In honor of Pat's revamping of the blog with lovely blue tones, I've decided to grace you all with a post. As my co-host mentioned earlier, the summer usually means a cut-back in the amount of blogging that actually gets done, but I don't think we've fallen too terribly behind. (Stay tuned for a review of Thelonious Monk's It's Monk's Time)

Last night, I was fortunate enough to see the film "Howl's Moving Castle" at the overpriced Yorktown theater. For those of you who have never heard of this movie, it is a Japanese anime by the director of the epic "Spirited Away," Hayao Miyazaki. For those of you who haven't seen/heard of "Spirited Away" I suggest you seek it out, just to say that you saw it. But back to the movie at hand. "Howl's Moving Castle", unlike "Spirited Away" is not a Miyazaki original. It's actually based on a novel and, for this reason, I think that it's a much tighter film, in terms of its plot, than "Spirited Away."

Centered around an un-named fantasy/futuristic world, it tracks the struggles of 19 year-old Sophie as she is cursed into becoming a 90-year old woman. Wizard's, witches, and airships abound as Sophie finds herself amongst the company of a Billy Crystal voiced fire-demon and bouncing scarecrow. The plot is set during a war between two rival countries, as Sophie works to understand the brooding wizard Howl and his motives.

The visuals are sweeping and epic, while the story is worthwhile (if not a tad corny near the end). Although darker than "Spirited Away," all's well that ends well in "Howl's Moving Castle." Although I can't say I like one film more than the other, I strongly recommend both, even if you're the type of person that has no interest in anime whatsoever. You will not be disappointed.

If you are interested in reading what my roommate from last year had to say about the film, head on over to Here Be Cannibals