Can't wait for the latest film-"From Kokuriko Hill"

My friend Kikonuo currently on holiday in Japan, and was fortunate to be able to see Studio Ghibli's new film. It has only been released in Japan, I wouldn't expect a release to the United State until later in 2012.

Here are some information about this latest film:

The new film will be named Kokurikozaka kara (From Kokuriko Hill) and based on a namesake manga. Again the script will be written by Hayao Miyazaki, drected by his son Gorō (who previously worked on Tales from Earthsea) and produced by Toshio Suzuki. The main theme song is said to be performed by Aoi Teshima, the same singer who sang Teru's song for "Tales from Earthsea".

The themes of Miyazaki's film & my friend's NPO website

I'm so glad that I have such a good guy, who is really love peace, care about environment, and always being friendly to everyone. His name is Chris, he told me that he has a dream for all human beings in the world, which is people loves each other, no fights, no war any more, and we can keep a good environment for our next generation. They are so approaching to Miyazaki's films, now here are some key words in Miyazaki's film. If you are a real fan of him, you must already know about that. 

Here is my friend Chris's website: http://demopublican.org/ See if you like it~
My podcast is here

Environmentalism

Miyazaki's films often emphasize environmentalism and the Earth's fragility, especially in the context of critiquing development and pollution.

In My Neighbor Totoro, the great tree tops a hillside on which magical creatures reside, and the family worships this tree. This ecological consciousness is echoed in Princess Mononoke with the giant primordial forest, trees, flowers and wolves. In Spirited Away, Miyazaki's environmental concerns surface in the "stink spirit", a river spirit who has been polluted and who must be cleansed in the bath house.

Love

Many of Miyazaki's films deal with the power of love. In Miyazaki's films, the power of love is enough to break curses set upon people. In "Spirited Away", Kamajii tells Haku that Chihiro saved him from Zeniba's curse using the power of her love for him. In "Howl's Moving Castle" Sophie's confidence in herself and her love for Howl breaks the curse laid upon her by the Wicked Witch of the Waste. In "Porco Rosso" he becomes human again when he is kissed by Fio. In Miyazaki's screenplay of "Whisper of the Heart" Shizuku's love for Seiji makes her follow her passion of writing and write the book while Seiji is away in Cremona, Italy. In "Ponyo", if Sousuke's love for Ponyo was true then the world would be saved.

Flight

Flight, especially human flight, is a recurring theme in Miyazaki's films. He thinks of flight as a form of liberation from gravity. The Studio Ghibli 2002 short film Imaginary Flying Machines is completely devoted to the wonders of flight and is voiced by Miyazaki himself.

In addition to the many aerial devices and drawings of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, which is a flying city, this theme is found in Nausicaä piloting her Mehve and the airborne armies in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Kiki riding her broomstick and watching dirigibles fly over her city in Kiki’s Delivery Service, the large Totoro carrying Satsuki and Mei across the night sky in My Neighbor Totoro, Chihiro riding on Haku's back when in his dragon form in Spirited Away and Howl and Sophie soaring above their town in Howl's Moving Castle. The protagonist in Porco Rosso is a pilot and the film is focused on flying, airplanes and aerial combat, as well as the connection between flight, Ascension and the afterlife.

The film introduction: Spirited Away

Hi guys, here is my favoite animated film from Miyazaki, and I choose some elements just tell you how amazing it is. Enjoy!

Podcast--- Episode 4

Hi guys, here is Moon's podcast

It'll give you some details about the movie Princess Mononoke.
Enjoy.

My podcast 1st episode

The introduce of my blog

Hi, guys, here is a podcast of my blog's introduction. Welcome to my Laputa. 

Castle in the Sky & Theme song

Plot

According to the story's premise, human fascination with the sky prompted increasingly sophisticated ways of lifting aircraft from the ground; ultimately including flying cities and fortresses, of which most were later destroyed during an unspecified catastrophe, forcing the survivors to live on the ground as before. One city, Laputa, remains in the sky, concealed by a violent thunderstorm; whereas large airships remain in common use.
Aboard a civilian airship, a girl named Sheeta is escorted to an unknown destination by sinister-looking agents under Colonel Muska. The ship is attacked by a group of sky pirates led by an old, vivacious woman named Dola and her sons Charles , Louis, and Henri. In the resulting disorder between Colonel Muska's men and Dola's pirates, Sheeta takes a small pendant from Muska and escapes through a window. The sky pirates attempt to seize her and the pendant, but Sheeta falls from the ship, whereupon the pendant radiates a blue light and she gently floats to the ground. An apprentice miner named Pazu witnesses this and catches Sheeta, whom he conveys to his own house. There, she finds a photograph of Laputa, which Pazu's deceased father, an airship pilot and adventurer, had taken but was disbelieved by his contemporaries. Pazu believes the city exists and wishes to find it.

Dola's sky pirates arrive at Pazu's house, forcing the children to leave, with Sheeta in disguise. They are pursued by Dola's pirates and cornered by soldiers; but fall from a collapsing rail trestle and are saved when Sheeta's pendant activates once again, allowing them to float safely into an abandoned mine shaft.

Inside the mines they meet an old miner, Uncle Pom, who tells them of "volucite" (levistone in some subtitled versions, levitation stone in the original English language dub, and aetherium in Disney's English language dub), the crystal that keeps Laputa aloft. He reveals that Sheeta's pendant is one of the largest and purest of such crystals in existence and counsels Sheeta to remember that the crystal's power rightly belongs to the earth and that she should never use it to commit acts of violence.

