Caro, Cora, Certainly not Bora

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2017)

Coraline proves, once again, where Pixar lost its way, Laika always knocks them out of the park.
Last year's incredible Kubo and the Two Strings and 2012's ParaNorman should've automatically prompted me to check out the always talked about Coraline. I don't have access to 3D outside the red/blue glasses that comes with movies like Friday the 13th Part III and I was told specifically that this movie needed to be seen in 3D. Not true.
Well, yeah, I didn't see it in 3D to completely verify that claim, but I do know if the only reason a movie is good or a must-see is because of a technical aspect or in some cases, a gimmick, then the movie's got problems. This movie might have been even more fun with the visuals popping out, but dang it, I had a complete blast watching it without the additional dimension.
Coraline was a marvel at storytelling, visuals, heart and adventure. The art of making these stop-motion films should be an Academy Award on its own for the countless hours, energy and passion the geniuses devoted. I love these kinds of movies 100x more than any CGI cartoon. But, you still need to have a story.
Wow, Coraline has the worst of all parents and that sets up for the fantasy of the little girl travelling to Wonderland to meet the duplicated, albeit polar-opposite family and surroundings of her real world. But, if it's too good to be true
While many movie's premises slowly gets progressively worse, this movie does the opposite. I did like the movie up front, but as it moved forward, my eyes widened and my soul relished in each new inventive scene, great dialogue and wondrous adventure they had in store for us.
This came out in 2009 and as recently as 2016, they're still making them. I am stoked they are. These cannot be easy to make, they keep getting criminally passed up for best Animated Oscars and they usually don't have huge box office receipts. But, if you care about true art being made – in all formats, true spirit in cinema and some of the best and most realistic stories in some of the best and most fantastical realms, you need to check out these Laika beauties.
***
Final thoughts: That's two for two for me! What I playfully called my "Surreal Saturday" movie double feature turned out way better than I had thought. First off was the fantastic Pan's Labyrinth and I followed that with Coraline. Both were first time viewings from me and both 10/10 stars. Now, that was actually a Super Saturday!