Coraline

Wow, wow, wow. I do so love Neil Gaiman. Coraline has always been one of my favorite books of his, and W. and I have been looking forward to the movie for months.

I took CoasterGirl to see Coraline in 3-D this afternoon (yes, she's only 6, and I might not have taken her at this age if she weren't as mature as she is), and again I say, "wow". It was aesthetically beautiful and unsettling, as it should be. CoasterGirl jumped once or twice, and told me afterwards that it was "awesome" and that it "kinda creeped her out". I'll second that emotion. The black button eyes that gave me the willies when I was reading the book were possibly even creepier in all their shiny, stop-motion, 3-D glory. And Teri Hatcher has the perfect "Other Mother" purr of a voice.

If you've never read Coraline, I urge you to seek out a copy. It's written for children, but it's definitely more Grimm's Fairy Tales than Stuart Little. And what a great story: a little girl, unhappy with how things are going at home, is delighted to discover a secret passage to her "Other Mother", who showers her with all that she could want, until it becomes clear that the "Other Mother" wants to keep her and love her forever...

Read it, and then go see the movie. Even if you don't have children. You won't be sorry.

So, I finally read Twilight

"What on earth took you so long?" you might ask. Or perhaps you might ask, "Why?"

Unless you've been living under a rock, or just paying no attention to anything media-related but political coverage, you've heard of the series of novels by Stephanie Meyer, the first of which has been made into a major motion picture which debuts this month. This Friday, to be precise. Which was supposed to be the release date for the sixth Harry Potter movie. But no, I'll have to wait for summer for that one. Not that I'm bitter or anything. Stupid movie executives.

At any rate, there's been so much hype about the movie and the novels that I finally broke down and purchased a slightly used copy of the first of the series, Twilight. I'll tell you up front that I'm a bit particular about writing style and dialogue - if dialogue isn't natural, it tends to grate on my nerves. So I didn't have high hopes, given the reviews I've read.

Still, I got sucked in. I read the thing in 3 nights, which is quite an accomplishment these days, when the kids aren't in bed and asleep before 8:30 and if I go to bed after 10:30 or so I'm a zombie the next day. I'm a sucker for a love story. And even the angst-filled emo dialogue and sometimes awkward writing didn't distract me enough to want to put it down. It was a total guilty pleasure.

Even so, I'm not sure I want to read the rest of the series. I've heard the series finale was controversial with the fans, and I don't want to be disappointed. I've already wanted to smack Edward and Bella repeatedly. Perhaps I should just let the Twilight bandwagon roll on by. No sense getting invested in characters and then getting ticked off about where they end up.

But, I hear Robert Pattinson is quite the hottie in the movie. Combine his good looks with the practically-perfect-in-every-way-except-for-that-whole-vampire-thing Edward Cullen, and I'm betting every teen girl (and quite a few of their moms) will be lined up at the movie theater Friday night. And Robert Pattinson was great as Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire.

I wonder if it'll be less crowded on Saturday afternoon?

Oh, no. I'm talking myself into it, aren't I?