Spirited Away

I just saw Spirited Away with a bunch of games club folks. Damn, that was good. Better than Princess Mononoke, which was mostly a retread of Nausicaa, and was lacking in traditional Miyazaki tropes. Spirited Away was full of tropes — no airplanes, but it had flying, and a rushing-over-a-crumbling-bridge scene. (Actually a pipe, not a bridge, but close enough.) And, of course, a spunky young female protagonist.

Anyway, it’s lots of fun, and a real treat for the eyes, full of visual inventiveness and lush detail. I did spend a good chunk of the movie expecting a giant Wayland Flowers to show up, though. (Nobody under thirty is going to get that joke.)