DVDizzy Forum

Polizzi wrote:Do you think this movie could get a nomination for best animated picture, along with Pixar's, "Brave," at the 2013 Golden Globes and 2013 Academy Awards, since, "Spirited Away?" I can feel victory in my bones. Just a thought.

How are you so sure Brave will be nominated?

I would be against Arrietty being nominated for 2012. It was originally released in 2010 and should have been nominated then instead.

Brave will get a nom unless it stinks worse than Cars 2, which would be very disappointing from Pixar.

And yeah, I have a feeling Arrietty will get a Oscar nom, especially with the categories expanded.

Yeah... Brave is absolutely without a doubt going to get nominated. It is more than likely going to be the favorite to win.

qindarka wrote: I would be against Arrietty being nominated for 2012. It was originally released in 2010 and should have been nominated then instead.

It didn't get released in the United States until 2012, so it wouldn't be eligible in 2010 since it was only released in Japan then.

I think depending on reviews, The Lorax, Brave, ParaNorman, Pirates! Band of Misfits, Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania and Rise of the Guardians all have potential to be nominated. Only Ice Age 4 and Magadascar 3 have no shot.

Plus, you never know when a Cat in Paris or Chico & Rita-type animation will pop up.

Slow movie.

Good but the pacing is like molasis!

I went to see the American dub of Arrietty last night. The British dub is way better than the Disney dub. No character name changes and no extra dialog and no stupid Disney channel song during the ending credits. I hope the British do more dubs of Ghibli films.

The Secret World of Arrietty came in as #8 over the holiday weekend with an estimated $8.1 million, making it the highest grossing debut of a Studio Ghibli film in North America ever!

Just received the art of.. Book, stunning artwork!

Now I really feel like I wasted two hours of my life in a movie.

Took my 7 year old grandson and my 4 year old granddaughter to see this Ghibli trash because they wanted to see it and Disney Channel was overloading their brains with the trailers for it.

The theater we saw it in holds almost 300 people, is full Digital Picture and THX sound, but nothing could save this film from being boring iwth a capital "B".

The theater was full when the film started but thinned out to probably less than half the audience. Comments I heard were: "This is the worst Walt Disney film ever!", "Disney has lost its touch with kids", and my favorite, "C'mon, when we get home we can watch Little Mermaid, that was a real Walt Disney movie!".

I understand that Disney is just the distributor for this film, but my grandkids did like most of the movie. I think the 4 year old liked it more than the 7 year old.

I thought the animation was a throwback to the old 70's Saturday morning cartoons. I don't understand what everyone sees as being so good about Japanese Anime'. This was no "Spirited Away", and I am glad that I have that film in my collection to watch.

dvdjunkie wrote:The theater was full when the film started but thinned out to probably less than half the audience. Comments I heard were: "This is the worst Walt Disney film ever!", "Disney has lost its touch with kids", and my favorite, "C'mon, when we get home we can watch Little Mermaid, that was a real Walt Disney movie!".

I'm calling b******t on this one. First of all, no one says "Walt Disney movie". And second, no one says comments like that loud enough for people to hear as they're leaving. The claim that you were able to hear THREE different comments that are basically the same thing - your personal opinion - is highly improbable and frankly unbelievable. And this is all assuming that that many people were willing to throw away their $8-10 movie tickets. A mother who pays $40 to see a film with her three kids is not going to get them all up and leave in the middle of it, no matter how boring it is.

I'm not a huge fan of Ghibli myself, and I understand not being a huge fan. But you are so obviously against this film because it is different, and slower, than your typical Disney fare. Especially when you consider the fact that Arriety is getting rave reviews from pretty much everyone - critics and fans alike. "Ghibli trash"? I haven't seen this yet, but I can guarantee it isn't that. There's no such thing as Ghibli trash. If you don't like, at least appreciate it as a well made film, which is obviously is.

dvdjunkie wrote:Now I really feel like I wasted two hours of my life in a movie.

Took my 7 year old grandson and my 4 year old granddaughter to see this Ghibli trash because they wanted to see it and Disney Channel was overloading their brains with the trailers for it.

