In adapting Mary Norton’s The Borrowers the talented hands of Studio Ghibli crafted a magnificent and moving film with Arrietty.

Pleasingly the film was very well received and marked a fine debut for director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who was a key member of the animation department under Miyazaki’s old and young with early work on Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away paving the way for a more senior animation role for Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo and Ghibli’s latest Kokuriko-zaka kara (From Up on Poppy Hill).

Arrietty is released today on Blu-ray and DVD, and we’ve got a lovely (and lively) exclusive clip for you. Featuring the voices of Tom Holland (soon to be seen with Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible) as Shô and Saoirse Ronan as the diminutive heroine Arrietty.

Here’s your clip,

While I now, of course, appreciate the full genius of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli – I’m only human – it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.

Having caught Spirited Away as a teenager, complete with pig parents and a rather spiritless American voice-over, I was clearly ill-equipped to take it in – distracted as I was by Pixar and their at that time peerless pixels. All that changed, however, when I discovered Howl and his absolutely enchanting moving castle.

For those of you who, like a younger me,  haven’t discovered Studio Ghibli yet (there’s always one), Howl’s Moving Castle follows the various misadventures of Sophie (Chieko Baishō/Emily Mortimer), a beautiful 18 year-old hat-maker with confidence issues. Unintentionally attracting the attention of Howl (Takuya Kimura/Christian Bale), Sophie invokes the jealous wrath of the Witch of the Waste (Akihiro Miwa/Lauren Bacall), who curses the young haberdasher with the body of an old woman. Magically prevented from speaking of her condition, Sophie abandons the shop and runs away.

Encountering a sentient scarecrow quickly dubbed Turnip Head (Yō Ōizumi/Crispin Freeman), the two soon find themselves in the shadow of Howl’s mysterious castle. Befriending the castle’s power source, a quick witted fire demon named Calcifer (Tatsuya Gashūin/Billy Crystal) who is able to see through the witch’s curse, Sophie successfully barters her freedom for that of Calcifer’s, requiring her to break the spell tying the demon to the castle. Assuming the role of cleaning lady, Sophie learns that Howl is being forced to participate in a war between her own world and its neighbour by the royal courts magician, Sulliman, who desires Howl’s heart for her own nefarious means.

Adapted from Diana Wynne Jones’ book of the same name, Howl’s Moving Castle isn’t your average children’s movie. In part a quasi-reaction to America’s war on Iraq, Miyazaki’s take on the narrative favours pacifism as motivation over the author’s own thematics and view of Howl as somewhat of a womaniser. It is a complex tale, not only propagating anti-war sentiments as well as discussion of destiny, duty and death, but a plot that takes in everything from witchcraft to time travel. It is resoundingly Ghibli, however, and as I have come to appreciate that means boundless creativity and a visual flair beyond even the reach of Pixar or Golden Age Disney.

What I love about Howl is its wild abandon, telling its tale with unwavering verve and vivacious characterisation. The similarities to 2007′s Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (another film I have all the time in the world for) are undeniable; from the multi-destination door-knob to the whispers of a possible bewitched bequest the echoes are many. However, what is most striking is how wonderless the Emporium comes off in comparison,  its bouncy-ball room paling in comparison to Miyazaki’s trademark depth and dimensions. Howl’s Moving Castle is utterly enthralling, the result far more fulfilling and – it must be said – far less trite.

While I have since fallen in love with Princess Mononoke, Ponyo and – with hindsight – Spirited Away too, only one thing continues to irk me with respect to Ghibli’s finest: the diabolical dubbing. Spared the annoyance with Arrietty, I fail to see the attraction of a Gillian Anderson voiced forest spirit, a Christian Bale voiced anything or, worst of all, Billy Crystal’s Calcifer. There is something wonderfully endearing about the original voice work, the enthusiastic exclamations of the Japanese voice cast adding something entirely authentic to the film. I’m sorry to say that this playfulness is somewhat lost in translation, though the stunning visuals and inspired storytelling of course compensate duly for the sound of Liam Neeson’s voice.

