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TERRI HIRSCH
February 12 – 18, 2009
Entertainment
B1
DVD Review:
‘Open Window’
By JOE BENDEL
STOP MOTION: A scene from “Coraline,” which depicts a child who travels between two worlds.
Laika/Focus Features
Movie Review: ‘Coraline’
By MIKE McCAW
Epoch Times Staff
There must be something in the
buttons. First Benjamin Button
who inherits a button factory, and
now the animated “Coraline.” She
is an 11-year-old girl who becomes
trapped in an alternate world by
her Bizarro mother who has buttons for eyes.
The voice of Coraline is none
other than Dakota Fanning, who
hass starred in movies like “War
of the Worlds” and “Charlotte’s
Web.” Coraline’s parents are
given voices by Teri Hatcher
(“Desperate Housewives”), and
John Hodgman.
Coraline is upset with her
parents about moving from her
home town in Pontiac, Michigan,
and becomes tempted by this
world created for her by her other
mother. In this deviated alternate
world, everything seems to be very
wonderful and pleasant at first
glance. All this allure is aimed
to tempt those who are unhappy
in reality to a place that appears
good on the surface.
This other mother then provides
the children with whatever their
hearts desire. Once they decide to
stay in this world by exchanging
their eyes for buttons, they essentially have their souls taken and
become homeless ghosts—pretty
intense for a kids’ movie, right!
The movie really doesn’t get
moving until about 45 minutes
in. For the first 15 minutes you’re
really confused as to what the
movie is even about. It shows
metal hands that look like scissor hands fashioning a doll. You
see this doll go from a typical one
into one that looks exactly like
Coraline. There’s an eerie feeling
you get during this scene. From a
child’s perspective, to see your doll
completely dismantled and then
turned inside out, might be something that leaves you scared.
Something unique to the film
was the stop-motion animation
filming technique. This depicts the
imagery of puppets without the
stringy mess. Two other films that
employed this method were Tim
Burton’s “The Nightmare Before
Christmas” and “James and the
Giant Peach.” The director for
both of these films is synonymously Henry Selick.
This stop-motion filming is like
technological sculpting, and can
be interesting, though I find traditional animation films that employ
realism both superior in aesthetics
and more appropriate for children.
Taking young children to see
this movie may not be the best way
to spend two hours with the family
unless you want to spend the next
five hours explaining the movie.
Canada’s National Film Board Puts
the Fabric of the Nation Online
By MATTHEW LITTLE
Epoch Times Staff
The National Film Board of
Canada is opening an impres-
sive vault of films and posting
hundreds online for free viewing
around the world.
This is the first time Canada’s
national film producer has made
so many of its several thousand
productions available on the
Internet.
Among them are Canadian
classics like “The Log Driver’s
WIDE RELEASE: A scene from “Carts of Darkness,” a documentary that is among the National Film Board of
Canada’s content offered on its Web site. Much of the content will be offered for free viewing.
Scott Pommier/National Film Board
Waltz,” a lighthearted short animation based on a song of the
same name. It celebrates the men
who moved harvested logs down
a river, often by riding them with
exceptional balance.
The film tells the tale of a
young girl who has fallen in love
with one of these men because of
his exceptional dancing, a skill
she says comes from the light
steps needed in driving logs. In
the end, she chooses to marry
him over doctors and lawyers
because she simply can’t find another dancing partner so able to
sweep her off her feet.
NFB says the short is one of its
most requested films.
But the site also has more serious fare, like “Being Caribou,”
a feature-length documentary
about a husband and wife team
of scientists who follow a herd of
120,000 caribou on foot across
930 miles of Arctic tundra.
“Along the way, they brave
Arctic weather, icy rivers, hordes
of mosquitoes and a very hungry
grizzly bear. Dramatic footage
and video diaries combine to provide an intimate perspective of an
epic expedition,” says the film’s
description.
In Canada, a lightly populated
country of vast geography, the
National Film Board is one of a
handful of institutions that aim
to stitch diverse and distant re-
Even in the original “Death
Wish” (which just marked its
35-year anniversary), it would
not have been believable for
Charles Bronson to hunt down
his wife’s attackers and extract
retribution. While Bronson’s
Paul Kersey finds therapeutic
value in dispensing vigilante justice, that simply is not a realistic
option for most victims of violent crime. The recovery process
can be difficult for victims and
family members alike, as writerdirector Mia Goldman can
attest. The survivor of a brutal
attack, Goldman’s experiences
directly inform her debut feature, “Open Window” which is
now available on DVD.
