Only Yesterday

Today I went to see a Studio Ghibli movie called "Only Yesterday." Apparently the movie was originally released in Japan in 1991, and was only recently dubbed due to the rights being held by Disney. Menstruation is a major part of a whole segment of the movie, and I suppose Disney wasn't down with that. The rights passed to another company a while back, though, so the movie finally got dubbed and released in the United States this year.

The movie is about a woman at a turning point in her life, who suddenly finds herself reliving memories of herself in the fifth grade. The movie switches back and forth between her present and her past in a way that feels almost disjointed, to be honest. Still, this look into the life of a normal young girl in Japan in the 60's was pretty cute and charming, though at some point my attention started to waiver. It's a slice of life movie, so if you plan on watching it, understand that it's going to be fairly slow-paced.

I think we all sometimes find ourselves dwelling on moments in our pasts, much like the main character in the film. Reflecting on the movie now mostly results in me reflecting on my own childhood. There isn't too much else to say about the film, so instead I'll see if I can conjure up some of my own grade-school memories; things I personally remember as if they were only yesterday.

Movie Review #22: Spirited Away

I'm finally back to Miyazaki films. The next one I hadn't seen before was Spirited Away, which I'm only really familiar with due to a scene or two I once watched while in a hotel in Houston many years ago.

Short review: another beautiful film by Studio Ghibli, but this time with relatively few environmentalist themes. It's good, go watch it if you haven't.

Movie Review #10: The Wind Rises

Much like Terry Gilliam movies and the Dollars trilogy, I plan on watching a new Ghibli movie I've never seen before each month until I've watched them all. Chronologically, I was scheduled to watch Spirited Away next, but apparently The Wind Rises is out in theaters now, so I went watch that with Laura on Saturday. Luckily, movie night's not exactly a hit, so nobody showed up to watch Spirited Away with me. So, rather than overdose on Miyazaki, I decided to move that one to next month instead.

That said, The Wind Rises is in select theaters right now. You should go watch it, even if you're not usually into Ghibli movies. It's really good. That's my spoiler-free review. If that's not enough, though, then keep on reading~

Movie Review #5: Pom Poko

Even before I started these movie nights, I had started slowly working through the Studio Ghibli from start to finish. Pom Poko just happened to be the next one on the list.

All I knew going in was that it involved tanukis, and these tanukis had prominent balls, which likely contributed to the fact that the movie wasn't widely released in America.