The theater we saw it in holds almost 300 people, is full Digital Picture and THX sound, but nothing could save this film from being boring iwth a capital "B".

The theater was full when the film started but thinned out to probably less than half the audience. Comments I heard were: "This is the worst Walt Disney film ever!", "Disney has lost its touch with kids", and my favorite, "C'mon, when we get home we can watch Little Mermaid, that was a real Walt Disney movie!".

I understand that Disney is just the distributor for this film, but my grandkids did like most of the movie. I think the 4 year old liked it more than the 7 year old.

I thought the animation was a throwback to the old 70's Saturday morning cartoons. I don't understand what everyone sees as being so good about Japanese Anime'. This was no "Spirited Away", and I am glad that I have that film in my collection to watch.

I'll just have to disagree wholeheartedly..

Interesting to hear that your audience was complaining.. the only comments I heard as I was walking out were about how good it was.. But it doesn't surprise me that they would say that in your theatre. I feel like a lot of people around me and in North America in general (especially in the US) have trouble accepting anything different... and therefore tend to ignorantly push away Japanese culture/manga/anime/etc.. It's just a different way of storytelling. :shrugs:

I think alot of people (such as those in your theatre) are only comparing this film to the Disney films they grew up with their entire lives... and aren't necessarily being open to a different experience.

I agree that there were some slow parts... but overall nothing was boring to me. I thought it was a really great story with very likeable characters.. and small bits of humor (nothing much) helped push the story along.

The animation and music was what really pulled me in though.. to hear you think it looked like 'saturday morning cartoons' is absurd. I could not stop basking in the beautiful animation and could not stop thinking to myself how much detail was in the animation. It's a different art style, yes.. but to say it resembled saturday morning cartoons..

Honestly, I've always thought that Ghibli's animation was much more intricate than Disney's. :shrugs:

But no, this particular film wasn't exactly up to par with something like Spirited Away.. but it was still a very beautiful and wonderful film. Can't wait to add it to my collection.

EDIT:

SWillie! wrote:I'm not a huge fan of Ghibli myself, and I understand not being a huge fan. But you are so obviously against this film because it is different, and slower, than your typical Disney fare. Especially when you consider the fact that Arriety is getting rave reviews from pretty much everyone - critics and fans alike. "Ghibli trash"? I haven't seen this yet, but I can guarantee it isn't that. There's no such thing as Ghibli trash. If you don't like, at least appreciate it as a well made film, which is obviously is.

Very well said, SWillie.

I think that you are over-reacting to what I said. If I knew how to post pictures on the site I would show you how the posters look - they say in large letters Distributed by Walt Disney. Some people only read what they want to see, and, yes, they were muttering loud enough to be heard.

Our prices for a movie are not that expensive. Matinee prices and all day, for that matter, for me, a senior, is $6, and I only had to pay for the 7 year-old because kids under six get in for free.

People walk out of movies a lot. I have, and as long as it isn't past the halfway point, I can get a pass to see another show at another time or get a coupon for free popcorn and soda the next visit, my choice.

If "Arrietty" is what you call good animation, I am sorry, but I don't agree. I have seen better animation in film school. Plus the dubbing is pretty awful. I own the live-action feature of "The Borrowers" and plan on showing my grandkids this film because I think they will enjoy it a lot more. Although, as I said, the four-year-old liked it a lot more than the 7 year old.

If your movie theaters don't have matinee prices or senior prices I am glad that I live in Kansas. I go to the movies quite a bit, and if prices were as high as you say, I probably wouldn't go as much. However, I still like their policy for walking out of a movie before the half-way point.

I honestly believe half leaving is a gross exaggeration. I've never seen more than a handful walk out (& I've witnessed Ishtar & the first Pokemon movie). I liked it although I think I enjoyed the live action Borrowers a little more. It was good for a Ghibli but the best are those actually directed by Miyazaki. I own all of the Miyazaki films but none of the other Ghiblis. I'm glad I saw it in the theater as I enjoyed it but will probably pass on a blu ray purchase. Not sure how much replay value there is.

People do not walk out of movies very often. The most I've ever seen is two groups. Your theater must be like the mom and pop shop down the street if they offer something like that, because I doubt if any theater I've ever been to cares if you walk out.

