Travel to China
Wednesday, October 25th @ 7:00PM
At the Lansdale Public Library
Weiqi Lu & Laura Hong will present China
Participants will view artifacts from the People's Republic of China
and taste Dishes from the country.
Up to date information about what's happening at your library
Howl's Moving Castle (2005)
movie review by Boo Allen, Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
It's hard to imagine a film more imaginative and creative than this latest work from the world's premier animator.
"Howl’s Moving Castle" by Boo Allen (****1/2) Rated PG, 119 minutes
Trying to describe "Howl’s Moving Castle" is as impossible as trying to explain it or analyze it. So, instead of putting it under the microscope, just relax and enjoy this latest slice of magic from the movie-making enchanter Hayao Miyazaki.
Possibly the greatest single creative mind working in films today, the 64 year-old Japanese Miyazaki has continuously turned out one outrageous animated work after another since the early 1960s. "Howl" is his first film since his amazing "Spirited Away" won an Oscar for Best Animated Film in 2003.
Miyazaki’s films are not throwaway cartoons, and, as such, his convoluted stories are much more suited for a mature brain. But, the animation itself, while often relying on now-outdated methods such as hand-painted backdrops, will still attract youngsters with its avalanche of colors and outlandish creatures and dynamic characters.
Re-capping the plot of a Miyazaki films proves slippery because from second to second it changes directions, never letting a viewer relax, but instead demanding attention for its brilliant landscapes. "Howl" is based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones but has been thoroughly done over by Miyazaki.
Linear progressions rarely occur, if at all. A girl will be standing on a floor, which quickly opens up, and the girl falls though an Alice-in-Wonderland imaginary world, only to return seconds later. Miyazaki’s dreamlike, and often nightmare-like, scenarios have just enough basis in reality to be frightening.
In "Howl," the young Sophie (voice of Emily Morton) gets a curse put on her by the Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall) and she’s changed into a 90 year-old woman (Jean Simmons). Then she meets Howl (Christian Bale), who lives in a moving castle, a huge Rube Goldberg-contraption that makes no sense except that it fits into the Miyazaki oeuvre by changing forms and possessing magical properties.
Sophie and Howl travel through many locales and stages of reality before they accomplish their archetypal task of saving the world. But it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Although a practitioner of old school animation, Miyazaki fills his screens, at times making them look like paisley patterns come to life. Likewise for his breathing creations, which seamlessly enter the realm of the human and then return to spirit form or, frequently, the grotesque.
Because of their nature, foreign language animated films better withstand dubbing. Perhaps because Disney is behind the film’s U.S. release, "Howl" benefits from a stellar voice cast. Billy Crystal’s fire-demon goes a little over the top, as expected, but talents such as Mortimer and Bale combine seamlessly with such legends as Lauren Bacall and Jean Simmons.
Anyone who avoids animated features thinking they are child-fare has never experienced a film by Miyazaki. It’s never too late to start.
boo allen
Howl's Moving Castle was shown at the library on Friday, September 15, 2006. If you missed your chance to watch this wonderful movie, you may rent it for $1.00.
Title | Author | Location |
Beginning ASP.net 2.0 with C# | by Chris Hart | 005.276 HART |
The traveler's gift : seven decisions that determine personal success | by Andy Andrews | 158.1 ANDREWS |
State of emergency : the Third World invasion and conquest of America | by Patrick J. Buchanan | 325.73 BUCHANAN |
The naval officer's manual | by Douglas L. Drewry | 359 DREWRY |
Every woman's nightmare : the true story of the fairy-tale marriage and brutal murder of Lori Hacking | by Steven Long | 364.1523 LONG |
The book club companion : a comprehensive guide to the reading group experience | by Diana Loevy | 374.22 LOEVY |
