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Forum - View topicNEWS: Ebert not impressed by Howl
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Walkabout
 Posts: 62 Location: Beyond The Sea |
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Lol, RogerEpert.con...
I hope someone fixes that link... But on-topic, it's always good to see an open reviewer who doesn't bend over... |
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kusanagi-sama
 Posts: 1723 Location: Wichita Falls, TX |
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Ebert's reviews and ideas of movies are often opposite of the normal movie going public.
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BioNinja
 Posts: 1 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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I saw the movie the movie last night at the El Capitan in Hollywood. Overall, I thought it was a decent story with awesome animation. But, this is one time that I agree with Ebert...Miyazaki just didn’t make it happen. I will admit, it is an expectation issue...Miyazaki has consistently raised the bar in each one of his movies. When you compare it too his previous work, "Howl's Moving Castle" is a bit of a disappointment.
What really left me shaking my head was the CHEESE FACTOR! Yeah, “Sen to Chihiro” had a happy ending but it was well executed. In Howl's, I felt that it was just way over the top. Strong antiwar message?? Not really... the "serious" side of the plot didn't have much impact. Overall, the dubbing made the situation much worse. Why didn't they learn from Mononoke? Big name Hollywood actors usually don't make good voice actors. “Sen to Chihiro” had much better voice talent in the English dub. The main thing was that was I couldn't take Howl's character seriously. But thats enough negative...it was a fun movie that is definitely enjoyable. I still think the $20/ticket that I paid to see the premiere was worth it. |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4547 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Ebert's lack of cheerkeading for it during Oscar campaign season will make Howl's Moving Castle's prospects of winning a second Best Animated Feature award for Miyazaki all that much tougher.
I wrote about it in my blog:
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v1cious
 Posts: 6229 Location: Houston, TX |
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it's overhyped, seriously. not Miyazaki's best work at all.
Last edited by v1cious on Sat Jun 11, 2005 4:01 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2312 Location: Online Terminal |
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Well, it looks like you can't win em all.
Even God had his off days. (if you believe in that kinda stuff) |
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stampeder
Posts: 1 Location: Toronto, Ontario |
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i watched it yesterday at the only theater showing it in Toronto and I enjoyed it very much.....
only reason I could think that it wasn't up to Miyazaki's normal standards is that this was an adaptation from a novel....this probably didn't give Miyazaki as much leeway as he usually would have on one of his own works.... voices for the dub weren't as bad as I thought they would be; compared to the Japanese voices, they are just as good IMHO....like Miyazaki's other creations, I'm going to pick this up when released without hesitation |
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Yeah, but so was Kiki's Delivery Service, and many people would argue that Kiki is Miyazaki's best film. I enjoyed Howl myself, and artistically speaking, it's stunning. But I'll agree it's not his best work. I have to admit, though, that while I'm not one to frequently swoon over animated characters, Howl definitely qualified as swoon-worthy, which probably increased my enjoyment of the film.  And there were still creative and innovative things things in the film, just not as much as in Miyazaki's earlier work.
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Pepperidge
 Posts: 1106 Location: British Columbia, Canada |
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I really liked Howl. Quite a bit more than Spirited Away, actually. I really don't understand why people are being so hard on it.
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JiJi McPaws
 Posts: 40 Location: Orlando, FL |
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It's not as if Ebert gives a review you don't like and he's some badguy, I'm more interested in the movie now. There are Miyazaki movies I just don't like despite the amount of times I've tried to enjoy them, like Nausicaa and Castle.
Also, wasn't Howls moving castle originally being directed by the creater of Digimon until he injured his hand? Didn't Miyazaki start directing the movie after a good portion of it was completed? It's possible that it could lack that certain touch. |
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chicogrande
 Posts: 190 Location: Huntsville, Alabama |
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I respect Ebert and like his partner for their movie reviews and even though I haven't seen "Howl" yet, I can't wait for the opportunity. Regardless of his comments, I will watch it and, as always, find charm in it. For anyone looking for movies with substance, that challenge your intellect and expand your movie going experience, movies like Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are great posibilities.
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Sir_Brass
 Posts: 476 Location: Prescott, AZ |
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I wouldn't argue that, though I would argue that it is still an excellent Miyazaki film. It's just not his best, though. I'm torn between Mononoke Hime, Sen to Chihiro, Laputa, and Naussicaa as contenders for the title of Miyazaki's Best Work. |
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JETBLACK87
 Posts: 1073 |
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As you can see here , Ebert also liked Akira.
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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I enjoy Miyazaki's work, but I don't particularly like anime movies-series usually have more room for character development, so movies are often as "pretty good" vs "love it" for me. Spirited Away was very good, but I don't re-watch it all that much. That said, I loved Howl's whan I saw it today.
All I can imagine is it could be critic backlash like when a performer has a big hit it seems critics slam the next effort unless it's the second coming. As for bad reviews, when I checked Yahoo yesterday, the average critic score at that time was A- so Ebert's must be one of those dragging the score down, but that just means a lot of critics were giving it an A. Just checked back-it's down to a B+ which still isn't bad & they're crediting Ebert's review as a B-. As I suggested, it seems everyone's comparing it ti Spirited Away. Don't count it out for an Oscar yet--it also depends on the competition. I don't think any of the stuff I've seen this year or have seen ads for coming out later this year compare. Chicken Little? Madagascar? Right now I'd give it a good chance. |
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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86% freshness level on rottentomato. Many good review by critic also, but I guess Ebert is the Man, to have this much influence.
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