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[Flynn]

Post your impressions, reviews, rants, line pics, cosplay or whatever you feel like here.

Howl's Moving Castle bows in the states this Friday, June 9. It expands on the 17th and then gradually to a predicted 700 theaters.

I'm expecially interested to hear what city gets the movie when, how good the theaters are and who gets the subtitle option.

LA fans can check out a special screening tomorrow -- an co-presentation of The American Cinematheque and The El Capitan.

Here's a link to Nausicca.net's news page the ultimate resource for the movie.

Rotten Watch: No surprises here. The critics, for the most part, like it.

 

[MmmBeef]

I caught a free sneak Monday night. Typical Miyazaki film:

1. It was beautiful.
2. It was long.
3. It had a disjointed story where some parts went on too long while others were way too abrupt.
4. Regardless of the previous two points, you come away happy to have seen it.

 

[Flynn]

SHOCK!

Roger Ebert Pans Howl's Moving Castle.

This coming from a guy with a long record of supporting his work.

My only explanation for this is that he's holding him to a very, very high standard.

 

[Dan]

If this were shown with subtitles I'd go see it. Otherwise, I have to refuse on principle.

 

[Flynn]

If this were shown with subtitles I'd go see it. Otherwise, I have to refuse on principle.

Honestly, I'm the same way. But they did such a damn good job on Spirit Away, that I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I saw both versions in the theater and was equally pleased.

 

[Gribbix]

I was thinking of going tomorrow to see it at the El Capitan but with all the hassle and cost of parking, I decided to wait another week or two for a wider release at some other theaters I'd prefer to see it at.

If this were shown with subtitles I'd go see it. Otherwise, I have to refuse on principle.

There's a very select few theaters (in Boston and Seattle I think) showing the subtitled version.

 

[Flynn]

I was thinking of going tomorrow to see it at the El Capitan but with all the hassle and cost of parking, I decided to wait another week or two for a wider release at some other theaters I'd prefer to see it at.

The digital presentation at the El Capitan is very, very nice.

 

[Asbel]

it's a disappointment, compared to his recent work

I made that mistake with Spirited Away.

Sounds like the plot is confusing. I'll watch it with some kids and see what they think.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

Caught a showing this afternoon in San Francisco with some friends.

Well, here's the thing about it. Miyazaki films are always good. There's no question that, when you enter into a Miyazaki film, if you're going to be entertained. Rather, the final question is how much you enjoyed it compared to his previous works. As it stands, Howl's Moving Castle isn't really his best, but it's still a great piece of work.

The animation's incredible (especially the castle - wow!), there's a great amount of comedy that really clicks in the American dub, but the music was mostly forgettable (sounded too much like Spirited Away to me) and the story was mostly throw away. Thankfully, the actual characters are so charming and likeable that you forget the fact that the story isn't really working or explaining itself.

Spoiler

The story is actually pretty disappointing. The main character runs away for no real reason, her family doesn't seem to care she left (and the family's confusingly reintroduced later?), the whole reason for the war isn't really explained unless you're paying good attention, and the ending falls flat on its face.

It's like Miyazaki realized the film was running long and he needed to wrap things up, so the whole plot dies in the span of a minute without any real worthwhile pay off. How are you supposed to know why the main character's curse is lifted? Yeah, with a little deciphering you can figure it out, but man, it's not even a subtle kind of confusing, it's just stupid confusing.

 

[DrForester]

I thought the dub was pretty good, as have been other Ghibli dubs handled by Disney. Only one I didn't really like was Christian Bale as Howl. It was like someone from star wars, no emotion, only volume control.

As for the story, It flowed well enough for me, up until the ending which just came way to suddenly.

 

[Odnetnin]

liked it a lot - had some problems with the abrupt ending but getting to the end was good fun. I love the universe they presented in this movie - magic + military

 

[Patrick Klepek]

Spoiler

I'd totally forgotten about the prince up until he showed up again at the end. While I respect Miyazaki for making me lose myself in his world of magic, it was an all-too-abrupt return to the "plot" when the prince hadn't been mentioned THE WHOLE FREAKING MOVIE except for the beginning

 

[Gart]

I watched it tonight with a buddy. Yeah, I'd have to say it's one of his weaker films. But still a fun watch though.

 

[border]

Does anybody know what theaters it will be expanding to next week? Right now it's not even showing in Florida, despite the fact that it has some pretty big markets (Tampa, Orlando, Miami).

 

[Flynn]

Does anybody know what theaters it will be expanding to next week? Right now it's not even showing in Florida, despite the fact that it has some pretty big markets (Tampa, Orlando, Miami).

I feel your pain. I lived in Florida for a while. I remember having to drive all the way down to Miami to see Reservoir Dogs.

