Ponyo

Went to the Ridgeway 4 (one of two venues in Memphis where you can watch off-the-wall movies) and watched Miyazaki's Ponyo. There's something about watching a Miyazaki film for the first time that doesn't really have a parallel in the rest ofthe American entertainment experience. They're so lyrical, so beautifully designed and executed, that to watch them is to watch a work of art executed for two hours. Ponyo was clearly a children's movie; the plot was extremely light, and the main characters were both five, but the amount of suspense that that movie could generate was incredible. There were moments when Jon and I were sitting forward in our seats, hands caught up to our faces in an agony of waiting as characters so closely skirted disaster--it was excellent. The visual effects of the movie were also amazing and very much like an ukiyo-e painting come to life.

A+. Would watch again.