Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea: a tale of wonder and transformation deflated by flat characters and boring plot
Hayao Miyazaki, “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” / “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”
Tag: Animated Films
Mary and the Witch’s Flower: visually attractive but otherwise a flat effort
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” (2017) A visually very attractive family movie, clearly
My Neighbour Totoro: charm can’t compensate for a thin plot and weakly developed themes
Hayao Miyazaki, “My Neighbour Totoro” (1988) The film that brought Studio Ghibli to an international
The harm caused to women and girls by queer theory and gender identity politics in “Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood like a House on Fire (Part 4: For a Gender Critical Future)”
Vaishnavi Sundar, “Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood like a House on Fire (Part 4: For a Gender
The Boy and the Heron: visual virtuosity can’t compensate for a tired formulaic plot and dubious motifs
Hayao Miyazaki, “The Boy and the Heron” (2023) A decade after “The Wind Rises”, the
French and French-language Films
The Egypt Code Breakers: a fascinating documentary on the deciphering of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
Jacques Plaisant, “The Egypt Code Breakers” (2022) A fascinating tale in itself, told in a
Afro Algorithms: a film on hidden biases in technologies shoots itself in the foot
Anatola Araba Pabst, “Afro Algorithms” (2022) Here comes a very well-made 3D animated short that
The Guardian’s Tale: fairy-tale conventions upturned in clever sci-fi fantasy short
Gordy Higgins, Ryan Zujic, Christoffer Klungerbo, “The Guardian’s Tale” (2012) Told as a delightful fairy
A dip into the multiverse with “Parallel Man: Infinite Pursuit”
Jeffrey Morris, “Parallel Man: Infinite Pursuit” (2014) Based on a comic book series of the
Australian and New Zealand Films
The Quiet: outer space as metaphor for inner space in a film of duality and opposites
Radheya Jegavetha, “The Quiet” (2020) Created entirely by director Radheya Jegavetha and his father Jay