Belle (Mamoru Hosoda)

[Ivan Drago]

IMDB / Wiki

[Ivan Drago]

Not sure if we're counting this as a 2022 or 2021 release since it's getting pushed for the Oscars this year, but regardless of that, here are my thoughts.

[Philip J. Fry]

[Ivan Drago]

Saw it in a theater today. Not only does it hold up, but it's also the closest I've ever seen an anime come to replicating the look and spirit of the best Disney films.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Wow, I loved this. One could poke holes in it 'till the cows come home, but in the end it works musically, visually, and emotionally. So glad I was able to catch it in a theater.

EDIT: FWIW, I saw the dubbed version and can 100% recommend it dubbed. It may not have the big names of Ghibli localizations, but it's solid overall -- and most importantly it was easy to connect emotionally to the lyrics of the songs. I've since listened to the Japanese versions of the songs and they're equally beautiful, but I wonder if the effect would've been diminished somewhat by the language barrier.

Lend Me Your Voice on repeat.

EDIT 2: Couldn't stop listening to the music, so I went to see it again, this time with subs. I enjoy the music moments more when there's no language barrier, but otherwise it's easy to recommend either version.

[Philip J. Fry]

[Peng]

This sets up so many story threads it's almost inevitable that the ending feels crammed with one resolution after another, with not enough breathing room for half of them to properly register. I also think the way the story is engineered into Beauty and the Beast-homaged scenario is a bit strained. But this is always gorgeous; both the serene, sunlight-dappled real world and the amazingly fluid and colorful virtual reality complement other perfectly, with Hosoda's visuals opening a straight throughline to many generous, big-hearted moments of outsized emotions that frequently sweep me away. Plus an even-handed look at online space that can be used for both bad and -- in the director's hopeful view -- good too. 7/10

[Philip J. Fry]