"ParaNorman" & "The Awakening"

 

ParaNorman

Voices of: Kodi Smit-McPhee. John Goodman, Casey Affleck, Jeff Garlin, Bernard Hill

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

My Grade: A-

What a treat of a movie! I wasn't expecting much from it going in, but it turned out to be quite a fun little ride. First off, the animation was superb, I loved the dark atmosphere and how it was created so beautifully. The voice over work was great as well. It has such a charming story to tell and it's one of those animated movies that works great for kids, and even better for adults. There is a lot of subtle adult humor thrown in here and it provides quite a few solid laughs. I think it could be a bit scary for some of the younger kids, but I don't think it's overly frightening. This is more of a oddball adventure story. It's definitely a very bizarre flick, but not in a bad way. It's weird in a very good, very cool way. I really did love this movie. It's short, it's simple. It's wonderful fun for the whole family, and I just got a kick out of it. One of my more favorite films so far in 2012. 

The Awakening

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%

My Grade: B-

Judging by the previews and posters, you might be expecting a frightening ghost story here, and if that's what you thought, you might be slightly disappointing. Don't misunderstand me, this IS a ghost story, there IS a ghost involved. My point is, if you are in the younger crowd and are looking for something along the lines of Paranormal Activity...you might want to look elsewhere. The Awakening does a pitch perfect job at creating a very mellow, subtle and creepy atmosphere to ease you into the scares. It's not a movie that relies on jump outs and gore to freak out it's audience and I really do like that. The set designers did a remarkable job creating this world, and that school/mansion became a main character of the film. Rebecca Hall (The Town) delivers a fine performance. The rest of the cast are also good but takes a back seat to her, as she basically carries this film. The writing was good here, but ultimately it became a little to cliched and predictable. You can kind of foresee where this movie is going about 45 minutes into it. And that's not really a bad thing, but it can take away from the suspense. The pacing was also pretty slow and it took a while to get to the point and the "scares" were far and few between. But regardless, when looking at the overall picture, this was a well made movie with stunning art direction and cinematography. Very good performances, and it works out to be a pretty decent flick.