"Snooze ... or lose : 10 ""no-war"" ways to improve your teen's sleep habits" | by Helene Emsellem | 618.92 EMSELLEM |
Bonsai masterclass | by Peter Chan | 635.9 CHAN |
The bonsai workshop | by Herb L. Gustafson | 635.9 GUSTAFSO |
The cheap bastard's guide to New York City : a native New Yorker's secrets of living the good life--for free! | by Rob Grader | 917.47 GRADER |
"Jamestown, the buried truth" | by William M. Kelso | 973.2 KELSO |
The greatest story every sold : the decline and fall of truth from 9/11 to Katrina | by Frank Rich | 973.931 RICH |
Answering 911 : life in the hot seat | by Caroline Burau | BIO BURAU BURAU |
I feel bad about my neck : and other thoughts on being a woman | by Nora Ephron | BIO EPHRON EPHRON |
Without a net : middle class and homeless (with kids) in America : my story | by Michelle Kennedy | BIO KENNEDY KENNEDY |
Nicole Kidman | by David Thomson | BIO KIDMAN THOMSON |
"Warlord : no better friend, no worse enemy" | by Ilario Pantano | BIO PANTANO PANTANO |
The toughest show on earth : my rise and reign at the Metropolitan Opera | by Joseph Volpe | BIO VOLPE VOLPE |
Slow dance with the planet [sound recording] : [stories from the circumnavigation of the globe in a tall ship] | by Todd S. Jarrell | CASS 910.4 JARRELL |
The experts' guide to 100 things everyone should know how to do [sound recording] | CD 640 ETTUS | |
A perfect union [sound recording] | by Catherine Allgor | CD BIO MADISON ALLGOR |
Don Quixote [sound recording] | by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra | CD F CERVANTES SAAVEDRA |
Drop shot [sound recording] | by Harlan Coben | CD F COBEN |
Ireland [sound recording] | by Frank Delaney | CD F DELANEY |
A breath of snow and ashes [sound recording] | by Diana Gabaldon | CD F GABALDON |
The thrall's tale [sound recording] | by Judith Lindbergh | CD F LINDBERGH |
1984 [sound recording]. | by George Orwell | CD F ORWELL |
The queen of the South [sound recording] | by Arturo Perez-Reverte | CD F PEREZ-REV |
The lovely bones [sound recording] | by Alice Sebold | CD F SEBOLD |
Chappelle's show. Season one [DVD] : uncensored! | DVD FIC CHAPPELLE SHOW | |
Chappelle's show. Season two uncensored! [DVD] | DVD FIC CHAPPELLE SHOW | |
Chappelle's show. The lost episodes [videorecording] | DVD FIC CHAPPELLE'S SHOW LOST EPISODE | |
Entourage. The complete first season [DVD] | DVD FIC ENTOURAGE | |
Entourage. The complete second season [videorecording] | DVD FIC ENTOURAGE | |
Friends with money [videorecording] | DVD FIC FRIENDS WITH MONEY | |
Hoot [DVD] | DVD FIC HOOT | |
Inside man [videorecording] | DVD FIC INSIDE MAN | |
Kinky boots [DVD] | DVD FIC KINKY BOOTS | |
RV [videorecording] | DVD FIC RV | |
The shaggy dog [DVD] | DVD FIC SHAGGY DOG | |
Shakespeare in love [videorecording] | DVD FIC SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE | |
She's the man [videorecording] | DVD FIC SHE'S THE MAN | |
Weeds. Season 1 [videorecording] | DVD FIC WEEDS | |
Dora the explorer. We're a team [DVD] | "DVD JUV FIC DORA THE EXPLORER WE""RE" | |
"Thomas & friends. Thomas, Percy & the dragon [DVD] : & other stories" | DVD JUV FIC THOMAS & FRIENDS THOMAS | |
Caillou : just like daddy | by Christine L'Heureux | E L |
Luna the Wake-Up Cat | by Charnan Simon | E S |
Little men | by Louisa May Alcott | FIC ALCOTT |
Dragon fire | by William S. Cohen | FIC COHEN |
Death of a writer : a novel | by Michael Collins | FIC COLLINS |
"Sharpe's fury : Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Barrosa, March 1811" | by Bernard Cornwell | FIC CORNWELL |
Only revolutions | by Mark Z. Danielewski | FIC DANIELEW |
Paint it black : a novel | by Janet Fitch | FIC FITCH |
After this | by Alice McDermott | FIC MCDERMOTT |
The book of fate | by Brad Meltzer | FIC MELTZER |
Mary : a novel | by Janis Cooke Newman | FIC NEWMAN |
The best-kept secret | by Kimberla Lawson Roby | FIC ROBY |
Summer at Willow Lake | by Susan Wiggs | FIC WIGGS |
Somewhere in Germany : a novel | by Stefanie Zweig | FIC ZWEIG |
Stage fright on a summer night | by Mary Pope Osborne | JUV FIC OSBORNE |
Nighttime is my time | by Mary Higgins Clark | LP FIC CLARK |
Twisted : the collected stories of Jeffery Deaver | by Jeffery Deaver | MYS FIC DEAVER |
