The Secret World of Arrietty and other fancies.

I am not motivated to do anything right now. Can’t draw, can’t read. I am not even motivated enough to take a nap… So I threw a load of laundry into the washer, grabbed my laptop and now I am sitting on the couch watching a show about these guys who make Beer…And also, I am blogging about recent movies I have seen. 

The Secret World of Arrietty, a Studio Ghibli film. 

I saw this movie for the first time last Thursday, and—I know that I give all their things huge credit, but that’s because they deserve it—I loved it! Shaun reminded me of Haku (Spirited Away) and Arrietty reminded me of Sophie (Howl’s Moving Castle) when she was young. I have yet to watch it in its original Japanese, but I have to say, the English voices worked. I was very much surprised at that. Not because I doubt Disney’s ability to find awesome voice actors, I mean, casting Christian Bale as Howl was probably the best thing they ever did...It’s just, I knew Bridgit Mendler and David Henrie from Disney Channel; Bridget being from Good Luck Charlie, and David being from Wizards of Waverly Place. Honestly I liked Wizards, but not so much GLC…

Anyway, I kind of went off a cliff there, I’m going to get back to my original thought.

Henrie did a great job. I loved it. Honestly. Shaun is this sickly young boy and he captured that perfectly. At the end of the movie, I am almost in tears because I feel so bad for Shaun. But that is the point of movies right? Each movie gives you a different emotional experience…He was just so so sad. And we love him. It was a true "awwwwww" moment when he gave her the sugar cube back.

Mendler, now, the first words that came out of her mouth, well I would have done them differently. But throughout the movie, you became comfortable with it, and it worked very well for Arrietty.

Carol Burnett and Moises Arias were in this movie as well. It was obvious, from the first word that Carol’s character said, that it was her. And Moises, well he had maybe, one or two lines. But he still did a good job. Will Arnett,and all the other voice actors did an awesome job as well. I only mentioned the ones that I was familiar with and their work. But, that only means that I know them. It has nothing to do with how well everyone else did. They all did an awesome job!

The animation, I won’t have to rave on about because I already have—a couple times I think. They never seem to let me down. Haha. I believe that some of the artists are trained in Oil Panting…I learned this when reading The Art of Spirited Away. I just loved it all. All of it. ~sigh~

Tonight I am going to watch Ponyo. I had seen this, back in 2009 I think it was…But that is another post…

Oh, I also wanted to wish my brother a HAPPY BIRHTDAY! He got a hamster for his birthday—below.

I call the hammy “Doughy” but I guess the name that he is thinking about Bonzu Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis…The name Aang used when he went to Omashu. 

Now I am tired. Maybe I will take a nap now...

Until later,

Natsu

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo...

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, fishy in the sea,

Tiny little fishy, who could you really be?

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, magic set you free,

Oh she's a little girl with a round tummy.

  I guess it's pretty obvious which song is stuck in my head at this point...^^ All because I went on a Google search for Ghibli films. I am looking for the next film that my "Ghibli group" will watch next. Requests include, "PONYO! PONYO! Pick Ponyo this time!" I pardoned the request because I decided that we will save the "Lovey-touchy-feel-y" movies for last. We have seen Ponyo before. After it was released on DVD, we got it on Netflix. It was really good, so don’t get me wrong.

(BTW, Fujimoto was total AWESOMESAUCE! Fun fact, the English voice of Fujimoto was Liam Neeson. He was Qui-Gon-Jinn in the new/first Star Wars. AND I JUST READ ON IMDB THAT HE WAS THE VOICE OF ASLAN ON NARNIA! Now I know why Fujimoto and Aslan and Qui-Gon are all amazing. Yes.)

 I had a discussion with one of the members. This is how it went:

Me: Hey, what film do you want to see next?

(Let’s assume her name is Hyuga. I call her that anyway 'cuz she likes Hinata Hyuga from Naruto.) I don't know, what's there?

Me: Well, I want to see Princess Mononoke...What do you think?

Hyuga: Is it nice, or EPIC?

