Coraline

2009, Henry Selick

Coraline (Dakota Fanning) and her family (Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman) have just moved into a new house in a more temperate part of the country. Her parents, who both write about plants for a living, are too preoccupied with their work to spend time with their daughter, so she finds ways to amuse herself, such as counting windows, looking for an abandoned well, and visiting the neighbors. She is surrounded by odd figures. The man in the apartment above (Ian McShane) obsessively trains circus mice, the two elderly ladies below (Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French) are former stars of the stage who now collect Yorkshire Terriers (they have four that Coraline meets, as well as innumerable stuffed and mounted on the walls).

The boy from the house down the road (Robert Bailey Jr.) talks a lot, but seems a nice sort. He gives Coraline a doll he found in his grandmother’s attic that looks just like her. A little suspicious that the boy actually made the doll for her, as it is the spitting image of Coraline, she still accepts the present.

While exploring the house, Coraline finds a small door that has been papered over and locked shut. Upon opening it, she finds only a brick wall behind. But in her dreams, the door leads to another world, a world that is just as crazy and entertaining as a young girl could want. But there seems to be something sinister hiding just beneath the surface.

Based on a novel by Neil Gaiman, this stop-motion animation is a beautiful adaptation. Dark and quirky, yet still thoroughly PG, this movie is fantastic. I’ve always loved the look of stop-motion, and I think that it matches well with this story of frustration, temptation, and child-like imagination. It is worth noting that Henry Selick, the director, also directed The Nightmare Before Christmas. These two movies match each other in style and humor fairly well, although Nightmare gets more attention because of the musical numbers, as well as the fact that it can be classified as both a Halloween movie and a Christmas movie. While Coraline has nothing specific to Halloween, it is the perfect movie for this time of year. 

As a character, Coraline is a feisty girl with a wild imagination and a quick tongue. However, she’s also just a child, trying to understand why her parents don’t spend any time with her; a particularly frustrating situation after a cross-country move. Coraline has no support system, which makes her vulnerable. This makes her the ideal protagonist for this story. Of course she is tempted by the Other World, who doesn’t want parents who cheerfully give you the attention you crave — but these parents also step back and let Coraline discover the Other World on her own. They aren’t present when she visits the neighbors. They are waiting with cupcakes and smiles when she returns, but she is still free to roam, just like in the Real World. It’s better than Coraline could have ever hoped for.

(mild spoilers): In the end, Coraline understands that parents are busy. That’s not to say that hers have been let off the hook, but that she has forgiven them this time and will allow them another chance. She sees that her place in society (at least at this point in time) is instigator, planner, organizer. She is a true protagonist, bringing the lonely, scattered neighborhood together. In the final scene we see all the characters planting flowers in the garden — even Coraline’s parents, who were previously too busy for such frivolity. She has truly defeated the Other Mother, who worked to destroy families and preyed on the lonely. Even had she been around, there is nothing here at the end for the Other Mother to work with. This is a picture of complete harmony and happiness, thanks to a girl named Coraline.

Crimson Peak: Gothic Horror at its finest

Released: 2015

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is a young aspiring author in the late 1800s (or early 1900s) who is more interested in her books than the social sphere around her. Having been visited by her mother’s ghost when she was young, she chooses to write a story involving ghosts. While beginning to send her manuscript to publishers and attempting to get feedback, she meets Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), a baronet who is down on his luck and touring in an attempt to raise funds for a digging machine he has designed to improve the mining of clay from under his house, the only resource left available to him.

Edith and Tom hit it off, although Lucille (Jessica Chastain), Tom’s sister, seems to oppose their union. Edith’s father (Jim Beaver) is also against Tom courting his daughter, but he is quickly removed from the picture, leaving Edith to marry Tom and move into an entirely new life. As she begins to explore her new surroundings, Edith begins to discover that she may have made a horrible mistake.

This movie immediately immerses the viewer in the world of Gothic Horror. Everything is beautiful, ornate and appropriate to the genre. The landscapes, the lighting, the wardrobe, the sets, everything about this movie is beautiful, leaving an easier task for the actors.

Leading the cast are Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain as Tom and Lucille Sharpe. These roles are key to the success of the movie. Hiddleston has proven before that he is capable of portraying a likable villain (Loki), and here he shows even more emotional depth, keeping the audience’s attention throughout. Chastain, on the other hand, is a figure of complete mystery, never open enough to be liked by the audience, yet completely compelling because of her sinister and forbidding qualities. The mask never slips, and I was thoroughly impressed by her performance.

Mia Wasikowska’s Edith, although less compelling of a character than the siblings, is equally well-portrayed, even though she is overshadowed by the others due to the nature of her character. She fills her role well as the female lead in a Gothic Horror film (damsel in distress) but I was pleased to see that she was able to break out from this genre’s limiting stereotype. When push comes to shove, she easily holds her own. That is what I was most impressed with in this movie. Despite the genre, which typically requires a fainting female lead who relies on a male hero to rescue her, Edith was shown to be resourceful and capable in the face of disaster.

