It’s a very simple fact that I am far more excited about wishing Miyazaki a happy birthday than I am about Robert Duvall. Part of that has to do with the fact that I still cannot forgive Duvall for ‘The Apostle.’ Or rather, what I can’t forgive him for is being a great actor. In The Apostle.
Perhaps I should add to my list of people I can’t forgive for that movie the people who forced me to watch it in the first place. ‘Shudder.’ But Duvall still makes my happy birthday list because he made Secondhand Lions.
!Michael Caine! And Robert Duvall! And a nearly grown Haley Joel Osment! And a lion! And the What Every Boy Needs to Know About Being a Man speech!
--That is far too many exclamation points.
!What do you mean! Exclamation points are fun!
~’snigger’
--Stop that. Don’t encourage her.
~What, me?
But Miyazaki gets a completely unconditional Happy Birthday! This is the man responsible for so many good/beautiful movies over the years that we owe him a great debt. My personal favorite is Howl’sMoving Castle (the one instance I can recall where a movie is better than the book. Sorry Diana Wynne Jones). But I know many others who would swear that Spirited Away completely blows Howl out of the water. And then there’s Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa, Totoro—and so many more!
(by the way, if anyone could find me a bobblehead of one of the forest spirits from Mononoke, I would be forever grateful. And poorer. But gratefully poorer)
(see, so cute!)
What’s your favorite Miyazaki? And do you dare defend the status of The Apostle? (I will allow you to defend Duvall).
YAY Miyazaki!!! He made we want to be an artist :D
ReplyDeleteI still can't pick my favorite, Totoro has a very special place in my heart, but I've watched Spirited Away many many times too. As Drew Barrymore would say in an English accent, "It's like trying to pick a favorite star in the heavens!" (Ever After)
Ooh, Ever After! I love that movie. And that's a good line, mostly because she's talking about books! I feel exactly the same way.
ReplyDeleteFavorite part of movie however, will always remain Leonardo Davinci. 'Yes Madam, I will go down in history as the man who opened a door!'
Thank you for adding the third voice to your internal dialogue. Can't wait for the rest to reveal themselves. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for my professor who had us watch 'The Last Samurai' instead of 'The Apostle.' Very grateful.
As for Howl... I need to re-read the book to be sure, but I just might agree with you there. Rare is the movie that surpasses the book; rare, but not impossible.