Coraline: The Teri Hatcher Trauma Trope

Theatrical Releases:

Coraline (2009) - The superb animation and excellent use of 3D technology is excuse enough to venture out and see this in theaters. However, for those looking for more of a Gothic fantasy akin to director Henry Selick's previous astounding film, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), you may be a little disappointed. Coraline is a beautiful, original piece of art, but I somehow felt unsatisfied after the credits began to roll. Part of this may be due to the base material, a book by Neil Gaiman (in comparison, Christmas was penned by Tim Burton and James & the Giant Peach - 1996, was based on a Roald Dahl novel, both authors that tend to deal with much darker fantastical elements than Gaiman). I was actually a bit bored with the story, and despite the highlights of Ab Fab's Saunders & French, I found Coraline herself a little irritating and bitchy. And there is no real resolution, the moral being, be careful what you wish for. In the end, her parents don't reach the same great epiphany, and I fear, that in that dark world after the credits, Coraline will remain a neglected child. On the other hand, the "other mother" character is nice and creepy. The film's climax featuring the other mother turning into a strange spider-like creature is both right up my alley and visually brilliant. The film's worst distraction, however, is the decidedly un-dulcetic voice of Teri Hatcher, who voices both of Coraline's mothers. When she becomes the skinny Kate Moss-ish looking creature, I couldn't help but thinking Teri Hatcher was an irritating but perfect match for this character, as an insistent intuition forces me to believe Ms. Hatcher leads a strange existence dabbling in strange "acting" techniques involving mirrors and various circus animals and or toys. Surprisingly, I found Dakota Fanning's voice less jarring and distracting as I believe I channelled all my negative energy at her character rather than her voice performance.

The International (2009) -- What can be said about this strange offering from Tom Tykwer? This is the man who graced us with cinematic masterpieces like Run Lola Run (1998) and my personal favorite, Heaven (2002). But then, Tykwer, something funny happened on the way to the forum when an unsound decision was made to film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), not only in English, but with Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman playing Frenchmen. Nevertheless, I was quite entertained by his new offering, despite some shortcomings. The pacing is a bit frenetic and I was a bit underwhelmed by the handling of the two leads---Naomi Watts, as was also mentioned by a friend of mine, is strangely underused---I found this also to be true of her in Eastern Promises (2007). And Clive Owen's character could have been edited into this one from any number of other film's he's done---except that I don't think he's aging well. I found it strange that the excellent Ulrich Thomsen was also sorely underused. My same friend also found it strange, and I agree with him, in a silly scene when Thomsen asks his son for advice concerning some hooey about how to get out of a sticky situation. I know little Danish boys are probably just as precocious and intuitive as little children the world over, but I guess at that point in the narrative I felt like I could be a double-crossing, murderous banker just as easily as the next guy. The film's highlight, and what it would be remembered for, if anything, is a glorious shootout scene in the Guggenheim--and it is this scene which sold me on liking the film. Also, if you compare it to he boring pile that was Body of Lies (2008) you'll come away thinking The International is actually a decent film.

Criss Cross (1949) -- Catching a screening of this picture in a Universal Noir series, I realized more than ever that I don't care for Burt Lancaster. I finally watched Elmer Gantry (1960) a few months ago, and yes, the man did deserve an Oscar for Best Actor but only because I actually think the brawny lug-ish man is indeed a hammy caricature. What's worse is that this particular screening was part of a Burt Lancaster double feature. Sacre Bleu! Anyhow, Criss Cross was a decent little potboiler also starring the beautiful Yvonne De Carlo as the femme fatale, who's really more of a greedy gold digger than anything else. Involving the robbery of an armored car and the predicaments that ensue, I did enjoy the dark ending, but with so many double crosses I guess I felt this was a minor noir. That and the fact that Robert Siodmak directs, whose work I always find to be extremely male oriented.