The Mephisto Club : a novel | by Tess Gerritsen | MYS FIC GERRITSE |
Fear of the dark | by Walter Mosley | MYS FIC MOSLEY |
The right attitude to rain | by Alexander McCall Smith | MYS FIC SMITH |
Mask market | by Andrew H. Vachss | MYS FIC VACHSS |
Statistical abstract of the United States | by United States. Dept. of the Treasury. Bureau of Statistics. | REF 317.3 U.S. DEPARTMEN OF COMMERCE |
The candle of distant earth | by Alan Dean Foster | SF FIC FOSTER |
Sybil at sixteen | by Susan Beth Pfeffer | SYBIL |
You're invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Hawaiian Beach Party [videorecording] | VIDEO JUV FIC MARY KATE AND ASHLEY | |
The power of kindness for teens : stories selected by Mary Lou Carney editor of Guideposts for teens. | by Guideposts Associates | YA 177 CARNEY |
Rich girls : a novel | by Victoria Ashton | YA FIC ASHTON |
Title | Author | Location |
The new cosmology | by Harold W. G. Allen | 113 ALLEN |
The ultimate safe money guide : how everyone 50 and over can protect, save, and grow their money | by Martin D. Weiss | 332.024 WEISS |
Reading and writing workout for the new SAT | by Geoff Martz | 378.1 MARTZ |
The everything wedding book : absolutely everything you need to know to survie your wedding day and actually even enjoy it! | by Janet Anastasio | 395.2 ANASTASIO |
The everything puppy book : choosing, raising, and training your littlest best friend | by Carlo DeVito | 636.7 DEVITO |
Creative child | by Dorothy Einon | 649 EINON |
The secret symbols of the dollar bill | by David Ovason | 769.5 OVASON |
A bad woman feeling good : blues and the women who sing them | by Buzzy Jackson | 782.421643 JACKSON |
Thank you, President Bush | by George Pratt Shultz | 973.93 VERJEE |
A history of Pennsylvania | by Philip Shriver Klein | 974.8 KLEIN |
Born to rule : five reigning consorts, granddaughters of Queen Victoria | by Julia P. Gelardi | BIO VICTORIA GELARDI |
Your friend, William Penn. | by | BIO PENN WELCOME |
Alentejo blue [sound recording] | by Monica Ali | CD F ALI |
Hit parade [sound recording] | by Lawrence Block | CD F BLOCK |
Ricochet [sound recording] | by Sandra Brown | CD F BROWN |
Sherlock Holmes [sound recording] : a Baker Street dozen | by Arthur Conan Doyle | CD F DOYLE |
Smitten [sound recording] | by Janet Evanovich | CD F EVANOVICH |
Can't wait to get to heaven [sound recording] : a novel | by Fannie Flagg | CD F FLAGG |
The wrong hostage [sound recording] | by Elizabeth Lowell | CD F LOWELL |
Judge & jury [sound recording] | by James Patterson | CD F PATTERSON |
The night gardener [sound recording] | by George P. Pelecanos | CD F PELECANOS |
Superman returns [sound recording] | by Marv Wolfman | CD F WOLFMAN |
Morrigan's cross | by Nora Roberts | FIC ROBERTS |
Angel's rest | by Charles R. Davis | FIC DAVIS |
The face of the assassin | by David L. Lindsey | FIC LINDSEY |
6 Rainier Drive | by Debbie Macomber | FIC MACOMBER |
Fool me once | by Fern Michaels | FIC MICHAELS |
Frogs | by E. Melanie Lever | JUV 597.8 LEVER |
Kangaroos | by E. Melanie Lever | JUV 599.2 LEVER |
Koalas | by E. Melanie Lever | JUV 599.2 LEVER |
Dolphins | by E. Melanie Lever | JUV 599.53 LEVER |
How to draw more manga | by Katy Coope | JUV 741.5 COOPE |
Kids draw anime | by Christopher Hart | JUV 741.5 HART |
Ricochet | by Sandra Brown | LP FIC BROWN |
The Garden of Eden and other criminal delights | by Faye Kellerman | LP FIC KELLERMAN |
Lord John and the private matter | by Diana Gabaldon | MYS FIC GABALDON |
Still life with crows | by Douglas J. Preston | MYS FIC PRESTON |
Cattery row | by Clea Simon | MYS FIC SIMON |
Lost and found : a novel | by Alan Dean Foster | SF FIC FOSTER |
You're invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's camp out party / [videorecording] | by Mary-Kate Olsen | VIDEO JUV FIC MARY KAYE AND ASHLEY |
Hidden empire | by Kevin J. Anderson | YA FIC ANDERSON |
How my private, personal journal became a bestseller : a novel | by Julia DeVillers | YA FIC DEVILLERS |
Mira, Mirror | by Mette Ivie Harrison | YA FIC HARRISON |
Guitar girl | by Sarra Manning | YA FIC MANNING |
Fighting the current | by Heather Waldorf | YA FIC WALDORF |
Mistress of dragons | by Margaret Weis | YA FIC WEIS |