It's been a few weeks since I went to see Kubo and the Two Strings, yet I still think about it. And I keep playing the soundtrack too. So here is a collection inspired by the film. If you've seen it you'll recognize all the elements.
Did you see the movie yet? Where you blown away by it as well?
I fell in love with Kubo's story long before I'd seen the movie, or even the trailer for that matter. I was sold the minute the studio released the announcement poster that let the world know they were in the process of making the movie.
As a rule of thumb, that sort of expectation is bound to let a person down. Yet it didn't. It was perfect from the get-go. I marveled at the gorgeous details, soaked up the music and was completely whisked away to a magical world. A world where origami folds itself into characters and stories whenever a young man plays his instrument! I mean, wow!
I did, however, find the voices of the famous actors distracting. Charlize Theron as a monkey just isn't a seamless fit. And I kept wondering whether the male voice was George Clooney. It wasn't. It's actually Matthew McConaughey.
Both did a fine job, but I thought it took away from the otherworldliness of the film a bit. By the end of the movie I had grown accustomed, and I look forward to watching it again (and again and again) without being thrown off by it.
Other than that it was absolutely perfect. Even the credits were. And I loved that you got a peek behind the scenes of the stop-motion process at the end of the movie! I always love behind the scenes stuff, but especially for stop-motion. I am very well aware of the insane amount of hard work that goes into films like this, yet I'd love nothing more than to be part of something like that. Even if it means making a hundred slightly different monkey faces with a pair of tweezers. Anyway, I'm already looking forward to buying the dvd and watching the extras!
I know I already mentioned the soundtrack, but I need to mention it again. It's amazing! And the final song -While My Guitar Gentle Weeps as covered by Regina Spektor, with use of traditional Japanese instruments- is spectular!
Possibly the most realistic, calm and introspective Studio Ghibli movie out there, Only Yesterday tells the story of a twenty-something and her childhood. It's not exactly action-packed, but it's still fascinating to see this life unfold.
Taeko realizes she has been clinging to her childhood. As she's on vacation she finds herself flooded with memories of the optimistic innocence she used to have, as well as some more negative things that left their marks on her too.
Anyway, it's a lovely slice of life-ish coming of age story that shows you don't have to carry everything from your childhood into your adult life, that it's okay to let go of certain things and move on. And it shows it in a beautiful way!
So I've been catching up on Disney movies. I hadn't seen many of the more recent ones yet, including Tangled, which I finally watched yesterday. I loved it! I hadn't expected that much of it, but it actually ended up blowing me away.
It wasn't as much of a love story as I thought it'd be. There is plenty of romance, but thankfully there is way more to the plot. There were lots of funny moments, very nice songs and gorgeous animation. And the characters were lovely!
Also, it's not one of those standard guy saves girl type of stories. It's more of a joint effort. And let's not forget the wonderful animal sidekicks! And the love isn't instant either. Yeah, it's definitely a better, and more layered, movie than I expected!
Well, hopefully I am back blogging and can manage to do so more often. And what better way to ease back into it than with something about Studio Ghibli?! I recently watched When Marnie Was There and it was lovely! Of course!
It's quite a calm film that is mostly about inner life, friendship and family ties. And I really enjoyed the family dynamics in this film, and by that I mean the way her aunt and uncle treated and supported her. It seemed so realistic. Far more realistic than the actual plot twist. But it wouldn't be Studio Ghibli without a little magic, now would it?
It's not quite up there with my favorite Ghibli films for it lacks a little something plotwise, but it's beautifully made and I very much enjoyed it. And I was also pleasantly surprised to see they used a Priscilla Ahn song in the soundtrack!
Last week my supermarket had a couple of DVDs in the bargain bin. One of them was a promising looking animation about a young knight. For less than 3 bucks, I decided to just go for it. And I'm very glad I took that tiny little risk.
Turned out Freddie Highmore did the main character's voice! I had no idea he'd done this film, so I was pleasantly surprised when I popped this in my DVD player and suddenly heard his voice. I then knew the movie would be good.