 

[distantmantra]

I saw a subtitled print of the film in Seattle on Friday night, and while I really ejoyed it, I felt like I had seen it before. However, I now have a desire to read the book, I'm curious how much Miyazaki added in.

 

[Ponn]

To those that have seen it what would you compare it too? I liked most of the others but actually fell asleep both times I tried to watch Spirited Away.

 

[distantmantra]

To those that have seen it what would you compare it too? I liked most of the others but actually fell asleep both times I tried to watch Spirited Away.

The airships and the whole war plot reminded me of Nausicaa, but overall I'm not sure what it is most like, seeing how this is someone else's soucre material.

 

[KingGondo]

I actually fell asleep both times I tried to watch Spirited Away.

Get away from me... get far, far, away...

*ignores*


Anyway,

I might get to see HMC in Boston next week--subtitles here I come!

 

[ronito]

I'm thinking about taking my daughter to see this with me. Is there anything that would be scary to a 5 year old girl? In spirited away she was freaked out by when no face went on his rampage, and generally doesn't like skeletons. What do you guys think?

 

[advancegrant]

I saw Howl's this past weekend and I have read the book. The movie stays pretty close - there are some events out of order and some needed tuning to turn it into an effective movie, but its close.

I loved the movie, I think it blended a lot of elements from his past movies and came across excellent. My girlfriend LOVED it.

 

[Senretsu]

Do you think someone would like this movie if they have never seen any miyazaki films and doesn't like anime? I'm trying to convince my friend to go with me but once she found out it was anime she lost all interest. It's playing at a theater just down the street from me.

 

[distantmantra]

Do you think someone would like this movie if they have never seen any miyazaki films and doesn't like anime? I'm trying to convince my friend to go with me but once she found out it was anime she lost all interest. It's playing at a theater just down the street from me.

I actually took my girlfriend to see this. We've been together 1 1/2 years and the only anime she has ever watched with me are Grave of the Fireflies and Tokyo Godfathers. No big deal, I keep my anime interests low key and realize it's not for everyone.

Suffice to say, she was laughing a lot during Howl's and seemed to enjoy it.

 

[Madrin]

I saw it on Saturday. I enjoyed it. My only gripes are that

Spoiler

Sophie's love for Howl came out of no where, and I don't understand the point of the war.

Question:

Spoiler

why did Sophie keep changing between her young self and old self

?

 

[advancegrant]

Do you think someone would like this movie if they have never seen any miyazaki films and doesn't like anime? I'm trying to convince my friend to go with me but once she found out it was anime she lost all interest. It's playing at a theater just down the street from me.

Yes - My girlfriend went to it with me - she loved in - there were a lot of funny moments - she now wants to see the rest of his movies!

 

[Senretsu]

Thanks for the comments distantmantra and advancegrant, I think i'll force her to go then . I really want to see this because I liked his other works but i've been having trouble getting someone to come along.

 

[tt_deeb]

I'm probably going to check it out if it's playing at any theaters by me. It can't be that bad.

 

[Asbel]

New Miyazaki interview (perhaps not the whole interview). Basically says Howl can be confusing due to people's expectations and other insights.

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/newsweek.html

 

[distantmantra]

I saw it on Saturday. I enjoyed it. My only gripes are that

Spoiler

Sophie's love for Howl came out of no where, and I don't understand the point of the war.

Question:

Spoiler

why did Sophie keep changing between her young self and old self

?

This might answer your question. Taken from the above interview with Miyazaki.

Spoiler

MIYAZAKI - I made this film so that I could show it to a young girl of 60. [Laughs] What's wonderful about the story is that the happy ending isn't that the spell is broken and the girl is young again. It's that she forgets her age.

 

[Smidget]

Does anybody know what theaters it will be expanding to next week? Right now it's not even showing in Florida, despite the fact that it has some pretty big markets (Tampa, Orlando, Miami).

I think it'll be at Winter Park Regal movie theaters soonero r later because I saw in the Orlando Sentinel Calendar section Sneak-preview tickets information for that theater, so probably by Friday, or next friday.

 

[distantmantra]

I'm probably going to check it out if it's playing at any theaters by me. It can't be that bad.

The movie isn't terrible, there are just sections of the film that seem a little too familiar for those of us who are well rehearsed in Miyazaki.

 

[ronito]

I'm thinking about taking my daughter to see this with me. Is there anything that would be scary to a 5 year old girl? In spirited away she was freaked out by when no face went on his rampage, and generally doesn't like skeletons. What do you guys think?

Sorry to bug, but can anyone speak to this? I'd really like to take her, but don't want her to be scared.

 

[distantmantra]

Sorry to bug, but can anyone speak to this? I'd really like to take her, but don't want her to be scared.

The Blobmen might frighten her, but this more whimsical in terms of the fantasy element than Spirited Away. I think she would be just fine.

