In Hayao Miyazaki‘s 1984 epic Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind we find our titular heroine on a quest to save what’s left of a post-apocalyptic world from being destroyed as it was hundreds of years earlier. A true product of the 80’s (see: The Dark Crystal, Dune, Conan, etc) Nausicaä carves a nice place in the fantasy genre, but more importantly it is a bit of an anomaly in the Ghibli resume. Not only will you find giant monsters, bizarre plants and animals, prophecies and a host of fantastic elements but even Nausicaä herself is the type of character seldom seen in Ghibli films. You could argue that Nausicaä…
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"Miyazaki Madness" Third Round – The Final Four! [POLLS CLOSED]
Well friends, the second round of “Miyazaki Madness” has closed and we now have only 4 challengers left. In the Elite 8 round we had to say goodbye to fan favorite Princess Mononoke, the short but sweet The Cat Returns, the criminally overlooked Whisper of the Heart and one of my newfound favorites Castle in the Sky. Tis a sad day but you can’t have a tournament without breaking some eggs, err hearts, right? So with that we enter the semi-final round of the the tournament. That leaves us with the Final Four slugging it out in search of the title of Greatest Miyazaki/Takahata/Studio Ghibli film. Can’t say as I could have forseen this…
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Japanese Cinema Blogathon – Off the Shelf…'Howl's Moving Castle'
Following on the heels of the Oscar Winning Spirited Away, comes another breathtaking adventure from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki’s films are known for placing a female protagonist in a very out-of-her-element situation. Moreover it’s a story of a strong willed woman/girl finding their inner strength and what it takes to believe in herself. Howl’s Moving Castle doesn’t exactly fit within that template but this similar story is more about said protagonist, Sophie, inspiring those around her with her positive attitude and determination. That’s another common storyline in Ghibli films. Castle tells the story of Sophie, a plain as they come young woman finding contentment in a world filled…
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"Miyazaki Madness" Second Round – The Elite 8 [POLLS CLOSED]
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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"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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"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…
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Go,See,Talk Presents "Miyazaki Madness": March 7th – April 4th
Hey Everyone, this month we’ve got something special planned for all you fans of Studio Ghibli. As we announced last February, the entire month of March will be devoted to an event we’re calling “Miyazaki Madness“. Similar to the NCAA Tournament which inspired it, this month will focus on the films of iconic animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli, most known for legendary artists/storytellers Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (both before and during their Ghibli years plus 1 from Hayao’s son Goro, 1 from Hiroyuki Morita and 1 from Yoshifumi Kondou). It’s Animation Domination here and we’re hoping to give the NCAA a run for their money this March…
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"Miyazaki Madness" Coming in March!!
Calling all you Miyazaki fans out there! Last year, Castor and Red at Anomalous Material spearheaded the amazingly successful Greatest Comedy of All Time Tournament. Inspired by its awesomeness, G-S-T is going to try our hand at something similar. Like Disney and Pixar, Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films have thrilled audiences of all ages the world over. As I’ve always loved and been fascinated by the works of Studio Ghibli (more specifically Hayao Miyazaki), Go,See,Talk will be hosting something we call “Miyazaki Madness“. It’s a month long tournament celebrating the magical and timeless films from that iconic animation powerhouse. Throughout February I’ll be re-watching Miyazaki’s classics to appropriately rank them prior to the upcoming event. The roster will include his…
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While You Were Out…12/13 – 12/17
So here we are with another pretty interesting week…In case you missed it (as I did again working pretty hard and also trying to stay on schedule with my 12 Days of Kurosawa) here’s what happened this week:
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New “Studio Ghibli” feature on the horizon…
Well if you call Summer 2010 “on the horizon“, but I bet that’s the timing of Japanese release – It’ll probably take at least another 6 months beyond that to make it stateside. Anyway the fact that something from Studio Ghibli is coming out with anything has already brought my day from good to grrrEEAAAT!! Hayao Miyazaki and his legendary Studio Ghibli have recently announced the name of their upcoming film. From Twitch film, we get the following except: Studio Ghibli made the official announcement of their new full length feature film titled Karigurashi no Arrietty (The Borrower Arrietty). The film will be an adaptation of Mary Norton’s Carnegie Medal…