Number One Daughter was home for the weekend from college. We packed ourself into the family chariot and located the one theater in the Northern Virginia area that was still showing Ratatouille ($3 per ticket - cash only).
All in Animated
Makoto Shinkai's “THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS”
The creator of Voices of a Distant Star returns to adolescence but with a serious twist.
Makoto Shinkai's “VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR”
It is a fantastic achievement. The art work is better than most of what you see on ADULT SWIM (by a very wide margin), the design of the spaceships and alien vessels is beautiful, the combination of simulation and electronic display inside the power suits looks quite original, and the story, while short at 28 minutes, packs an astonishing amount of information and story elements in while not swerving from the relentless focus on these two emotional lovers, communicating (one way) over a gulf of light years.
Satoshi Kon’s “PAPRIKA”
As we walked out of the theater after seeing Satoshi Kon’s Paprika, I told Number One Son, “Now I know it’s possible to really film a Philip K. Dick novel!”
Satoshi Kon's “PERFECT BLUE”
Why is this psychological terror/murder mystery/serial killer story a cartoon?
Satoshi Kon’s MILLENNIUM ACTRESS
One of the most mature, evocative, creative, and melodramatic movies I’ve seen all year is an animated film, directed by the same director (Satoshi Kon) as the realistic yet disappointing (to me) potboiler Perfect Blue and of the excellent Tokyo Godfathers.
Satoshi Kon’s "TOKYO GODFATHERS"
Satoshi Kon’s TOKYO GODFATHERS, like his MILLENIUM ACTRESS, proves again animation’s spectacular dramatic and artistic potential. From an unlikely story Satoshi weaves a dramatic and humorous tale that soars above cliché and treacly melodrama.
Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY
Back when I first heard the story of Spirited Away I thought that this would never go over big in the U.S. (young girl gets lost in an abandoned amusement park populated by vacationing spirits and seeks a way to turn her parents back into humans from pigs?) I thought it would make an excellent candidate as a simultaneous theatrical/DVD release, given its probable small target audience.
Hayao Miyazaki's PRINCESS MONONOKE
This is an epic adventure interspersed with elements of Japanese folklore, magic, feral teenagers, giant wolves, strong and aggressive women, warfare, politics, terrific music, and enough related plot lines to kill a horse.
Hayao Miyazaki's “PORCO ROSSO”
This is an astonishing, moving, and intelligent animated film about a post WWI Mediterranean air pirate who is half man and half pig.
John Lasseter & Joe Ranft's CARS
I’m not a big fan of automobiles as an art form and I don’t have a nostalgia for their cultural significance (though I can’t argue with their importance) but this movie is a real winner.
Mamoru Oshii's AVALON
# VERY cool
# incredible visual style
# methodically plotted
# beautifully acted
This is a delightful, weird, and fascinating film. It bears re-watchng and study, and each time it does not lose its charm.
Robots
I especially liked the battle sequence at the end with its darkness, its massed robotic antagonists, and the feeling I was seeing some real cartoon malevolence the likes of which I haven’t seen since Oogie Boogie in Nightmare Before Christmas.
Lain
I originally published this review in 2002. I thought about it again aftre seeing The Last Exile, a more recent Japanese animated science fiction TV series.
Katsuhiro Ôtomo's “STEAMBOY”
At the end of Steamboy the credits roll over a series of detailed pictures that project the main characters of the movie into the future. We see Ray Steam’s inventions unfold even further, and they include flight and airplanes. And we see Scarlett defiantly staring into the camera as well as she shares Ray’s future.
Hayao Miyazaki's “HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE”
What did I like least about this film? The answer: the ending. It is too pat, too rushed, too abrupt. What do I like most? Just about everything else. In fact, I found myself smiling at what I was seeing on the screen more often than in any movie I’ve seen since The Incredibles — and that is saying a lot.
Appleseed
This anime epic now available on DVD successfully presents a convoluted story and a creative approach to the integration of 2D characters (shaded to look 3D) and 3D graphics.
Hayao Miyazaki's “NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WINDS”
What is it about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli that are so consistently impressive? Seeing 1984’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds for the first time reminded me of some of the answers to this question.