As a friend of Hoodlums and a mom, I gave Steve a bunch of family film recommendations when he and Kristian were setting the store back up. I also rib Steve that the family section is too small - there are plenty of parents out there who want good movies for their kids. GOOD movies, movies we want to see as well.

Well, Steve gave me a tiny hint that he had a BUNCH of movies still in the store that SOMEONE had recommended. I told him that maybe those movies needed a little bit of promotion and he invited me to step up and take the job.

So here I am.

My favorite family movies are Hayao Miyazaki movies. I think they’re the best kept secrets around. Some of them are very much for older kids (starting at around 8 or 10) and not younger kids (I’d say 5-7) but they all are beautifully made and worth having at home.

Miyazaki movies (like Pixar movies) are movies that I will buy no questions asked, they are all that good.

In honor of Top Five at Hoodlums, these are my top five Miyazaki films (not in order):

My Neighbor Totoro. Satsuki and Mei move to the country with their father. Their mother is ill in the hospital, and they think the fresh air of the country will help her recover. The girls meet Totoro - a giant creature who lives in a huge tree near their home and that only children can see. I have to say that not a lot happens in this movie but it’s one of my favorites because it’s the one I saw first. There’s such beauty and quietness in this film, every minute of it is a treat. Suitable for all ages. I must say I have the video and not the DVD on this one because they redid it with new voices on DVD and I like the one I had first.

Howl’s Moving Castle. Sophie works in a hat shop. She thinks she’s not pretty or special, and while she’s out one day visiting her sister in town, she meets Howl, a famous wizard, who helps Sophie out of a jam and then disappears. Howl is also famous for being fickle and breaking hearts. A mean witch puts a spell on Sophie and turns her into an old woman because she thinks Sophie is Howl’s girlfriend. Part of the spell is that Sophie can’t tell anyone what’s happened, so Sophie leaves her home and tries to find the witch to have the spell removed. Along the way, she takes a job as a cleaning lady in Howl’s castle, which is loaded full of incredible inventions and all kinds of crazy magic. Sophie learns that Howl has a spell on himself as well. Can they both get the spells removed? This one is my very favorite. It’s based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones. This one is probably not for the littlest kids - there are some war scenes in it that may be a little scary.

3. Spirited Away. Chihiro and her parents are moving to a new town and stop for a rest. They walk through a dark tunnel and end up at a little town with a fancy restaurant, full of food but with no employees. Chihiro’s parents start eating all the food and turn into pigs. The only way Chihiro can save them is to work in a local bath house for spirits and earn the right to fight for them back from the sorceress that owns it. I know this sounds bizarre but it is a great movie. I’m constantly amazed at the goodheartedness of the characters in Miyazaki’s movies, and this one is no exception. Chihiro is selfless and works for the good of others. Can she save her parents or will they be stuck as pigs forever? This one does have some scary moments and is probably for kids that are a little bit older.

Castle in the Sky. A boy named Pazu finds a girl named Sheeta floating down from the sky, wearing a glowing pendant necklace. Together they try to keep the pendant from falling into the hands of the army and also a band of crazy sky pirates who are bent upon stealing it from Sheeta. The pendant has something to do with the lost floating city of Laputa but Pazu and Sheeta have to figure out how before everyone else does.

Kiki’s Delivery Service. Kiki is a witch who has just turned 13. All witches must move away for one year on their 13th birthday to work as apprentices and sharpen their skills and Kiki is no exception. The problem is, she has no skills. She takes up as a flying delivery girl but has to learn that she does have value before she loses faith in herself and loses her flying ability as well.

There are two other amazing Miyazaki movies - Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - but they are both not for all kids so I am listing them separately. I would recommend watching them first yourself to see if your kids would like them. My ten year old loves them both but you need to see them for yourself to decide if your kids are ready for them. My husband Dirk loves Porco Rosso but I haven’t seen that one yet so while I can personally say as a Miyazaki film I know I would like it, I haven’t watched it to tell you anything about that one.

I’ll end with a final thought from Dirk: All Miyazaki movies are beautiful to look at. They are animated by hand. Miyazaki didn’t start using CGI until later films and still only used it at a minimum. Also, don’t let the fact that these films are animated fool you into thinking they are only for kids. They are well written, intelligent, unpredictable, and not like anything you may have seen in American animated features.

PS I think I’m going for “Longest Comment Ever”.

Mike

Thanks for reading and weighing in.

Everyone is tired of $16 CDs. Hoodlums has advocated low prices to the industry for years - telling them that from our perspective (on a College Campus) high prices were driving kids to download more than any other single factor. The labels didn’t hear many of those pleas… cause there’s greed in their ears.

Sam’s Club is WalMart amigo… you can’t really separate them. With that said, we aren’t judging AC/DC fans that do what they have been forced to do by the band, management, and label. As it turns out this CD was available all over the place, both domestically and as a same-priced import. Stores like Hoodlums easily found a way to get it without going to WalMart… so that AC/DC fans that didn’t want to go to the corporate joints didn’t have to do so.

I might take your advice and listen to it… but if I don’t, it won’t be because of this deal, it will be because I’ve lost faith in AC/DC after five or six weak albums.

I guess neither one of us really knows what Bon would think - thanks to the ultimate night of hard-drinking. I still like to think he would have scoffed at the idea.

Take care, Steve

Thanks for reading and weighing in.

I think the Eagles “Desperado”, “Hotel California”, and “Long Run” albums are excellent albums, and the early albums are solid as well. That band had a ton of talent - that much cannot be denied. Like AC/DC, it’s been a while. I don’t think that they have done anything great since “Long Run”. Note: You’re anti-Eagles sentiments aren’t alone. I get plenty of crap in the “record store guy world” for even defending the early stuff.

Along the Joe Walsh line - I cannot stop listening to James Gang’s “Thirds” and “Rides Again” album. Really great stuff.

Take care, Steve