Saturday, February 12, 2005

Howl's Moving Castle

I made my way to Suntec today to catch Howl's Moving Castle. Glad to see that the demand for Anime is going strong coz the cinema was pretty much a full house. Before I talk about the movie, I shall give a brief assessment about food options near the cinema.

I ate lunch at the kopitiam on the 3rd level outside the Rock auditorium. I tried the Ayam Pangang (BBQ Chicken) at the very first stall on the left. It's a similar concept to the Ayam Pengang at Plaza Singapura (which I happen to love!). Well, frankly, this kopitiam copy cat was quite a disappointment. The chicken was coldish, meat was tough, sauce was insipid, soup was too salty. In short, dun try it.

However, I went to the food stalls outside Carrefour at level one to get a drink and found that they had revamped the food items. Not bad.. they have a very interesting pineapple rice (for only $1.90) and you can add stuff like teriyaki chicken and drumsticks. Also had nice japanese tempura and udon. Next time, I'll probably go straight there for my food instead. I like the way they reinvent themselves quite regularly.

Back to the movie. Studi Ghibli really has a special touch when it comes to cartoons. There's this air of innocence and simplicity in their animation and storylines. But behind the simplicity is a thought-provoking story which does appeal to your heart. The animation standard is great (as usual) and the characters are really interesting. You can't help but grow comfortable to the characters and start to feel for them as the story progresses. My only gripe is that the ending was a little abrupt. It all ended very quickly and neatly and there was this 'happily ever after' conclusion which seemed to come out of nowhere. Compared to Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, I would have to put this one in third position. Spirited Away was a fantastic movie. I'm looking forward now to the re-release of Nausicca on 22nd Feb. That's one movie that I have been searching for for many years.

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