Rewatched: Tonari no Totoro [My Neighbour Totoro] (1988)

My Neighbour Totoro is Hayao Miyazaki’s fourth feature film.

Plot:
Satsuki and Mei move to the countryside with their father after their mother falls sick. Their new house is very close to the forest. One day while playing there, Mei finds Totoro, a huge forest spirit. Together they live through several adventures.

My Neighbour Totoro is such a special movie. I don’t know how else to say it. And this rewatch really pushed it forward on my own personal Miyazaki best of list. It might not be as impressive, visually, as his others movies but it perfectly captures what it is to be a child.

Rewatched: Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta [Laputa: Castle in the Sky] (1986)

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is Hayao Miyazaki’s third feature film.

Plot:
Pazu is an orphan who works in a coal mine. One day, a girl – Sheeta, who escaped from some mysterious men in dark glasses – comes floating down from the sky and into Pazu’s arms. She is protected by a mysterious pendant. But the mysterious men – and some sky pirates – keep on chasing them, since Sheeta and Pazu are both connected to the flying island Laputa.

I have to admit that with Laputa, it was quite the opposite than with Nausicaä: On rewatching, I didn’t like it that much anymore, which as usual, is a completely relative thing and means that it still ranks among my favourite animated movies.

Video Vriday

Because that makes me smile every time.

Arctic Monkeys – Cornerstone

Rewatched: Kaze no tani no Naushika [Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind] (1984)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is Hayao Miyazaki’s second movie and the first to be entirely his own.

Plot:
The world is pretty much entirely swallowed by toxic woods, inhabited by huge insects. Nausicaä lives in the Valley of the Wind, one of the few places left that has not been covered by the poisonous gas. When one day a plane crashes in the valley, Nausicaä gets drawn into a war that will shape what it’s left of the world.

To be honest, upon first watching, Nausicaä was the Miyazaki film I liked the least (except for Porco Rosso) which means that I still liked it a whole lot. But it improved considerably on the second watch. Which means that I really love it now. It’s beautifully made, has a wonderful story and Nausicaä is a great character.

Top 10: Kick-Ass Heroines

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of fiction that had men as the main protagonists. And while a good hero can be an awesome thing, I miss my heroines. Therefore I thought I’d do a list of my favourite heroines in books, movies and on TV.

Kick-Ass, in this case, does not necessarily mean actually physically kicking ass – it’s more a combination of knowing what you want and pursuing it, staying true to yourself and being active in your decisions.

And now I’m gonna start to read the new Psy-Changeling book, hopefully as full with strong women as the ones before it.

Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro [Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro] (1979)

[In September, there was a Miyazaki festival in Vienna. This is the first movie I'm going to review from that festival. They had planned to show Ponyo as the highlight at the end but becaue of some contractual problems, they didn't, unfortunately.]

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro is Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film.

Plot:
Lupin is a master thief. When he hears of a batch of excellently forged money, he travels to Cagliostro where he gets more than he bargained for: Not only does he have to save a girl, but also has to solve a riddle that goes back five hundred years.

Lupin III is not at all like Miyazaki’s later films. It’s quite clear that it’s not based on his original material and it’s still stuck way more in the general Anime conventions than his later work. Still it’s funny and entertaining.

Links

Art

Face Painting Art.

Books

Publisher Weekly’s Books of the Year list does not include one single female author.

12 writers share their writing methods.

Cory Doctorow on Sex in Young Adult Fiction.

Premium Harmony – Short Story by Stephen King.

Movies

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to host the Oscars. Speaking of which: It’s Complicated. I don’t now, Meryl Streep, I don’t know…

The Lovely Bones trailer.

I have to admit, I’m intrigued. I don’t know when that last happened with a trailer for a spy movie (though of course there’s the old Evil Russians thing which was seriously unnecessary to warm up again):

Movies They Never Made.

Mathematicians find the formula for a hit film sequel.

Music

Politics

Principles! Shiny! [Did I ever mention that I really like Gwen Stefani?]

Gay couple banned from Wal-Mart for not shoplifting.

VENEZUELA: Homophobia Stalks the Streets – in Uniform.

Science

Best illustration of a science article EVER!

Completely Different Things

What the world has been waiting for: Edward Cullen Panties! [And do follow the Regretsy link in that post if you want to be traumatised for life. In fact, only follow the Edward Cullen Panties link in general if you want to be traumatised for life.]

Real Life Mandrakes, HP-style.

Howl’s Moving Castle Made From Lego

Steak House or Gay Bar?

Succeed Blog. (I really liked this one.)

It’s only real while we say it is.

[taken from here]

Family in Berlin

In September, I went to Berlin. My aunt works there at a private university that had its inauguration and my sister lives there with her family. I’ve been to Berlin once before and took the time to see all the big sights then, this time around was mostly family, but I managed to cram in a museum or two.

[Unfortunately I hardly took any pictures on this trip, so this post might seem a little dry.]

Los abrazos rotos [Broken Embraces] (2009)

Los abrazos rotos [Broken Embraces] is the newest work of Pedro Almodóvar starring Penélope Cruz and Lluís Homar.

Plot:
Harry Caine (Lluís Homar) is a screenplay writer who has gone blind a while ago after an accident. He manages his life with the help of his best friend and agent Judit (Blanca Portillo) and her son Diego (Tamar Novas). When he gets a visit “from the past”, he starts to tell Diego about the passionate affair he had with the actress Lena (Penélope Cruz) a while ago.

If this movie wasn’t a Almodóvar, I’d say it’s very good. But as it is, the standards I hold it to are much higher and the movie loses. It’s still very watchable and quite entertaining, but the “special ingredient” is missing that takes it from being good to being excellent. The plot is a little too predictable, Harry a little too unlikable, Lena a little too mysterious… it kind of adds up and leaves you wondering what happened to Almodóvar.

[SPOILERS]

Seasons Meme – Meme Monday

L. posted this a while back but I never got around to writing it…

Tell us what you like/dislike about the four seasons.

Spring

Like: the smell, the way the ground is really wet and soft, the first flowers, that the days are getting longer, my birthday
Dislike: late snow and frost, usually it’s the busiest time and you don’t really get to enjoy what’s happening outside

Summer

Like: the sun, hanging out in my parents’ garden, eating breakfast outside, generally eating outside, runnning around half-naked, warm summer rains and huge thunder storms
Dislike: when it’s too hot, stuffy hot rooms that keep you from sleeping, sweating, having to be overdressed for work, mosquitos

Fall

Like: the colours, when it starts to get really cold and the air has that special crisp smell to it, chestnuts, finally being able to light my candles again and not feel stupid (candles in summer are weird), foggy mornings
Dislike: snowy rain and drizzle, another busy time so you don’t really get to appreciate what’s happening outside

Winter

Like: the special light in the morning when you have to leave the house but it’s still dark, snow in the countryside (not when I’m in the city, then it’s only a nuissance), Christmas
Dislike: the days are much too short, Christmas is never white and my winter depression usually kicks in the latest in January