Studio Ghibli screenings @ FACT Liverpool (November)

[The Boston Crab]

A few years ago I watched Howl's Moving Castle on the big screen and even though I didn't especially love the film, it looked absolutely staggering. I vowed to make the effort if I ever saw a Ghibli showing coming up again in Manchester.


Anyway, my mate told me that in November, each Sunday evening, they're showing a different Studio Ghibli film at FACT cinema/arty space in Liverpool. Bit of a drive from Lymm but not actually that bad, no different to going into Manchester, really.


They're showing Totoro, Howl, Spirited Away and finishing with Mononoke.


Just a heads up.


I'll be the guy who's there every week. Don't say hello.

[Osmium]

Howl's Moving Castle is shite, they should picked Whisper of the Heart or Princess Kaguya to have some none Miyazaki represented.

[The Boston Crab]

Thanks for your thoughts. Maybe write a letter.

[Osmium]

fuck off you cheeky cunt

[Sin Agog]

You are right about Whisper and Kaguya, though.  They're my two favourite Ghiblets.  The director of Whisper of the Heart never made a second movie 'cause he literally worked himself to death.  It's the main reason why 'zaki's so squeamish about making new movies now.

[The Boston Crab]

I've still not seen Kaguya but it looks unreal from the ten minutes I watched. I'd love to see that'll on the big screen.

Whisper of the Heart is quite possibly my favourite Ghibli, too. Absolutely adore the Olivia Newton-John version of Country Roads over that opening montage of mundane Japanese suburban life. I watched that over and over when I lived in China, cryin. Same with the version of Country Roads with the violin and the old fellas banging on pots or whatever. Wonderful.

Os, I respect both your opinion and spirit. Bravo.

Anyway, I'll happily get what I'm given this time around but defo going to trawl the listings for more anime on the big screen.

[bgmnts]

Which one has the weird looking ghost animal fat things?

[The Boston Crab]

Spirited Away, I think, from your description.

Actually, Nausicaa might be my favourite.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I quite like Howl's Moving Castle but it is all about the visuals and as a story is nowhere near as affecting as their work normally is.

You are right about Whisper and Kaguya, though.  They're my two favourite Ghiblets.  The director of Whisper of the Heart never made a second movie 'cause he literally worked himself to death.  It's the main reason why 'zaki's so squeamish about making new movies now.

I'm incredibly fond of them and they'd definitely be in my top 5, with Ponyo, Porco Rosso and My Neighbour Totoro making up the rest. I love pretty much all of them though, and the only one I didn't really connect with is Arrietty. Though I've yet to see Tales From Earthsea due to it's terrible reputation, and I haven't watched Only Yesterday as I like the idea of their still being one classic Studio Ghibli film that I've yet to watch.

[Thursday]

Arriertty is one I like that nobody else seems to

You are right about Whisper and Kaguya, though.  They're my two favourite Ghiblets.  The director of Whisper of the Heart never made a second movie 'cause he literally worked himself to death.  It's the main reason why 'zaki's so squeamish about making new movies now.

It was definitely worth him dying to make his film look that little bit nicer though.

[Sin Agog]

Which one has the weird looking ghost animal fat things?

Rewatched the first Limmy RHLSTP recently, and he makes a wicked reference to his black-vomiting Balamory scaghead being like a Spirited Away character.

[Sin Agog]

Arriertty is one I like that nobody else seems to

It was definitely worth him dying to make his film look that little bit nicer though.

I dug Arrietty. Marnie even more.  Guess I like Ghibli the most when they're being all girly and sentimental, and less like extended chase movies.

[greenman]

I've still not seen Kaguya but it looks unreal from the ten minutes I watched. I'd love to see that'll on the big screen.

Whisper of the Heart is quite possibly my favourite Ghibli, too. Absolutely adore the Olivia Newton-John version of Country Roads over that opening montage of mundane Japanese suburban life. I watched that over and over when I lived in China, cryin. Same with the version of Country Roads with the violin and the old fellas banging on pots or whatever. Wonderful.

Os, I respect both your opinion and spirit. Bravo.

Anyway, I'll happily get what I'm given this time around but defo going to trawl the listings for more anime on the big screen.

Only Yesterday is probably the other Ghibli most similar to Whisper of the Heart.

My favourite Miyazaki is probably Porco Rosso, the best example I can think of for a seemingly lightheaded family adventure with weight behind it that I think nails nostalgic melancholy much more successfully than Italian cinema of the era was ever able to.

[The Boston Crab]

Absolutely wonderful, I adore Porco Rosso. The seas and skies are SEGA blue. Gorgeous. Great characters, too.

One of my other absolute favourites is Ocean Waves. It's so up my street, teenage heartache and coming of age stuff, wistful and bittersweet. I've only ever seen it once but it left a deep mark on me.

