October 17, 2005

Art

Pixy Goes To The Movies

I went and saw Howl's Moving Castle today. That makes four movies I've seen (at the cinema) in the past month; more usually I'm likely to see one or two in a year.

It also makes four out of five of the current movies that I want to see -

Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-rabbit
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Serenity
Howl's Moving Castle
Corpse Bride
Only the last remains, because it doesn't open here until next week.

Howl's Moving Castle is a great (but flawed) movie by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso...). Rotten Tomatoes gives it 84%, which as far as I can see is the worst rating they have given to any Miyazaki film.

I'm planning to put up a review of all five movies at some point, so for now I'll just note that if you enjoy animated films or fantasy stories at all, this is a must see while it's on the big screen. But as I noted (and unlike most of Miyazaki's previous work) there are a couple of rough edges.

I can't say for certain whether these crept in during translation (possible for one of the problems), are present in the original novel by Diana Wynne Jones (most of Miyazaki's films are from stories of his own creation), or are Miyazaki's fault. I'll be seeking out the book tomorrow, so I'll be able to clear that one up at least.

As to what the rough edges are... Well, wait for the review.

Ah. Okay. From one of the reviews on Amazon:

Diana Wynne Jones is much more subtle with her lessons in the book than Miyazaki is in the movie so don't expect the "war is bad" and "love is good" lessons to be thrown in your face. In fact, there isn't even a war in the book! That was something that was added in the jump from page to screen.
Yes, that was the worst of the rough edges. Sure, war is bad and love is good, but before now Miyazaki has been able to communicate this without, well, throwing it in your face. Now I must buy the book.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 12:45 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

1 So, should I see Charlie etc., or keep my fond memories of Gene Wilder intact?

Posted by: Susie at October 17, 2005 02:18 AM (a0oF7)

2 I quite liked it. It's fairly faithful to the book (there's a subplot tacked on, but nothing notable has been removed or changed).
But, um, I haven't seen the Gene Wilder version.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 17, 2005 02:28 AM (QriEg)

3 !!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 17, 2005 05:34 PM (KnWO3)

4 !!!
They didn't have the book.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 17, 2005 06:27 PM (AIaDY)

5 Susie, for Willy Wonka I preferred Gene Wilder, although Jonny Depp adds a interesting touch to the role. If you have fond memories of that version like I do, then the new one might not inspire you in the same way. I also found the new C&tCF a bit rushed.
And although I enjoyed Howl's moving castle (especially as I got to see it with PM himself!), I thought Spirited Away was much better overall.
Kean

Posted by: Kean at October 17, 2005 10:46 PM (Z/aWn)

6 Thanks, Kean! Hey, you better make sure Lord Pixy sees the original some time. I've seen the trailer for Charlie almost daily for the past couple months and that Gloria Swanson look of Johnny's scares me..

Posted by: Susie at October 18, 2005 01:59 AM (a0oF7)

7 How about 'Nightwatch' - the Russian scifi/susepnse film?
It looks astouding.
It's at the Dendy now.

Posted by: harry at October 19, 2005 06:50 PM (hOcbI)

8 awaiting w/ bated breath the reviews on Grommet,& Serenity

Posted by: michele at October 22, 2005 03:18 PM (h3+j5)

Hide Comments | Add Comment






Processing 0.01, elapsed 0.0051 seconds.
16 queries taking 0.0031 seconds, 30 records returned.
Page size 12 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.