The Killers (1946) -- Also directed by Siodmak and also starring Burt Lancaster, The Killers is a better film than Criss Cross and it's also notable for making both Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner famous. I have read the short story it's based on by Hemingway and the film, of course, it's a bit different than the short story. Hemingway, however, reportedly liked this film (he must have sensed Siodmak's misogynistic flair). I have seen The Killers before but had forgotten large chunks of it, and I probably will again. Burt Lancaster's character as the Swede is even less likeable as an ex-boxer here, at the very least because his character is a dolt. I can understand falling for Ava Gardner's lusciously sumptuous Kitty Collins, but sometimes you gotta wise up to them dames. Survival of the fittest, I guess. I didn't feel the least bit remorse for what happens to the big idiot. The plot also revolves around a payroll heist and while I found Lancaster to be uncharismatic as usual, Gardner's character is given some substance. Albert Dekker also appears as an insidiously bad culprit. The film was remade in 1964, set in the world of race cars and starring John Cassavetes and Angie Dickinson. I don't believe I was able to sit through that one at all.

DVD

Deathtrap (1982) -- Legendary director Sidney Lumet (Equus - 1977; Network - 1976; The Wiz - 1978; Serpico - 1973; Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - 2007) filmed this highly entertaining play within a play written by macabre master, Ira Levin (author of Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives, Sliver, Boys From Brazil). This early 80's black comedy is one of those tortured examples of cinema that dared to portray homosexuality in what is packaged as a mainstream film with A-list stars. Though used as a plot device, I found the subject matter to be well ahead of it's time and handled in a surprisingly mature manner (at least compared to other films of the period, e.g. Cruising - 1980). The film stars Michael Caine as a playwright desperately in need of a hit play when in reality he is plotting to kill his wife, Dyan Cannon, with the help of his male lover, Christopher Reeve. The "gay" part was seen as quite a shock, as both men play it straight, so to speak, until a scandalous kiss scene shortly after Cannon's death scene. This kissing scene was puportedly tagged the "ten million dollar kiss," according to Vito Russo, the amount assigned to the loss of revenue at the box office due to the gay subject matter. I find it interesting to note that this was Christopher Reeve's followup to Superman II (1980), and who seemed saddened when mentioning audience's reaction to the infamous kiss scene in interviews from that time period. (Though I'm not surprised--I remember audiences gasping in 1997 at the kiss between Kevin Kline & Tom Selleck in In & Out). Michael Caine had also recently played a murderous drag-queen serial killer in De Palma's wacky but enjoyable Dressed to Kill (1980), so I was surprised to learn that both Reeve & Caine apparently consumed mass amounts of liquor in order to "get through" filming the kiss scene, while Caine, left scarred from the experience, vowed never to film another homosexual sequence. Though I thought I remembered him playing gay in Miss Congeniality (2000)....Hmmmm.....Anyhow, possibly due to the apparent 'shock' we were supposed to feel after realizing, egad! the male leads are gay, the rest of the film suffers from a lack of quality and depth. I believe the film really loses steam when the brilliant Dyan Cannon's character dies.

Why Did I Get Married? (2007) -- Yes, another Tyler Perry film. The BF loves Janet Jackson like I love Sigourney Weaver, so don't be surprised at an upcoming post on Poetic Justice (1993). I was at first reluctant to view this Madea-less venture from Perry, especially after the similarly Madea-less Meet the Browns (2006) left much to be desired. However, I found Why Did I Get Married? not only an enjoyable film but also entertaining and heartfelt. I actually got misty watching two scenes, including one very emotional and well played scene with Ms. Jackson. I found musical artist Jill Scott as the "fat Christian" woman to be the weakest characterization, and, not surprisingly, Tyler Perry casts himself as an unbelievable pediatrician, if only because I just want to believe that pediatricians would be more likely have better grammatical range than Perry exhibits. Perry does have a knack for creating some excellent, err ghetto black women characters, and Tasha Smith adds a lot of steam and hilarious energy to Perry's film. We'll see what I think of The Family That Preys (2008).

