Have you seen Princess Mononoke? Because of those (well, Kiki's and Spirited, haven't seen Porco), Mononoke is a far better example of story telling.

I agree with iSm's House of Sand and Fog sentiments. It was a really wonderful film.

I am too lazy to see if anyone else saw The Number 23. Me like.

I refuse to see it. Not because I think numerology's a load of crap. I can still enjoy a good story based on numerology despite that. But the trailers keep showing "2/3=.666". It most certainly does not. It's .667 if you're going to 3 decimal places. Picky? Yes, but the whole point of numerology is being picky and if they're using something as blatantly wrong with that, there's no way I can enjoy it.

My desire to see The Number 23 is a perverse one. I don't really have any interest in it natively but the fact that a movie where the intent was to make a good one (as opposed to something like Norbit where the intent is to make a successful bad one) but ends up with a 9% RottenTomatoes rating has me curious. Curious about just what went wrong with it (assuming I won't like it either) or what the critics are missing (assuming I would like it).

I'm guessing the former, though, since one of its rare positive reviews is from the San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle. We disagree a lot.

The whole point of numerology is to be selectively picky.

I liked Howl for the most part. The animation was neat. The castle itself was super. But in the end, I just don't think I get it. It was kind of dull to me. And the creepy scarecrow dude reminded me of a character on the Animaniacs.

Spirited Away was great. Lots of neat animation, too.

Well, yes. But they could have at least made it a challenge to pick it apart.

I don't think I could rank the Ghibli films. There are those I love more than others but they all have their redeming qualities. Some have a tighter story, some a more entertaining, some a incredibly beautiful some are just damn charming. I'm not sure I could ever pic a favorite.

I DO, however, have favorite characters.

Yeah, ranking the Ghiblis is pointless. Most are great, for different reasons. I adore Mononoke ... but also love the fun of Porco Rosso. I'm a big, big fan of Howl's ... especially after reading the book at ElizaHodgkin's suggestion. With another Pinocchio anology, Howl too (imo) took a mess of a written story and masterfully adapted it to film (with a few kinks that I found far easier to forgive after reading the story).


I'm ultra curious about Number 23 and will likely see it today or tomorrow (I took a week off work, 'cause I'm supposed to stay off my feet .... movie theater ass-sitting is perfect!)





ETA: Hahaha - the byline above my current avatar is perfect for my present situation!

Of course I've seen Mononoke. I loved it. It might even be Heather's favorite. I was talking about repeat viewings. For me, the story of Mononoke, however engaging it is, was just a sliver below the three I mentioned the last time I watched them all.

Like NA, it's hard for me to rank Ghiblis, so expect my order to change next time this conversation comes up.

...and GD, I think you'd really like Porco Rosso.

Why I won't pay to see Number 23 in the theater: two words: Joel. Schumacher.