Ponyo (2009)

This film from Studio Ghibli really delivers. Ponyo is a simple story of the friendship between a boy called Sosuke and a fish called Ponyo. Its told extremely well and despite the long running time and English subtitles the children in the audience remained spell bound to the end. Which is impressive considering a large number of them would have been too young to read the subtitles. Its just a really delightful film that captures the essence of childhood. Its full of wonder, magic and real life. Its told in a traditional Japanese style which is just so refreshing from the usual disney kids films with the overpowering music and constant visual bombardment that often detracts from the story. I would really recommend seeing it in the original Japanese with the subtitles despite all the big names they got to the voices. I haven’t seen the English version but doubt it would be a patch on the Japanese one. Its genuinely enjoyable for adults and children alike and it doesn’t need to resort to tacky jokes and innuendo to keep adults engaged. This film is just delightful, its fun, heartwarming and refreshing.

Avalon

A very clever piece by a very ambitious director.

Mamoiru Oshii (Director of ‘Ghost in The Shell’) loved watching Polish thrillers so much he decided to do this film in Poland.  So with a crew of 10, he flew to Poland to make his film with Polish actors speaking in fluent Polish – a language he doesn’t speak!

The CG effects are first class Japanese pedigree and I loved the style.  The ‘real’ scenes in Poland use the dark, gloomy areas of the city to enhance the heaviness and loneliness of the characters and the world they inhabit.  The games that have influenced Oshii are worn on his sleeve, and are easily recognized by gamers – we had two in our group who pointed them out like excited teens at a rock concert.

The plot:  People log onto a virtual reality style game and complete missions to earn money as individuals or in teams.  Ash (Malgorzata Foremniak) is brilliant as the female protagonist, using the game to make a living, leaving other players watch her missions in awe and nerd admiration.  She is excellent as the main character cutting out an existence in a bleak world.  The other standout in this film was…
the dog! It was by far the most soulful dog actor I’ve ever seen giving the dog in ‘The Mexican’ a run for its money, proving that its all in the eyes.

It’s a typical Japanese story giving 90% and leaving it to you to make up the rest, the ending is open and never fully explained.  In our group of four movie buffs, we had three different theories.  I liked the film but I wanted more of an ending.  Even if the ending or deeper meaning was explained by the director in the extras rather then in the film itself, sadly watching Oshii speaking about it doesn’t shed more light.

Even cooler is the weapons and tanks used were real!!!  What other country could you wander in to their military base and say, “Hey man can we borrow a tank for a couple hours and hey that gun you’re holding can we use that too?” and get a YES as a reply!

Odd fact:  Oshii grew so attached to the dog that when its owners picked it up after its 3 days of filming, he was very sad.  I think he has the potential to be a person who leaves everything to a dog shelter in his will.

Ritana – Returner

A girl travels through time to the past to prevent an alien invasion that will devastate the planet destroying its future.  Sounds clichéd but the freshness of the cast, great plot and script as well as the top notch CG stop this being a run of the mill Sci Fi.  Returner is clever, funny, believable and full of action packed explosions and great fight sequences.

The composition is beautifully done as is the cinematography.  Milly played by Anne Suzuki is the Japanese style ‘cute’ girl who journeys from the future.  Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is a mercenary with the right balance of selfishness and selflessness to make him interesting.  One of my favourite characters in this is Xie played by Kirin Kiki, she’s fantastic to watch and I couldn’t stop laughing at her.

Well worth it!

Cutey Honey

She’s a sushi eating superhero!  Honey Kisiragi is armed with a love heart choker which transforms her into superhero Cutey Honey.  She can transform into a range of disguises.  The character likes pink, all things cute, eating sushi and is played by Japans number one swimsuit model Eriko Sato.  It’s cheesy, garish, outrageous, but surprisingly enjoyable.  Based on an animation series from the 70’s.  It’s a good laugh.