Jackassalope

Pass the Popcorn: Coraline

Laika's stop animation project from Portland, Ore. boasts the vocal talents of Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. Because of the local connections I whole-heartedly wanted to like this movie, which is about a lonely girl who discovers a secret door that leads to a fantasy world. The script wasn't bad and the animation served nicely, but I felt like the movie was void of any real weight. I blame the audio mixing and absence of strong ambient sounds. Animations have to have a full spectrum of background noise to make up for the obvious lack of reality, and this one didn't. It just wasn't a rich enough experience for me.