[AUS] REEL ANIME 2012 [Sept 13-26]
 

Participating cities include:

• Sydney
• Melbourne
• Brisbane
• Canberra
• Adelaide
• Avoca Beach
• Hobart
• Perth

As always, visit the screenings tab on the official website for more information.

ah nice

Found the location in Brisbane, only a few suburbs away.

Wolf Children and Berserk seem interesting to me.

Is From Up On Poppy Hill from Studio Ghibli????

Had no idea about this and I really wanted to see Wolf Children, props Brocko, good shit.

Yes it's Goro's latest masterpiece, watch Wolf Children instead!

Poppy Hill is the latest Ghibli film, yes. Although that's probably the one that I'm least excited about haha :heh:

I'm most excited about Wolf Children. Those who've enjoyed The Girl who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars should seriously consider Wolf Children, as it's pretty much the spiritual successor to those two. Mamoru Hosada is once again the helming the directors seat for this and he has yet to disappoint.

Children Who Chase Lost Voices is the latest Makoto Shinkai work (Voices of a Distant Star, 5cm Per Second, Beyond the Clouds). It's a shame that I've already seen it though. Would've much preferred to have waited and see it on the big screen firsthand if I had known about this earlier. But still a treat nonetheless!

Berserk is pretty self-explanatory. Big dude with big sword part 1 :heh:

@ Westlo
Just sharing the love brother :D Not often do we get to enjoy things like this, so it'd suck for people to miss out, not to mention if there's no support for events like this then they might not make anymore in the future!

Nah, I'll watched both... I love Studio Ghibli... Thanks for the info though I live in the Philippines!!!:heh:

Looking forward to Wolf Children. Berserk and Poppy Hill not much.

Hoshi wo Kodomo I've already seen... and it was quite disappointing considering what Shinkai is capable of. Though he has two films in the making, one of which is back to his "roots" so I'm looking forward to that one in the future.

That's interesting to hear that Shinkai has two more movies on the way.

I agree that Lost Voices wasn't what I initially expected from him at first, but I think that's more of a by-product of him trying to do something a little different for once. It actually felt a little more like a Ghibli style adventure film this time around, although still somewhat sprinkled and tinged with his usual story-telling thematic. I'd still encourage people to watch it anyway, since it wasn't an entirely bad film by any means and the opportunity to see it on the big screen as intended won't probably show up ever again. Most of us who are already familiar with his past works, have probably already been spoiled by them so expectations might be a little out of wack lol :heh: For someone new, I'm sure it'd be less disappointing for them though :p

Wolf Children is definitely recommended. Do be aware, however, that the movie has garnered its fair share of critics, despite generally positive reviews. And I do agree with some of the criticism, such as those related to the predictability and sentimentality of the plot, though I personally feel that those "flaws" were more than compensated by a fresh take on a familiar tale, keen observations of daily life, and the story's heartwarming sincerity.

Contrary to the negative opinions, I would recommend From Up on Poppy Hill as well (I watched it in Tokyo last year shortly after it premiered). While it's not on a par with the best of Studio Ghibli, it's a worthy addition to its pantheon nonetheless. Do not be put off by its association with Miyazaki Goro. In terms of quality, the movie struck me very much as a cross between Only Yesterday and Ocean Waves. Bear in mind that there's a good reason the latter film ranks among the more obscure of Ghibli films (Pom Pomko, anyone? Interestingly, Wolf Children shares many thematic similarities with this particular Ghibli film). It was one of those projects done by a junior team, and it shows. I'd rate Poppy Hill higher than Ocean Waves.

Someone really bugged me to watch Wolf Children and I think I'll look forward to it.

Yeah,I completely love Wolf children,have seen it 3 times already,but you can't deny the predictability but with a story this well told I don't give a damn :heh:

But if people go in expecting Hosoda to have come up with something groundbreaking they'll be disappointed,same if they're expecting another Summer wars,Wolf children is a much quieter and slower paced film,so I've seen people say that while they liked Wolf Children they preferred the more energetic summer wars.

Thanks for chiming in :)

I'll be watching all four films regardless though. Gotta show support for it to grow and plus I'd hate myself if I missed any of those films on the big screen.
Someone over on another forum mentioned that if you liked singing you should watch PoppyHill. Kinda implied to me that it was going to be a Disney sing-a-long type film, which I really don't enjoy lol :heh: Will make sure to share my thoughts after I've seen it though.

Only 31 more hours to go before it kicks off!! :p

That's a strange way to describe the movie. :heh: I can't think of why it's like a "sing-a-long", though there is a particular song that plays an important role in the story. I would say that the movie caters mostly to Japanese audiences, especially older Japanese who grew up in the 1960s, a time when Japan was finally emerging from the shadows of its devastated post-war economy and, more importantly, a time when student activism was at its peak, not just in Japan, but in all developed countries at the time. In short, some familiarity with Japan's post-war circumstances would be helpful for appreciating the film.

If you're the type who enjoys shows such as Showa Monogatari, you'd definitely like Poppy Hill.

I was about to watch it a third time in four days, but I stopped myself, as it felt embarrassing to be recognised by the cinema staff. :heh: (The movie opened at two screens, but was reduced to just one within days. I blame poor marketing for the disappointing response.)

