Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Howl’s Moving Castle
Call No: TEMP 1686

I’ve always been a fan of cartoons. I spent countless hours of my childhood with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Animaniacs gang. As I grew older, I still enjoyed cartoons and their longer relatives, the feature-length animated film. Soon I began to recognize a difference between the types of animation, and such a type is “anime”. As many Japanese animation fans will testify (as will Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory), anime is not a cartoon. Anime is the term used to refer to Japanese animation, be it shows or films. One of, if not the, most influential animator in Japan is Hayao Miyazaki.   Considered to be the Walt Disney of Japan, Hayao Miyazaki has enriched and perfected the art of storytelling in his films by combining heartfelt drama, comic relief, dynamic characters and stunning animation. Howl’s Moving Castle is no different.

For those who have never been exposed to anime before, this is an excellent place to start. While some fans of anime might recommend the classic Academy-Award winning Spirited Away instead (which I will review in the New Year), it would be better to start with Howl’s Moving Castle. It has a more linear approach to the story than other anime films and, as someone pointed out to me, can be considered more Westernized and universal in terms of content. A large part of that comes from the fact that it’s based on the British novel of the same name, written by Diana Wynne Jones.

The story is about a young woman named Sophie who is the victim of a spell that makes her appear old and prevents her from talking about the curse. Her only hope in reversing it comes in the form of a talented but irresponsible young wizard named Howl, who rather than fight or defend anything instead prefers to run using his magical moving castle, powered by an ancient fire demon named Calcifer. Throw in a witch after Howl’s heart, a ruthless wizard instructor and a war-torn kingdom where wizards are used as soldiers. Add in the fact that Howl might not be all he appears to be and you have an intriguing story full of fantasy and adventure.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Call No: PN1995.9.A75 M66 2003

I had a difficult time deciding which film to review first. I went through the shelves carefully. I looked at old films, newer films, imported and animated. I made notes of films on my “to watch” list, and considered donating my DVD copies of Casablanca and The Shawshank Redemption to the library (mental note: see if that is allowed). When my housemates asked about my progress, I spouted off the most recognizable movies I’d come across. The Day After Tomorrow. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

One of my housemates stopped me. “I haven’t seen that movie.”

Bingo. Problem solved.

Now I know what some of you are going to say. “How has somebody not seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail?”. As someone who hadn’t seen any of the Terminator movies until last year and The Exorcist this past Halloween, I’m not about to pass judgement. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Holy Grail in high school. My friend had the same reaction. “How have you not seen it?”, he said. He began spouting off lines about coconuts and the average wing speed velocity of a swallow, and started saying “Ni” incessantly. After seeing the movie, I understood, and found myself doing the same thing to my housemate.

Greetings Fellow Movie Fans!

Hi there! Welcome to the blog. My name is Laura, also known as The Film Geek, and this is the Nipissing Library Film Collection. This is a movie review blog. But here's the catch -- the reviews that you'll find here will be for movies that you can find right in the Nipissing Library.

When I was first coming up with an idea for this blog, I wanted it to have something to do with movies. Movies are something that almost all of us enjoy. We use them for entertainment, we use them to escape. Some of us like our horror, some of us like our romantic comedies, but all of us at one time or another have sat back and put on a great movie. You may be surprised to know that some of those great movies can be found at our library. I'm not saying that all of the movies are good or that we have entire sections dedicated to James Cameron or Arnold Schwarzenneger (pre-governor, of course), but there are some good movies on those shelves. Not all of them will be good movies, but some.

Now I have to warn you -- you may not recognize some of the movies I review. They're not all going to be blockbuster hits or have incredible special effects (though I have a definite weakness for action films). Some of them will be older. Some will be newer. Some you may never have even heard of. My job is to help make you aware of these movies and tell you a bit about them. Maybe you'll go and watch it for yourself, maybe you won't. But at least you'll know it's there.

My one word of advice is this: don't judge a movie until you've seen it. Don't let the content, year, actors or directors keep you away from a good movie. If I review it, don't even take my word for it. I may dislike a movie that you think you might enjoy. Prove me wrong. Take a chance. I'll keep my reviews fair if you keep your mind open. I can't count the times I've heard someone say "You know, that's not the kind of movie I would normally go for, but actually it was pretty good". Believe me, you may be surprised.

I'll try to make sure that I cover every genre as much as possible, but every once and a while I may do a theme week, either by genre, director, or anything else you might think of to suggest. And please, DO suggest. I became a movie fan by moving out of my comfort zone and taking other people's recommendations. If you read a review and think "Hey, if she liked that one, she might like this movie" or "I can't believe she didn't like that movie! This one is worse!", then tell me about it! If I haven't seen it, I'll probably want to.

I'll post a review every Wednesday to start. I'll also be categorizing the films by major themes using the labels. Feel free to look for other movies of a similar genre, director, etc. And if you're suddenly faced with a paper that wants examples of redemption in popular culture, you can check out the labels and have somewhere to start.

In any case, I hope you all enjoy this blog. If you have any recommendations, requests, suggestions, or anything else, don't hesitate to drop me a line at atellix@gmail.com.