CINE-MUCH FUN

The past week has been a good week for movies. Last Wednesday night, K. and I went to the Loews E-Walk in Times Square to see BATMAN BEGINS. Our mutual friend S., whose salon we attend every other Thursday, got us the tickets. By the way, the movie’s spectacular; click on the link above to read my (for the masses) review. Or go to reellifeallaboutmymovies.blogspot.com/. Feel free to comment if you disagree.

Last night, we saw “Howl’s Moving Castle” at the Landmark Sunshine in the Lower East Side. The latest work by Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki, I found the animation fun to look at, but the storyline muddled. I didn’t like it enough to write a full review on my movie blog, but I am listing below the questions that went through my mind as the film labored on:

-Why did Sofi have to be turned into an old woman? One of the joys of animation is that it’s animated. Have you ever seen old people? For the most part, they’re like Sofi after she’s been cursed—not very animated. (Okay, that’s more stating a problem than asking a question. But seriously, for a large chunk of this film, I found myself feeling tired whenever I saw Sophie feeling tired.)

-What is this war going on? Who are these kingdoms fighting? Why are these kingdoms fighting?

–Is Sofi gradually getting younger? It’s a good trick, but why is this happening? The Witch of the Wastes gave no clues as to how this curse on Sofi works. All of it seems arbitrary, and that’s no fun.

-Was it Master Saliman who turned the prince from the other kingdom into a scarecrow? That would explain why she wants to destroy all the magic-using creatures: To prevent anyone from changing the prince back. Of course, it’s possible she just wants to get rid of all the witches, wizards, warlocks, etc., because they’re part-demons. If that’s the case, aren’t there more pressing matters for the royal sorceress to be dealing with right now? Like, oh, I don’t know—helping end the war that’s killing her kingdom?

All in all, I just wish “Howl’s Moving Castle” did a better job explaining why things were happening. I don’t think a little more exposition would have made it any less fun.