Don’t listen to the naysayers claiming Howl to be a weak link in the Ghibli canon, it is anything but. Spoilt by a succession of exceptional films, such people are keen to overlook the brilliance of a film Miyazaki was never himself supposed to direct. Majestic, compelling and an absolute delight, Howl is little short of a genuine masterpiece.

Arrietty is out now.

Studio Ghibli’s beautifully enchanting animation, Arrietty arrives in cinemas nationwide on 29th July 2011. Adapted from Mary Norton’s well-known, children’s favourite ‘The Borrowers’, and voiced by Saoirse Ronan (Lovely Bones), Tom Holland, Mark Strong, Olivia Colman, Pyhllida Law and Geraldine McEwan.

Arrietty tells the story of 14 year old adventurous Arrietty, who despite being warned by her family of “little” people to never let humans see her, is determined to explore the world beyond the floorboards of a sprawling mansion, set in the magical, overgrown garden in the suburbs of Tokyo. When Arrietty is discovered by human Sho, she discovers that some humans can be trusted, and before long, a friendship begins to blossom…

To celebrate the release of Arrietty, HeyUGuys are giving three lucky winners the chance to win a collection of Studio Ghibli DVDs including Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away.

For your chance to win one of these great bundles, answer the question using the form below,

Which of these is not a Studio Ghibli animation?:

Ponyo
Winnie The Pooh
Arrietty

Competition Now Closed

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 8th August at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available
• Prize is non-exchangeable and non-refundable.
• The Editor’s decision is final and binding on the entrants. No correspondence will be entered into

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Those lucky enough to be up in Edinburgh for the International Film Festival have the chance to see the latest from Studio Ghibli, and there’s a new UK poster out in the wild tonight for Arrietty.

Based on Mary Norton’s The Borrowers the animated film has had some excellent trailers over the past year and we gave the film a glowing review when we had the chance to see it earlier this week.

The film is out in the UK on the 29th of July and with the army of Ghiblites across the world it’s heartening to see Optimum doing great things with thie film.

Here’s your poster,

Our good friends over at Bleeding Cool gave this to the world. And if your Ghibli postering demands have’t quite been sated here are a few global variations, including a couple of nice French versions.

Marking the directorial debut of animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Arrietty – Studio Ghibli’s latest output – is a magical adaptation of Mary Norton’s much-loved British classic The Borrowers, and a personal project for esteemed Ghilbi co-founder and animator extraordinaire Hayao Miyazaki.

The film centres on 14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family who live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items “borrowed” from the house’s human inhabitants. Life, however, suddenly changes when a human boy, Sho, discovers and tries to befriend Arrietty, forcing the Clock family to re-examine their position in the world.

The screenplay, co-written between Miyazaki and Isao Takahata some forty years ago, is distinctly respectful of Norton’s source material: so much so that it often personally references the books in a noticeably conscientious yet appropriately nuanced manner. Everything from Arrietty’s encounter with an aggressive feline, to her very first Borrowing mission with her father, and even her burgeoning relationship with Sho is played out at a charming pace. It almost feels eternal, which is sure to help in making Arrietty a well-remembered and adored Ghibli feature.

The abundant animation is – as is expected from a Ghibli film – absolutely sensational. Yonebayashi directs with such passion, delicacy and attention to detail that it’s hard not to feel enthralled by the magical world that created. What’s truly striking, however, is how lush and rustic the animation feels. During daylight hours, the delectable landscape is utterly lustrous yet by night it has a luminous and wondrously enchanting quality: a contrast that works tremendously, supplying excellent scope and lineage to the already dazzling canvas.

French musician – and regular Ghibli counterpart – Cecile Corbel’s score blends seamlessly with the action and animation, speaking volumes to the personal touch that all involved have painstakingly applied, ensuring that Arrietty is bestowed in a special old-fashioned finery. Its wistfully idyllic folk-vibe accentuates the animation style further, as though the two were destined to be played alongside one another. At times, the score is in danger of domineering the action, but it’s always pulled back before getting out of hand.