Upon returning to the surface of the land, Sheeta tells Pazu that she has inherited an ancient "secret name": Lusheeta Toel Ul Laputa (Laputian for "Sheeta, True Ruler of Laputa"). A plane then unexpectedly lands with army soldiers and the two are captured, placed in a fortress, and separated.

The general in command of the fortress discusses with Muska the government-sponsored search for Laputa and agree that Sheeta and her crystal are the keys to its discovery. Muska reveals to Sheeta his knowledge of her true name, shows her a huge android robot believed to have been created in Laputa, and tells her that unless she cooperates with him in the search of Laputa and unlocking the crystal's secrets, which he believes can be used to physically locate Laputa, Pazu is likely to come to harm. Seeking to protect her friend, Sheeta tells Pazu that she has agreed to cooperate with Muska and the army in search of Laputa and asks him to forget her and Laputa. Stunned by this apparent rejection, Pazu returns to his village only to find Dola's pirate family occupying his home and eating dinner as they capture him upon arrival. Pazu tells Dola of his experiences. When the pirates learn that Sheeta, Muska, and the general will depart the fortress in search of Laputa aboard the gigantic military airship Goliath, Pazu begs Dola to take him with her.
In the fortress tower, Sheeta absent-mindedly recites a spell given by her grandmother, causing the crystal to illuminate a strange blue light that points to Laputa. The spell also re-animates the robot, which wreaks havoc all over the fortress, setting it on fire. The robot rescues Sheeta, demonstrating its loyalty, before it is destroyed by the Goliath airship. In the meantime, Dola and Pazu show up and rescue Sheeta from the burning tower, but her crystal is torn from her neck and later recovered by Muska, who uses it to track down Laputa. The children and Dola's pirates pursue the Goliath aboard the pirate ship Tiger Moth, intent on finding Laputa before the Goliath does. That night, as Sheeta and Pazu stand watch on the crows nest, they talk at length about their respective lives, touching upon Sheeta's study of magic words and mentioning one such spell, the Spell of Destruction, a power Sheeta has never used. Dola, who is awake in bed, overhears their discussions through the intercom.
Amid their conversation, Pazu sees the Goliath rise from the clouds. The airship attacks, but the Tiger Moth escapes unharmed. The Tiger Moth enters a storm, and Dola tells the children to keep watch above the clouds by turning the crows nest into a glider. Soon a massive cloud becomes visible, which Pazu recognizes from his father's descriptions as Laputa's hiding place. As they try to find a way in, the Goliath attacks again and the glider Sheeta and Pazu are riding is blasted away from the pirate ship. After a harrowing ride through the storm-charged cloud, the children land in Laputa, only to find the city devoid of human life, having only a single robot among the ruins taking care of the grounds and its plant and animal life. In the grounds is a gargantuan tree, whose roots have pervaded Laputa's base.

The Goliath arrives at Laputa, whereupon the soldiers plunder the city's vast treasures. The Tiger Moth is found wrecked on the surface, with Dola and the pirates being held captive. As Pazu attempts to rescue Dola, Sheeta witnesses Muska locating a hidden entrance to a large sphere that surrounds the city's core; she is subsequently captured and taken inside. Pazu frees the pirates and, after many difficulties, finds another way into the sphere.

Muska takes Sheeta into Laputa's core, a chamber holding a gigantic Volucite/Aetherium crystal that serves as the city's power source, and reveals that he is also an heir to the throne of Laputa. He takes control of Laputa and all its technology and demonstrates the power of the city to the army by beaming an immensely powerful blast toward the surface. Betraying the general and the army, he then activates hundreds of robots to wipe out the army and the Goliath while Dola and the pirates hide from the robots inside the remains of the Tiger Moth. Sheeta frees herself, steals back the crystal and runs through the core with Muska in close pursuit. Eventually, she finds Pazu and passes the crystal to him.
Muska finally corners Sheeta in the city's throne room. He brandishes a handgun at her, blasting off her braids. Pazu, with a hand cannon provided by Dola, then enters and asks for a moment to talk to Sheeta, which Muska grants. Together, the two children decide to use the Spell of Destruction; with a single word, the pendant releases an enormous power surge that triggers the collapse of the city's core. Muska is blinded by the flash and falls to his death, while Sheeta and Pazu are hurled into the tangle of roots from the giant tree and survive. Afterwards they find their way back to the glider, also lodged in the tangle of roots, and leave Laputa.

The Dola pirates also survive Laputa's destruction aboard their moth fighters, and are overjoyed to be reunited with Sheeta and Pazu in midair, with some Laputan treasure as a compensation for their troubles. After reaching the coast, the pirates and the children bid each other a fond farewell and part ways. The ending credits show the remains of Laputa, held together by the tree, continuing to rise, until they apparently establish an orbit high above the earth.

Spirited Away & link of Movie

Storyboard:

A young girl finds herself trapped in a mystical realm, where she must find a way to save her parents - who have been turned into pigs.

 Here is a link to show the whole movie.
The Whole Movie with Chinese trancription

There's something almost criminal about the way Spirited Away took over two years to reach Britain after its original Japanese release. In Japan, Hayao Miyazaki is both commercially successful (his films regularly beat box office records) and highly respected (Akira Kurosawa said: "I am somewhat disturbed when critics lump our works together. One cannot mimimise the importance of Miyazaki's work by comparing it to mine."). In Britain, however, his work has barely got more than a few cursory arts venue screenings. At least Spirited Away - which took the Berlin Golden Bear in 2002 and the Best Animated Film Oscar in 2003 - made it. Better late than never.