26 Movies Like Princess Mononoke (1997) On Itunes (Page 2)

Arrietty may not be as epic as other Ghibli movies, both in the literal and figurative sense, but its tiny world is so richly detailed that you could spend hours studying a single frame of the film. In Arrietty’s lovely house-underneath-a-house, stamps are hung on the walls like paintings, a flowerpot serves as the hearth, a tea canister is a cabinet, an olive a chair, a sewing pin a sword, a clothespin a hair tie, and so on. The possibilities are endless, but the film tries to exhaust them as much as it can. This alone makes Arrietty a delightful watch, but the simple story at the heart of it—one of survival, empathy, and faith—elevates into a timeless classic.

Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy

Actor: Amy Poehler, Bridgit Mendler, Carol Burnett, David Henrie, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Keiko Takeshita, Kirin Kiki, Mirai Shida, Moises Arias, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shinichi Hatori, Shinobu Otake, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Tomokazu Miura, Will Arnett

Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Rating: G

5 Centimeters per Second is a quiet, beautiful anime about the life of a boy called Takaki, told in three acts over the span of seventeen years. The movie explores the experience and thrill of having a first love, as well as being someone else’s. In depicting how delicate it is to hold special feelings towards another, director Makoto Shinkai also perfectly captures how cruel the passing of time can be for someone in love. While the early stage of the movie maintains a dreamy mood, as the stories develop we become thrust back into reality, where it is not quite possible to own that which we want the most. All things considered, 5 Centimeters per Second is a story about cherishing others, accepting reality, and letting people go.

Genre: Animation, Drama, Family, Romance

Actor: Akira Nakagawa, Ayaka Onoue, Hiroshi Shimozaki, Keiko Izeki, Kenji Mizuhashi, Masami Iwasaki, Mika Sakenobe, Rika Nakamura, Rion Kako, Risa Mizuno, Ryo Naito, Ryou Naitou, Satomi Hanamura, Suguru Inoue, Yoshiko Iseki, Yoshimi Kondou, Yuka Terasaki, Yuka Terazaki, Yuko Nakamura

Director: Makoto Shinkai

Rating: TV-PG

One of Studio Ghibli’s overlooked gems, My Neighbors the Yamadas is a charming anthology film about a modern-day Japanese family. The film sets itself apart from other Ghibli films through its unique doodle-like watercolor animation and its short piano themes. While the vignettes may just depict regular family conflicts, the scenes still feel compelling due to the Yamadas’ imagination of the metaphors that they use. Exaggerating the metaphors keeps the audience breathless in certain strategic moments - most notably in the wedding day speech of the mother of the bride. While not as fantastical as Ghibli’s other offerings, the completely digital My Neighbors the Yamadas finds humor in and celebrates the mundane.

Genre: Animation, Drama, Family

Actor: Akiko Yano, Chôchô Miyako, Hayato Isohata, Masako Araki, Naomi Uno, Tamao Nakamura, Toru Masuoka, Yukiji Asaoka

Director: Isao Takahata

Rating: PG

While more known for their fantastical children’s stories, Studio Ghibli occasionally serves a down-to-earth, domestic film set in the real world. One of them is From Up On Poppy Hill. On the surface is a story of two student activists who fall in love while fighting to keep their high school club’s Latin Quarter from demolition. Of course, with this in mind, the most surprising event in the film is the incest scare. However, this seemingly random plot point feels important in the sense that everything is resolved once they've fully understood the past. And because of the 1960s post-Korean War Tokyo setting, the film is nostalgic yet dares to question whether or not Japan has fully processed and acknowledged their losses in a war that isn't theirs.

Genre: Animation, Drama

Actor: Aoi Teshima, Goro Miyazaki, Haruka Shiraishi, Jun Fubuki, Jun'ichi Okada, Junichi Okada, Keiko Takeshita, Masami Nagasawa, Nao Ōmori, Rumi Hiiragi, Shunsuke Kazama, Takashi Naito, Teruyuki Kagawa, Tsubasa Kobayashi, Yuriko Ishida

Director: Goro Miyazaki

Rating: PG

An indigenous language is dying, and the last two people who speak it have not spoken to each other in 50 years. In this calm drama from Mexico, linguists are sent to try to get them to talk so they can document the language. 

The story goes that two men have stopped talking because they fell in love with the same woman, so there is a romance wrapped neatly within the linguistic story. What truly steals the show, however, is the breathtaking nature in which it's all set - the stunning region of Chiapas.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Eligio Meléndez, Fátima Molina, Gabriela Cartol, Héctor Jiménez, Hoze Meléndez, José Manuel Poncelis, Juan Pablo de Santiago, Mónica Miguel, Nicolasa Ortíz Monasterio, Norma Angélica

Director: Ernesto Contreras

Rating: Unrated

In this ensemble cast directed by Wes Anderson, we see a very dysfunctional family with three very unique siblings who grow apart from each other due to their father, a charismatic and ever-absent grifter. However, when he announces his immanent death, the whole family is forced to confront each other, themselves and their childhoods as they gather in their patriarchal home together for the first time in years. An absolutely gorgeously filmed movie, the usage of color, pattern and 60's rock music alone makes it worth seeing, and the beautiful story just sweetens the deal.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Al Thompson, Alec Baldwin, Amir Raissi, Andrew Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Brian Smiar, Brian Tenenbaum, Danny Glover, Dipak Pallana, Don McKinnon, Donal Lardner Ward, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Eric Chase Anderson, Frank Wood, Gary Evans, Gene Hackman, Grant Rosenmeyer, Greg Goossen, Guido Venitucci, Gwyneth Paltrow, Irina Gorovaia, Jennifer Wachtell, Jonah Meyerson, Kalani Queypo, Keith Charles, Kumar Pallana, Larry Pine, Liam Craig, Luke Wilson, Max Faugno, Mel Cannon, Nova Landaeus-Skinnar, Owen Wilson, Pawel Wdowczak, Rex Robbins, Roger Shamas, Rony Clanton, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Sam Hoffman, Seymour Cassel, Sheelagh Tellerday, Sonam Wangmo, Stephen Dignan, Stephen Lea Sheppard, Tatiana Abbey, Tom Lacy, Wes Anderson, 吉恩·哈克曼

Director: Wes Anderson

Rating: R

What happens to genius and complex filmmakers once they reach old age? Agnès Varda at 89 is one example. She maintains an interest in the same deep questions but portrays them in a casual way - basically tries to have a little more fun with things. She finds a friend in JR, a young artist with a truck that prints large portraits. Together they go around French villages (the French title is “Visages Villages”), connecting with locals and printing their photos on murals. Their interactions are researched, but not worked. In fact, they are deeply improvised. Because of this and because the movie is structured in an episode format, it will completely disarm you. And when you least expect it you will be met with long-lasting takes on mortality, loss, but also gender, the environment and the evasiveness of life and art.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Agnès Varda, Amaury Bossy, Jean-Paul Beaujon, Jeannine Carpentier, JR, Yves Boulen

Director: Agnès Varda, JR

Rating: PG