Top 5 wild, weird Western crossovers

List by Danielle

"The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say."
~ The first line of 'The knife of never letting go', by Patrick Ness

Wikipedia goes into loving detail about some of the newfangled flavours of Western out there, from the Weird West or Science Fiction Western (which seems to have a more historical setting, albeit one that plays fabulously fast and loose with real history, see 'Cowboys vs Aliens' or Cherie Priest's award-winning steampunk westerns) to the Space Western, in my heart always associated with by Joss Whedon's wonderful (and forever shiny!) 'Firefly' and 'Serenity'. Okay, the boundaries of these sub-genres are as fluid and fiddly as most genre distinctions seem to be, but the lists of films, TV, graphic novels and books cited show that there's some exciting storytelling to be exploring, out on the frontiers.

Top 5 treats from Studio Ghibli

List by Danielle

'Simply put, I think that a film which is made specifically for children and made with a lot of devotion, can also please adults. The opposite is not always true. The single difference between films for children and films for adults is that in films for children, there is always the option to start again, to create a new beginning.'
~ Hayao Miyazaki (interview at Midnight Eye)

Long, long ago, in a time far, far in the past where I had no children and could indulgently watch films at will and with tremendous frequency, I remember seeing Spirited Away for the first time, and being sooo excited by it that I ran home and made my nearest and dearest watch it, too. The colours of this animated feature were so vibrant, the mythology so different from anything I'd seen, the story such a surreal journey... it was a world away from any other animated movie I'd ever seen before. This was the start of my love affair with director Hayao Miyazaki, and the magical Studio Ghibli.

One of the neat things about now having kids, of course, is introducing them to movies like these. I was curious - would the imagery be too scary? Would the stories be too unusual for kids who normally scarfed down a diet of Barbie and Disney? Would a dubbed movie hit their ears weirdly? The answer is a walloping NO. They LOVED these movies, starting with Spirited Away and taking off from there. The visual humour and charm are universal, the characters' adventures as intriguing for them as they were for me.

Studio Ghibli have put out many excellent movies, and I haven't seen all of them yet; I can't quite bring myself to watch Grave of the fireflies yet, which is an anti-war movie set at the end of WWII and sounds like a pretty harrowing experience. It's exciting to see that there's a new Ghibli movie in this year's Film Festival, Arrietty, based on Mary Norton's The Borrowers. It's the directorial debut of new Ghibli director, Hiromasa Yonebayashi. "Arrietty is a joyous depiction of an unlikely friendship," says one reviewer, Sarah Louise Dean, who praises the depth, humour and simple beauty that Ghibli brings to the classic story (read her review here).

Top 5 animated family flicks that bear repeat viewing

List by Danielle
"RJ: Loads of food! Heaps of food! Food out the wazoo!
Verne: Well, you know, whatever kind of food comes out of a wazoo, I really don't think we're interested in eating."

If you have small children, and they find a film they like, then chances are you'll be watching it over. And over. And over. Again. Fortunately, film-makers these days seem to excel at making family-friendly tales that not only enchant small children with their bright colours, fun animation and cute stories, but give parents enough sly humour and smart characterisation to get by on your ninth, your tenth, your happily-ever-after umpteenth viewing! Note: this is a non-Pixar list, since Pixar pretty much deserve their own Top 5!

Top 5 old-school animated classics for the family

List by Danielle

Look for the bare necessities / the simple bare necessities

Forget about your worries and your strife...

~ Baloo, the Jungle Book (1967)

As road-tested on pre-schoolers! If you're getting tired of the glossy geometry and smooth surfaces of modern 3-D characters, and the hefty doses of morality, education and behavioural lessons, kick back and enjoy some of our older offerings... guaranteed to include catchy soundtracks inspired by jazz, scat, country and folk music, rip-roaring villains who made evil look sexay, and the kind of friendships between kids and animals that will make your under fives go awwwww... can we get a bear, mummy?