It was quite a lovely film. Perhaps a bit predictable, but well done and very entertaining. The plot and pacing were good and the animations pretty excellent. And well, there was a little mechanical owl in it… So bonus points for that!
Nephtali is a beautiful video for the Paris Ballet that shows what happened when Glen Keane went to sketch a ballet dancer. It's a short but gorgeous video that's part "making of", part animated story/dance performance. Enjoy!
You can follow Glen Keane's projects on facebook if you'd like to see more of his work.
So I knew about the Boxtrolls movie way before it came out. In fact, the wait was so long(about 2 years), that by the time it finally hit the theaters I was still so stuck in waiting mode that I let it pass me by… But I finally saw it on dvd!
In this day and age, people can achieve the most amazing things with animation technology. However, there are still some crafty folks sticking to good old stop-motion. And honestly that pays off, it's still so much more magical!
And they could have just glued together snippets, but they even made a special trailer for it!
If I can make one complaint about the dvd… I wish it had extras! I would have loved to see some behind the scenes action for this, because that always intrigues me and makes me want to work on such a film myself! Thankfully I did find a very cool article about it on WIRED and there's also a talk at Google that I have yet to check out.
Whenever I find a Studio Ghibli dvd I know I need to jump at the opportunity quickly. (I unfortunately learned this the hard way.) Recently I got lucky and found From Up On Poppy Hill, which I'd been wanting to see for quite some time.
It was adorable. Though not at all magical, which is quite unusual for Studio Ghibli. However, it is unmistakingly Studio Ghibli. The music, the drawing style, the overall atmosphere… even the personalities of the characters.
Anyway, I was so stoked to cross another one of these movies of my list! I still have quite a bunch to go, but I've seen the majority of the feature films now, and though it's getting harder, I won't give up on tracking down the last ones!
Sorry for another hiatus. I was forced to hibernate and take it easy, but I hope to be back blogging now… Anyway, I finally found myself a Kiki's Delivery Service DVD and watched it recently. It was just as lovely as I hoped.
It's quite unexpected that a movie about a teenage witch should be one of the most normal Studio Ghibli films, but somehow it is. It is still very imaginative and enchanting, but not quite as crazy as some of the others.
This might actually be one of my favorites though, and I expected as much from what I had heard about it. It had so many lovely things in it! Including a gorgeous painting! If I could get a huge print of it, I'd hang it above my bed.
As always I recommend the original version, but here's the US trailer:
Anyway, this is an adorable story with lovely characters and I already know I will watch this over and over again!
Have you seen any Studio Ghibli movies recently? I plan to watch all, and I think I'm about halfway there now...
P.S. There's also a non-animated remake of this story, but it seems they ditched Jiji, her cat sidekick, which is quite a shame!
My expectations pretty much ruined this movie for me. It was still a good movie, I was just prepared for something that would blow my mind and instantly knock all my other favorites down a notch in my top 10, which it didn't...
I love the special look of the animations! They were a bit eerie, breathtaking, and exactly my up of tea. However, the story, and even more so, the pacing, left a lot to be desired. It had plenty of amazing moments, but something was off.
Anyway, I'll definitely rewatch this some time. Perhaps the French version is better… And I'm also very much interested in reading the book it was based off. I'm guessing that something might have gotten lost in the movie.
It's been ages since I last saw Lady and the Tramp. I didn't even remember there were Siamese cats in it. But my mom recently forwarded the little clip. She thought I might enjoy it now that I have a Siamese myself. She was right!
You're probably not surprised to hear that I will go and watch any Studio Ghibli movie, when given the chance. So when the latest one hit a cinema near me, I made sure to go see it while it was still playing on the big screen.
It wasn't directed by Miyazaki and definitely has a different feel from all the other movies. Not just story-wise, but it was also very visible in the style of the animation. This one was all watercolor, and visually breathtaking, really.
Like many of the others, the ending makes very little sense. But it was still a wonderful movie. Sad at times, as it shows the unhappiness tradition can cause, but it also had moments of great everyday joy. And beautiful music!
