(no subject)
Howl's Moving Castle is all kinds of shiney, cool and win.
Howl - the character - is one of the more original 'heroes' I've seen lately. He's spoiled, cowardly, flamboyant and a little general odd and just too adorable for words. I love his habit of not so much neglecting to look before he leaps but never looking before, during or after the leap.
His functional-disfunctional relationship with Calcifer is brilliant and I really, really liked Sophie too. That surprised me, actually. I don't generally like the wide-eyed, just-plain-ol'-me heroine who solves everything and scores the hero. But Sophie (particularly Gramma Sophie) was brilliant. I adored her!
The spy-dog reduced me to hysterics on more than one occaision, particularly where he couldn't get up the stairs and when he was 'talking' into the crystal ball at the end. (Dad still insists that the proper canine response would have been to cock a leg on the crystal ball and scamper off.)
But my favourite character was Turnip-head. Seriously. A cursed scarecrow; who keeps falling over; helps with the chores; fetches sticks when old ladies need them; brings you an umbrella when your one true love has been childish and petty; can carry fat old witches several feet in a single bound without hurting or dropping them and best of all, turns into a hot blond after he's kissed. What's not to like?
So, oh wise and benevolent f-list, what other films/books/things do you recommend?
Howl - the character - is one of the more original 'heroes' I've seen lately. He's spoiled, cowardly, flamboyant and a little general odd and just too adorable for words. I love his habit of not so much neglecting to look before he leaps but never looking before, during or after the leap.
His functional-disfunctional relationship with Calcifer is brilliant and I really, really liked Sophie too. That surprised me, actually. I don't generally like the wide-eyed, just-plain-ol'-me heroine who solves everything and scores the hero. But Sophie (particularly Gramma Sophie) was brilliant. I adored her!
The spy-dog reduced me to hysterics on more than one occaision, particularly where he couldn't get up the stairs and when he was 'talking' into the crystal ball at the end. (Dad still insists that the proper canine response would have been to cock a leg on the crystal ball and scamper off.)
But my favourite character was Turnip-head. Seriously. A cursed scarecrow; who keeps falling over; helps with the chores; fetches sticks when old ladies need them; brings you an umbrella when your one true love has been childish and petty; can carry fat old witches several feet in a single bound without hurting or dropping them and best of all, turns into a hot blond after he's kissed. What's not to like?
So, oh wise and benevolent f-list, what other films/books/things do you recommend?