I wholeheartedly recommend this movie. It is a tour de force in the genre, and a beautiful, beautiful movie overall. As long as you can handle a bit of gore and suspense, you should enjoy this movie.

Sicario: Pure Disappointment

Released: 2015

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is an FBI agent who is recruited into a mysterious task force working to undermine the power of a Mexican drug cartel. The team leader, Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), is unorthodox and terse, intentionally leaving Kate (and subsequently the audience as well) in the dark. Also part of the task force is Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), a sinister man with unclear allegiances.

Kate is an idealistic agent, pushing back against the unconventional and criminal actions of the team. When confronted, Graver always ignores Kate’s concerns, at one point telling her that she cannot understand what the best course of action is because “you’re not a wolf, and you’re in a land of wolves now.” This life is not suited to her, and she is encouraged to simply watch as the other continue in their process.

With this sort of set-up, it becomes clear that Kate must choose to join with the team and become a different character than the professional and consistent agent she was at the beginning or to make a stand and attempt to stop the task force. However, and this is where the movie falls apart, she does neither. In fact, all movie long, Kate Macer does nothing. Throughout the course of the plot the audience is hounded by the feeling that Kate will finally be pushed into action by something horrific. Sooner or later she will take a stand. But this moment never comes. She remains a passive character whose only role in the movie is to mediate the story to the audience. She is the outsider that allows us an introduction into the world of the movie and that is her sole purpose. She is never allowed to speak or act freely, as she is always stifled by the men around her.

Because of this, the movie automatically loses any value it may have had. Even with excellent pacing, stellar performances and an amazing soundtrack, I cannot recommend this movie to anyone as it fails to allow the only female character any measure of agency. This is extremely disappointing, especially in a movie of this quality. If it were at least a crappy movie it would be easier to shrug this off as just another miscue among many. But the fact that the rest of the movie was so good makes this completely inexcusable. I expect better.

Black Mass

Released: 2015

Director: Scott Cooper

This biopic follows the life of James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp), a violent criminal from South Boston. While most of the characters in the film refer to him by his childhood nickname of Jimmy, he is known professionally as Whitey. The movie begins in 1975, ten years after Jimmy was released from Alcatraz for armed robbery and truck hijacking. While he was imprisoned, Jimmy volunteered for a program researching the effects of mind-altering drugs such as LSD in return for a shortened sentence (source). While these facts are mentioned in passing, the movie does little speculation as to Jimmy’s motivation or rationale, intentionally leaving his backstory vague.

Instead, the movie focuses on Jimmy’s interactions with Special Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), and the truth behind his time as FBI informant. From the beginning of the movie it is made clear that Jimmy has no tolerance for “rats”, which makes his status as informer hard to believe. However, it soon becomes clear that Jimmy’s only loyalty is to himself and his immediate family. He pretends (and seems to convince even himself) that he is committed to the criminals he surrounded himself with, but it soon becomes clear that he only cares so far as their safety is connected to his own. As soon as he has no more use for a henchman, or if he ever feels threatened by them, they will be taken care of. Permanently.

One part of the movie that bothered me was the way Jimmy’s behavior was discussed among other characters. After a handful of personal tragedies, a close friend of Jimmy’s remarked that “he was never the same again,” but I found this difficult to believe. Jimmy’s actions were never particularly kind. He always seemed to have a short fuse; I did not notice any perceptible increase in erratic behavior after these events, although the characters around him treated him with greater apprehension.

This treatment of Jimmy aside, Johnny Depp’s performance as Jimmy ranks among his best ever. In this movie he steps into a serious role and a serious movie, something he has not been known for in his career. Because of the quality of his performance, this movie ought to garner him critical attention. But Depp is not the only star in this movie. While his accent continually threw me off (and I’m still not completely sure I appreciate), Benedict Cumberbatch’s Billy Bulger is noteworthy as well. As Jimmy’s younger brother, Billy is an interesting character because he chose to pursue a career as a Senator. Throughout the movie Billy is portrayed as a caring brother, maintaining family ties and yet also managing to stay away from Jimmy’s criminality. Cumberbatch delivers in this role, playing the part of the concerned brother with ease.

However, the real star in this movie, in my mind, is Joel Edgerton as John Connolly. Without a stellar performance in this role the movie would fall apart. He needed to be initially likable, yet also a complete and total douchebag. Edgerton portrays this perfectly, beginning as the childhood friend who just wants to make his city better and developing into a cold-hearted power-hungry deceiver. I spent most of the movie wanting to punch him in the face, that’s how good he was.

At the end of the day, this movie, like most biopics, leaves me wondering how faithful it was to the facts as well as suspicious of the things it very clearly left out (Jimmy’s wife/girlfriend???). Complaints such as these are why I never overly enjoy this type of movie. I’m always suspicious of ulterior motives. However, Black Mass was very well done from beginning to end. I am interested to learn more of the facts of the life of Jimmy Bulger, but I think that this movie gave a fairly good introduction.