The only problem with Arrietty, and something that might deter older viewers, is that it’s very much a kids film. Aside from a few witty touches, it doesn’t stretch to accommodate adults in the way that Pixar and a number of past Ghibli productions have nailed. That said, it’s hardly something that can be condemned, and on many levels it benefits the film, keeping it grounded and simplistic, rather than trying to appeal to too many demographics and packing it silly with adult-appropriate references.

Arrietty may not hits the heights of Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, or a number of other well-respected Ghibli classics, but it has exuberant charm, illustrious animation and a high level of intimacy – basically everything you’ve come to expect from a Ghibli film, but on a smaller, more child-focused scale.

****~ (4/5)

With HeyUGuys recently posting the Top films of the Decade as voted by you the reader, I thought I would look back into noughties myself and do my own top 10 films of the last decade as I was a bit disappointed with a majority of the top 10 choices like Kill Bill, There will be Blood and Donnie Darko.

Searching for my Decadian film winners was a great experience, going through vast amount of films from the last 10 years (which has flown by) and picking my personal 10 favourite films. It was a difficult challenge choosing them and also coming up with my 10 runner up movies from each year as there were so many quality films to pick from and I had to make some difficult choices in letting some stunning films miss out like Children of Men, District 9, Hurt Locker, Let the Right one in, The Departed etc. And so here are my choices, starting with the year 2000.

2000 Winner - O Brother Where Art Thou

The classic Coen Brothers film that created a new found love for Bluegrass and traditional Folk music for many people after seeing this film as it went on to win a Grammy for best album. George Clooney stars with Tim Blake Nelson and Coen regulars John Turturro and John Goodman in a film loosely based on Homer’s Epic Poem “The Odyssey”.

Visually it’s stunning, shot using digital colour correction to give it a sepia tone look which makes it fit the Southern America 1930′s period brilliantly. The comedy is typical Coen Brothers and probably some of the best they have written and all credit should go to George Clooney for delivering the best lines in one of his finest ever performances.

The story is brilliant as we follow Everett Ulysses McGill (Clooney) and his companions Delmar (Nelson) and Pete Turturro breaking free from a chain gang and going on a mis-adventure to find some buried loot before its lost forever in four days when a valley is flooded to create a lake. The trio come across a variety of excellently portrayed characters including a cyclops, Sirens, the KKK, a blind prophet, a musician who sold his sole to the devil and many more that all add to this stunning movie that will always raise a smile when ever you watch it.

Entirely entertaining and easily the winner of 2000 for me.

2000 Runner up – Unbreakable

One of my favourite superhero films ever made with some of the most stylish shot scenes. M Night Shyalaman’s finest film. Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, a man who is the only survivor of a train crash who comes to terms that he is ‘Unbreakable’ and unable to get hurt. The complete opposite to him is Samuel L Jackson as Elijah price and the film covers the story of being a real life superhero. It has unpredictable twists and turns and a very entertaining plot, although not positively received everywhere it was definitely one of my favourites of 2000.

2001 Winner - Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the ring

Quite possibly the most outstanding filming achievement of all time as Peter Jackson filmed all three Lord of the Rings movies in one go and released one of the most outstanding trilogy’s ever.

The Fellowship of the Ring was released first and is for me the best of the trilogy as we are introduced to the heroes of the film and the start of their journey through Middle Earth and even at three hours in length was the most enjoyable film of that 2001 by far.

Lord of the Rings gave another reason to look forward to Christmas with it’s annual December release date and nothing was more exciting than seeing the battle in the Mines of Moria as the music cuts just as the battle commences or Aragon taking on numerous Orcs and Boromir falling to the arrows of the Uruk-hai. It was perfect and exciting cinema that will never be achieved again to such detail and passion.

2001 Runner up – Amelie

Got to No.4 in the Heyuguys best film of decade poll and deservedly so. Jean-Pierre Jeunet masterpiece is visually beautiful, stunningly told and emotionally perfect. One of my all time favourite films ever, always makes me smile.

