Wow, what a bunch of heart breaks and blow outs this first round, huh? Hayao’s Spirited Away steamrolls over his son Goro’s first feature Tales From Eathsea. Princess Mononoke beat out the equally matched and favored Nausicaa. Pom Poko was no match for Ghibli poster boy Totoro and my dear lord did Porco Rosso get smoked like a pound of bacon by Castle in the Sky. Even my favorite Howl’s Moving Castle was knocked out by Grave of the Fireflies (you can see the rest of the results in the image below). But that’s how it goes…two men enter, one man leave right? So here I present the updated official “Miyazaki…
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Japanese Cinema Blogathon – Off the Shelf…’Tales From Earthsea’
Tales From Earthsea is not the work of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki or even Isao Takahata. This animated feature comes from Goro Miyazaki; Hayao’s son. Admittedly it’s so very hard to think about Goro’s work (who is not, I repeat not a professional animator) and not compare him to his father. Further, expecting a Princess Mononoke level of film right out of the gates is not only a lofty expectation, but an impossible one. It’s like trying to compare “Juno” to “Ghostbusters”; just because Jason Reitman is Ivan Reitman’s son doesn’t mean he’ll top his father’s peak films with his first effort. But even though Goro didn’t grow up in…
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Our Hearts Go Out to All of Japan…
Hello World, Marc Here: I wanted to take time away from entertainment news and focus on the earthquake/tsunami tragedy going on in Japan right now. As you know, my good friend Rob (one of our “3 guys“) lives in Japan with his wife. The country was hit by the earthquake this morning and it affected where they live thankfully they’re OK. But a lot of people weren’t that lucky as the magnitude 8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0. I was relieved to get in touch with Rob this morning and…
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Ohhh, Look…Another New 'Kung Fu Panda 2' Character
Last month we posted 6 of the new characters in Dreamworks’ upcoming sequel to Kung Fu Panda. Well today we have one new addition to the line up…one, well I guess you can’t really call henchmen one new character, but you get the idea. Also, we have some much nicer looking shots of the other characters below. Have a look and enjoy… The Gorillas are the muscle in Lord Shen’s army. From the looks of him I wonder if this guy walks down the street singing, “I ain’t happy, I’m feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag, I’m useless but not for long. The future is coming on…“. Sorry, I couldn’t…
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Sweet Trailer (& New Screenshots!!)…'Cars 2'
Well, I know we’ve posted a few trailers of Cars 2 this year but man, each one is just so enjoyable to watch. It’s hard not to consume as much of this content as we do (as I’d like to leave some surprises for the theater) but I can’t help myself…it’s all so awesome looking. For those of you who still can’t get enough teases of McQueen and Mater’s upcoming international adventure, have a look… I’m guessing everyone already knows the plot so how about we jump to these ultra slick looking photos?? (click each one to see the gorgeous ultra hi rez version)
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Ohhh, Look…Toy Story Short "Hawaiian Vacation" Clip
Last year Toy Story 3 was a huge hit. And by huge I mean it was a billion dollar hit (that’s billions with a B!). Riding high on their success, Buzz, Woody and the Toy Box gang are going to be featured in the next Pixar short which precedes the upcoming Cars 2. In a way it’s fitting that are gong to help usher in the only other Pixar franchise that’s gotten a sequel. But it also seems funny that after taking home the Oscar last month for Best Animated film, our beloved characters are playing second fiddle as the opening band for Lightning McQueen, Mater and the bunch. Anyway…
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"Miyazaki Madness" Starts TODAY!! First Round – The Sweet 16 [POLLS CLOSED]
These are the match-ups for the first round Sweet 16 Bracket in the “Miyazaki Madness“. Voting will stay open for 1 week. Cast your votes and don’t forget to comment at the bottom… Click the image above for a hi-rez version of the bracket and start voting after the jump…
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"Miyazaki Madness" Selection/Ranking Sunday
OK friends, we are just one day away from the big show. I’ve evaluated all the films, taken reader emails into consideration and now have the rankings for “Miyazaki Madness“. Below is the bracket for the start of the tournament. Tomorrow we start voting and I can’t wait to see the results! Have a look at the match-ups and click the image below for a hi-rez version of the brackets. For those of you who are already on board with this, I have one word that might get you to up your participation a notch: Prizes! That’s right, I’m offering a little something for those willing to follow this through…
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G-S-T Review…Rango
After the success of the previous Pirates installments, Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp bring us another spectacular flick, this time in another equally believed dead genre. Rango is a gruff but gorgeous adventure replete with all the grandeur of the earlier Depp/Verbinski collaborations and delivers the fun we’ve come to expect from the pair. This time though their efforts yeild an epic tale that takes us on a great ride via a different medium. Enticing, creative and off the wall, this very funny tale gives a fresh yet vintage spin on the old and gritty spagetti westerns.
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"Miyazaki Madness" 101…The Films of Studio Ghibli
With “Miyazai Madness” just days away I thought it appropriate to put together a little Studio Ghibli “cheat sheet” for all the films in the tournament. Below you’ll find the synopsis of each film so if you haven’t seen it, at least you’ll know the back story while the voting is going on. Hopefully it will give those of you new to Miyazaki, Takahata and Studio Ghibli a few suggestions of which you might want to check out. And since each poll will be open for a full week, there’s just enough time to watch any you haven’t seen and then cast your vote. The 16 films below are magical and loved the…