Howl's Moving Castle

[Prince Eric]

I saw this film yesterday! Hayoa Miyazaki is the only director alive today, animated or live-action, that can make my eyes well up for the sheer beauty of his pictures alone. He has truly lifted anime to an art form; everything was so detailed and colorfully vibrant. I don't think Howl's Moving Castle surpassed Spirited Away, but then again, I didn't expect it to. Spirited Away was a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece. Of course, Howl's Moving Castle is still better than 90% of the animation out there, so that statement doesn't take anything away from the quality of the movie itself. I would have to agree that the plot was a little bit scatterbrained and there was some slight incongruities that left me puzzled, however plot has never been the focus of Miyazaki films. The messages are what counted, and those came across blazenly clear. I don't like give spoilers, so no synopsis here.

With all the great things said, I can't be 100% confident on Miyazaki's chances at a second Oscar. First of all, the reviews haven't been pitch-perfect like they were for Spirited Away and doesn't look like the box-office will be significantly higher. Also, from the looks of things, there will be only three nominees this year. (There has to be 15+ eligible films for there to be a full five-slot ballot. There's been a substantial amount of anime released this year, but most of the times, those aren't deemed eligible for some reason.) In my opinion, the overall quality of releases this year are much higher. I think Madagascar, though however big its box-office is, will be forgotten by next year. Chicken Little looks to be a tough contendor if it doesn't flop. Howl's Moving Castle's real competitors will be Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride and The Wallace and Gromitt Movie. I think the Academy is more than ready to embrace claymation and this is the year to do it. We haven't even mentioned Valient. In my opinion, the viable candidates for the Oscar are:

Howl's Moving Castle
The Corpse Bride
The Wallace and Gromitt Movie
Madagascar
Chicken Little
Valient

Howl's Moving Casltle probably leading, but there's still four major releases before I can fully gauge the competition/situation.

[Mr. Toad]

My reaction from the previews and movies. Madagascar looks terrible. Valiant looked terrible from the previews - a series of fart jokes. Chicken Little looks like it could be promising. Wallace and Grommit is a fourth instalment.

I think the nominees are likely to be Chicken Little, Corpse Bride and Howl if it is at all based on art.

[Little Red Henski]

The Oscar is rarely about art. Millennium Actress & Ghost in the Shell 2 didn't even get nominated for the last 2 Oscars.

I liked Howl's Moving Castle better than Spirited Away.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Being a fan of Wallace and Gromit I really want to see that film!

I agree with Mr. Toad that Chicken Little looks promising.

I don't know about Howl or Valient but Madagascar looks stupid. But then again it's Dreamworks!

[2099net]

I think the nominees are likely to be Chicken Little, Corpse Bride and Howl if it is at all based on art.

But Wallace and Gromit have traditionally done well at the Oscars® - I can easily see them picking up best Animated film simply because some of the voters will feel familiar with the characters. I think only if the movie is more than a little below the standard of the shorts (the last two especially) will it not get best Animated Picture.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

I think the nominees are likely to be Chicken Little, Corpse Bride and Howl if it is at all based on art.

But Wallace and Gromit have traditionally done well at the Oscars® - I can easily see them picking up best Animated film simply because some of the voters will feel familiar with the characters. I think only if the movie is more than a little below the standard of the shorts (the last two especially) will it not get best Animated Picture.

I think the nominations will be: Chicken Little, Madagascar and Howl's Moving Castle.

I mean look at last year. If the crappy Shark Tale can get a nomination, but the wonderful Polar Express can't then anything can happen.

[Little Red Henski]

Will they nominate 5 movies this year? I'm expecting Disney to fight very hard for Chicken Little.

[Prince Eric]

Will they nominate 5 movies this year? I'm expecting Disney to fight very hard for Chicken Little.

Like I said, they only nominated five films if there's more than 15 eligible movies released in the preceding year. According to cartoonresearch.com, that's not going to happen.

Oh, and I would hardly call it a crime that The Polar Express wasn't nominated. Quite frankly, it looked ugly, and animators are the ones voting for these things. I'm not a fan of Shark Tale, but at least they had innovative character/scenic designs working for them.

This is the first Wallace and Gromit feature, so I'm pretty sure it will be a contendor. Besides, Chicken Little is considered an animated classic, so I think the animated community would want to honor that film by honoring the same studio - Dreamworks SKG. Compared to other categories, I think the animation division had done a fairly good job in selecting their nominees. There's been an exception or to where box-office clout has made a difference in nominations (Jimmy Neutron ousting Waking Life, Shark Tale replacing Ghost in the Shell 2, and some would say, Brother Bear beating out Millenium Actress, but that's a stretch.), but on the whole they usually choose the best films, not to mention their winners have been my choices and the critics' choices as wel.

[Paka]

Like I said, they only nominated five films if there's more than 15 eligible movies released in the preceding year. According to cartoonresearch.com, that's not going to happen.

In addition to what Prince Eric already explained, the Academy submission rules put a minimum of 8 films that must be submitted in order to have 3 nomination slots. For 5 slots, there need to be 15 or more eligible films submitted. And with animated films having a relatively low accumulated output every year, the standard will most likely be 3 nominees for most years in the Best Animated Feature category, unfortunately.