Me: Well, it's rated PG-13...

Hyuga: ~Smiles~ Sure! ~Walks away~

 I am kinda in an Anime mood tonight. I watched bits and pieces of Naruto episodes 30, and 31.  Only because I wanted to know what Orochimaru's voice sounded like. He is a very...interesting?...character. Little did I know that I already knew what he sounded like. The guy who does his voice also does Amon's voice, from The Legend of Korra. (Steve Blum) Amazing how you figure out things in a crazed Anime mood. I think to finish that; I will do a Manga-marathon. I need to start Volume 10 of Naruto. A Splendid Ninja. Rock Lee VS Gaara. I know for a fact the Lee gets basically destroyed. Totally crushed when I figured that out...

  5 more things tonight:

The Cosby Show is on TVland now, I hadn't known that and now I am excited. ^^

My favorite song--at this point--by The Script is The End Where I Begin.

The Saga Begins is the greatest song ever. :D Almost as good as Weird Al's play on "My Sharona." MY BOLOGNA! Teehee.

PS: I am a pixie. And yes, they do express emotion. Despite what "some people I know" think. ♥

I am addicted to "Lights" by Ellie Goulding. Adele and Ellie are both British, I believe. Love. :)

  This day whopped my rear. Exhausted. 

~Natsu

Updated Sep/19/12

Howl's Moving Castle. My new Obsession ^^

I know, I know, I haven't been here in a while. And I have neglected this post since Wednesday. It was just late that night when I finished the movie, and Paranormal Witness was on. That's my honest excuse.

 So, to get this started, here is my review for Howl's Moving Castle.

Okay, first things first. Howl's Moving Castle is a Studio Ghibli film directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The release date for the USA was in June, 2005. I believe that Disney had Pete Doctor, from Pixar, in charge of dubbing it into English. It was based on a novel by, Diana Wynne Jones.

All I have to say about Doctor's work, is this.HE COULD NOT HAVE CHOSEN A BETTER VOICE FOR HOWL IF HE TRIED. I am serious. That was the PERFECT voice for that character. And I am not just fangirl-ing out! It was that good! The voice of Howl is a man by the name of, Christian Bale.

   Some Cast members include, (in English)
Jean Simmons -Grandma Sophie,
Christian Bale-Howl,
Lauren Bacall-Witch of the Waste,
Blythe Danner -Madame Suliman,
Emily Mortimer -Young Sophie, 

and Billy Crystal, as Calcifer... That was basically epic. 'Cept now, whenever I hear Billy's voice, I only think Mike Wazowski. I don't know if that's a bad thing, or a good thing. Lol. 

 All in all, the story was good. I liked the smaller elements, *Spoiler Alert* like when Howl had his melt down, (which was kinda pathetic, but I liked it just the same. It was funny. ^^) And other things, like the funny things Calcifer said, and so on. I don't wanna spoil it, so I won't say anymore.

 But the basic plot of the story was great. I read that it was a little different from the novel...So the original book will be on my list of books to read. 

 Now, don't get my started with the animation. Because I love 2-D animation. I love how the Ghibli films are just that. I grew up with the older anime and such. Little did I know at the time, that they were Anime. I was a child, so things like that were just, cool shows. ^^

 Anyway, I kinda went off on some memory lane there...Back to my point. I liked it all. The character design, music, animation, colors, script, everything. I know it may sound like everything pleases me, but there are some movies where I will just sit there and complain. But this was awesome. The minute it started, I instantly liked it. So- I was glad that is was almost 2 hours long. 

 I know only a little bit of Ghibli's work, sadly. Ponyo, and Kiki's s Delivery Service, and this one, are honestly the only films I have seen. My anime/movie watching had a rough time actually happening, but now I plan to see every one of the movies. 

 That's it. If it makes any sense. Haha.

In the end,  it was awesome, and I totally recommend it if you haven't seen it. 

 I shall be back. My foot has fallen asleep and I must go walk it off. That and Surviorman is on...hehe. 

 Later Days! ^^

  ~Natsu