OK I've had a busy few weeks and I'm movied out but I better review the last 3 films.

Aaltra
Director: Beno?t Del?pine, Gustave Kervern
2004
92 Minutes
Belgium
Directors/Screenplay: Beno?t Del?pine, Gustave Kervern
Photography: Hugues Poulain, Jackson Elizondo
Editor: Anne-Laure Gu?gan
In French, English, Finnish and German, with English subtitles
B&W/CinemaScope

With: Beno?t Del?pine, Gustave Kervern, Jason Flemyng, Aki Kaurism?ki

Festivals: Rotterdam, Sydney 2004


?You?re the kind of bastard in a wheelchair who gives bastards in wheelchairs a bad name [expletives softened],? screams one of the samaritans left wishing they?d never extended a helping hand to the fiendishly ungrateful heroes of Aaltra. The director/writers play the nasty pair, an uptight businessman and his laconic farmer neighbour who?ve lost their legs in an accident that would never have happened if they hadn?t been trying to beat the hell out of each other in the first place. Confined to wheelchairs, they hit the road, heading for Finland to confront the truck manufacturer ? Aaltra ? they hold responsible for their misfortune. The movie is as elegant as their behaviour is rude. Each comic encounter on the road is set up with dry visual wit and delivered with deadpan aplomb.

?A stylish diversion with genuine laughs and a refreshingly unholy take on the handicapped. After so many politically correct heart-wringers, it?s a liberating experience to watch two people in wheelchairs so thoroughly undemanding of pity.? ? Jay Weissberg, Variety


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A brilliant idea not quite fully realised I feel. Mainly I think they just didn't have the budget for it. The black and white film was fine but aaaarrrgh! the white subtitles were often unreadable interrupting my enjoyment of the film. Plus they only subbed the French and not the occasional use of other languages, which would've have been handy even if they weren't essential. Also it could've easily been shaved down by about 20 mins to make it more punchier and well it was just too long. Apart from that the main characters were perfectly perfect in their awfulness and some of the scenes had to be seen to be believed, so funny, imagine a couple of guys being abandoned on a beach in their wheelchairs with the tide quickly coming in. *ROTFL* Like I said almost brilliant but needed more polishing.


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My Neighbor Totoro
Tonari no Totoro
Director: Miyazaki Hayao
1988
86 Minutes
Japan
Director/Screenplay: Miyazaki Hayao
Art Director: Oga Kazuo
Editor: Seyama Takeshi
Music: Hisaishi Joe
In Japanese with English subtitles

Voices: Takagi Hitoshi, Hidaka Noriko, Sakamoto Chika, Itoi Shigesato


A magical figure in every modern Japanese childhood, My Neighbor Totoro is looming increasingly and endearingly large in the hearts of small children and their minders all over the world. Two little girls and their father move to the country when their mother is admitted to a nearby hospital. The girls become involved, with their father?s blessing, in a weird, wonderful world of spirits, including the gigantic Totoro.

?A film with no villains. No fight scenes. No evil adults. No fighting between the two kids. No scary monsters. No darkness before the dawn. A world that is benign. A world where if you meet a strange towering creature in the forest, you curl up on its tummy and have a nap. My Neighbor Totoro has become one of the most beloved of all family films without ever having been much promoted or advertised. On the Internet Movie Database, it?s voted the fifth best family film of all time? Whenever I watch it, I smile, and smile, and smile.? ? Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

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HURRAY! *applause*

Very cool and cute. *bounce* *bounce*


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Porco Rosso
Kurenai no Buta
Director: Miyazaki Hayao
1992
93 Minutes
Japan
Director/Screenplay: Miyazaki Hayao
Photography: Okui Atsushi
Art Director: Hisamura Katsu
Editor: Seyama Takeshi
Music: Hisaishi Joe, Emi Toshiba
In Japanese with English subtitles
PG low level violence

Voices: Moriyama Shuichiro, Kato Tokiko, Okamura Akemi


It?s not clear how the Italian aviator hero, Porco Rosso, became a pig ? he reveals only that he prefers ?being a pig to being a fascist? ? but he?s the porcine Clark Gable, the daredevil nemesis of the air pirates who rove the Mediterranean skies in the late 20s. His sidekick, in true Miyazaki style, is the tomboyish Fio, a gifted engineer-cum-mechanic. She?s cute, hardy and industrious, and also proves to be headstrong, fearless and resourceful. Introduce a vain and ambitious villain of an American pilot, the fascist secret police and a band of air pirates with a code of honour ? and the ingredients are in place for a spectacular duel in the sky.

?Miyazaki has a true love of old planes and he and his team of animators have brought them to exhilarating life. Just as their hero risks everything in the air, they take the art of animation to new limits. The result is a beauty beyond mere realism. This is the way flying ought to look and feel.? ? Mark Schilling, Japan Times


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Not quite as much a me kind of film as the other Miyazaki films but quite enjoyable nonetheless. I LOVED Fio she was so cool and reminded me of Nausicaa. My favourite bit is when Porco has tried everything to talk her out of coming with him as he is wanted by the Fascist Police. He tells her if she comes with him she will be a fugitive too. To which she replies "That's OK if they catch me I will just say you kidnapped me and forced me to help you." LOL Can you imagine Porco's reaction?

Great films I didn't pick any bad ones this year at all and will be buying a few anime ones. *thumbs up*