And for the record, all the posters say "Disney presents a Studio Ghibli film"

Nobody today says Walt anymore. I just find those comments hard to believe. They seem contrived to fit your scenario.

SWillie! wrote:Your theater must be like the mom and pop shop down the street if they offer something like that, because I doubt if any theater I've ever been to cares if you walk out.

Don't. Ask. Him. About. The. Theater.
Trust me on this one.

enigmawing wrote:

SWillie! wrote:Your theater must be like the mom and pop shop down the street if they offer something like that, because I doubt if any theater I've ever been to cares if you walk out.

Don't. Ask. Him. About. The. Theater.
Trust me on this one.

Oh shit. I didn't know!! *runs and hides*

dvdjunkie, I believe you. Go on your merry way.

enigmawing wrote:

SWillie! wrote:Your theater must be like the mom and pop shop down the street if they offer something like that, because I doubt if any theater I've ever been to cares if you walk out.

Don't. Ask. Him. About. The. Theater.
Trust me on this one.

Definitely go with E's suggestion on this


Now, I haven't seen the new dubbed version, but I have seen the Japanese version (with subtitles) and I was totally engrossed in it. It's not as good as Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle, but it is definitely up there. It was beautifully animated and I was totally brought into the world. Yes, it's a different drawing style, but that doesn't mean that it's boring.

dvdjunkie wrote:I thought the animation was a throwback to the old 70's Saturday morning cartoons. I don't understand what everyone sees as being so good about Japanese anime.

A lot of people confuse "animation" with "design", "form" or "style". The characters in Arrietty are typical anime-looking in terms of design and if you dislike that, it's only a matter of personal taste.

However, animation, which is something that you can assess more objectively, is superb in Arrietty; subtle, organic, and evocative. The rest of the visuals are equally top-notch.

If you compare the animation in Arriety to a 70's Saturday Morning cartoon, I'm sorry, but you must not know a lot about animation.

dvdjunkie wrote:Now I really feel like I wasted two hours of my life in a movie.

Took my 7 year old grandson and my 4 year old granddaughter to see this Ghibli trash because they wanted to see it and Disney Channel was overloading their brains with the trailers for it.

The theater we saw it in holds almost 300 people, is full Digital Picture and THX sound, but nothing could save this film from being boring iwth a capital "B".

The theater was full when the film started but thinned out to probably less than half the audience. Comments I heard were: "This is the worst Walt Disney film ever!", "Disney has lost its touch with kids", and my favorite, "C'mon, when we get home we can watch Little Mermaid, that was a real Walt Disney movie!".

I understand that Disney is just the distributor for this film, but my grandkids did like most of the movie. I think the 4 year old liked it more than the 7 year old.

I thought the animation was a throwback to the old 70's Saturday morning cartoons. I don't understand what everyone sees as being so good about Japanese Anime'. This was no "Spirited Away", and I am glad that I have that film in my collection to watch.

Who the hell do you think you are, Mister, to go around calling Ghibli trash? I am absolutely disgusted.

My mom has a saying: You hear what you want to hear and ignore the rest.

You absolutely did this, dvdjunkie. No doubt there were tens of other people saying how great the film was.

How dare you call Studio Ghibli trash.

Those animators realize that pure hand-drawn animation is hard to come by these days.

And you know what?

I find some of the Walt-era films to be slow-paced and boring as hell. YES I like them, but some of them just drag and drag.

Studio Ghibli is today's variant on the Walt-era Disney films.

Like it or leave it.

I love Ghibli but he is entitled to having a lower opinion of them. Anyway, he did praise Spirited Away so he is hardly bashing all their films.

I have observed that Ghibli has a near untouchable reputation which it doesn't quite deserve. True, they've made many great movies but they have struggled over the past 10 years or so, delivering rubbish like Cat Returns, Earthsea and Ponyo (disputable) and I don't think they get called out enough on their failures.

I did find Arrietty to be a good return to form for Ghibli. It is beautiful and touching but hardly flawless. The plot and characters do feel underdeveloped and the villain wasn't at all great.