kylehaynes31

If Madhouse's Redline is a "flashy action ride", then Dead Leaves is a "nuts-to-the-wall flashy tripped-out action ride on speed". The movie's high-contrast comic book-like visuals had me expecting something unique, but I don't think I could properly have prepared myself for just how unique Dead Leaves turns out to be. The comic book style applies not only to the frequently grotesque characters and outlandish scenery, but also to the cinematography itself with several "panels" often being shown on screen at the same time, sound effects appearing as actual floating words, and unusual framing used to emphasize certain parts of the scenes. The narrative begins with the protagonists, Retro (a TV-headed man) and Pandy (a woman with a mysterious red spot over her right eye) waking up naked and without their memories only to go on a crime spree which gets them sent for life to a prison on the moon called Dead Leaves. Not for the straitlaced or faint of heart, Dead Leaves' mere 52 minutes zoom by at break-neck speed in a flurry of explosions, gore, sex and nudity, but if you can stomach the off-the-wall content you're in for a very enjoyable if lamentably brief anime experience.

Miyazaki was challenged by someone to make another movie with the true poignancy and magic that was captured in Totoro. By most accounts he has done just that. While not my absolute favorite Ghibli movie, this is certainly one of the better ones. The story tends to be a bit slower even than most other Ghibli movies, but as a whole it certainly doesn't plod or drag its proverbial heels, it just pleasantly takes its time. It follows a little goldfish-like girl thing called Ponyo and her sudden transformation into a human after tasting human blood accidentally while healing a cut on a little boy named Sosuke's finger. The turning point in the story is Ponyo's love of Sosuke and how that threatens to not only change her life permanently, but also the world at large. There is much to be seen with this movie's fantastic visual style, slightly different from previous Ghibli offerings with more pastels and simple shading. Wholly recommended to everyone, this is one of the Ghibli movies that you have to see.

Tales from Earthsea was the first Ghibli movie to be directed by Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro Miyazaki. It ended up being an alright (if somewhat pedestrian) movie, especially considering that Hayao did not consider Goro ready for the responsibility of directing a Ghibli feature film. The story follows a boy named Arren who killed his father and stole his sword. Arren ends up getting caught in the crossfire of an age-old war that had been going on between a powerful wizard and a powerful witch. The story more or less plods aimlessly along throughout the movie, especially so when compared to Hayao's masterpieces. This movie didn't even hit North America until 2011, and then only on DVD in spite of Disney's recent Bluray distribution craze, which kind of shows that even they acknowledge this movie's mediocrity. With that said, Tales from Earthsea is still worth the watch, if only to see Studio Ghibli's beautiful art and to appreciate how far Goro Miyazaki has come as a director.