2002 Winner – Punch Drunk Love

Paul Thomas Anderson gets Adam Sandler to act seriously (but still a bit crazy) in this brilliant and hugely underrated film. Sandler stars as Barry Egan a small business owner who’s unlucky in love, mainly due to his abusing seven sisters, and gets his chance of love with Lena (Emily Watson) but due to a previous conflict and exploitation from a phone sex company things don’t go to plan.

It’s subtly Funny, it’s brilliantly acted and is so different from what Adam Sandler and Paul Thomas Anderson fans would expect from these artists.
The script is brilliant, as with all of Anderson’s films, and Sandler really carries the film well considering his slapstick and physical comedy roles previously and shows a really excellent side to his acting.

Punch Drunk Love was a surprising success for me and confirmed my love for Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies and with superb supporting performances from the ever excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzman it made it the best film in 2002 for me.

2002 Runner Up – Phone Booth

An amazing and original film Directed by Joel Schumacher with a simple plot that worked perfectly. Colin Farrell stars as a slimy publicist who answers a ringing payphone to be held hostage by a sniper with a grudge against him. Tense and very very clever.

2003 Winner - Old Boy

Chan-wook Park followed up the incredibly dark film Sympathy For Mr Vengeance with OldBoy and what a film it was.

The story is horribly bleak, the ending disturbing, the action is brutal and Min-Sik Choi’s turn from miserable average man to intimidating crazed killer is one of the most amazing character changes in movie history, you are barely able to tell it’s the same actor.

Dae-Su Oh (Min-Sik Choi) is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years and then suddenly released without explanation with just new clothes, a mobile phone and money to his name and the lust to find who did this to him and why. So off he goes in a story of revenge that is one of the most stunning and visually brilliant movies of 2003.

There are a couple of stand out scenes, but the one that impresses most and is probably one of my favourite all time film moments is the jaw dropping and beautifully shot corridor fight. Shot in one long continuous take, Dae-su Oh rampages his way through something like a hundred thugs, armed only with a hammer and the desire to make up for the 15 years he lost. It really is the perfectly shot scene of all time and the best film of 2003.

2003 Runner up – Mystic River

An emotional roller-coaster of a film that shows Clint Eastwood at his best. Childhood friends Jimmy Markum, Sean Devine and Dave Boyle reunite following the death of Jimmy’s oldest daughter, Katie. Sean’s a police detective on the case, gathering difficult and disturbing evidence; he’s also tasked with handling Jimmy’s rage and need for retribution. Tim Robbins and Sean Penn won Oscars for their roles and it was nominated for four other Oscars. Brilliant film.

2004 Winner – Shaun of the Dead

The finest British Comedy, Horror film ever made and the film that launched Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg into Hollywood’s radar. Edgar Wright learnt a lot from the Spaced TV show which helped make Shaun of the Dead so successful and he took a risk having Simon Pegg to act the lead role for the first time in a motion picture, but what a result. Simon Pegg is outstanding and played the part of Shaun better than anyone on the planet could have done, Nick Frost as Ed was the perfect sidekick to Shaun and their real life friendship made it even more believable and enjoyable to watch and with the supporting cast all adding brilliantly to this genius film, it made Shaun of the Dead as near to perfect comedy/Horror as you could possibly imagine.

The film is basically about the relationship of Shaun and his girlfriend Liz and how their breakup and getting back together is set during the outbreak of a Zombie apocalypse. It’s a satirical take on the Zombie film that pokes fun and fully embraces the genre and adds it’s own spin on it by making a comedy of it. The film succeeds on all levels and surprisingly became a hit all over the world and received praise from Mr.Zombie himself George Romero.

There are some truly stunning moments and my favourites are the scene in the pub after Shaun breaks up with Liz where the banter between Ed and Shaun is so so funny. When Shaun goes to shop at the start of film pre-apocalypse and then again post apocalypse mirroring the previous scene as Shaun walks past all the destruction and walking dead oblivious to it all, it’s subtle and so well done. It’s just such a good film that never gets boring no matter how many times i see it. You’ve got red on you!

