+khRAIN has decided to join us with a movie review Howl's Moving CastleGenre: Adventure, Fantasy, Family, Romance
Age Certification: PG Director: Hayao Miyazaki Writer: Based on Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones Notable Actors: Chieko Basho, Takuya Kimura (Japanese voices); Emily Mortimer, Christian Bale (English voices) Release: 11/20/2004 (Japan) Plot Outline: Sophie, a self-conscious girl working as a hat-maker, unwittingly attracts the attention of the handsome wizard Howl, which also attracts the wrath of a jealous witch. After a curse transforms her into a 90 year-old woman, Sophie must go on an adventure to find a way to reverse the spell. Review Acting: 7/10. Although I had not previously known of Emily Mortimer, I enjoyed her charming interpretation of young Sophie. I also loved the voice for her counter-part, old Sophie, played by Jean Simmons. Simmons did an amazing job of incorporating the confusion and sass of young Sophie with the newly-gained wisdom of her older self. (I have not watched the Japanese dub, therefore I cannot review it.) Writing: 8/10 Miyazaki chose to change many aspects of Jones's novel in order to give Howl's Moving Castle a Ghibli-esque feel. However, any holes or confusion that resulted from a slightly complicated plot is quickly blown away by the spell-bounding overall story and the dynamic characters whom viewers will quickly fall in love with. Soundtrack: 10/10 It's Joe Hisaishi (a long-time partner of Miyazaki) at his finest. Featuring a beautiful soundtrack with songs such as "Merry-Go Round of Life" and "Cave of Mind", the music will leave you feeling eerie or elated at all the right moments. It wonderfully enhances the scenes. Visuals: 10/10 Exactly the top-notch animation quality that you would expect from Miyazaki and Ghibli. The animation is mostly hand-painted while using a touch of computer-animation to enhance it. Miyazaki can create truly breath-taking settings and graphics with this technique. "Feels": 9/10 I was completely engrossed in the story. The relationship between Howl (a handsome, but whiny, guy) and Sophie (a hard-working girl who is a tad insecure) is very believable and they're able to take great steps to change before the ending. Although I disliked Howl at first, I found myself rooting for both of them through thick and thin! Personal Experience: I was a great Ghibli and Miyazaki fan before watching Howl's Moving Castle (I have also watched titles such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke) and this movie definitely did not disappoint. Miyazaki's animation combined with Joe Hisaishi's music score created a beautiful story that made me want to watch it again after the first time. Overall Rating: 9/10 Would you recommend it? YES YES YES! +Factor with another book review The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-TimeShelves: Mystery, Contemporary
Age range: Young Adult Author: Mark Haddon Published: May 18 2004 Pages: 226 Synopsis: Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched and he detests the color yellow. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor's dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favorite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally. Review Writing and Characters: 9/10 I liked all the characters in this novel, especially the main character which I could really relate to. He was just like me and I could understand how he does things a lot of the time. He did rarely get annoying but it didn't really ruin the experience and didn't make me not like the main character. The rest of the characters are pretty likable as well and don't get too annoying, or really mean to the main character. Feels: 8/10 I could bond with most of the characters in the novel and their actions were acknowledged as they should've been. Also, the book made me feel really entertained and interested in the main character unlike other books that make the main character blander than white bread and boring. The book went all out with what it used with material which is pretty cool and unpredictable. My Personal Experience I had a fun time reading the book and getting to know the characters was really cool and I had a great read through this book. I liked the choice of illustrations being in the book so I could get clear images of things, also there was no unnecessary filler written in the book. All in all, a great book Would I recommend this? Yes of course, I found it really nice and enjoyable to keep it simple. Give it a shot and see if you like it Overall Rating: 8/10 An interesting book to read. |
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