The Nightmare Before Christmas

Danny Elfman, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix

Directed by Henry Selick

Rating: A

Jack Skellington (Elfman) is tired of being the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. In fact, he's tired of the same tricks and same scares every Halloween. After celebrating Halloween one night, Jack goes on a walk with his dog, Zero, and stumbles upon a door with a Christmas tree on it. Curious, he goes through the door and finds himself in the wonderful land of Christmas Town. Enchanted by the snow, joy, and presents, Jack wants to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. Jack goes about and gives a task to each person to make toys or work on Christmas good. Sally (O'Hara) has a bad feeling about this because it's not natural for Halloween Town to do this. She tries to warn Jack but he simply won't listen.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the best Halloween movies to watch around this time of year. Tim Burton, the writer for this movie, did us all a favor by making this movie. The best part about this movie is that it can be watched in any decade. Even now in 2011, it is still a great movie to watch around Halloween. The characters are all interesting, from Jack as a skeleton to Sally with all her body parts sewed together to the Mayor with two faces.

This is a classic Halloween movie for any ages and I highly encourage watching it around Halloween time. Christmas works too as that is involved with the movie! It's not too scary so even young kids (of perhaps six and older) can watch this without being too scared.

Coraline

Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher

Directed by Henry Selick

Rating: 4 stars

After moving to a new home, Coraline (Dakota Fanning) finds herself bored. Her parents are too busy to pay her much attention and so Coraline wanders around the apartment building looking for something to do. She finds a small hidden door in the wall and when she goes through, finds herself in a parallel universe where her parents are nicer and her home is a lot more fun. But when her mother (Teri Hatcher) wants to replace her eyes with buttons, Coraline realizes she must escape before it's too late.

I really enjoyed Coraline. After searching for something to watch on tv, I stumbled upon this movie and though I had missed the first thirty minutes, it wasn't so hard to catch up on what was going on. (I later found it playing On-Demand so I ended up re-watching the whole movie.) It was pretty entertaining and the best part is it's only 96 minutes! Which means it doesn't drag on and you don't get bored with it. I would recommend this movie for those who enjoyed Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and for those who enjoy animated, kinda-weird, movies. It's enjoyable for kids and teenagers at least. I would give this a try if you're looking for something to watch!