I don’t think I’ve ever watched a film that’s made me weep more than once until now. A Man called Otto. What a brilliant film. A man that only knows how to express his grief in the form of grumpiness and being miserable over anything and everything, despite all that his neighbours still try very hard to connect with him. A great little watch.
I really enjoyed that although my wife wasn’t fussed. It rather reminded me of Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino but without the violence.
I think we know someone like that don’t we 
The Grinch?
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I’ve never really got into this genre, but keep hearing wonderful things about this film. What’s the back story to why this is considered so important? I take it Miyazaki is kind of like the Scorsese of his genre?
Miyazaki’s films are labours of love, designed with beautiful animation, strong characters and good plots. A lot of his films have female leads that are very well written, which stands out compared to a lot of media. Some are very big epics, such as Mononoke, and some are smaller slice of life films such as Whisper of the Heart. In addition to that he is a vital figure in the foundation and development of Studio Ghibli; whose reputation is akin to Walt Disney’s. Personally I am very excited to see the Boy and the Heron, but the UK release date is the 26th of Dec and I wont be able to see it for a week or two after that, so no spoilers please from anyone who gets to see it earlier.
Spirited Away is probably his magnum opus, and it is fantastic. I wholeheartedly recommend it. Princess Mononoke, Whisper of the Heart, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Nausicaa of the Wind Valley are all brilliant , and again I wholeheartedly recommend them. His other films are still of a very high standard and well worth a watch.
In terms of non-Miyazaki Ghibli films the best are, for my money, Grave of the Fireflies (utterly devastating), Only Yesterday, Princess Kaguya, and When Marnie was there.
If you’re looking to get into it near enough every Ghibli film is on Netflix, at least in the UK.
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Awesome, cheers. I’ve definitely heard of Princess Mononoke as something recommended I watch so maybe I’ll load up a few of those over the christmas break
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Spirited Away, My neighbour Totero, Kiki’s delivery service and Howl’s moving castle are the four I like the most and watch regularly with my family.
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FWIW, apparently HBO has the license for Ghibli in the US
I’ve seen the Boy and the Heron and I recommend watching it in the cinema.
A small screen won’t do justice to the artwork, which is breathtaking in places.
It’s like a moving painting.
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The Wind Rises is great too.
In fact, there’s only a handful of Ghibli movies which I haven’t found thoroughly enjoyable.
As far as I know, The Boy and the Heron is the last one by Miyazaki. There’s also the (uncomfortable) rumor that Ghibli will be acquired by some network channel.
I agree. The only one which was too saccharine was Ponyo, and even that had its moments.
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Began to watch John Wick Chptr4 earlier - Ten minutes in and I thought, can’t be doing with watching this nonsense so early in the day… Whether it was because being similar genre or not, another film was advertised on the screen, called Riders of Justice with Mads Mikkelsen, Nicolas Bro… both brilliant in their own unique way
Never seen a film like this… but well worth a watch IMHO.
Action comedy is I suppose the best way to describe it… 9/10 for originality :0)
Danish with English Subtitles
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I went to see Anselm last week. Wim Wenders did a wee Q&A afterwards, for only $4 extra.
I asked him if Trent should move into the midfield proper and he said “Absolutely!”.
(I made up that last bit, and I fell asleep during the film, but Wim Wenders is, nonetheless, a living legend).
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Godzilla Minus One was absolutely fantastic.
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I watched a couple of films last night since the rest of the family were out and I could finally see things that no one else wanted to watch.
The Father came out a couple of years ago and won an Oscar for Anthony Hopkins in the lead role. It’s about an old man, played by Hopkins, suffering from dementia and his family, mainly his daughter (Olivia Coleman), trying to cope with it.
What I didn’t realise is that this is told from the perspective of Hopkins and creates a sometimes confusing and occasionally disturbing narrative. It’s quite unlike anything else I’ve seen and I would highly recommend it.
The other film was The Fablemans which is Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical story about growing up in 1950s America and his growing fascination with filmmaking. Personally, I’d watch anything Spielberg makes and this doesn’t disappoint. Essentially, it’s a coming of age story but the casting is perfect, particularly Paul Dano and Michelle Williams as his parents. Again, I’d recommend it.
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I found The Father profoundly disturbing. A couple of my good friends have succumbed to dementia over the last few years and witnessing their descent into confusion was really sad. I used to take one of them out for a beer every week to give his wife a break and we had the same conversations every time…
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