Movies

Only Yesterday [Omohide Poro Poro] (1991) Mature and intelligent animated film from Studio Ghibli. A young woman's summer visit to a farm in the country coincides with her recall of incidents from her fifth-grade school year, bringing up ideas about how our experiences and memories affect our later lives, the development of personality, and the way we treat others. A grown-up movie for adults, it just happens to be a cartoon. Sweet and romantic at times, and an all-around well made film. Well worth looking for, especially if you dislike the formulas of conventional anime. 8/10

A Town Called Panic (2009) Silly, crazy Belgian film made in a deliberately simplified stop-motion style. The sort of story a child would invent - Cowboy and Indian try to build a barbecue for Horse's birthday gift but they accidentally order 50 million bricks instead of just fifty, and end up destroying their house entirely. Then it really gets nutty. No message or socially redeeming qualities whatsoever - just uniquely inventive fun for its own sake. 9/10