 

[FortNinety]

Yeah, as a big time Miyazaki fan, I was rather appalled by how sloppy the story and characters were. Everything was simply awesome till the 50% mark, then things went totally screwing. But at first I was fine with that. But near the end, I just couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on, or why characters were doing what they were doing.

The bottom line is if you have a story driven by folks who are afflicted by, in this case, a curse, which drives their motives and actions, and in a very specific manner, but then it all gets dropped... that's just foolish.

 

[number386]

I saw it in the lincoln square theatre, in NY. I thought the story was somewhat convoluted and the overall sense of symmetry suffered. It was definelty one of his lesser works, that said it still better than 90% of the stuff out their. Hopefully he doen't "retire" again and his next project will be from his own source material.

 

[explodet]

To those not satisfied with the story, don't forget that this is an adaptation of a book written by Diana Wynn Jones... the book itself is like a post-modern fairy tale messing with the convention of children's stories.

As someone who has read (and analyzed) the book and hasn't seen the movie yet, I'm not completely surprised that some of you feel the story was unsatisfying - I felt the same way at the second half.

 

[heavy liquid]

I'm really looking forward to finally seeing this tomorrow. For those interested, there was a great article on Howl's Moving Castle and Miyazaki in general on the front page of the New York Times A&E section on Sunday:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/movies/12scot.html

Sorry, Disney and Pixar. The master animator Hayao Miyazaki flattens all competition.

 

[FortNinety]

I saw it in the lincoln square theatre, in NY. I thought the story was somewhat convoluted and the overall sense of symmetry suffered. It was definelty one of his lesser works, that said it still better than 90% of the stuff out their. Hopefully he doen't "retire" again and his next project will be from his own source material.

Which showing? I was in the 7:40 one.

 

[number386]

Which showing? I was in the 7:40 one.

Yep 7:40, I went tuesday.

 

[golem]

saw it subtitled at the el capitan.. pretty much agree with the sentiment.. great animation, cool characters, but story is meh

 

[tt_deeb]

I just got back from seeing it and I have to say I REALLY enjoyed it. I haven't seen too many Miyazaki film's but I could definately see some parts resembling his others (although I see this in almost everyone of his movies).

Yeah, as a big time Miyazaki fan, I was rather appalled by how sloppy the story and characters were. Everything was simply awesome till the 50% mark, then things went totally screwing. But at first I was fine with that. But near the end, I just couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on, or why characters were doing what they were doing.

I agree, halfway in I got a bit confused but I didn't care at all and towards the end I think I "got" most of it. It wasn't too screwy. Out of all the Miyazaki film's I've seen I would rank them:

Kiki's Delivery Service
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Grave of the Fireflies
Princess Mononoke

Call me crazy, I love them all though.

 

[Mejilan]

I thought Grave of the Fireflies wasn't a Miyazaki flick?

I hope to catch Howl's this week.

 

[heavy liquid]

I thought Grave of the Fireflies wasn't a Miyazaki flick?

It isn't, although it is a Studio Ghibli film (Miyazaki's studio). It was directed by Isao Takahata.

I finally saw the film this afternoon and thought it was great. However, I do agree with many of the complaints (story issues and feeling rushed at the end). While it may not have reached the greatness of Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, I still enjoyed the hell out of it.

 

[theo]

I saw this today at the Nickelodeon in Portland, ME.

Honestly, after seeing Spirited Away, I was quite disappointed. It lacked direction, and although some of the characters were endearing (really enjoyed Billy Crystal's Calcifer), most of the characters were rather bland and forgettable. And the plot was sort of confusing. I understand the whole war scenario, but I still don't understand how some spells got broken!

 

[aceface]

Have to agree with the consensus here- not Miyazaki's best, but definately worth seeing, if only for the animation alone. I too came away confused concerning some characters and their motivations, and really what the heck was going on in the second half of the movie.

Spoiler

So it's pretty obvious that Howl lost his heart and ultimately got it back, happy ending there, etc. But I don't get what the deal was with that one woman sorcerer- Suliman her name was, the one working for the King. It seemed like what was driving the last 45 minutes or so of the movie was her attempts to hunt down Howl, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she wanted to hunt him down, what her grudge was against him, etc. It's like, she derailed the whole war effort just to get Howl.

Also, the prince. Was the war fought over him? Was his disappearance and the subsequent war engineered by Suliman? To get rid of the wizards or something? Cause when the prince appeared at the end she seemed to be like "ah, the jig is up, time to end the war." And the prince's appearance was a total deus ex machina. It's like, "Oh hey, I'm the prince! Happy ending!

Of course by asking all of those questions I am totally missing the point, which is to sit back and enjoy the fairytale. A little more plot coherence would have been nice, but it dosen't break the movie, which is more about atmosphere and emotion then it is about what is actually going on I think. Whoever said post-modern fairy tale, yeah, I can see that.

