Sedan Polisen genomförde en razzia mot PRQ och tog ned dussintals fildelningssidor, bland annat Tankafetast, har Piratpartiet sett sin största medlemsökning sedan 2009. Från att ha haft 7 600 medlemmar för en vecka sedan har vi nu över 10 000, och de fortsätter att ramla in.
Något PP misslyckats med förut är att ta hand om sina nykomna aktivister. Det kommer inte att ske den här gången. Sedan i söndags har många av oss suttit nästan nonstop och svarat på frågor på Facebook, Twitter, Google+, mail och annat. Vi har skickat runt folk till rätt kommunansvariga och vi har hjälp folk att komma igång. Många är exalterade över allt nytt, och det ser ut som om det kommer bli aktivism igen i föreningar sedan länge döda. För att inte tala om uppstarten av Ung Pirat Götebog, en välbehövd förening som tidigare saknats.
I stil med detta anordnas nu mängder av afk-träffar runtom i Sverige. I torsdags var jag på piratfika i Norrköping med flera nya ansikten, och i går (lördag) var jag på fika och tipspromenad i Linköping (bilder!). Det har verkligen blivit fart i rörelsen på nytt, och vi gör nu allt för att det inte ska börja gå nedåt igen.
Välkomna!
Läs mer: EnRiz, Rick Falkvinge, Anna Troberg.
These are the books read in May. Hasn’t gotten much read due to a lot of school and work.
- Mignon Fogarty: “The Grammar Devotional” (2009)
- Filled with some great tips on using proper grammar, some already known and some new. I’m not a big fan of the day-to-day structure (read a tip a day), but it works. I felt the quizzes took up a little too much space, but the tips and the background info was all useful.
- Stephen King: “The Wind Through the Keyhole: a Dark Tower Novel” (2012)
- I’ve been waiting a long time for this midquel of King’s Dark Tower series (which finished with the seventh book in 2004). This book takes place in between the fourth (“Wizard and Glass”) and fifth (“Wolves of the Calla”) books of the series, and features Roland retelling two stories from his youth, one from his teen years and one a fairy tale his mother used to tell him when he was a sma’ one. The book basically fulfills everything I hoped for – it’s not an epic exciting story liked the original Dark Tower series, but rather a softer storybook. It’s nice to return to these old characters again, and it’s hard to part with them towards the end, knowing what shall come. I hope King considers producing any future such material, like more stories from Roland’s youth.
For one reason or another (or perhaps for no reason at all), I have missed out completely on music for a while. No good. Until this weekend I hadn’t heard Nightwish’ new “The Crow, the Owl and the Dove” single with the previously unreleased “The Heart Asks Pleasure First” b-track (cover of the theme song of the awesome film “The Piano”), and I have yet to hear the new albums of both Epica, Eluveitie and Amberian Dawn. I suck, I know.
After going through Nightwish (which wasn’t a big surprise since I had heard a crappy live version recording before, but it’s nice to have it in good quality along with the lyrics and an instrumental version), I come to Amberian Dawn.
Last time AD released an album, “End of Eden” in 2010, I was a huge fan after “River of Tuoni” (2008) and “The Clouds of Northland Thunder” (2009), and the result was me waiting like crazy for the release date, going through the forums day and night, staying home from school and waiting for the CD to land in the mail. The CD was awesome, and I wrote an extensive review of it immediately.
When the new “Circus Black” comes, all is different. I know it’s been out for ages, yet I somehow haven’t bothered. I want to set aside time for it, I want to listen it through carefully and then go all fanboy-y on the internetz for a few days. I simply haven’t had the time.
Now is the time.
Here comes the mega awesome super cool extra turbulent Aki review of “Circus Black”, written as I listen, with my very first impressions. Hell, I have yet to start it now, and I’m shaking… and it’s not just the coffee in front of me. Let’s go.
[Edit: I listen to a download version, as I can't wait for my CD to arrive (in a couple days!). I therefore managed to screw up and missed "Cold Kiss" and "Guardian" at first, realising the mistake after reviewing "Letter". That's why I complain about no song being over five minutes at one point. The "Cold Kiss" review was thus done out of order and added afterwards.]
1. Circus Black (03:48)
I dislike starting with title tracks. It feels weird. The title track should be an intro of sort – not necessarily a short atmospheric intro, but some sort of kickstarter. Not the main song, as the title track tends to be. Oh well, let’s judge the music and not the title.