[idunnosomename]

always liked Howl's Moving Castle, and I tend to have fairly binary opinions on the ghibli canon

Nausicaä - hate this it's too heavy-handed in its message even though the animation is superb
Laputa - brilliant adventure film, love it
Grave of the Fireflies - genuinely good, and not the misery-porn people make it out to be (positive message in the end imo)
My Neighbor Totoro - very good
Kiki's Delivery Service - i don't know why but i thought this was fucking great
Only Yesterday - oh actually this one was just ok tbh
Porco Rosso - fucking great. perfect film, possibly.
Pom Poko - some charm, but way too fucking long
Whisper of the Heart - not mad on this
Princess Mononoke - like Nausicaa never liked this one bit. sorry
My Neighbors the Yamadas - pointless as a film, would be an ok TV series, but just too long
Spirited Away - well this is worth the success it had in the west: again, too long though imo, would benefit from a tighter edit towards the end
The Cat Returns - um I liked this actually, even though it was a bit disposable.
Howl's Moving Castle - fucking great will die on that hill
Tales from Earthsea - unfortunately, total hackneyed crap. worse than a lot of Hollywood films of the time.
Ponyo - this was the last one I saw and I can't remember much about it or what I thought of it. probably wasn't good then.
Arietty - nothing fucking happened in this. I dont think I liked it much at all.
The Wind Rises - forgot I saw this but now I think about it I think I thought it was v good

Actually what's great about Porco Rosso is it's a bit more genuinely adult in its narrative and characters than nearly every other which is another fucking coming-of-age tale. even though it's about a man who has a pig's head.

[popcorn]

Mononoke's one of my very favourite things, ever. I'd never seen anything like it as a teenager. Finally here was some fantasy that was truly windswept and romantic and wasn't all fucking orcs and dragons and lumpen leaden shit. Absolutely transporting.

[Sin Agog]

Gottsmeggingdamnit!  Totally forgot about that song at the end of Nausicaa for the 'Great tracks with lots of lalalas' thread. Extreme earworm. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2b-nK_Q8o

[madhair60]

Laputa, Totoro, Mononoke, Spirited Away big tits tier films

Ponyo and Howl's Moving Castle little dick tier films

Not seen the rest don't give a fuck. Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya better than all of them.

[Urinal Cake]

I find most Ghibli films fun and charming. Though I do find the 'dark side of Ghibli' facinating like how My Neighbour Torotoro is Miyazaki trying to 'reimagine' the Sayama incident https://www.tofugu.com/japan/totoro-conspiracy-theory/

Or how Spirited Away is not just a critique about the Westernisation of Japan and modern capatalism but comparing the whole thing to a brothel. Or how Miyazaki tries to reconcile his love for design and engineering with the death and destruction it caused.

[greenman]

Nausicaä - hate this it's too heavy-handed in its message even though the animation is superb

I would recommend the manga very strongly(as someone who generally reads little of it), expands the story considerably and makes it a good deal more complex than a simple environmentalist message.

Indeed I think that makes it easier to understand Miyazaki's career as a whole, whilst it was running his darker tendency's ended up pushed in that direction but when it ended you had them suddenly entering his films from Mononoke onwards with I'd say takes some influence from the direction Nausicaa took as it developed.

[Brian Freeze]

I'm planning on ringing the cinema to find out more details about the showings but don't want to show off my ignorance (don't mind doing it on here).

Is it pronounced Studio Gibbly or Studio Jibbly? Watched a few but never heard anyone pronounce it.

[samadriel]

jee-blee

[imitationleather]

Just say you want to see the Chinese cartoons and you'll be golden.

[alan nagsworth]

There's never enough love chucked about for The Castle of Cagliostro in my humble opinion. That film is a joy. So much cheeky charm, extremely fun action scenes, great vibe to the whole thing.

[idunnosomename]

It's 1979, way before Studio Ghibli formed in 1985 though. Miyazaki only directed it. It is a good film (one of the best anime feature films by far) but it's better to consider it separate (unlike Nausicca which for all intents and purposes brought the studio together)

[alan nagsworth]

oh well FAIR FUCKS then

[Sin Agog]

It's 1979, way before Studio Ghibli formed in 1985 though. Miyazaki only directed it. It is a good film (one of the best anime feature films by far) but it's better to consider it separate (unlike Nausicca which for all intents and purposes brought the studio together)

Y'all seen that series he did back around then, Future Boy Conan?  Favourite thing 'zaki did, 'cause it's got all the eco themes and moments of quiet beauty and cool fights with sharks n shit from his later movies, except it's a whole series of such goodness.  Oy, the titular little boy really gets bloodied and battered, though.  It's all on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT3zWuD6Rbo

[Brian Freeze]

Thanks for the pronunciation help.

Dates :-

3rd Nov - My Neighbour Totoro  5pm
10th Nov - Spiritied Away  5pm
17th Nov - Howls Moving Castle  5pm
24th Nov - Princess Mononoke  5pm

Apparently Spirited Away is getting booked up quickest. As of yesterday, 80 tickets remaining.

[buzby]

One of my other absolute favourites is Ocean Waves. It's so up my street, teenage heartache and coming of age stuff, wistful and bittersweet. I've only ever seen it once but it left a deep mark on me.

Another vote for Ocean Waves - it's so different to the rest of their output, as they handed over control to the younger staff members. It went over budget and over schedule though, so they never did it again. It' looks absolutely gorgeous too. One of the things I love most is the end title sequence, where you see the characters from the film walking up and down the zigzag road from the harbour to the town. It's full of lovely little details that you can barely see on TV - it's no wonder they blew the budget and schedule making it.

Another vote for Only Yesterday too. Bizarrely it was not available in the USA until 2016 as Disney had the home distribution rights for Ghibli's films in the US, and refused to touch it because of the flashback scene where the adolescent Taeko has her first period. (Fuck you, Disney)

[The Boston Crab]

Thanks for the pronunciation help.

Dates :-

3rd Nov - My Neighbour Totoro  5pm
10th Nov - Spiritied Away  5pm
17th Nov - Howls Moving Castle  5pm
24th Nov - Princess Mononoke  5pm

Apparently Spirited Away is getting booked up quickest. As of yesterday, 80 tickets remaining.

Shit, thanks mate. Didn't even think about booking. What a nob. I'll get on it.