In Contention

Tag: Hayao Miyazaki

  • ‘Ponyo’ saves the world

    PonyoOkay, not quite the world, but a very small part of it. The small, picturesque Japanese fishing port that inspired the setting for Hayao Miyazaki’s “Ponyo” has been spared a drastic redevelopment (a landfill and bridge were on the cards, apparently) thanks to the film itself. Variety reports:

    Miyazaki conceived the idea for “Ponyo,” which earned $170 million at the Japanese B.O. last year, in a two-month stay at Tomonoura port and his animators used it as a setting for the toon. It has since become a mecca for “Ponyo” fans, boosting revenues of local businesses.

    The International Council on Monuments and Sites has named Tomonoura as an endangered historical area because of the project.

    I have yet to see “Ponyo” for myself (thanks, sleepy Brit distributors), so I can’t speak to its other virtues, but any film that keeps the world prettier is okay in my book.

  • 8/14 Web Round-up

    Redbox• Drew McWeeny sits down with animation legend Hayao Miyazaki. [Motion/Captured]

    • Desperate to get theirs, Warner Bros. imposes a 28-day waiting period on its titles for Redbox kiosks and plans the same for Netflix unless the studio can squeeze some money out of it. [Company Town]

    • Anna Faris gets hitched. [CNN]

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  • 8/10 Web Round-up

    Hayao Miyazaki• Charles Burress chats up legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki. [Los Angeles Times]

    • John DeVore goes fly fishing in Vermont for the “A River Runs Through It” Blu-ray junket. [Premiere]

    • A.O. Scott wraps up the summer with a tired old argument against the dumbed down summer movie season. [New York Times]

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  • 7/16 Web Round-up

    Emma Watson• Emmy nominations unleashed, Denis Leary robbed again. [Emmys.tv]

    • Xan Brooks and the “Antichrist” debate.  One more time around. [The Guardian]

    • Jonathan Romney, meanwhile, tries to break down the mind of Lars Von Trier. [The Independent]

    • 25 new faces of independent film. [Filmmaker Magazine]

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  • Disney sends all-star auteur team to Comic-Con

    Tim BurtonWell, this is impressive. Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Tim Burton and Robert Zemeckis have all lined up to help represent Walt Disney Studios at Comic-Con in San Diego later this month, in the interests of showcasing a range of new and/or revived Disney features at the geek mecca. This is the first Comic-Con for all four filmmakers, so it’s quite a coup for Disney to assemble them in one place.

    Burton and Zemeckis will be joining a panel on 3D filmmaking (the first time Comic-Con has broached the subject), which will include discussion, not to mention exclusive footage, of their respective upcoming 3D features “A Christmas Carol” and “Alice in Wonderland.”

    Meanwhile, Miyazaki and Lasseter are set to participate in an animation panel (which also includes such veterans of  hand-drawn Disney animation as “The Little Mermaid” duo Ron Clements and John Musker), in which a range of upcoming animated titles — including “Toy Story 3,” “The Princess and the Frog” and “Ponyo” — will all be previewed.

    Both sound likely to be hot tickets. Kris, of course, will be on site in San Diego and covering the whole shebang for your reading pleasure. Lucky man. (Full press release after the cut.)

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  • McWeeny on Ponyo

    Frankie Jonas (voice) in PonyoYesterday was confession time as I got into my own disconnect with the cinema of Hayao Miyazaki, a brand well-respected and certainly cherished the world over but somehow lost on me.  His work “nevertheless represents an imagination that…is a welcome dose of creativity in a business sorely lacking it year after year,” I wrote.

    With that in mind, the following passage from Drew McWeeny’s Motion/Captured review of the film, which closed the LA Film Fest last night, struck me right between the eyes.  I don’t have kids, mind you, but I hear what McWeeny is saying.

    And while we’re on the subject, I like that Drew has made his work such a personal endeavor.  I was at the screening he attended.  His son, Toshi, was right behind me and you could sense his engagement.  So maybe I’m reading it with more of an insider’s take than everyone else will, but that doesn’t affect the truth of his sentiments.

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  • Miyazaki’s ‘Ponyo’ closes LAFF

    Hayao MiyazakiI’ve come to the awkward, “I’m the only one” conclusion that, despite my best efforts, the cinema of Hayao Miyazaki just doesn’t paddle my boat.

    Looking back over the animator’s past works again throughout the week in preparation for this write-up, and having taken in his latest, “Ponyo,” just a few weeks back, I still find myself struggling to maintain an interest in these films.  “Ponyo” is probably more in line with “My Neighbor Totoro” or “Kiki’s Delivery Service” than the director’s more ambitious fare, but it nevertheless represents an imagination that, despite my aversion to the work, is a welcome dose of creativity in a business sorely lacking it year after year.

    “Ponyo” is a loose adaptation of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” though Ariel’s mermaid has been swapped for Ponyo’s gold fish and there isn’t a villain within earshot.  But a narrative lacking an antagonist is par for the course for Miyazaki, perhaps one of the reasons I never warmed to his work but still a brazen way to go about visual storytelling business.