2004 Runner Up – Downfall (Der Untergang)

A German film brave enough to confront its country’s history head on. Downfall is both a history lesson and a knife-edge drama/thriller that astounds in it’s depiction of Hitler during his last days as his secretary, Traudl Junge, tells of the Nazi dictator’s final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. Bruno Ganz is the reason I loved this film, there has never been a performance like it. Incredible film.

2005 Winner - Batman Begins

Christopher Nolan was a great director before Batman Begins but i never thought he could do a Superhero film as good as Batman Begins. Restarting the Batman franchise was a dangerous task, especially after the monstrosities of Batman & Robin and Batman Forever, so the only option was a reboot ignoring everything that came before and giving Batman an origin movie showing how he came from nothing to a martial art trained superhero and used his wealth to fund proper legitimate weapons and the best Bat-Mobile of any Batman film ever.

Bruce Wayne heads off to the mountains of Asia to join the league of Shadows lead by Ra’s Al Ghul where he is trained by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson). Bruce having different views on what the Shadows fight for returns to Gotham to fight crime and uses Wayne Enterprises to build the tools to create his secret identity of Batman. The story is incredible and hardly flawed, the characters are all well written and superbly performed by a stellar cast of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Cilian Murphy, Morgan Freeman etc and never has a film helped the comic book genre improve it’s quality output as much as Batman Begins did.

It had everything you could want in not only a superhero film but in any action film. A plot that was exciting and smart, characters that worked well against each other, and when you saw the Batman Tumbler Batmobile for the first time  you instantly smiled and thought “that is the dam coolest thing I’ve ever seen” and when it roared as Wayne put his foot down, you instantly forgot the neon absurdities from the last Batman movie. You can’t help love the Batman.

2005 Runner Up – History of Violence & Howls moving Castle

Howls Moving Castle is a masterpiece in animation from the legendary Studio Ghibli and  incredibly talented director Mayao Miyazaki who’s animated films stun in their beauty and originality. Howls Moving Castle is based on the novel by Dianne Wynne Jones and is a sublime story that is nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Stunning movie and it’s hand drawn animation at it’s best.

2006 Winner – Pan’s Labyrinth

The stunning film by Guillemo Del Toro. Not enough praise can be heaped onto this film as it walks away with the best film of 2006 where Del Toro creates a wonderful story, incredible characters and a stunning fantasy world set alongside war torn 1944 Spain. We follow a young girl and her love of fairy tales as she desperately creates a fantasy world to escape the harsh realities of her life.

Everything about Pan’s Labyrinth works, stuns, fascinates and astounds as it drags you into the world and makes you question what is fantasy and what is reality as we reach the climatic conclusion of probably the most outstanding film of the decade so far.

The fantasy creatures the little girl, Ofelia, comes across are brilliant but none are as intimidating and terrifying as the Pale Man that guards over a table covered with food who she has to steal a dagger from, she disobeys the order not to eat the food and is chased by the Pale Man, it’s so dam scary but that’s mainly due to the excellent Doug Jones portrayal as the creepy child eating monster.

Great film, really can’t wait for Del Toro’s Hobbit.

2006 Runner up – Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine was the surprise hit of 2006, Nominated for four Oscars and winning two it would have easily won 2006 if it wasn’t for the incredible Pan’s Labyrinth. A brilliant cast and a brilliant story of a families road trip across America to get their daughter to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Hilarious, satirical and very moving. A real joy of 2006.

2007 Winner – Ratatouille

Pixar created one of the best animated movies of all time in 2007 with Ratatouille. It’s a story that is beautifully told and so amazingly animated that it just dazzles and astounds. Each time Pixar release a film you feel it can’t be bettered but they always raise the bar with each movie and Ratatouille is no exception.

It’s about a Rat named Remy that has a taste for fine food and a natural talent for cooking and so when he comes accidentally separated from his huge trash eating family he ends up in Paris and gets involved with a talentless garbage boy named Linguini who works at a once famous restaurant called Gusteau’s. They team up and with Remy guiding Linguini to cook and to get Gusteau’s back on the map as the famous restaurant it was.

