Coraline

I went and saw Coraline in 3D today and came away pretty impressed. First, I was surprised to discover that I had to pay $2 more to see it in 3D. There's only one theater in Vermont that offers it and I wasn't aware that it carried a premium price tag.

That said, the experience was very favorable. The glasses were more heavy-duty than the old ones (or the cardboard ones they gave out to watch the 3D commercials during the Super Bowl). There aren't very many "gotcha" moments in Coraline, where things seem to jump off the screen into your face or lap, but the overall effect was to add depth to the film, to make it seem fuller, more complete.

It didn't hurt that the production design and animation were drop-dead gorgeous. They must have made improvements in the stop-motion technique because the movements were much smoother and crisper than Henry Selick's earlier efforts (James and the Giant Peach & The Nightmare Before Christmas).

Add to that a wonderful story from Neil Gaiman and impressive vocal work, especially from Dakota Fanning, Keith David and Ian McShane and all in all, you have a movie well worth a couple of extra bucks. If you like animated stories with a dark sensibility, it's well worth a look. I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids (under 7 or 8, maybe), but older kids will enjoy it.

If the movie looks anywhere near this good on an HD television, it may very well qualify as my first Blu-Ray DVD purchase.