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  • 6/25 Web Round-up

    Princess Mononoke• Eugene Hernandez quotes the industry on Oscar’s move to 10. [indieWIRE]

    • Christy Lemire goes back to the 2008 Oscar season to point out the obvious films that might have been included in the Best Picture race were there 10 nominees last year. [Associated Press]

    • Michael Speier and Carolyn Giardnia write basically the same piece, angling to make a place for their outlet at the Oscar table. [The Wrap]

    • And are we really willing to call something a “lock” in June?  Regardless of the 10-nod news, this is crazy talk.  Also, an unsourced note about “Green Zone” being a 2010 release now, which we’ve been mentioning.  Nothing official yet though.  [HitFix]

    • Patrick Goldstein is elated at the Academy’s decision. [The Big Picture]

    • Jevon Phillips, meanwhile, is already spit-balling which “fanboy” film will benefit from the widened net. [Hero Complex]

    • Nathaniel Rogers responds with typical thoroughness, with Academy member reactions to boot. [The Film Experience]

    • A.O. Scott looks back at Hayao Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke.” [New York Times]

    • Kelley L. Carter talks to “Public Enemies” star Johnny Depp. [USA Today]

    • With “Brüno” on the way, here’s a list of the 10 most offensive movies.  Some silly choices. [The Times]

  • Miyazaki’s ‘Ponyo’ US trailer

    I’ll write more about “Ponyo” when the film closes the LA fest next week.  For now, we’ve got a new trailer (that I’ve been rather slow to post).  I imagine most Miyazaki devotees will be head-over-heels in love with this thing.  I don’t count myself in their ranks, though I have the utmost respect for the filmmaker’s uncompromising imagination.

  • Raves roll in for Miyazaki

    Six days in, and a rather quiet Venice Film Festival has come up with its first unalloyed critical triumph – an animated Japanese re-imagining of Hans Christian Andersen, aimed primarily at children still in the single digits.

    That would be surprising were “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” directed by anyone other than Hayao Miyazaki, the Oscar-winning animation master who has, in recent years, crossed over to being one of the industry’s most venerated auteurs. After all, “Spirited Away” — for me, still one of the crowning cinematic achievements of the decade — began its incredible success story when it won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2002 (sharing with Paul Greengrass’ “Bloody Sunday,” no less).

    2005 follow-up “Howl’s Moving Castle” didn’t reach quite the same dizzy heights, but it was another richly textured, narratively daring work that received its fair share of acclaim, and a second Oscar nomination for Miyazaki.

    Now comes “Ponyo,” apparently a return to the simpler, gentler storytelling of earlier films like “My Neighbour Totoro,” that is already doing spectacular business in its home country. And it seems the looser style and younger target audience hasn’t deterred critics in the slightest. Screen Daily breathlessly raves:

    Visually, it’s extraordinary; imaginatively, it’s daring. Once again Hayao Miyazaki is playing in a league of his own with … a sweet, gentle, moving, and always delightful Japanese take on the classic Little Mermaid fable … “Ponyo” is firing on all cylinders on every level. From the sheer creativity of its traditional cell animation to its characterisations (every adult here feels real); the interactions between old and young; the untrammelled imagination on display throughout the story; and, above all, the way Miyazaki still dares to be different.

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  • Venice puts cinema ahead of stars

    There are some major surprises in the competition lineup for next month’s Venice Film Festival, not the least of which are the global flavour and soberness of the lineup itself. In previous years, the Lido has proved a launchpad for starry, surefire awards vehicles (“Atonement” and “Michael Clayton” both made successful bows there last year, while recent festival hits include “Far From Heaven,” “The Queen” and Golden Lion winner “Brokeback Mountain.”)

    Looking down this year’s list, it’s difficult to find much that has quite the same cache – and the competition looks all the more intriguing for it. Artistic director Marco Mueller has commendably narrowed the English-language contingent, and has taken greater risks within that selection, most notably nabbing an unexpected “wet premiere” (as in straight from the lab) of Darren Aronofsky’s latest, “The Wrestler.”

    The film, about a retired pro wrestler struggling to make a comeback, sounds like an interestingly low-key change of pace for Aronofsky after his beautiful folly “The Fountain” (another Venice debutante) fell foul of pretty much everyone two years ago. This project finds the former wunderkind working from someone else’s screenplay for the first time, which could prove a healthy change, and there are some interesting changes of the guard elsewhere too – most notably swapping regular cinematographer Matthew Libatique for the exciting Maryse Alberti (continuing what might be a banner year for female DPs). With an almost too perfectly cast Mickey Rourke in the lead, and support from the ever-terrific Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood, a warm festival reception could put this on the Oscar charts.

    There will be fewer megastars parading the Venice carpet than in previous years, but when one of them is Charlize Theron, how many do you need? Together with Kim Basinger, she will be at Venice to promote the competition title that, together with the new Miyazaki, I’m personally most excited about: Guillermo Arriaga’s helming debut, “The Burning Plain.”

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