Coraline

CHICAGO – In our short lives, what do we most need? It’s a hard question to answer sometimes, but the new animated film “Kubo and the Two Strings” does a memorable job of answering the query. The journey of Kubo, like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” leads to a place where he needs to go.

CHICAGO – One of the great benefits of the new Golden Age of Animation has been the emergence of other studios…like Laika Entertainment, which has released “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls,” all nominated for Oscars. Travis Knight directs their latest stop-motion style animated film, “Kubo and the Two Strings.”

CHICAGO – “ParaNorman” better be included in any conversation of the best animated films of 2012 and the excellent Blu-ray from Universal, released today, makes that case even further than the theatrical one with a stellar collection of special features and beautiful HD transfer. I love this movie.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 12 admit-four family packs up for grabs for the advance movie screening of “ParaNorman” from the “Coraline” makers!

CHICAGO – The most-surprising nominee on Oscar nomination morning 2010 had to be that a little film that almost no one in the audience had heard of much less seen would compete with the big-budget players for Best Animated Feature. Like an off-off-off-Broadway play getting nominated alongside multi-million dollar projects, there was something called “The Secret of Kells” sitting alongside “Coraline,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and “Up.” Now the little-movie-that-could is out on DVD and Blu-ray for you to try and figure out why.

CHICAGO – While we may quibble over a bit of grain or some undefined line detail, the dirty secret of most Blu-ray reviewers is that a wide majority of audiences cannot discern the difference between most HD releases. The fact is that almost all of them look pretty damn good. Sadly, there are exceptions to the rule and Disney’s release for “James and the Giant Peach” is one such exception.

CHICAGO – Great films refuse to go away. Since I saw Henry Selick’s excellent “Coraline” months ago it has lingered in my memory like a dream and watching it again on the recently-released Blu-Ray (“Coraline” is also available on DVD), I’m reminded of how clever, creative, and captivating this piece of film was in theaters and will be every time I watch it with a perfect home release.

CHICAGO – The New Line romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You,” starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, and Ginnifer Goodwin, took the number one spot at the box office this weekend with an estimated $27.5 million and the best per screen total ($8,650) in the top ten.

CHICAGO – Henry Selick, the visionary director of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “James and the Giant Peach” has masterfully directed a mesmerizing journey into the world of imagination called “Coraline”.

CHICAGO – The limitations of the medium of animation are defined by the people who make it. As Henry Selick, the director of the upcoming and ground-breaking “Coraline” says, “Animation can be so much more than it is usually allowed to be.”