Told care of the perspective of Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi), a toddler who feels displaced and insecure in the wake of his sister Mirai’s birth, Mirai is a beautiful adventure fantasy drama that whisks the viewer on a dazzling odyssey across Kun’s entire family tree, culminating in a poignant conclusion that emphasizes the beauty of what it means to love and to be loved. Mirai, the director’s seventh film, is not from Hosoda’s own experience, but filtered through the experiences of his first-born son meeting his baby sibling for the first time. 2015’s The Boy and the Beast was completed just after the birth of Hosoda’s first child, the product of his own questions as to what role a father should play in the life of his son. 2012’s Wolf Children was inspired by the passing of Hosoda’s mother, animated in part by the anxieties and aspirations at the prospect of his own impending parenthood. Summer War, apart from a premise more or less recycled from Hosoda’s 2000 directorial debut Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!, was the many-times-removed story of Hosoda meeting his wife’s family for the first time. Most, if not all, of Mamoru Hosoda’s original films produced in the past decade function, to some degree or another, as exercises in autobiography.
Stars: Haru Kuroki, Moka Kamishiraishi, Gen Hoshino The result is a clear-headed and touching film about finding your own purpose, accepting others as they are and, most importantly, forgiveness. Lead Animator Travis Knight and his sprawling team of animators, designers, and fabricators execute the vision with great flair. The artistic direction illustrates such a love for detail and texture that every bit of scenic design, from the town hall to a plastic bag caught in a fence, creates a perfect world for this story. ParaNorman took two years to animate, and it shows in the exquisite craftsmanship of its design and execution. The arrival of Neil also indicates the arrival of the true heart of this endearing film, which is its humor. Another social outcast, the rotund Neil latches onto Norman, becoming his new best friend (whether Norman wants one or not).
At school, Norman is subject to bullying from students and teachers alike, and we quickly come to care for this small, tough, sweet boy as he patiently cleans the word “freak” from his locker. Norman can see and talk with ghosts, an ability that might make him quite popular with the dead set, but one that does little to improve his social standing with his living schoolmates… or his immediate family. The town of Blithe Hollow, once a colonial village, now a struggling tourist trap, has lived under the threat of a witch’s curse for 300 years-long enough for fear to transmogrify into camp. The tale that follows is part Something Wicked This Way Comes, part The Goonies. This part of the scene is only significant once we learn that grandma is quite dead.
Second, Norman carries on a conversation with his grandmother. This lets us know that the filmmakers approach the upcoming story with tongues firmly planted in cheeks. First, we observe our young hero as he watches a B-zombie flick, complete with choppy edits and a boom mic that creeps its way into the frame. The beautifully crafted stop-motion film ParaNorman opens with two important pieces of information. Stars: Kodi Smt-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin