Golden Lion

Guess all 3 movies didn’t manage to win the Golden Lion in the recently concluded Venice Internationa Festival. But Im glad that they did receive other awards.

No Golden Lion for Japan

There was little consolation for Japan’s three entries at the Venice International Film Festival, which ended Saturday. None managed to capture the Golden Lion award for best film, which went to Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” starring Mickey Rourke. Miyazaki Hayao’s “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) picked up a “collateral” award from the Mimmo Rotella Foundation, which annually honors a film that “shows a firm connection with the arts.” A hit with audiences and critics alike, it also received the audience award from the magazine CIAK. The rival anime entry, Oshii Mamoru’s “The Sky Crawlers,” received the Future Film Festival Digital Award. Oshii said, “I guess it will take time before Japanese anime gets its due respect.” But the festival jury considered giving Ponyo a Special Lion award this year, deciding against it as Miyazaki received a lifetime achievement award in 2005. And director Marco Mueller said, “Anything other than a Lion award would have been rude.” Meanwhile, 1997 Golden Lion winner Kitano Takeshi had to settle for the Bastone Bianco Award for his entry, “Akiresu to Kame” (Achilles and the Tortoise).

Source: Japan Zone News

 

News bit – Miyazaki Hayao and Ponyo

The first news is about the raving reception by the Venice audience when Ponyo was screened there. The film is one of the 3 Japanese films, the other two being Oshii Mamoru’s SkyCrawlers and Kitano Takeshi’s Achilles and The Tortoise, in competition for the Golden Lion.

The second news is more personal as Miyazaki Hayao announced that he had become a grandpa recently   Omedetou…

The third news is a link to his interview after the Ponyo screening.

The fourth news is a link to a review on the film by Hollywood Reporter.

 

Ponyo passes 10 Billion Yen

Omedetou…:)

I saw the VCD on sale here in M’sia but I dont think it is a good quality version…however, I really really want to watch this movie – should I buy it? ** thinking…

Read the news here on Variety Asia…

I found some HQ pics  for the movie … I like the first one – so many goldfishes kawaii

Note: Click on for actual version

 

Gake no Ue no Ponyo official site is up but…

hmm, don’t see lots of things there. Only information now. Ghibli has decided not to release a trailer yet. There’s the first official poster and the title logo. The title logo reminded me of “Tonari no Totoro” title logo
Title Logo

 

Nausicaa.net section for Miyazaki’s Ponyo on A Cliff is up

Ah…I’m on a roll here for the new Miyazaki film :p . Anyway, just checked nausicaa.net and they have a section up for the film with some FAQ. Click here to check it out. They have also put up the first sample picture (from Toho’s page on Ponyo). You can see Ponyo, the goldfish princess and some part of Sosuke (like his legs :p ), the character that Miyazaki modelled after his son, Goro (at 5 years old).

 

Miyazaki Hayao next movie – Gake no Ue no Ponyo

Miyazaki Hayao next movie – Gake no Ue no Ponyo

The first details have been revealed of the next project for master animator Miyazaki Hayao (66). “Gake no Ue no Ponyo”, his follow up to 2004’s “Howl’s Moving Castle”, will be drawn entirely by hand and is scheduled for release in July 2008. An original story that draws on the classic tale of the Little Mermaid, it tells of the relationship between a mermaid princess who longs to be human and the 5-year-old Sousuke. The inspiration for the story came to Miyazaki in 2004 when he and Studio Ghibli employees took a company trip to a small town on the Seto Inland Sea. Miyazaki ended up spending two months in the town. The character of the young boy is said to be modeled after Miyazaki’s own son Goro (40), who made his directorial debut with last year’s “Gedo Senki” (Tales From Earthsea). The elder director is following his usual unorthodox style, and so far has drawn out a story board for about the first hour of the movie, with the remainder yet to be decided. Fans of the animator in Japan will be able to watch a rare documentary on his creative process on NHK’s “Professional” on March 27. The show documents the first several months of the development of his latest project.

Source: Japan-zone.com News

ah this is really good news. Even though I am still waiting for that Gedo Senki DVD, I’m happy that the maestro is returning with another movie. So for the time being, I will pass the time watching his old movies . According to nausicaa.net (THE site to go if you are a Ghibli fan and don’t understand Japanese), the english translated title is “Ponyo on a Cliff”. The mermaid princess is called Ponyo. More news and commentary on Ghibli World (another great site to go to for all things Ghibli-related).

Yes, I’m a Ghibli fan and the only place which I truly want to visit if I go to Tokyo is Ghibli Museum at Mitaka!