Curio: The Babadook Book
Sunday, January 18, 2015 at 7:32PM 
Alexa here with your film curio of the week. Like Nathaniel, Jennifer Kent's The Babadook was one of my favorite films of 2014. I thought it a masterpiece on the horrors of isolation, a sibling to The Shining, but with a feminist spin, a modern horror version of "The Yellow Wallpaper." And I think it criminal that Essie Davis's performance was not a major part of the Oscar discussion.
So I couldn't let today pass without mentioning the crowdfunding campaign that ends tomorrow Monday the 19th to print the pop-up book from the film. Although the minimum order of 2000 has been achieved, guaranteeing copies of the book will creep out legions of children in the future, if you pre-order a copy by midnight Monday PST your copy will be signed by Jennifer Kent! And, according to this article in The Times, the book will "include much of what appears in the film version, with additional narrative to bring its story to a conclusion."
Order your copy here, if you are willing to accept the consequences.
Curio, The Babadook, books
Reader Comments (3)
I hate to be a pedant, but much like it was pointed out on the AV Club article stumping for Davis, I have to point out here that Babadook was not on the Academy's eligibility list.
Jason -- yes, we've discussed that here too. Alexa wrote this but I also think it's criminal despite nowing it was ineligible. It's criminal that they release great films through directtv first thus robbing them of awards opportunities! (not that she would have been in the conversation otherwise - argh!)
Yes Jason, read the AV Club piece too and I get the eligibility, but I just think it criminal anyway. I would quibble that they should have released it first in theaters if only to make her eligible but really, as Nathaniel says, she wouldn't have realistically been a contender anyway given the genre. I've had hopes in the past that films with certain genre elements won't be as marginalized, but it continues to be a letdown for me. Although as the mom of a 2-year-old, the VOD release did let me see the film sooner!