Another astonishing, beautiful, and deeply felt Ghibli film. Though it lacks a convincing ending (no apocalypse?), it is as visually sophisticated as anything Miyazaki’s crew has put their hands to. And in Sophie, we have yet another classic Miyazaki heroine — a resilient young woman who doesn’t need to learn or be told that perseverance is the way to go. Not only that, she’s elderly!
Disney has neither the chops nor the stones to create something like this on their own — all they can do is import it. But unfortunately, the English-language version suffers from typically bad casting and some Disneyfied tweeness: Christian Bale is no Billy Crudup, and whoever hired Billy Crystal should be shot.
by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Walt Disney Pictures 35mm Print
14 Jun 2005 12:34 AM | Comments (2)
I quite liked Billy Crystal (I felt he put the crass sidekicks in the many Dreamworks animated features to shame), but I haven’t seen the film in it’s native tongue yet. I’ll have to netflix the DVD.
Admittedly, Billy Crystal himself is not as bad as The Idea of Casting Billy Crystal. But, for god’s sake, why cast him? For that matter, Billy Bob Thornton in Princess Mononoke doesn’t sound like such a bad idea—until you see the movie. He’s beyond dreadful in it.
Then again, I do think both Scully and Danes are pretty good in the American Mononoke.
So, go figure.
strjh02@moravian.com
12 June 2006
5:18 PM