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Today we have a short Pit along with a few site changes and tweaks. We hope that you have had a nice week. Phasekitty’s Oscars coverage will be continuing throughout the week as we get closer to the awards show!

  • Neil Gaiman talks about bringing Coraline to the big screen. (Newsarama)
  • While on the subject of Coraline, what are the creepiest kid’s movies ever? (LA Times)
  • The Sims 3 has been delayed until early June. I guess we’ll just have to keep playing with our real lives until than. (IGN)
  • I’m on a Boat. (Hulu)

New Releases 2 6 09

This weekend we have five new films opening wide and its an interesting mix. Two book adaptations that couldn’t be more different, a wannabe comic style superhero film, a sequel that noone demanded, and a film with a sci-fi cult following who have been waiting for years to see “their” film on the big screen.

The film that I am easily most excited for is Coraline, based on the book by Neil Gaiman and directed by Henry Selick, the innovative director behind The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, John Hodgman, Keith David, and my favorite Lois Lane, Teri Hatcher. The film is a very dark (maybe even too dark for some) kids tale that was made in stop motion and is being released in 3d! I have been excited for this film since about two years ago when I saw a 20 minute presentation with footage at comic con.

Next up we have Push, a film that really wishes that it was based on a comic book.  From Summit Entertainment (the company that brought us Twilight), the film was directed by Paul McGuigan and stars Camilla Belle, Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans as a trio of super powered people in Hong Kong who are being hunted by a US government agency and Djimon Hounsou. Sound familar? Yeah that’s been pretty much the plot of every X-Men film.

Steve Martin returns in the sequel that shouldn’t be made for the remade that should have never been made, The Pink Panter 2. The talented pair of Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer return from the film film and they are joined by the also talented Andy Garcia and Alfred Molina. His mission in the new film is to stop a “globe-trotting thief who specializes in stealing historical artifacts.”

He’s Just Not going to see this movie, or even write about it.

Fanboys took just as long as Coraline to hit theaters, but for very different reasons. The film has been screened at dozens of sci-fi conventions and comic con. The film is about five friends who take a cross-country trip to the Skywalker Ranch to steal a print of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace so their dying friend can see it before its world premiere.  The film was picked up by the Weinsteins and the major content of the film, the plot line about the dying friend, was cut out sending fans into a rage. After more than a year of protesting and chants of “Darth Weinstein”, the film was returned to its original form and is finally being released. Directed by Kyle Newman, the film stars Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, and the ever loveable Kristen Bell, along with Christopher McDonald, Seth Rogan, Ethan Suplee, and Danny Trejo, and a ton of fun cameos.

Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

Honestly, the world doesn’t really need any more Neil Gaiman fans. His appearances and readings are always packed and sold out.  His signings go on for hours longer than intended.  To get into one people often camp out all day or overnight.  His blog gets millions of hits and any charity or auction or event that he pimps on it becomes wildly popular and gets tons of donations or sells out or reaches its goal.

So when I tell you all about The Graveyard Book, released today, I mean this for Neil Gaiman fans only.  How can you tell if you’re a Neil Gaiman fan?  Well, if you’ve read and liked some of his more popular works such as the Sandman graphic novels or American Gods.  If you like stories that put a new spin on characters both fictional (Sandman) and non fictional (Will Shakespeare).  In fact, if you like any sort of fantasy stories, science fiction stories, or even just fairy tales.  Come to think of it, if you’re a fan of good, smart, witty writing.  Basically, if you can read you should be a Neil Gaiman fan.

The Graveyard Book is the story of a boy raised in a graveyard by all sorts of ghouls and ghosts.  It’s being marketed towards young adults, but much like his other children’s books, most popularly Coraline, it’s really written for big kids like myself.  His prose is dark, twisted and full of puns and wit that would have gone over my head as a young adult.  But like a Pixar movie, Gaiman’s young adult material is written to be enjoyed by children, yet wholly understood by adults.  He writes for his daughters, but also for himself, the big kid in a man’s body.  I personally can’t wait to get my hands on it.  I’m headed over to the book store right now.  And if you’re able to read this post, then you should be too.

Still weary about whether to give Neil Gaiman’s stuff a try?  Right now you can read one of his earlier novels, Neverwhere, online for free.  Yes, I said free.  Not much of a gamble there.  And if you don’t love him, then good.  Like I said, the last thing we need is more Gaiman fans.  But I have a feeling that those lines aren’t getting any shorter.

Posted on September 30th, 2008 by Jess | Leave a Comment
Filed Under Entertainment

I saw a panel and behind the scenes footage for the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con and it blew me away. Henry Selick (who directed “The Nightmare Before Christmas”) is directing “Coraline” in all of its stop motion glory in 3D. The teaser trailer for the film has hit the web and you can view it after the jump…

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