March of the Penguins

Title: March of the Penguins
Year: 2005
Director: Luc Jacquet
Starring cast: A tribe of adorable Emperor Penguins!
Narrator: Morgan Freeman (English Language version)
Rated: G

Reel Reviews Rating:

Sometimes we all feel that life is tough. Maybe things aren’t going well at work, or perhaps we have issues with our families. At times we are thankful to just make it through the day.

At least you’re not an Emperor Penguin.

Watership Down

Title: Watership Down
Year: 1978
Director: Martin Rosen
Voices: John Hurt, Richard Briers, Michael Graham Cox, Harry Andrews
Rated: PG

Reel Reviews Rating:

Watership Down is another film that my boyfriend Netflixed because he saw this movie as a kid and wanted to see again. Wary of past childhood movies that he Netflixed and forced me to watch (e.g., Death Race 2000 and The Black Hole), I watched Watership Down with some trepidation. As it turned out, I didn’t have anything to worry after all.

Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

Title: ���尋�神隠� (Spirited Away)
Year: 2001
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Voices: Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki (original Japanese version); Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Suzanne Pleshette (American version)
Rated: PG

Reel Reviews Rating:

Ah, now I get to review my FAVORITE Miyazaki film This will be my pleasure.

Mononoke Hime

Title: も���姫 (Princess Mononoke)
Year: 1997
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Voices: Yoji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yuko Tanaka (Japanese version); Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver (American version)
Rated: PG-13

Reel Reviews Rating:

Unlike the cute and cuddly Tonari no Totoro, Mononoke Hime is much darker and carries a serious message about the delicate but strained relationship between human technology and nature.

Kaze no Tani no Naushika

Title: 風�谷�ナウシカ (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
Year: 1984
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Voices: Sumi Shimamoto, Goro Naya, Yoshihiko Sakakibara, Ichiro Nagai (original Japanese version); Alison Lohman, Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman, Edward James Olmos (American version)
Rated: PG

Reel Reviews Rating:

Ju-On: The Grudge

The first time I watched this movie, I couldn’t sleep for a week. I just couldn’t close my eyes. I kept thinking about the images from the film and imagining that when I open them, that damn creepy kid would be staring at me. What is it with Japanese horror films with creepy kids?