Starts with a creepy but cool sound, fits with the circus theme. The metal drums kicks in alongside the background sounds. Heidi sounds great as always, dulls the track down a tad. To nitpick, the chorus sounds like it comes to early, I wanted a longer pre-chorus section. Good vocal lines though, and still great background instruments. Good unexpected drum line before the second chorus. I don’t really listen to the lyrics first time around, but I’m sure there’s some awesome story somewhere.
Unusually interesting bridge section for AD, with good guitar lines and a quick yet suiting solo. Slows down in a good way, this is probably great live. Again, I think the chorus returns too early.
2. Cold Kiss (03:30)
Cool beginning! Melodic yet fast, classic AD. Nice whisper effects, but I’m a sucker for even the simplest background stuff. Timo Kotipelto’s guest vocals work great, I was worried if they would feel strange against Heidi’s but they sound excellent without taking over too much or feeling out of place. Nice riffing and cool keyboard solo. Overall a nice song, the riffing was indeed cool, and it feels like one that will grow on me.
3. Crimson Flower (04:24)
It looks weird to have three titles beginning with C in a row. Oh well. [written after realising the existence of "Cold Kiss": hey, four C's!]
Good start, doesn’t really sound like AD but it’s good to vary. The vocal lines come in beautifully. Hard not to head bang, great mixture of exciting heavy metal and simply beautiful vocals. Unusually slow a tempo, but that’s what I’ve been looking for in AD for a while.
Wow, interesting turn after the chorus, slowing down completely. Great fairy tale-like theme in the music. The choirs complement Heidi’s vocals elegantly. I like how the tracks so far have had fairly lengty bridge sections, and with a cool solo in this one. That’s something I’ve hoped for in a while. The songs seem overall longer too, at over four allover, lenghtier than the previous ones (though I’m sad to see no five or six minutes tracks like on “End of Eden”).
Epic finale!
4. Charnel’s Ball (04:27)
Another slow intro? Hm, alright. Exciting start with cool tempo and good guitar-bass-drum-combo. Feels a tad weird with another mid-to-slow-tempo after “Crimson Flower”, but it might still turn. Oh, the intro turns into chorus (or chorus-like section)? Cool, it worked better than I’d imagine. The bass lines in the second verse are unusually imaginative and cool without disturbing Heidi’s vocal lines, I’d like to see more of that in the future.
The guitars and bass really kick in for the second chorus, it works truly epically. Again, this is probably really cool live. Cool drum solo line before the third chorus.
5. Fight (03:20)
I’m constantly paranoid about song titles and how they work in an album listing, which I know almost no-one else cares about, but still: I am truly disturbed by ideas such as having the three first track share the same progenital letter (C), and having two one-word tracks in the middle (“Fight” and “Letter”) and two much longer titles close to the end (“I Share With You This Dream” and “Rivalry Between Good and Evil”). I know no-one else cares, but IT FREAKS ME OUT. Please send this on to Who Gives a Shit Inc., Penny Lane 156, Switzerland.
Judging by the intro, the title and the length this seems to be one of the speedier ones. Yep, confirmed. “River of Tuoni” flashback! This would probably have fit better right at the start, not as a wake up call after “Charnel’s Ball”. I need either a cool atmospheric intro (read “Of Silence…” by Sonata Arctica) or a kick-in-the-butt super power track to start an album.
Surprisingly kick-ass guitar solo, much heavier and much more… metallic than I’m used to see from AD. Might not work on every song, but this sort of thing should come around more often. “Fight” certainly is a good title. I find myself drumming the keyboard with my fingers towards the end, awesome stuff. More of this live!
6. Letter (04:31)
Is this the quick-start section of the album, with both “Fight” and “Letter” starting with bass drums after the other three were much slower? Weird.
Interesting vocal section, and good pre-chorus section. Good tempo, I immediately start kicking with my feet. Good mix of slow and quick music, works organically as well as keeping it interesting and unexpected.
7. I Share With You This Dream (03:36)
Starts with a nice guitar melody and fitting riffing in the background, a tad sudden in my taste but at least it’s radio friendly. I have forgotten who’s doing guest vocals, but it feels like it works fine. I just hope Heidi comes in more than just the background. Nice chorus, but a little expected and too little heavy for my taste. Speaking of which, there has yet to come a real ballad. Is it “Guardian” or “Lily of the Moon”? I guess the latter.