Anyhoo - I saw HMC on Friday. Whee!! It was a lovely narrative. Made me want to read to book to compare. Like most Ghibli films, the only demerit I could detect in any amount was the film's tendency to "drag" at some points. As in, it got ever-so-slightly meandering at points.
But that was certainly the worst of it, imo. One of the most admirable qualities I found about the film was that it let the story unfold on its own. It just kind of "presented" itself, and let the viewer make their own conclusions on some issues. I actually prefer ambiguity in media (films, books, etc.) most of the time, since it displays a level of intelligence beyond the satisfactory, concrete, "this-is-what's-happening" elements that one typically sees. Miyazaki is usually quite good at respecting his viewers, and HMC was certainly no exception. Was it his best? Nah. I'd prefer to see the film again before I tried rating it, though. Heh... even though rating Ghibli/Miyazaki films is like rating Pixar films.

So, yeah - in conclusion, highly recommended. If it's playing anywhere remotely close to you, I'd say it's worth the trip!

[Luke]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Paka! You echoed many of the sentiments I expressed in my review and those which I felt but didn't state, such as wanting to read the book.

[iloveghibli]

I was wondering, is this movie all done in 3D with the toon shader effect on it to make you believe it's done in cell animation? The reason I ask is because I rented the new Appleseed anime the other day and the animation appears to be done all in 3D with the toon shaders added on to it (seems like that's what most animation studios are going for these days, all digitial, not sure about Disney). I read somewhere Spirited Away was supposed to be the last Miyazaki animation combing 3D and traditional 2D cell animation and his movies after that is supposed to be all done in 3D with toon shaders. I thought I saw a similar technique with Spiderman animation on MTV.

I doubt that Miyazaki has plans to do a movie completly 3d, toon shaded or otherwise. Howl's Moving Castle is 2D with some 3D effects. Ghibli also stopped using traditional cells before Spirited Away.

Anyway, I have seen Howl's both subbed and dubbed. I think the Japanese voices fit some of the characters better, but the English dub is still great. If it comes to a theater closer to where I live (I had to travel about 1 hr to get to Toronto), I will see it again for sure, but if not I will eagrly await the DVD.

[Little Red Henski]

In its 3rd weekend at North American theaters, Howl's Moving Castle placed 16th at the box office, earning an estimated $560,000, a 35% decrease from the previous weekend. Howl's Moving Castle was shown at 202 theaters this past weekend, far short of the 700+ theaters that was initially suggested by Disney / Buena Vista.

Since its June 10th release the movie has grossed just short of $2.5 million, surpassing the total North American box office gross of Princess Mononoke and the $1.9 million earned by Spirited Away in the same ammount of time.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=6926

Howl has outgrossed Mononoke and is now #7 on the all time US anime boxoffice list.

[Luke]

Since its June 10th release the movie has grossed just short of $2.5 million, surpassing the total North American box office gross of Princess Mononoke and the $1.9 million earned by Spirited Away in the same ammount of time.

Not really a fair comparison, since <i>Howl's</i> has been in 2 to 4 times as many theaters as <i>Spirited Away</i> in two of its three weekends.

[Prince Eric]

The Oscar is rarely about art. Millennium Actress & Ghost in the Shell 2 didn't even get nominated for the last 2 Oscars.

I liked Howl's Moving Castle better than Spirited Away.

Well, You have to understand, Millenium Actress was seen by maybe five people at the theaters. Seriously, it didn't even open up my city (the fourth largest in the country) and I have NEVER seen it at my video or rental stores. Go Fish really gave this movie the shaft and it's a shame, because it got reviews that were just as good as Spirited Away. Besides, the three nominations were pretty locked up that year. One of the Best Pixar productions EVER, Finding Nemo, Brother Bear, and The Triplets of Belleville. The Triplets of Belleville came out of nowhere, but it was heavily supported and financed and was Finding Nemo's biggest threat. Even though I have yet to see it, I'm sure Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence was a good movie, but for some reason the animation industry really liked it. (Hence all the Annie Award Nominations.) That is the only nomination I've ever been unhappy with. Still, it needed a wider campaign to get notice. I would place the blame on Go Fish for not being a better distributor.

[biganimefan]

This really blows that it's not playing in my area. I kind of figured it wasn't going to play here, I didn't see any ads at all.

Isn't Ghost in the Shell 2 all in Japanese? Not saying that's bad or anything, I rented it the other day, and there's no english language dialogue unlike the first one. I also rented that new Appleseed movie, animation is so surreal and lifelike (though the character's faces looked so emotionless) sort of like Final Fantasy movie.

Whatever happened to Steamboy?

[Sangroku]

I just saw it this Weekend, awesome movie,
Too bad though that it doesn't have a wider play. I really had to search to find it playing in Ottawa, but it's not, I had to have a 1 hour bus ride to get to the theatre that plays it..
heh

[Little Red Henski]

I haven't seen Ghost in the Shell 2 yet. Studio Ghibli coproduced it and some of there animators worked on it. I'm sure Dreamworks wanted there own in house movie to be nominated instead of it. Millennium Actress deserved a Oscar nomination but you are right it only got 6 prints and the voters probably didn't see it. I hope Satoshi Kon gets nominated for an Oscar someday.

[biganimefan]

How is the quality on Millennium Actress, what is it about? I rented Tokyo Godfathers, (that's another one without any english dialogue), it wasn't bad.
Miyazaki should get a get a second Oscar. All of his movies are high qulaity in both animation and stories (there's a timelessness quality about his movies, sort of like star wars).

[DigginDisney]

Spirited Away was so good so I have very high expectations of this film, what ive seen so far doesnt really make me want this movie to hurry up and come out...

[DigginDisney]

I havent actually heard that much on Howl so im not really hyped up about it like I would be and i think its not really something that pops up in my mind when i think of what to buy because theres nothing much generated to make me fefel that this is a good movie, its just not been made that public and not enough info is given out on it, so at the moment i dont see this Miyazaki film turning out that good