DVD OF THE WEEK

CORALINE *****
Dir: Henry Selick
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Terry Hatcher, Ian McShane

Most people think that Tim Burton directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, the wonderfully creepy stop-motion film from a decade back. But no, it was Henry Selick and he's back.
Earning its place - along with the wonderful Up - as the year's best and most original animated feature, this is another stop-motion job, originally made in 3-D but looking absolutely beautiful in regular 2-D.
The story involves young Coraline, a rather stroppy girl with busy uninvolved parents. Her boredom is ended when she finds a secret door which leads to another world, a world very like her own but created in day-glo colours, a world where her 'other mother” is wonderful and caring and everything appears happy and wonderful. Except that everyone has strange dead eyes made of buttons…
Again this is surprisingly creepy, but possibly more so for adults – kids I know who've seen it were far less concerned with the spooky undertones than their respective parents. But adults will enjoy it just as much, whether it be for the terrific voice work from the likes of French and Saunders, the jaw-dropping animation, or the intriguing premise. Very cool stuff.

Werner Herzog is a man who has always been fascinated with nature and its extremes. His early films (Fitzcaraldo, Aguire Wrath of God) pitted his protagonists against the overwhelming jungle; his last documentary, Grizzly Man, followed a wayward naturalist's dream of living with bears. This time with Encounters at the End of the World (****) he's at the South Pole and we get a film filled with ravishing images but more interested in the eccentric team of researchers and others drawn to the icy expanse. He discovers philosophers, guitarists and all sorts of fascinating characters and it is a pleasure spending time with them in this most foreboding of environments.

Terminator Salvation (***) is a frustrating film, largely because there are so many good things about it but also mighty flaws. On the plus side it is the first in the series to break from the now stale plot of someone being chased round for 90 minutes by a killer robot. No, this one is set in the future, a snapshot of the battle against the machines that was glimpsed briefly in both of the first two outings. As such there is action a-plenty and a halfway-intriguing story. The negatives include a rather tedious performance from Christian Bale, dubious plot holes, and some excruciating dialogue. Worst offender? This exchange: 'It's hard to find a good guy these days.” 'I'm not a good guy.” 'You are, you just don't know it yet.” Bring me a bucket.

Fans of Star Wars and movie buffs in general will enjoy the constant stream of cinema in-jokes in Fanboys (***), a rather sweet little comedy wherein four devotees of the Lucas franchise head cross country to Skywalker ranch with the intention of stealing a pre-release copy of The Phantom Empire (this is 1998 and it is the most anticipated film in the world). Grounding the film is the fact that one of the quartet has cancer and is unlikely to live to see the film's release. Highlights include a running battle with similarly obsessed Star Trek fans.

The Hills Run Red (***) has a familiar premise but is actually rather good. A group of film students head to the woods to find the maker and track the story of the titular infamous 'lost” horror movie classic. They – naturally – discover much bad craziness. What raises this above the ordinary is the smart script which not only comments on the horror genre in more depth than the usual post-modern irony, but also, Hitchcock-like, implicates the viewer in the voyeuristic fascination of the characters. Not bad.