 

[Asbel]

Alright, just saw it and LOVED it! Bah, you guys are nit-picking. Some are saying it's too similar to his previous movies and others are bashing it cuz the storytelling is too different from what they're used too. Ok, the story has abrupt changes

Spoiler

with the war interrupting the 'main' story and everyone's normal lives every now and then until it became the focus of the movie itself. I think that's the influence the Iraq War had on the movie that Miyazaki mentioned. People are carrying on with their normal lives as fallout from this distant war comes barging in on their lives, unexpected, unwanted and messes with their everyday routine (and the story's pacing intentionally). Then when the war hits home, it is the story and it is your life.

Spoiler

The story is actually pretty disappointing. The main character runs away for no real reason, her family doesn't seem to care she left (and the family's confusingly reintroduced later?), the whole reason for the war isn't really explained unless you're paying good attention, and the ending falls flat on its face.

Spoiler

he's immature, her mom's shallow, war is pointless that's the point, ending did come fast

Spoiler

It's like Miyazaki realized the film was running long and he needed to wrap things up, so the whole plot dies in the span of a minute without any real worthwhile pay off. How are you supposed to know why the main character's curse is lifted? Yeah, with a little deciphering you can figure it out, but man, it's not even a subtle kind of confusing, it's just stupid confusing.

Spoiler

It's magic. Why get hung up on reasoning with magic? I always put it aside as something I can understand later if it's not obvious.

Yeah, as a big time Miyazaki fan, I was rather appalled by how sloppy the story and characters were. Everything was simply awesome till the 50% mark, then things went totally screwing. But at first I was fine with that. But near the end, I just couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on, or why characters were doing what they were doing.

The bottom line is if you have a story driven by folks who are afflicted by, in this case, a curse, which drives their motives and actions, and in a very specific manner, but then it all gets dropped... that's just foolish.

As a fan, I hope you're going to watch it again to see what you missed. One of the themes of the movie is that it doesn't matter that they were cursed. They learned to put it aside for more important matters. There is a line in Mononoke, something like, 'So you're cursed, so is the rest of the damn world.'

Spoiler

So it's pretty obvious that Howl lost his heart and ultimately got it back, happy ending there, etc. But I don't get what the deal was with that one woman sorcerer- Suliman her name was, the one working for the King. It seemed like what was driving the last 45 minutes or so of the movie was her attempts to hunt down Howl, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she wanted to hunt him down, what her grudge was against him, etc. It's like, she derailed the whole war effort just to get Howl.

Spoiler

I didn't catch all the details of this either but it seems that she wants Howl to fulfill his full potential. The other part of it is that he was getting in the way of the war, which came to the town on it's own.

Spoiler

Also, the prince. Was the war fought over him? Was his disappearance and the subsequent war engineered by Suliman? To get rid of the wizards or something? Cause when the prince appeared at the end she seemed to be like "ah, the jig is up, time to end the war." And the prince's appearance was a total deus ex machina. It's like, "Oh hey, I'm the prince! Happy ending!

Spoiler

It wouldn't suprise me for the reason for the war to be so stupid. Miyazaki hates wars. To him, they're all stupid. He made the king kinda stupid too, heh.

Of course by asking all of those questions I am totally missing the point, which is to sit back and enjoy the fairytale. A little more plot coherence would have been nice, but it dosen't break the movie, which is more about atmosphere and emotion then it is about what is actually going on I think. Whoever said post-modern fairy tale, yeah, I can see that.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it cause I didn't let those types of questions bother me. I just don't think those questions were important enough to kill the movie. The two real problems for the viewer is that the story jumps around and the ending comes quick.

I still don't understand how some spells got broken!

Spoiler

About Howl's curse, there was the main one and two symptoms: Howl missing his heart, which was Calcifer; Howl running away, which was cured when he found Sophie to protect; and Howl turning into a monster, which was due to the war (I figured this was a literal allusion to war making men into monsters). I don't recall if Sophie's curse was broken at the end but it's not important by then.

Call me crazy, I love them all though.

Ditto.

 

[jett]

I've yet to "get" a Miyazaki movie, I wonder if this one will do the trick.

 

[bloke]

Howl's... is the weakest Ghibli movie so far, not just Miyazaki's.

 

[Odnetnin]

Howl's... is the weakest Ghibli movie so far, not just Miyazaki's.

not surprised. THe original director upped and abandoned ship and Miyazaki stepped in to salvage it. I enjoyed it for what it is

Weak Ghibli movie > most animation stuff out there.

 

[Mejilan]

I saw it tonight with my brother, and we both thought it was fan-fucking-tastic. I don't really get the complaints, actually.

Certainly not his best, but freakin' amazing, regardless!