I think there is a little controversy around the studio trying to market the film based on the Miyazaki name, despite Hayao Miyazaki having nothing to do with the project. I have no idea what it will be like (guessing a little rough around the edges), but I have some vague, happy memory of reading the books when I was young.

The last book I read was Administrators Guide to SQL Server 2005, the fattest book I’ve ever purchased. Books aren’t really magical anymore. Although the chapter about hard drives, spindles and distributing IO load came close.

It’s a stunning, powerful but above all scary film, which hadn’t really occured to me. Not so much scary in the way that most horror films are, but simply by providing a sense of scale and perspective totally based in reality.

I prefer not to attempt to be an amateur reviewer, suffice to say that this film left me dazed and racked with emotion and I think you should watch it.

I’ve been ranting at people to go and watch Angel-A. I’m not sure if this is still showing, but it’s one of the most original films I’ve seen in a long time. The film is shot in black and white, and set in Paris. It’s directed by Luc Besson, whose previous work includes Leon and The Fifth Element.

Although this is a very visual film, the characters are quite extreme and leave a strong impression. I would highly recommend watching the film – I should also point out that it’s in French with subtitles, but I would hope that most people can see beyond that. There seemed to be quite mixed opinions if you look around at reviews, but personally I think this was one of the best films I’ve seen in a number of years.

The others I wanted to mention were Renaissance and A Scanner Darkly. Both are animated and each has a very different feel. Renassance was much darker and more stylised, and I think I preferred this overall. I watched A Scanner Darkly a couple of weeks ago now, and the impression is rapidly fading. I would recommend watching the film, but it didn’t really slap me in the face. I think the most interesting thing about it was the film score which was written by Thom Yorke.

A little while ago I also went to an outdoor screening of Howl’s Moving Castle which I’d already seen a few times but love. I would imagine most people who know about japanese animation have come across the work of Miyazaki, but I can’t really imagine anyone not loving this film. It’s extremely accessible to everyone, so don’t feel like you need to be an animation buff to watch it.

I think that’s it for now… and yes, I should probably start using the projector at home a little more rather than going out all the time