It would be even better to share the movie with your parents. I'd definitely recommend Wolf Children for Mother's Day. ;)

I'm of the opinion that Wolf Children is Mamoru's Hosoda's most mature film to date though, admittedly, he has only three (not counting his Digimon efforts) under his belt. Summer Wars was literally meant to be a summer blockbuster, while TokiKake, though entertaining, was very much a debut effort with obvious flaws. I think some critics were hoping for something more nuanced and with more shades of grey, like, say, Whisper of the Heart or even Spirited Away. Like you, I don't think Hosoda is that kind of creator. I'm quite happy with him staying true to his own sensibilities and producing sincere works.

When a creator forces himself to sell a message, the story inevitably suffers. This, I feel, is where Miyazaki Goro failed with regard to Tales from Earthsea (he tried too hard to inject his own experiences of strained relationships with his father into the movie). In journalism, we call it editorialising, and it's generally frowned upon, and with good reason. The good news? Goro didn't repeat the mistake in Poppy Hill.

I saw Wolf Children on opening day and loved every single minute of it. Heart tugging and heart warming scenes galore, such a pleasure and joy to watch. Can't wait to own it on DVD/BD! Definitely the highlight film out of all four imo :)

The next day I marthoned all the other films and caught Wolf Children for a 2nd time, just cause :heh: Yay for free Wolf Children poster too :D

A few of my friends that I dragged to watch Wolf Children who weren't as heavily into anime as me, kinda got weirded out by the whole half wolf and half human subject matter though. So I guess that's one barrier preventing people from fully embracing the film. One of them loved the shit outta Berserk but, so I guess sentimental stuff just wasn't in tune to his taste lol :p

I'm listening to the films OST right now, and so many of the film's imagery is coming back to me. I must have one of the goofiest Hana smiles in the world right now. It's evident that I still havn't gotten oven the Wolf Children high yet lol :heh:

I guess that sing-along assumption was just me jumping to conclusions there based from his comment :heh: But having seen the movie I can understand why he'd make such a comment. The OST was really jazzy and felt heavily broadway musical a lot of the time. In fact, most of those scenes when the jazz was pumping I was half expecting everyone to just up and dance and sing as if it were a musical. Thankfully they didn't though, even if the music and scene compositions really did make it feel like there were. In short it kinda felt like a musical minus the singing and dancing during those times, weirdly enough lol. The film itself was not bad by any means, and it certainly didn't turn out disappointing as I was half-expecting but I'd be hard-pressed to rate it any higher than average or above average at best.

Do contribute to the Wolf Children thread. It'll be great to see more reviews, reflections and debate on such a wonderfully crafted, multi-facted story. :)

Interesting. It's certainly something worth thinking about. Some reviewers felt, for example, that the movie wasted an opportunity to explore the sensitive issue of mixed ethnicity.

I'm loving the soundtrack. きときと - 四本足の踊り (Kito kito, yon hon aji no odori, "Indeed, indeed, the dance of the four-legged"), the track that plays during the snow scene is one of my favourites. I love 雨上がりの家 (Ame agari no ue) the most, though. ;)

It's not the best of Ghibli, but certainly not its worst either. In any case, the time of Ghibli is probably nearing its natural end, but with new talent coming up from other parts of the industry, it's not necessarily something to worry about any more.

*Hm... that to me, just sounds more like wish-fulfillment from the reviewers than anything. Hosoda wanted to base the film on wolves since he felt they were misunderstood and often unfairly labeled. Forcing him into exploring mixed ethnicity would've resulted in that editorializing issue that you identified earlier. I'm glad he managed to do what he wanted to with Wolf Children. I'm sure a lot of the human/wolf interracial issues from the film could be applied to mixed ethnicity as well, even if it's not exactly the same thing and wasn't entirely spelled out.

#There's just so many good tracks on this OST and they all work so well with their respective scenes too. Those two that you mentioned are particularly stand out ones for me too, but I must say track 7 - ねね (googling tells me this is the hiragana for "ne ne" which should be something like "hey hey" I think :heh:) is a little favourite of mine, I think partially because this is when the kids (particularly Yuki) manage to take the spotlight for the very first time. "Okaa-san! I'm hungry!" :p.

Except that to me it didn't,you can totally see being a wolf children as a metaphor for mixed ethnicity.Yes wolves can be misunderstood and unfairly labeled,just like people of a different ethnicity from other locals.

Overall, good that these titles get a cinema airing in Australia.

But a Madman-driven event isn't one I will attend.

Well it's pretty much either Madman or no man at all over here really... =/
I'm just thankful they've managed to bring the films over at the very least.

But just out of curiosity, why the Madman avoidance? lol

Let's just say I've met Tim, Sly, Ben and Nathan and see how they operate and what they want the Australian anime market to be. I don't like them.

And what do you mean it's Madman or nothing? Siren Visual have gotten a decent collection going for the 5 years they've been delving into anime and are doing a decent job at making the content availabel within Australia more than just shounen, ecchi and Ghibli titles for the greater part. Heck, they were going after moe titles before Madman did. If Siren hadn't done well with Clannad and Angel Beats, I doubt Madman would have embraced it like they have the last 12 months. And Siren's noitaminA commitment is admirable. In time, I think Siren can truly make it a two-company scenario in Australia, but that may be 10 years down the road. They need a bigger collection of titles to compete with Madman and that takes time. Met Leon from Siren, he is a champ, a true anime fan of past and present but a down-to-earth guy that is honest, approachable and willing to support those who are genuine anime fans. He's that rare type of fan I wish there were more of.

And yeah, there is that other company that just got formed by Eric called Hanabee. But after the virtually criminal things he did at Siren he did before he left, I don't wish any good for Hanabee. Eric's aim is to take Madman down permanently. Good luck with that - especially if you screw the majority of your long-term business partners time and time again and only go for stuff already licensed overseas for years.