In the second chorus I find myself drifting. It’s not bad, but it’s getting a little boring, nothing new comes. An okay solo, but nothing special or unexpected. Maybe it will grow on me in the future. A third solo comes, identical to the other two, only with a slight difference in drum pattern. What? It ends? This didn’t really work for me, at least not on first listen.
8. Rivalry Between Good and Evil (04:00)
A little too revealing a title, don’t you think?
Starts out like a fun and melodic instrumental (as it is). AD are skilled musicians who work well without vocals as well as with, and it’s nice to have a track per album to let them show it without restraints. At 1:20 I start hoping for a tempo shift or a turn of melody, and shortly after the song quickens. The circus theme seems to show again, or mayhap it’s just my imagination running wild without lyrics. At 2:20 I start to think the melody is getting a little overused, and shortly after it changes. They seem to know exactly what I want on this one, except that it might linger a little too long on certain sections (prior to the 2:40 mark or so). I hope this goes excellently into “Guardian”, it sounds like it might. Oops, it didn’t really, but great finale!
9. Guardian (05:08)
I always look forward to the longer tracks, not because they _have_ to be better than the rest, but because they often are. They often leave a little more time to get the music across than the shorter tracks. In AD’s history, a lot of the shorter tracks feel somewhat incomplete and rushed, where I would have preferred more time devoted to intros, pre-chorus sections and bridge sections. Their longer (4-6 minutes) tracks are usually more interesting than the shorter (2-3 minutes).
Sounds like I was wrong about “Lily of the Moon” being the ballad, this one seems to be it. Then again AD has a tradition of making their ballads longer than the standard songs. Heidi’s voice surprises me, it’s almost been a tad dull on the rest of the album but this felt unique. Maybe just because it’s almost alone? The dual-voice in the end of verse one seemed a little too much, but the double choirs shortly after worked nicely.
The chorus is epic without losing tranquility to speed. Slowing down a little too much? Feels a little too much like “Willow of Tears” in that sense. Nice slowing down to another choir section though, it feels natural before the guitar melody and the second chorus. Nice drum section at around 03:40 before the fitting guitar solo. The heavy riffing is nice and unique to an AD ballad, as is the general heavyness of the song.
10. Lily of the Moon (04:06)
Ah, sudden! But nice. Cool to have another quick one, they have been slightly abscent as compared to other albums (especially the first two). I overall enjoy more AD songs being mid-tempo on “End of Eden” and “Circus Black”, but it’s nice to keep with the classic speed too. Cool chorus, background riffing seems to be a theme on this album.
The chorus and the overall speed and melody suits excellently for a closing song in a way no previous AD finish has. I can only imagine it would work greatly as a finale live too. I find myself drumming on the table of excitement, this just might be a new favourite. Awesome!
These are the books read in February.
- Andrew B. Kipnis: “Producing Guanxi: Sentiment, Self, and Subculture in a North China Village” (1997)
- Except for some excellent examples of real life guanxi production, sadly not all that enlightening as I hoped it would be. Then again the real life examples may well be enough to ask for.
- Kathleen McMillan, Jonathan Weyers: “How to Write Dissertations and Projects” (2007) [in Swedish translation]
- A good summary of the most important things to remember, especially the somewhat short sections on scientific research and scientific conduct.
- Richard Dawkins: “The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution” (2009)
- If someone has to read just one book on science in a lifetime, this is the book to read. Dawkins goes back to the beginning and produces the plain evidence for evolutionary theory, including magnificent examples and combating many misunderstandings and critical questions. A great book to read both if you have no clue about evolution but are open minded to understand it, and if you – like me – find it interesting and want to learn a lot more, both about what we know and why we know it.