Izzy (short for Isabel)
Fieldston and Peter Delaney
appear to be the perfect couple. Newly engaged, everything seems to be perfect in
their lives, except for Delaney’s
strained relationship with his
leftist father and Fieldston’s
issues with her over-bearing
mother. Then one day, a
sexual predator enters their
home through the open garage
window committing a violent
crime against her.
Her fiancé tries to be supportive, but Fieldston’s refusal
to go to the police gnaws at
him. As she withdraws emotionally and he becomes
increasingly irritable, their relationship falters. At least he succeeds in convincing her to see
Dr. Ann Monohan, a psychiatrist affiliated with his university, who helps Fieldston start
to recover emotionally. Their
counseling scenes together unquestionably feature the sharpest writing in the film.
As Izzy Fieldston, Robin
Tunney consistently hits the
right pitches throughout
“Window,” never over or underplaying her character’s tumultuous emotions. Two-time
Academy Award nominated
Shirley Knight is also convincingly authoritative and
humane as Dr. Monohan.
Unfortunately, playing
Fieldston’s mother, Cybill
Shepherd comes across as an
inappropriate drama queen,
often taxing the credulity and
patience of the audience. (It
is sort of interesting though
gions together into a unified land
of interconnected peoples.
NFB’s content offers hours of
entertainment that is a far cry
above the hit-and-miss content of
YouTube and many other video
sites.
Other great films include “I’ll
Find a Way,” a 26-minute Oscarwinning documentary about
nine-year-old Nadia who has
spina bifida, a disease that leaves
her with legs she says are hard to
walk on because they “wobble.”
“She attends a regular school,
knowing that the kids will tease
her, but she’ll ‘find a way to deal
with it.’ Nadia uses crutches in
order to walk. In her own candid
way, she makes it clear that she is
not looking for sympathy,” says
the film’s description.
There is a scene at her original
school that catered to children
with physical disabilities where,
in a voice over, Nadia introduces
the viewer to the class.
One child, whose face contorts
due to the nature of his disability,
has no motor control except his
head.
“Ricky, he uses this helmet
with a long thing attached to
type,” explains Nadia. “I think
he’s one of the smartest kids in
the whole class.”
Barad Entertainment
to see her paired again with
Elliott Gould, who plays
Fieldston’s sympathetic
sports-writer father, reuniting
after their 1970s on-screen
coupling in the unnecessary
remake of Hitchcock’s “The
Lady Vanishes.”)
Clearly, Goldman is well regarded in the industry, attracting big name directors Lasse
Hallstrom (known for “My Life
as a Dog” and “Something to
Talk About,” which Goldman
edited) and Todd Field (responsible for the thematically
related “In the Bed Room”)
as executive producers. Cliff
Eidelman also contributes a
moody and effective score that
at times sounds somewhat jazzflavored, and features drummer
Peter Erskine, trumpeter Wayne
Bergeron, and saxophonist
Daniel Higgins, all of whom
have recorded jazz sessions as
leaders.
Goldman proves to be a remarkably sensitive screenwriter
and director. While “Window”
might not be what many would
consider a fun viewing experience given its subject matter,
it is a finely crafted directorial
debut, offering genuine insight
into the survival process, both
for the targets of crimes of
brutality, and their friends, and
family.
Joe Bendel blogs on jazz
and cultural issues at http://
jbspins.blogspot.com and coordinated the Jazz Foundation of
America’s instrument donation
campaign for musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
It’s an almost shocking reminder to those of us who judge
by appearances that despite
their sometimes extreme physical challenges, these children
are as mentally capable as other
children.
The site also has DVDs of
other films available for purchase.
Films like “Carts of Darkness,”
a documentary about men who
have turned bottle picking in an
affluent neighborhood into an extreme sport of racing their shopping carts down steep hills.
The National Film Board is
posting the content online as part
of a celebration marking its 70th
anniversary.
There are currently 700 productions, films, trailers and clips
with more being added weekly.
Among them are historical films
dating back over 70 years, and
award-winning documentaries.
The site has featured playlists
based on the suggestions of film
experts and filmmakers.
The NFB has created over
13,000 productions since its
inception in 1939 and won over
5,000 awards, including 12
Oscars and more than 90 Genies,
Canada’s “Oscars.”
To watch films or get more information, visit NFB.ca.