Zeno's Bar & Grill

Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro has just been re-released on DVD. This is the most wonderful children’s movie, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you should. The New York Times’ Dave Kehr describes it as “a gentle, haunting fantasy, rooted as the best fantasy films are, in a strict psychological realism”. It’s the story of two girls who move to the country with their father to be near their ill mother, who is recuperating at a nearby hospital. They meet strange and wonderful forest creatures, and all the human characters are lovely too. The film creates a magical world that you never want to leave.

The only thing I’m not sure of is the new English dubbing using, among others, the voices of Elle and Dakota Fanning. We have an older version that is close to perfect in my opinion.

--Melanie