Baba Brinkman – Darwin’s Acid
In 1859 Darwin spilled the first splashes
Of his universal acid, and the effects were like magic
Burning human arrogance into ashes
In exactly the same way that Copernican math did
No, the stars don’t shine just to improve the view from earth
No, we’re not the centre of the universe
No, we weren’t created in the image of Jupiter
No, we’re not so special, and yes, the truth hurts
But that’s how evolution works – once it’s been applied
The acid burns into the superstitious side
Of the human mind, and fills it with light
It even dissolves the original sin of pride
The pride that says: “I’m a special creation
And my creator has given me dominion over nature
And he has the power to replenish his creatures
So if species go extinct, he can recreate them later
And if he doesn’t, well that’s just part of his plan”
Ah, but Darwin’s acid is hard to withstand
It plucks the arrogance deep from within the hearts of man
And teaches us never to build our houses on sand
But instead to try to understand why we’re here
One species among millions in this biosphere
Each with millions of ancestors, whose fighting spirits
Combined to give us this great survival gear
These minds, these limbs, these incredible tools
Perfected by millennia of competitive use
And yes, these attention-seeking genitals too
Without them, these living forms could never improve
It’s such an elegant view, full of breadth and grandeur
And yet, some people react with depression and anger
Like: “It’s so unsympathetic, so viciously random!
What’s the point of compassion, or ethical standards?
If this is just a game that organisms are trapped in
Genetically adapting to environmental factors
Then there’s no responsibility for individual actions!
Where’s the governing dynamic?!?”
Well, once again Darwin gives us some answers
He says yes, everything from violence to violets to viruses
Consists of organisms adapting to environments
If you’re alive, it’s because your ancestors were the best survivalists
They were the finalists in the genetic Olympic Games
Every one of your ancestors lived to reproductive age
And they were all better than their competitors at getting laid
Otherwise, you wouldn’t be sitting here today
There’s something inspirational in this vision of Darwin’s
And it goes like this: organisms – like us – are not isolated
Organisms are part of an environmental mix
So your decisions affect evolution – it isn’t directionless
Now, before you dismiss me as a mad environmentalist
Just try to imagine how natural selection applies
To countries that have industrialized
Companies live and companies die
And when customers buy based on a company’s green plan
That affects the economy, just ask Alan Greenspan
Cultural evolution is ours to reinvent
Wait, can we affect current events? Yes We Can
And when we choose who to sleep with and reproduce
Our sexual choices affect the gene pool
So it’s simple, all we need to do is refuse
To sleep with mean people, and things will improve
Especially women – on you the pressure is greater
‘Cause men will always do what it takes to get into your favour
That’s just in our nature, so if selfish behaviour
Was a sexual graveyard, the effects would be major!
In each of these cases, our intentional efforts
Can play the part of environmental pressures
I can say: “This is a space where a peaceful existence
Will never be threatened by needless aggression”
I can say: “This is an ecosystem where people listen
Where justice increases over egotism
This is a space where religions achieve co-existence
And racism decreases with each coalition”
This is my vision of Darwinism, and how we all factor in
Each of us is a part of the environment; we pass through it
And change it, and affect the way that others adapt to it
And after we get to look back and see how we impacted it
And maybe have a laugh if our sense of humour is still alive
And what did Charles Darwin do? Darwin threw some light
On the origin of mankind, and he left us with skewered pride
But he taught us that, yes, there’s grandeur in this view of life“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one, and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful, and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
Charles Darwin, Origin of Species
Within Temptation's "The Unforgiving", coming on March 25.
I entered 2011 thinking most music releases came in 2009 and 2010, and this would be a pretty calm year. I’m slowly realising I was damned wrong.
Symphonic metal act Within Temptation will release their first album since 2007, the experimental “The Unforgiving” on March 25. The album is released alongside a comic book series written by Steven O’Connell, and six pages of the prequel is already out on Within Temptation’s website.
In March also, Swedish thrash metal act The Haunted will release “Unseen”, the follow-up to 2009′s “Versus”. The song “No Ghost” from the album has already been performed and filmed live and can be seen on YouTube already. Generally well received, I take it as an awesome return to the more experimental “The Dead Eye” era.
Sons of Seasons' second album "Magnisphyricon", coming on April 1.
In March also, German power metal project Avantasia plan to release their first live CD/DVD, The Flying Opera, filmed during their 2008 The Scarecrow tour.
On April 1, the German symphonic progressive metallers Sons of Seasons, the project of Kamelot keyboardist Oliver Palotai, will release their second album Magnisphyricon. Judging by the cover and tracklist alone, it looks like an incredibly promising album, and hopefully with a better production than their debut Gods of Vermin.
