Howl’s Moving Castle (2005)

Howl’s Moving Castle
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Written by: Hayao Miyazaki, Diana Wynne Jones
US Release: June 2005

Finally it’s released in US theaters. I love the book by Diana Wynne Jones, though it was a long time ago since I read it and my memory is failing me on the details. But my impression was still strong, hence I was very disappointed with the Miyazaki adaptation. He took too much artistic liberties yet didn’t do a good job, particularly with the characterization and changes of the story, both plot and theme-wise. First of all the entire part about the ongoing machinery and war destruction was entirely Miyazaki’s own insertion as a ‘war is senseless and stupid’ commentary that wasn’t even concluded in a satisfactory way.

Battle Royale

Battle Royale (1999)
by Koushun Takami

The premise sounds great: A class of junior high students were forced to participate in a survival game on an isolated island conducted by a (hypothetical) Fascist government. Each were given a random weapon, ranged from utter useless things to a machine gun. They have to kill off each other within 3 days until one survivor remained, or else the collars locked on their neck will explode.