I foolishly thought the world was done with Fifty Shades of Grey, until, of course, the movie popped up. Having dodged most of the hype, I did catch the trailer at the cinema a while back. However, I also happened upon a phenomenal mash-up trailer called Fifty Shades of Frozen. I wonder how Disney feels about it though… Check it out:
Being a huge Studio Ghibli fan I felt very disappointed and slightly embarrassed when I thought I would miss the Wind Rises while it was on the big screen. But thankfully I managed to get myself to a cinema in time to catch it.
It was wonderful. Of course it was. I mean, it's Miyazaki, it is bound to be wonderful. Unfortunately this is also his last film, because he is retiring. He actually wanted to make a sequel to Ponyo, but was persuaded into making this.
It was originally a manga by Miyazaki himself, which was in turn based on a short story by Tatsuo Hori. Anyway, the final product is amazing. Not as magical as most Studio Ghibli films, but still with a hint of magic and lots of dreams.
I always advise people to watch the original version, but I have to admit that the cast for the US version sounds pretty amazing. I can't promise it will be perfect, but if you can't watch the Japanese I'm sure this will be wonderful too!
Have you seen many Studio Ghibli movies? Which one is your favorite? I have seen a lot, but have yet to catch up on a few. I won't rush into finishing them all though, because I love having some left to look forward to as well.
I love Paolo Nutini's music and have been listening to a lot of it. He has a new cd out, but I also still love his older songs. In fact, I currently still prefer them because I know them so well. I didn't know this video yet, though!
Isn't it bright and fun, and cleverly made? I love the real film/claymation mix they used! And though I eventually started thinking that it wasn't really female friendly, that thankfully turned out to be the whole point.
Anyway, no Circle Songs this week, but I didn't want to keep the video from you. Hope you enjoyed it!
There are currently a lot of Studio Ghibli movies in this one theater. I was hoping to see all of them, but I'm sad to say I missed a lot and will probably miss the rest. I did, however, finally manage to see Porco Rosso. It was wonderful!
It's at once the weirdest and most normal Studio Ghibli film. Of course the premise of a pilot being cursed to take the shape of a pig, yes, a flying pig, is already pretty crazy. But when watching you kinda take that for granted.
It's just an entertaining film about male egos, silly bets and one stubborn yet amazing teenage girl that doesn't care what anyone thinks about her and just pursues her goals no matter what. Now how's that for a role model?
Could it really be? Another great movie to add to the already long list of the adorably amazing Tinker Bell films?
Yes! And this time it has pirates, even of the fairy variety. I happen to own all of the previous films on dvd and have seen not all (yet!), but definitely a bunch of them, and I have to say that they keep surprising and entertaining me.
This one was really different from the rest, partly because it didn't take place in Pixie Hollow all that much and partly because, well… pirates! I love how they keep getting ideas to subtly tie the new movies in with the old Peter Pan film.
Anyway, this was a great movie. Was I the only childless person in the cinema? Highly likely. Am I embarrassed? Hell no! The Tinker Bell movies are always original, kinda cute and just a lot of fun to watch, no matter what age.
While browsing online and getting myself a few new dvds on a special sale, I came across an animation film I hadn't heard of before. It arrived just as I was coming down with that flu, so the timing could not have been better!
Nor the movie. It might be mostly for kids, but it is a beautiful and very entertaining film for adults as well. Vanessa Paradis is the leading lady and does a lot of singing as well. The music was written for this film and is very magical.
If possible watch the original version, but here's the English trailer.
The biggest advantage of owning the dvd is yet again being able to watch the extras. I loved seeing how different parts of the film were made. Seeing the voice actors, for instance. Or the dance performance as done by the choreographer, next to the same routine by the animation characters. It was all very interesting!
So if you can get your hands on this gem, definitely do watch it. It is visually stunning, the music is amazing, the atmosphere is very magical and the whole thing is set in Paris. Need I say more?
It is probably impossible to not love Yann Tiersen's music for Amelie, it is just so beautiful and magical. And today I found a wonderful animation to accompany perhaps his most famous song. Enjoy!
