans and zombies, but besides that I would personally give the World War Z 5 stars for sure.