celerbrities & coffee: Elle Fanning & Starbucks

current It girl, elle fanning, getting her caffeine fix courtesy of Starbucks.

basking in her recent success as one of the teenage leads of Super 8 (directed by JJ Abrams), elle fanning (yes, the younger sister of dakota fanning), is set to work on Twixt Now and Sunrise (a film by Francis Ford Coppola) and We Bought a Zoo (a film by Cameron Crowe).

at the ripe old age of 13, elle fanning has already compiled an impressive array of films (Babel, Somewhere, The Nutcracker in 3D), attracting the notice of many critics and industry watchers -- a feat that would be an object of envy for many aspirants twice or thrice her age.

looks, abundant talent, excellent prospects -- what more could a girl want?

miyazaki masterpiece: my neighbor totoro

Among Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films, I’ve always found My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro; 1988) the easiest to appreciate and relate with because, notwithstanding its supernatural elements, the story is essentially grounded in reality (with subtle autobiographical brush strokes) and takes place in a sleepy rural setting.


My Neighbor Totoro has no overt violent scenes, which should make this animated feature fairly suitable even to young children, although it does deal with the threat of loss and pain as only a child can sense it. The film radiates with childlike wonder, discovery and ready acceptance of extraordinary incidents. Basically, it’s one anime title that I’d be pleased to recommend to anyone regardless of his/her age.


The animation, as expected for a Studio Ghibli offering, is top-notch, and the characters are well delineated. The story focuses on two young girls who, along with their father (a college professor), move into an old country house — a quaint, rustic structure complete with cobwebs, rotting posts and rattling windows — in order to be near the hospital where their mother is being treated. In one of her rambles, 4-year-old Mei (and later, along with the her older sister Satsuki) stumbles into the slumbering guardian spirit of the forest — a huge, cuddly, bear-like creature called Totoro, who’s apparently only visible to young children…

Without giving away the rest of the story (I really don’t want to spoil the experience for those who still haven’t seen it), there are several items in this film that should be fairly obvious to a Miyazaki enthusiast. The main protagonist is a young girl (or in the case, girls) who’s learning to grapple with the complexities of life (a recurring theme in many Studio Ghibli films such as Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Laputa Castle, Porco Rossi, etc.). There’s also an endearingly clumsy young boy, Kanta, who shows an abiding interest in planes/aviation (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Laputa Castle), a trait that Miyazaki shared as a child.


My Neighbor Totoro likewise highlights, in unobtrusive but touching instances, the way the Japanese show respect for their old and the ‘natural’ spirits around them.

The "Dark Knight" Cometh

i'm on pins and needles while waiting for The Dark Knight to make its bow in the local theaters. the untimely passing of Heath Ledger, may his soul rest in peace, has only made me more impatient. his take on the Joker was a bit jarring (based on what the trailer showed), to say the least, but in a way it was just as compelling as Jack Nicholson's hammy treatment of Batman's indelible nemesis.


i don't know why Batman Begins hit me the way it did. maybe it was because i got so disillusioned by the way the filmmakers treated the earlier live action Batman films -- which got progressively worse after Tim Burton's Batman. come to think of it, i wasn't that enamored with Tim Burton's piece either. it was ok, i guess, but i never connected with it the way i did with Batman Begins.

or it could have been Christian Bale, whose intense portrayal made Bruce Wayne/Batman somehow easier to accept. either way, Christian Bale obviously made the role truly his own. the moment he stepped on the scene, all the other 'Batman' actors simply flew out of my mind.


i expect Chris Nolan to pick up, if not surpass, from where he left off with Batman Begins. he may not always hit the high notes, but this guy's work is always solid.