I just got back from the preview screening of Corpse Bride, which was AWESOME. Beyond awesome. Jaw-droppingly awesome. The characters were delightful, the music was fun, and everything that seemed cheesy in the trailer wasn’t. In fact, my main criticism is that the stop-motion animation was TOO good, and I fear people will just assume it’s CG. Looking back, I’m actually annoyed with how good the animation was. It didn’t feel like stop-motion at all. Despite the subject matter, it’s less of a younger brother to Nightmare Before Christmas, and more of a distant cousin. While totally charming in itself, it didn’t have the charm I associate with stop-motion.

And I should just shut up and realize that this movie is not–nor did it ever claim to be–Nightmare Before Christmas, and not hold it to weird, arbitrary standards and get on with my life.

(Of course, in the same vein as “This movie is not Nightmare Before Christmas“, I came in my Sally costume. They even gave me a copy of the CD for dressing up, so go me!)

Back to the movie. The music was fun, but as I was expecting more bizarre, quirky, simple songs in the style of Nightmare, I was slightly offput by the more showtune-y style. I have no problem with showtune-y, but the songs just didn’t feel… what’s the word? Burtonesque.

And reading over what I’ve written, I don’t think I get to say anything else until I’ve had a good night’s sleep and I can talk about something other than it’s lack of Nightmare-osity. The movie is EXCELLENT, and it deserves more than that. So it’s back to Psych homework for me until I can learn to behave myself in polite company.