‘Ponyo’ – Hayao Miyaki’s ‘Little Mermaid’ fable on HBO Max

Part Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, part ecological fable, and part children’s fantasy come to life, Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo (Japan, 2008) is a gentle storybook film, a simple, sweet tale animated with a delicacy unique to animated features. Ponyo is a water sprite, a curious undersea creature and daughter of the sea gods who […]

Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Wind Rises’ on HBO Max

The Wind Rises (Japan, 2013) is a very different kind of feature from Hayao Miyazaki, the beloved filmmaker and animation legend famed for his lush, ambitious, inventive fantasies and mythical adventures. It was a passion project for the director and he chose it as his fitting swan song, a final feature before retiring from filmmaking […]

‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ on HBO Max

Kiki’s Delivery Service (Japan, 1989) carries us into the experiences of a young witch as she charts her path in the real world. Sincere, spirited Kiki has turned thirteen, the age when witches leave the nest for a year of solo training. She’s ready to take on the world with her broomstick and her best […]

Christina Ricci is Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald in 'Z: The Beginning of Everything'

What to stream: Christina Ricci’s ‘Z’ and Studio Ghibli’s ‘Ronja’ on Amazon Prime and more on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now

Amazon picks up the gauntlet of original streaming drama with two new shows debuting this week. Christina Ricci is Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald in Z: The Beginning of Everything, an Amazon original series about the high-spirited Southern Belle who took New York society by storm as the fiercely independent wife and muse of F. Scott Fitzgerald […]

From Japan's Studio Ghibli comes the animated adventure based on the novel by "Pippi Longstocking" author Astrid Lindgren

Watch This: Studio Ghibli’s ‘Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter’ comes to Amazon Prime in January

Studio Ghibli, the great Japanese animation house founded by Hayao Miyazaki, presents this animated series based on the novel by Astrid Lindgren (author of “Pippi Longstocking”) and directed by Gorō Miyazaki. A hit in Japan in 2014 and 2015, the series debuts in the U.S. in an English language version (with Gillian Anderson narrating) on […]