Your Lips Come Some Surprise

Though I’ve become used
to living, travelling and eating alone
there is still
something
I occasionally miss:
one sweet
unexpected
kiss.

 

Ponyo Town

Tomonoura (鞆の浦) is a port town at the southern end of Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Situated at a bay facing the Seto Inland Sea, the picturesque port town features an endearing old-fashioned fishing townscape, with a calm and laid-back atmosphere. Tomonoura is part of the Setonaikai National Park.

In recent years, Tomonoura has been picked as a filming location for several international and local movies, such as “The Wolverine” starring Hugh Jackman and “Ponyo on the Cliff” by the popular Studio Ghibli. The port town portrayed in the beginning of “Ponyo on the Cliff” was modeled after Tomonoura (from Japan-guide.com).

I went to visit my friends Anees (the male version of my name) and his beautiful wife, Amy this weekend in Fukuyama (about 2.5 hours drive). They took me to Tomonoura the port-town that inspired Miyazaki’s Ponyo and it was unreal. Though I  wish you too could have been there. Or at least, been there for the road-trip. Though I am used to living and travelling alone, I am still human. I wish I could have been there on a romantic date. Speaking of dates, I took them raw truffles. For lunch, we had local snapper (not pictured). For dinner, soba (pictured). I stayed the night. For breakfast, homemade sourdough with natural yeast (made by Anees) and fresh vegetables and herb (basil – homegrown on their balcony).

The Little Prince: A Movie Review

Where to start with this one?! The Little Prince is my favourite book of all time. It is so simple yet so profound. Imaginative, meaningful, intelligent and sweet. All at the same time. No wonder it is a classic and no wonder it can be built upon to make more great art. If you haven’t read The Little Prince then I urge you, with all my heart and soul to go out right now and find it at a bookstore or library near you, and do. Definitely do that before you watch the film.

Welcome back! Now that The Little Prince has forever changed you, you are ready to take on the world. And watch the film. The film which could have easily sucked for attempting to remake a classic but did not.

Seeing as the original tale was too short for a feature film on its own,  The Little Prince, the movie, is framed by the story of an unnamed girl who lives with her strict mother or in Japanese, her Kiyoikumama (a mother who pushes her children to academic achievements). Actually, her strict mom was not the only thing in this movie with a Japanese feel. In particular, the scenes of the grey and monotonous city and the overworked zombified workers screamed Japan (sorry not sorry, someone had to say it). Anyways, their (mother and daughter) story is shot in modern-style 3D stop-motion whilst the story within the story of The Little Prince steps back to a humble 2D animation based on the author’s own elegant watercolors (as seen in the book’s first printing and all editions after).

In my opinion, in addition to the impressive animation, it is the easy-listening narration reiterating the story’s wisdom, the gorgeous soundtrack and the original concept of the story of unnamed girl and cray mother which make this film so spectacular. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. But after you read the book.

5/5

Inside Out: A Movie Review

If you’ve been following my movie reviews, you may have noticed that I like it when films mean stuff; touch an emotion in my heart, relate to my daily-life…etc. That said, of course, I enjoy entertainment as well. Inside Out has both.

Inside Out is Pixar’s newest animation. Pixar, animation, for kids right? Sort of. You see, this movie is all about the mind. In particular, Riley’s, an 11 year old girl who has just moved with her parents to San Francisco from Minnesota. Though Riley is not the main focus of the film. The main focus is her mind, an entirely other world (aren’t all our minds?) where Riley’s anthropomorphized (given human qualities) emotions, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust control her life. Reminding me of this wonderful quote by ‘Abdu’l-Baha:”The reality of man is his thought.”

I don’t know about you but I really think Pixar hit the nail on the head (excuse the pun) with this one. So often, maybe more than I ought to, I find my mind full (not to be confused with mindful) and my emotions driving my life. It is as if something up there is in conflict with itself or something else or missing, or lost. Which is exactly what happens to Riley. Her driving emotion, Joy goes missing from Headquarters causing her perception and reasoning to distort.

Though in the end (trying not to spoil it too much for you), both the film’s characters and the viewer (adult and child) receive a psychology lesson to cherish for life. Which is, the world ain’t so black and white: there is no joy without sadness and vice versa. In Carl Jung’s words, “the word ‘happiness’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.”

Thank you for making such a heartwarming, thought-provoking and witty flick, Pixar.

100/5