Spirited Away by Anime

Maybe I've been watching too many cartoons with my son, but I really like some of the Japanese anime flicks. Recently, I saw a few really superb examples that are aimed more at adults: Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop and Spirited Away.

Metropolis turns Fritz Lang's epic of class struggle into a more personal tale of what it means to be human. Based more on classic Japanese graphic novels than the famous film, the new Metropolis does a great job creating a retro-sci-fi world that mixes the 1920s and the 22nd century.

Cowboy Bebop follows a mismatched group of future bounty hunters trying to prevent a madman from releasing a deadly plague. Pure escapism, but a fun to watch. The characters range from zany to uber hip, the action is as fast and slick as any John Woo movie, and the eclectic jazz/rock soundtrack is fantastic.

My favorite was Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki's story of a little girl who is separated from her parents in an abandoned amusement park only find herself trapped in a resort for wayward spirits. Every scene is filled with imaginative situations and characters and the art is simply stunning. It's not surprising that Spirited Away has been the top-rated movie in Japan for a while (knocking Titanic out of the top spot).