I saw the movie (3D version, which is definitely the way to see it) of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline the other night; it was beautifully done (and all physically real stop-motion – no CGI) and I highly recommend it.
Admittedly, I have some gripes about the story changes (this review by Gary Westfahl captures many of my grumbles – read it!), and I also prefer the visual look of P. Craig Russell’s wonderful adaptation. But if you let ill-advised infidelity to source material ruin movies for you, you’re going to be unhappy way too often.
In related news, check out this hilarious/creepy clip of Gaiman himself advertising some movie – Benjamin Button, I’m guessing?
In slightly less related news (and justifying the IP and LL tags), Gaiman takes a less annoying position than his agent on IP issues.
I’m a huge Gaiman fan, but his IP bullying of Todd MacFarlane and Image years back really put me off. I’m glad to see taking a more principled stance on the issue.
Alas, I don’t think his position has gotten any better as a whole; it’s just good on this particular issue.
I don’t think McFarlane is any better on IP than Gaiman. At least Gaiman’s a good writer.
Gaiman’s whole talk about selling the rights to read the book in such or such way is ridiculous. We don’t *own* anything nowadays. We own “rights” to watch movies, “rights” to play videogames, “rights” to read books. Well, Gaiman and the copyright industries can shove their rights. When I buy a book, I’m buying the fucking book.