Spirited Away 90 This is director Hayao Miyazaki and producers Studio Ghibli at their best. On the surface level, it's a film about a young girl who stumbles into an abandoned theme park with her parents. She accidentally finds herself in a creepy spiritual world wherein she must find a way to save her parents and escape. More broadly, however, this is a film about the struggle for Japanese cultural identity in the wake of the economic crisis of the early 90's. A deep and deeply hypnotizing movie about a little girl's journey. More On Amazon Animation / Family Foreign1 2001
Wolf Children 90 If you're living alone and just came back home from a bad day, it could make you feel like everything's alright again. This is the kind of movie that feels like a warm hug, that you'd keep in your hard drive to watch over and over again, just because it makes you feel so damn good! The story offers a realistic yet ultimately forgiving view of maternity, and growing up in general. From director Mamoru Hosoda, who's known for his other works like "The Girl Who Leaps Through Time", "Wolf Children" is another kind of beautiful that can only be fully understood after you watched it. More On Amazon Animation Foreign2 2012
Song of the Sea 79 This animated movie is absolutely wonderful. It’s an Irish production, and the drawings/graphics are so beautiful and different from what you usually see in this genre. This alone, along with the music, would be good reasons to watch this.But what really makes this worth your time is the story – it’s about a boy dealing with the loss of his mother. He embarks on an adventure into a parallel world of feelings to save his sister.I found it to be refreshingly original, sometimes quite intense (I cried, but I easily cry), and heartwarming. The details are great. And I love the way the story was interwoven with Irish mythology, making it magical. More On Amazon Animation Original2014
Princess Mononoke 90 A fantastic animated period piece set during the Muromachi era in Japanese history. It follows a young man who is looking for a cure for his curse from a demon before he dies. At the same time, the film explores environmental issues, showing the effects of a brutal war between the nature gods and humans. The story is action packed and fast paced, drawing freely from Japanese mythology and modern hot topic political issues. Similarly, the renowned animation is a combination of classic hand drawn animation and pioneering 3-D rendering. More On Amazon Animation / Sci-Fi Foreign1 1999
Mary and Max 91 A heartwarming and (ironically) heartbreaking indie film based around the lives of Mary, an 8-year old girl from Australia, and her pen pal Max, a 44-year old man from America. The film follows these two as they deal with life's complications, from the perspective of a child and an autistic man. One of the most riveting and diverse films I've seen, with many joyous moments and cold plot twists. Would recommend 8 condensed milks out of 10. More On Amazon Animation / Comedy Grown-up Comedy2 2009
The Secret of Kells 81 A Franco-Gaelic animated film nominated for an Academy Award, the Secret of Kells certainly isn't your average Disney fare. Set in 8th century Ireland, it is beautifully animated, taking cues from ancient illuminated manuscripts and Gaelic folk art. Featuring a plot heavily inspired by Irish mythology, it tells the story of the Viking invasion of Ireland and the creation of the Book of Kells, an Irish national treasure. The world of the film pulses with the lush greenery of the island, populated by fairies, giants, magic and mystery. More On Amazon Animation / Sci-Fi 2009
The Triplets of Belleville 89 This French film, written and directed by the filmmaker Sylvain Chomet, is in the strictest sense an animated foreign comedy film but it is unlike anything I have ever seen. It has a unique surrealist animation style that manages to stay oddly grounded. In other words, it wasn't some psychoactive drug trip but more like taking a look at the world through Salavador Dali's eyes. However what struck me the most while watching this film was how everything was animated to extenuate ugliness and imperfection. None of the surroundings and characters look like you see in most animated films, either hyper-realistic or like unblemished porcelain dolls; everything is drawn with blatant, over-exaggerated, and warped features. These features define each character as well as instantly evoking what thoughts and feelings the director wants you to associate with them. The characters' exaggerated features also allow the film to progress without almost any actual dialogue. Contextual clues and facial expressions were more than enough to conduct entire conversations as well as progress the story line without ever saying a word. This makes the movie accessible to people of all tongues without the subtitle stigma that many people have with watching foreign films. In conclusion, while this film is not for the causal movie watcher, it is still a beautifully imperfect work of hand-drawn art that is an experience that goes far beyond mere entertainment. More On Amazon Animation / Comedy / Drama Foreign2003
