ParaNorman
Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler
Written by Chris Butler
Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Jeff Garlin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Focus Features
Rated PG | 93 Minutes
Release Date: August 17, 2012

Produced by Coraline creators Laika, ParaNorman is a kid-friendly, stop-motion animated spookshow – a witches’ brew of ’80s classics like Monster Squad and Beetlejuice, with a dash of 1993’s Hocus Pocus and a pinch of Gil Kenan’s Monster House.

The film takes place in the small New England town of Blithe Hollow, where a centuries’-old witch’s curse has unleashed a horde of puritanical zombies upon the townspeople. If there’s one thing worse than puritans, it’s undead puritans. Turns out the zombies were villagers way back when who, thanks to moral panic and mass hysteria, condemned a young girl to her death for practicing witchcraft.

Blithe Hollow’s only hope is a misunderstood, horror-obsessed boy named Norman Babcock (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who has the ability to speak with the dead. Aided by best friend Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), his sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick) and Neil’s big brother Mitch (Casey Affleck), Norman will face ghosts and ghouls to save his town from a 300-year-old witch with one Hell of a grudge.

ParaNorman has been getting a lot of positive buzz lately, but just in case you don’t know that a stop-motion animated film about a misunderstood kid who can communicate with the dead is coming out tomorrow, Laika Studios is releasing one more trailer to remind you that there is one.

This is an Internet special trailer and it won’t be released anywhere else. Check it out below.

If Training Day, Dark Blue, and The Shield have taught us anything, it’s that every city has its dark pockets or places you just don’t go to. So with David Ayer‘s End of Watch, we get to see how dark and gritty these pockets can be. The filming style resembles a documentary of sorts, with the shaky cam being a constant presence during chase scenes and with the way that actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena address the camera. Check out the red band trailer below.

The violent tone shouldn’t be new to anyone who has watched the aforementioned films or television shows. Plus, Ayer directed both Training Day and Dark Blue, but the documentary style film shoot brings an exciting new element to these cop dramas. Think of it as the raw uncut footage from COPS.

Putting together a full-length stop-motion animated feature is perhaps the most tedious thing to watch. Every movement has to be just right, it may be a long process, but it will all pay off in the end. So now a new featurette for ParaNorman shows just how important it is to get things right. Check out the video below.

The production process for a stop-motion animated feature is just amazing. Watching the ParaNorman animators piece together all the characters, design the set pieces, and make the puppets move is something that future filmmakers and animators will truly enjoy. But if you’re of the group that just loves these behind-the-scenes footage, then I suggest you watch the video below.

THIS JUST IN! One of our lucky West Coast readers is about to win a pair of tickets to the Los Angeles, CA premiere of the newest stop-motion effort from LAIKA, ParaNorman! This lucky winner will be attending the glitzy & glamourous L.A. premiere with the stars of ParaNorman, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, Tempestt Bledsoe, Jeff Garlin, and Tucker Albrizzi.

ParaNorman is premiering in Hollywood, CA this Sunday afternoon, and if you’re the type of geek who can make your own way to/from the the screening, we’re the geeks to provide you with the pair of tickets.

One (1) winner will receive:

• One (1) Pair of tickets to the ParaNorman premiere in Los Angeles, CA

Note: This giveaway is open to Los Angeles-based fans that can provide their own transportation to/from this event on Sunday 8/5. Will Call information will be provided to the winners.

TO ENTER: There’s just two simple steps:

(1) Go LIKE Geeks of Doom on Facebook. If you’re not a Facebook user, alternately, you can follow us on twitter, or subscribe to the Geeks of Doom email digest. Click here to sign up.

(2) Fill out the entry form here below and submit. (Form is here after the jump.)

Good luck!