Coraline

Yesterday, Vincent and I, after dropping Perry off at the Cincinnati airport and exploring the Florence Ya'll mall, went to see the movie Coraline at the discount movie theater here in Louisville. Vincent was happy to get out of the house for something not errand related. I was happy to relax temporarily before tackling the rest of the windows and curtains in the house.

We didn't have the normal Perry amount of popcorn but we did have hot dogs for dinner at the theater (a splurge we thought we could afford since the tickets were cheap). We noticed that it wasn't very full but did have some children in the audience. I think Vincent felt a little odd going to see a children's movie with his mom and no kids. But, once the movie started all was fine.

Vincent has always loved the Nightmare Before Christmas movie. He even has a patch on his favorite winter jacket (that is covering a hole in the arm he got from dragging his sleeve across a fence during a Mardi Gras parade on Frankfort Ave) that is of Jack-Skelington. I bought him an alarm clock with the Nightmare Before Christmas design when I went to a conference two years ago in Orlando. So he wasn't too put out to be watching a movie in the same child's horror/ tongue in cheek style.

Coraline is filmed in the same style as Nightmare Before Christmas and has a lot of the same feel. A little girl is unhappy in her new home with busy parents (hmm...can Vincent relate?). She explores her new home to find a mysterious door. Soon she is in an adventure behind the door and has to compare the two worlds, behind the door and reality, and decide where she would rather be. Let's hope all of us make the right choice between reality and fiction.

After the movie Vincent tried to analyze it and decided the movie wasn't really for children. It was more a commentary on having your eyes opened to what the real world is like and what you truely want and love. This seemed rather ironic coming from a almost adult who has had problems with the real world. Either way Vincent liked the movie and it was a fun outing.

Of course Vincent came home and read some of It by Stephen King. Around mid-night he came down and was rather chatty. I realized he had read enough to scare himself and didn't necessarily go back to bed by himself (remember he is 17). We talked for a little bit (I have to admit I was trying to read my book for book club) before I sent him back upstairs. When he saw the It movie when he was much younger he refused to take showers. Let's see what happens with this latest horror movie/book combination.

---Stephanie