Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Surprisingly Sophisticated Paranorman (Rated PG) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS You would do well to consider Paranorman (93 minutes) as a gate- way movie, the first step a child takes on a long road filled with the living dead and other creepy crawlies. As a family movie it works very well and is a good example of the right way to do a children's film. As a horror film, especially one designed to appeal to children, it is sur- prisingly sophisticated. Having said that, this is exactly the sort of film that gets social conservatives in a twist. Not only are there casual references to everything they hate clear- ly placed in the no big-deal zone, there are also real moral issues filled with shades of grey as opposed to neatly delineated categories of good and evil. The film is set in New England, so right away you have all that rich history of women who stepped outside the norms of their gender and were hanged as witches. The opening scenes establish that a boy named Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is able to both see and speak with the dead. His family (Jeff Garlin, Leslie Mann, and Anna Kendrick) are not as supportive as they might be, which leads to Norman feeling isolated at home and in school. The determined efforts of Neil Downe (Tucker Albrizzi, who is really re- minding me of Gordon Crisp from Freaks and Geeks) to become friends with Norman remind him that there are good people out there even though I question if pre-adolescents are ever really that poised. Their friend- ship grows in part because they are both tormented by the same bully (Christopher Mintz-Platz). While walking home with Neil one afternoon, his Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman) stops him to spout crazy nonsense about visions and ritu- als. During a rehearsal of the school play commemorating the 300-year anniversary of the execution of the town witch, Norman has a vision that is part ghostly daydream and part history lesson, revealing that his Uncle might not be as crazy as everyone thinks. After a bit of consideration, Norman decides that it is his duty to carry out the ritual as instructed by his Uncle. Unfortunately, as so often happens, the instructions turn out to be a bit on the sketchy side and lacking all sorts of important details. He puts his best foot forward and makes it as far as the graveyard before the bully throws a wrench in the works. As it turns out, when the ritual isn't properly completed, the dead rise from the grave and chase after the one person who might be able to put them back to bed. Meanwhile, back on the other side of town, Norman's sister (Kendrick) enlists the aid of Neil and his brother Mitch (Casey Affleck) to track down Norman. At this point the plot slows down a bit, and the movie wanders off- plot and onto a variety of increasingly boring chase scenes. The citizenry forms into an angry mob complete with torches and egg beaters, but all is not as it seems. Finally, it has a very distinctive look, and almost all the backgrounds highlight an incredible use of color and movement. I can't claim to be a huge fan of the way they conceptualized the human form but production company Laika did one heck of a job of creating a real sense of human- ity in the stop motion figures. Their ability to inject real human emotion into what are essentially clay figures is refined to an incredible degree by two of the best child actors working today, Smit-McPhee and Ferland. And anyone who wants to challenge that statement should go see The Road and Tideland immediately. Now showing at Wynnsong 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Market Fair 15 HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 2012 Best of Fayetteville on 2012 Best of Fayetteville Awards You are cordially invited to attou are cordially invited to attend the sneak preview end the sneak preview Tuesday, September 11, 2012 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. uesday, September 11, 2012 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. wards on at Wet Willie's 411 Hay Street at Wet Willie's 411 Hay Street Guest Celebrity MC Don Chase of WKML Guest Celebrity MC Don Chase of WKML Carolina's Best and Most Country Historic Downtown Fayetteville Food • Fun • Prizes Historic Downtown Fayetteville Food • Fun • Prizes Carolina's Best and Most Country Awards Presentation 6:30 Bill Bowman, Publisheri Bll Bowman, Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly elcome: County Commissioner Chairman Marshall Faircloth, ACVB President John Meroski Chamber President Doug Peters County Commissioner Chairman Marshall Faircloth, FACVB President John Meroski Chamber President Doug Peters Mayor Tony Chavonne. Mayor Tony Chavonne. Up & Coming Weekly Remarks: Remarks: offi cemanager@upandcomingweekly.com offi cemanager@upandcomingweekly.com Hosted By: Laurel Handforth 910.484.6200 Laurel Handforth 910.484.6200 R.S.V. R S.V..P P. wards Presentation 6:30 Welcome: Utley & Knowles CPAs SEPT. 5-11, 2012 UCW 21