Angela (1995) -- Rebecca Miller stands as an intriguing writer/director, and that's besides the fact that she is the daughter of one of America's most prestigious playwrights, Arthur Miller. While I had some likes and gripes about Miller's highly acclaimed, Sundance award winning second feature, Personal Velocity (2002), I found Angela to be a very understated, but intriguing film concerning a young girl's spiritual awakening. Having read about this film in numerous sources, I suppose when I discovered Vincent Gallo was involved I assumed he would be the image of Lucifer the title character keeps imagining. Instead it was Peter Facinelli---if that was what the most beautiful angel looked like then I'm certainly glad I'm human. I also love seeing cult icon Anna Thomas (or Anna Levine, depending on how she feels for the day) who always plays an enjoyable crazy. Thanks to seeing Unforgiven (1992) at a young age, Ms. Thomson/Levine taught me an important lesson at a young age -- don't laugh at a man if he has a small penis. Dangerous. Wait until he's at least in a different room. Anyhow, Angela, played by Miranda Stuart Rhyne, is obsessed with finding a way to Heaven, and on the way she gets baptized, talks to Lucifer several times and scares away a pedophile at the fair who she is convinced is an angel--you know the shit's serious if you scare away the pedophile. There's a lot going on in what seems to be a very intricate and layered film. Unfortunately, by the fitting conclusion (maybe you'll think I'm cruel if you've seen it) I just didn't care about Angela or her naive search for Heaven. Frances Conroy also pops up in a 90 second scene.

Humboldt County (2008) -- I mention Ms. Conroy because I unwittingly treated myself to a Frances Conroy double feature by watching this sad piece of cinema along with Angela. Humboldt County had a very promising preview and I love Fairuza Balk for some strange reason, possibly because The Craft (1994) had a profound impact on me as a young boy. Though she's featured prominently in the film's preview and all over the DVD cover, you'd assume fair Fairuza would saturate every reel of film. Sadly, she's gone after 15 minutes and we're left with one of the worst main characters I have seen in any film, "pot" themed or not. Humboldt County centers around a pot growing commune in California and the sheltered medical student that breaks free from his domineering father (played by Peter Bogdanovich, dry and surprised looking), form, and formality. What ensues is a completely unrealistic character "transformation" from anal retentive preppy to enlightened hippy in a matter of one joint. I don't think so. By the way, Peter (played by the irritatingly boring screen presence named Jeremy Strong) is stranded in the commune because he sleeps with quirky nightclub singer Bogart Truman (a cringe-worthy awful/silly/trying hard to-be-quirky character name) and she crazily drives him up into the mountains and deposits him there where he unbelievably befriends pot-grower Max, played by Chris Messina (Rebecca Hall's asshole fiance from Vicky Cristina Barcelona - 2008). And as much as I love Frances Conroy, she seems seriously miscast here, along with Balk. If I was a film director and I had seen this film, by the way, I would do my best to make sure Jeremy Strong never makes it in front of a camera again. Awful. Jeremy Weak-charisma. The only beacon of light in this film was an entertaining performance by Brad Dourif---but he's always good at crazy (you might know him as the voice of Chucky). I haven't wished a film to be over this badly in a while.

Frontier(s) (2007) -- A rather disappointing effort in the New Wave French Horror genre, Frontier(s) tries really hard to have some sort of political agenda to distract us from its rather unoriginal narrative. Made infamous for it's NC-17 rating it received for violent content, the film's violence really isn't all that bad. This same rating helped launch the French New Wave Horror in 2003 with High Tension, but whereas that film was French, fresh, and original, this film is tired and a bit contrived. Opening against a frenzied political atmosphere where a conservative candidate has been elected (an obvious Sarkozy jab) a group of young twenty-somethings take the opportunity to loot and pillage. Chased by the police, our heroine Yasmine's brother is killed. Pregnant and on the run, Yasmine and her boyfriend follow behind two of their other gang members that hole up in a remote hostel. Greeted by a scary looking pair of nymphomaniacal Frenchwomen, one who looks eerily like a skinnier, smaller-breasted Pamela Anderson (played by Estelle Lefebure), the two young men are seduced then slaughtered, etc, etc., as the women happen to be part of a Neo-Nazi clan a la The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Too many elements don't add up and in the end, it's a matter of red-neck racist Nazi's (many anti-Muslim slurs are used) versus a rather unsympathetic group of thieving youngsters. Though I myself did not partake in looting when George W. Bush was elected for two terms, I think that if I had I wouldn't be surprised if I ran into Neo-Nazis while on the lam. You lie down with dogs....

Directed by Xavier Gens, who directed the video-game based American film, Hitman (2007).