Monster House

More fun for Friday: I was unexpectedly charmed by Monster House, recently released on DVD. Perhaps low expectations had something to do with it (I was anticipating yet another Pixar-wannabe computer animated disaster), but I found myself engaged and surprised by the twists of warped and wonderful imagination throughout. The special features were also great—a full exploration of the motion capture technique used to create the animation, and a showcase of the beautiful concept illustrations by Chris Appelhans (which can be viewed on Appelhans' site). Watch the Monster House trailer (which doesn't really do the bizarre factor of the film justice).