Emma Roberts Movie:

		List Price: $14.94		Label: Sony Pictures Salesrank: 43836 Released: February 14, 2006
		Our Price: $3.89
		Used Price: $2.97
		MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: UMD for PSP

Editorial Review:
Helena is a 15-year-old girl working for her family circus who wishes that she could run away from the circus & join real life. But such is not to be the case as she finds herself on a strange journey into the dark lands a fantastic land filled with fantastic creatures. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/22/2007 Starring: Stephanie Leonidas Rob Brydon Run time: 121 minutes Rating: Pg13

Description of Mirrormask [UMD for PSP]:
This visually stunning film is the product of a collaboration of award-winning graphic novelist Neil Gaiman (creator of the much-lauded Sandman series), his frequent collaborator Dave McKean (Cages), and The Jim Henson Company, themselves no strangers to elaborate fantasies such as The Dark Crystal. and Labyrinth. As with the latter film, MirrorMask focuses on a young woman unhappy with her daily existence; here, the artistically inclined Helena (Stephanie Leonides), is at odds with her circus performer parents. When a careless insult appears to send her mother (Gina McKee) into a coma, Helena withdraws into the dark and elaborate world of her drawings, in which a scenario very similar to her predicament in the real world is unfolding. Gaiman and director McKean create arresting images to populate Helena's world, and the Henson Company brings them vividly to life with CGI; though the story is occasionally murky, the fantasy elements are imaginative enough to enthrall what will undoubtedly be the film's toughest customers--younger viewers. --Paul Gaita

Mirrormask [UMD for PSP] Reviews:
If I apologize
2009-11-29 - "You can't run away from home without destroying somebody's world"

Helena (Stephanie Leonidas) is unhappy with her lot in life as a circuses entertainer and expresses this to her mother (Gina McKee.) Later her mother has a medical problem and Helena is not sure that she did not contribute.

The story starts with a wall of drawings and drawing on a door. We assume that this is an ongoing nightmare. It makes you wonder if German expressionism film had survived how it would have morphed. Even though much of the movie was filmed at Embassy Court in Brighton Beach, the dilapidated building even has an expressionist look.

As we watch the dream, we wonder where the dream starts and reality ends. Maybe there is more to this than meets the eye. There is an eerie part when Helena looked through a window to see her doppelgänger. However it is not the what, but the why that really makes the story.

Now watch as we try to discover the secret of the MirrorMask.

For people interested in media, I only saw this in Blu-ray and con not contrast. However the voice over commentary is worth the time to watch.

Oedipus Rex ~ Douglas Campbell

good but bad
2009-11-11 - visually stunning film, the story is pretty much the Wizard of Oz. There's a sort of empty quality to it, though, which leaves me feeling like I missed something. I bought it, I watch it sometimes, I would say I like it. I would even say, "watch it" to pretty much anyone. But don't expect to walk away from this feeling like you've really experienced much of anything. Don't expect to be impressed. It's not going to become your favorite movie or anything.

Not really for those with a Y chromosone
2009-10-04 - I've been dinged for reviewing movies I don't like. I will say at the outset that this is not my kind of movie. It's in my house because my daughter was curious about it. I offer this review to guys who are facing the prospect of having it in their houses and are wondering if they should schedule a bowling night when it gets played.

Do it. Your eleven-to-sixteen year old daughter will probably be enthralled by this movie. Your wife will find meaning in the symbolism and remember her own adolescence. You, however, will be left staring at well crafted, wildly disjoint, frequently ambiguous images, while listening to dialog that demands to be taken as Meaningful, but only occasionally rises above Banal. You will spend the whole movie wondering if it's ever going to attempt a linear plot or tell an actual story. Worst of all, you know exactly how it's going to turn out, 20 minutes into the film, and all that's left is the self-indulgent, meandering journey to the inevitable ending. It feels like an art project gone out of control.

There are positives. The art is bizarre, intricate and impressive, if sometimes overdone to the point of chaos. None of the acting was bad and the main character was engaging and very well done. There are touches of humor. It's certainly not lacking in quirk or imagination. But unless you find a morality play about a 15 year old girl who ultimately decides to stop being an ass, and grow up a little, fascinating, you're going to spent a lot of time looking at your watch.

I thought Coraline was a bit like this as well - decently crafted, but so awash in symbolism and so wrapped up in its own artfulness that in the end, I tuned out. If you're the sort that thought Coraline was fantastic, but you wish it had been a lot more surreal and bizarre, this is the movie you've been hoping for. Parts of this felt like Yellow Submarine on acid, that's about the warmest praise I can come up with.



Excellent Film!!
2009-10-03 - I must first say that I am not generally a fan of Neil Gaiman's work. This movie was actually a spur of the moment thing from a friend who told me about it. Boy am I glad they did. This movie is absolutely fantastic. Everything about the film is top notch, from the acting to the writing and especially the special effects. The Jim Henson company created the visuals for this film and they have absolutely outdone themselves. Usually you just think of the muppets when anyone mentions Jim Henson, however his company has done some amazing work before, usually not seen here in the States. I actually grew up watching some of the films and shows that were bound mainly for the UK and England which featured work by the Henson company. I cannot advise anyone enough to get this film on bluray. It is brillant beyond belief and is now one of my favorite bluray titles that I own.

Watch Mirrormask with your child, then talk
2009-09-15 - This is a children's movie that is equally meaningful and enjoyable for any adult whose mind is open to the fantastic. For children, it is so much more than empty entertainment calories. There are some very tough issues: mainly, an adolescent girl coming to terms with her mother's mortality, and her very mixed feelings towards her parents - the feelings that adolescents naturally have. Parents should watch this movie with their children, and talk about it. Other reviewers will comment on the sheer genius and creativity of the animation -which is better in blu-ray. I especially loved the way that amidst even the most fantastic images the people remained so real - immersed in a landscape of archetypes. Comparable movies: really nothing is quite like this, but in how one can through fantasy speak about difficult things in a common language to both children and adults, I would say Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and Howl's Moving Castle, both of which are pure anime.