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just realized i wrote the word “simple” like 40 times in my review of La Jetee lol

this is the kind of deep and poignant review you’re gonna get from an esteemed film critic as myself

I like your review of The Boy & the Heron. I really hated the movie, so it's cool to see another perspective :)

fuck yeah a review of the boy and the heron

@vashti why?

I would love to hear why you hated the movie!

Oh lots of reasons, but it just made me feel disappointed. I thought the pacing was really poor & things felt unfinished. The relationship between Mahito & the others seemed unearned & said, not shown, particularly between him & his new stepmother. I thought the movie felt disingenuous & almost like a mishmash of what makes Ghibli popular. I guess it felt formulaic, probably because of its lack of personal impact on

me. I'm sure it was very personal to the creator, but that didn't make it a good movie in my eyes. The relationships felt really unexplored & undercooked & I didn't find myself caring for any of the characters, nor for the setting itself, whether or not it would fall into ruin. I'm kind of rambling because there are so many things I disliked, but in essence, I didn't think there was enough time to explore its themes

& I didn't feel much of any sort of emotion. It was like reading someone's diary, very personal, but I didn't care for the contents. Or like someone telling me about a dream that was very important & impactful to them but their explanation was too vague for me to understand fully. It was underdeveloped. I mean, I don't particularly think Howl's is a good movie, but I still enjoy it. I think I have the same complaints

with this as I do Howl's, only Howl's pulled it off better. The main difference is that as cluttered as the story was in Howl's, I still cared for the characters while in The Boy & the Heron, I did not.

Yeah this is definitely his most divisive movie for sure. I think a big part of my enjoyment of the film lays heavily on my personal investment in Ghibli films. They were kind of the gateway into anime for me. I think knowing who Miyazaki is elevates the story, so if you're not really familiar with who he is then I can understand why you would come out of the theater scratching your head. My partner did.

I think your perspective is very understandable :) I'm not personally as invested in Studio Ghibli & am a big believer that art, movies, etc. should be self contained, should not rely too heavily on outside knowledge as a prerequisite to viewing, so that's why I personally had a problem with it. When it comes to things I dislike, they normally fall into one of two categories: 1) How could anyone possibly like this? &

2) This just isn't for me, & my thoughts on The Boy & the Heron fall into the latter. I prefer movies with strong emotional currents & this movie just didn't do that for me. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it though! I saw it with my friend at the theatre & she felt similarly to me, so you're the first person I've seen that has enjoyed it!

love all the different views of this movie! its so interesting to know that not everyone is in favor of this movie considering it was so sudden in my eyes. and i did walk out of that theater feeling confused.