In the third or fourth quarter of the year, symphonic power metal giants Nightwish will hopefully release their seventh studio album, the follow-up to 2007′s Dark Passion Play. I have high hopes for this, believing Anette Olzon has grown into her role as the new lead singer, and developed her voice to better suite the music.
After founding member Mike Portnoy’s sudden leave in the past autumn, Dream Theater‘s remaining members are working on an upcoming album, the successor to 2009′s incredible Black Clouds and Silver Linings, presumably with a new drummer they have yet to reveal to the public. I have no idea whether the album will be released in 2011 or not, but as I understand it they have at least entered the recording process, and so the album should be released in late 2011 or early 2012.
Power metal pioneer Stratovarius’ twelth studio album Polaris basically shocked the fans in 2009, bringing forth a powerful line-up after the departure of long-time guitarist and composer Timo Tolkki, who left the band in a big feud in 2008. Polaris was a refreshing new album, stepping on new grounds of progressive metal and techno, and meanwhile continuing the twenty-year tradition that made band famous to begin with – technically challenging yet extremely melodic, uplifting songs with heart and emotion.
2011′s Elysium, the second album with the new line-up, is probably even better. The album highlights on melodic hits such as Darkest Hours and Event Horizon as well as the beautiful ballad Move the Mountain and the epic and emotional 18-minute title track as well as the beautiful Lifetime in a Moment. The album perfectly balances all that we have learned to expect from Stratovarius, and it even brings a bunch of new stuff to the table.
1. Darkest Hours (04:10)
Released in late November of 2010 alongside “Infernal Maze”, Darkest Hours is another one of the many Stratovarius hits and singles that wouldn’t grow on me immediately, alongside especially the Polaris single “Deep Unknown”. While growing on me eventually and becoming a pretty strong track, “Darkest Hours” stays somewhat of a medicore track, though it is indeed a good listen.
2. Under Flaming Skies (03:51)
An interesting track with some unique riffs and melodies, even though I hoped for a return of the Arabic (?) theme in the intro. The solo is good but I can’t help but feel that the song would have worked better with a slower C-passage before the final chorus.
3. Infernal Maze (05:32)
Infernal Maze was perhaps a bad choice for a pre-album single release (alongside “Darkest Hours”), because of its epic and extremely non-singley arrangement, but to me this is a golden song. It reminds me of many of Stratovarius classical epics, alongside the newer, progressive and neo-classical themes of Polaris, especially “Emancipation Suite”. The song gets a grip on both an emotional and technical level, bringing up speed in perfect balance with slower tempos and excellent guitar and keyboard work. It grows a lot in just five and a half minute, and it does really impress me.
4. Fairness Justified (04:20)
The beginning of this semi-ballad sounds a bit off right after “Infernal Maze”, but it works. The choir chorus works unexpectedly well, even though it feels a bit sudden and maybe even forced upon the listener. Alike “Under Flaming Skies”, I think the chorus is better suited for a more epic track, where it can be built in additional two or three slower minutes before the first chorus.
5. The Game Never Ends (03:54)
The Game Never Ends sounds (at least on first listen) a little too much like old school HammerFall for my taste. Power metal is good and HammerFall is okay, but this kind of thing has been done. Hopefully it will grow on me on subsequent listens. The ending keyboard solo is pretty cool though.
6. Lifetime in a Moment (06:39)
The second longer track on the album (after “Infernal Maze”) is less progressive and more of the traditional epic style, even though it does incorporate some nice new age reminiscent sounds and some techno work after the choruses. Starting out with an interesting choir introduction, it moves into a calmer piece and escalates perfectly as the chorus kicks in just before the three-minute mark. The guitar riffs in the chorus stick out like they seldom do in Stratovarius music, and it works. The guitar solo, alongside several solos on the album, is a bit disappointing and too generic for my taste, and so it also fails to bring the song up properly before the third and final chorus, but it is still okay. The song reminds me of “King of Nothing”, one of my favorite tracks from Polaris, but I think I might start to prefer this.
7. Move the Mountain (05:34)
Move the Mountain is the first proper ballad on the album, seeing as even though both “Fairness Justified” and “Lifetime in a Moment” has ballad elements but I wouldn’t count either as a full and proper ballad. This is a good thing, really, and something I love in music with special arrangements (bands that come to mind include both Devil Doll and My Dying Bride) is how they seldom have real ballads, but they incorporate it well into the music making more songs have a whole new dimension. Kind of like the old-school episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama often ending on a heart-felt tone even though the episode overall is comedy.