It’s wonderfully made and puts a lot of films that year to shame with it’s quality and touching story that is brilliantly voiced by the actors and with such high level of detail used in every aspect of the background, foreground, character animation, facial expressions etc everything has so much love poured into it creation that there is no doubt that Pixar is the most brilliant and successful film making company of all time.

2007 Runner up – No Country for Old Men

The Coen Brothers Quadruple Oscar winning masterpiece that is up there with the best suspense thriller movies ever made. Javier Bardem stands out amongst the stellar cast that also include Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones who all take part in a story that just stuns from start to finish. Bardem rules the screen as one of the most terrifying movie bad guys of all time and Josh Brolin is brilliant as the luckless hunted nice guy who gets mixed up in all the chaos surrounding a drug deal gone very wrong. Stunning stuff

2008 Winner – The Dark Knight

The overall winner of the Heyuguys best film of the decade and rightly so in my opinion too. The second film on my list by Christopher Nolan (Memento and Insomnia also coming close to making my list) which I think proves that Nolan is the Director of the decade too as he has created original and exception movies throughout the noughties and looks to be starting this new Decade in similar style with the incredible looking Inception.

The Dark Knight had everything Nolan did right with Batman Begins and tripled it to create not only one of the greatest comic book movies ever but one of the greatest crime thriller movies ever and with one of the finest villain performances of all time from Heath Ledger everything came together perfectly.

Having some of the most exciting set pieces of action of any film throughout the noughties the Dark Knight raised the bar for every film to come after it. The performances from everyone involved added to the quality of the film and I can’t fault anyone. The film ran for around 2.5 hours but could have easily gone on for more because it was so dam good.

Can Batman 3 really get better than this? who knows, but there is no doubt it’s going to be the most anticipated films of this new decade.

2008 Runner Up – Wall-E

Another Pixar classic and if it wasn’t for the Dark Knight it would have won the 2008 film. Wall-E is a wonderful film that again raised the bar of the expected quality in animation that’s matched to a stunning grownup story that appeals to both children and adults alike.

The first half hour stuns in it’s simplicity with hardly any dialogue and when the story progresses to space it continues to entertain with wonderful characters and an excellent story. It’s emotional, funny and a perfect example of just how talented the folks at Pixar are.

2009 Winner – Moon

The surprise film of 2009 for me. Never did I believe Moon was going to be as good as this but it was and so much more. Sam Rockwell proved again what a brilliant actor he is and fully deserves more credit for what he does, His performance as Sam Bell makes the film work and was nothing short of perfect.

Duncan Jones made an incredible debut film that was high in quality, claustrophobic, thoughtful and just visually stunning that has made him one to watch in this decade with everyone waiting to see whats coming next. Kevin Spacey adds his perfectly cast voice to Gerty the computer assistant that runs and maintains the space station and adds an air of unpredictability and doubt to the film. It’s quite brilliant.

Set on the Moon, Sam Bell is coming to the end of his three year contract to mine the Moon for Earth’s primary source of energy, he’s starting to get ill and become delusional and as he is looking forward to returning home to be reunited with his wife and child he has an accident whilst out in his lunar buggy. When Sam Bell awakes he eventually ventures out to find a lunar buggy crashed into one of the harvesters and finds something that looks like Sam Bell inside and takes him back to base. The film then deals with who or what is Sam Bell, is he imagining it? is he going crazy? It’s a beautiful brilliant movie and a real joy to watch.

2009 Runner up – Inglorious Basterds

Tarantino at his best, Inglorious Basterds was just one of the most enjoyable movies of 2009 with a great cast, incredible story and some truly unforgettable moments. It’s brutal in it’s violence, enjoyably funny at times and introduced one of the most scariest evil villains of movie history in Hans Landa, a character that deserves an Oscar for te best supporting actor role as the evil Jew hunting Nazi. The opening scene of Inglorious Basterds was the highlight of the whole film for me but the rest of it was never as good but still incredibly enjoyable.

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