By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Cate Blanchett | Frankie Jonas | Kurt Knutsson | Matt Damon | Noah Lindsey Cyrus | Tina Fey
Original language title: Gake no ue no Ponyo
Country: japan
Year: 2009
Running time: 101
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0876563/
Thom says: “First off I’m not at all a fan of animation but I’ve long thought Miyazaki was by far the best of the lot. His SPIRITED AWAY, PRINCESS MONONOKE, HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE, & CASTLE IN THE SKY were all first-rate & the first of those mentioned I gave a strong 5 CATS to. But all those films had a spellbinding story line that was not so childlike. Other films of his that I admired visually including KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, Nausicaä, & PORCO ROSSO failed to overwhelm me because they were made with the kiddies in mind. This story about a little girl “fish” who wants to become human has no real oomph & is often very silly. In one scene Sosuke & his fun mom are racing back through hurricane-like weather conditions to try to reach their house perched at the top of a large cliff. But they seem to have no reason to return home; and then, the mom turns right around to get back where she had come from. All sorts of anomalies crop up so I finally felt I was being preached to, albeit with beautiful images & animation that stands tall. If you’ve never had a Miyazaki experience there are simply other movies to see first. 3 cats ”
Toni says: “I liked PONYO more than other folks so for in Chlotrudis…I loved the hand drawn visuals and the honesty in the characters and actually the English dubbing is actually good on this one (as good as the Japanese) – I like the part with the stories of the eleders.
“My favorite Studio Ghibli films are:
GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (different director/writer (Isao Takahata) and perhaps the saddest animated film that I have ever seen)
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (I own 3 stuffed totoros :-)).
POMPOKO (also different director/writer (Isao Takahata) and the one with the racoons – same director as GOTF).
PRINCESS MONONOKE
HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE
“Isao Takahata apparently is working on a new movie called THE TALE OF THE BAMBOO BUTTER that I am psyched to see 3 years from now when it is available in the US :-)…
“I give Ponyo at 4 1/2 Totoros :-)…I think it still a great film.
KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE is my least favorite of these.
THE CAT’S RETURN, KIKI (least favorite), CASTLE OF CASTIGLIO, PORCO ROSSO, NAUSICAA, ONLY YESTERDAY(I think) and LAPUTA are all good.
“I have seen all of films that are available like WHISPER OF THE HEART and an amazing music video they did called ‘On Your Mark’…also there is a very cute 1978 TV series that I also bought for my sister’s inner city preschool called ‘Panda Go Panda’ they made in the day in 1978 as well…
My 2 Totoro cents :-)…”