It's somewhat disappointing to report that From Up on Poppy Hill is a pretty looking, but boring and gutless romance, more akin to hundreds of other sappier anime tales of lusting than the touch of magic the wizards at Studio Ghibli are renowned for.
A busy week for big titles on video store shelves as we take a look at The Grey, The Secret World of Arrietty, The Woman in Black, This Means War, and Red Tails.
Even dubbed into English, it’s hard to go wrong with almost any film bearing the Studio Ghibli name on it. Similarly, the much beloved children’s novel The Borrowers – written by the late Mary Norton with no fewer than four big and small screen adaptations – stands as an enduring brand in family entertainment. While only written by Ghibli head maestro Hayao Miyazaki and only somewhat faithful to Norton’s beloved source material, The Secret World of Arrietty still manages to be another solid, but slight effort from the Japanese powerhouse.