I think vocalist Timo Kotipelto brings in some amazing vocals in here, especially in the heart-felt verses. Keyboardist Jens Johansson – one of my all-time favorites – brings in the first really amazing solo on the album at 3:00 – 3:56 until he also brings some beautiful piano melodies when the song moves into a bridge. I was previously disappointed with some of the songs lacking a proper bridge (especially “Lifetime in a Moment” which ended all too soon), but this kind of makes up for it.
8. Event Horizon (4:24)
Wow! This song kicks off wonderfully well with some strange noices and voices moving into a neo-classical keyboard section before the first verse. And you know what I said about the lack of good solos? I take it all back. This song is filled with great riffs and solos, even though the vocal sections (on first listen) don’t sound that extraordinary. This is definitely a live song, and I can’t wait to see this live in the future.
9. Elysium (18:14)
Basic summary: This song is pretty damn awesome. It is epic and emotional and everything one could want from an 18-minute track from a technical and wonderful band like Stratovarius. It contains three different choruses, all extremely good, and it has some wonderful riffing, solos, picking and vocal melodies, with all instrumentalists as well as vocalist Timo Kotipelto on the top of their trade. I wrote down my thoughts while listening to it the first time, and you can see them here below.
[00:00] The big album epic… I was really looking forward to this. Stratovarius generally bring great longer tracks (many bands do, the longer tracks works good for great composers who need longer time to fully achieve their dream), and I’m pretty sure this is their longest yet – popular bands in general don’t deliver tracks above the 12-minute mark or so, with a few exceptions.
[01:06] The track starts out promising with keyboards and some full band work before being joined by a choir. Nice and epic.
[04:00] The song works into a verse with Kotipelto’s agonised vocals, and then moves into a chorus, a cool mixture of guitar riffing, bass lines, keyboard picking and some guitar melody. Then comes a guitar / keyboard battle solo, and it’s a quite nice one. Why did they save all good solos for the final three songs?
[06:01] The chorus returns a second time, before the song falls into a strange mid-section with cool effects, slow drums and some guitar riffing, moving into a heavier section.
[07:48] Drums and bass lines are joined by Kotipelto’s vocals, and it moves into some new chorus before a guitar solo kicks off, and he repeats the verse.
[11:00] Another great guitar solo! The chorus really starts making an impression the second (or is it the third?) time around, and I realise how emotional the song is on a deeper level.
[13:32] The song moves into a section like its introduction, and it really sits well after the chorus. Kotipelto’s voice works extremely well in with the instruments, and its more varied and emotional than, dare I say, ever before.
[16:52] An instrumental, semi-techno section comes and brings the song up even further, before a choir kicks in and with it kicks some serious ass, followed by the solo. I’m somehow reminded by one of my absolute favorite Strato songs, “Mother Gaia”, but I can’t tell why. The song then moves into repeated chorus originating in the acoustic section (see 13:32) and it works oh so well. As always, I don’t listen much to the lyrics on first listen, but as soon as I get the actual album and not the Spotify version in my hands I will surely listen through it again with the booklet in my hands.
[18:13] And it ends.
Poster.
Coraline is a 2009 stop motion adaption of the 2002 Neil Gaiman novel of the same, in the genre of fantasy / horror. It is the tale of Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning), who finds a secret door and traveling through it finds an improved version of her home, with a loving mother and father and a more quiet neighbour. She slowly decides to embrace this new world, until she realises that everything is not as it seems.
I was quite skeptical towards the film, seeing as it’s compared by such wonders as Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and seeing as its plot is rather… clichéd. Still, I was surprised. The film holds an outstanding quality both in its characters and interesting plot, with many turns and twists and foreshadowings, as well as jokes and beautiful animation. The film is described as fantasy / horror, and it is. Few stop motion / animation films keeps my suspense for as long as Coraline.
The book is a true masterpiece, but the movie?
This is simply a book that couldn’t be filmed. Not because of ?special effects or anything, but simply because of the tons of inner dialogues. This film is more or less a series of bland characters walking around in a bland background with a too simple storyline that doesn’t pay off until the very end. Although this ending is well-made and clever, it’s simply not worth two hours of bore before that.?
