Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Yesterday, I wrote a bit about The Secret World of Arrietty, the newly opened Ghibli film that was planned and co-written by Hayao Mayazaki and was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the studio’s youngest director.

I went to see the film last night and have to say I proceeded with a bit of trepidation. Without Mayazaki, himself, directing I was not confident that the film would deliver all I wanted. This was a mistake on my part; the film is superb. It’s right in line with the canon of films the studio has recently been producing. It isn’t as emotional as Ponyo, nor as spiritual as Spirited Away, but the film, to me, comes closest in mood to My Neighbor Totoro.

The film starts as did Spirited Away. We follow the rear of a car as it approaches a country house. Like Totoro, there is a move to the rural area. In Totoro, the two girls are moved closer to the hospital where their sick mother is staying. In Arrietty, the boy is moving to the more natural and quieter setting so he can rest prior to a heart operation.

Within the house, where he is to spend some time resting, lives Arrietty a girl about his age who is only four inches tall. She lives with her parents. and they’re not sure if they’re the last of the “Borrowers,” as these small people are known. The boy sees the tiny girl and does all in his power to make friends with her. Arrietty knows that once their secret is revealed the comfortable family must move to another location. They can’t allow the curiosity of the “Beans” (Human Beings) to endanger their lives or freedom.

The film, like all recent Ghibli works, shows a wonderful interaction between plant, animal and human life. We’re all of the same mold, and we all have to treasure the existence of what is around us. It’s a wonderful and precious theme, and I relish their insistence on placing focus on it from film to film. This, to me, ties the work together wonderfully.

The animation is excellent at every turn albeit very gentle. There are always beautiful and subtle motions in the character movement, and each character is developed visually as well as emotionally. This is not something I much feel from animation I’ve seen in Western films recently. Ghibli is not forcing clichéd motion on their characters – such as popping zip actions for everything that moves. It’s a natural animation that I find wonderful to absorb.

I wasn’t completely happy with the voice cast. I found Amy Poehler a bit too shrill and at times overacted, but Poehler’s husband, Will Arnett, does an excellent turn as the father. Most surprising to me was Carol Burnett who did a good job with her character, Hara. The two leads, Bridgit Mendler and David Henrie were also quite fine. Although Hendler’s song tagged onto the credit sequence by Disney is completely off.

See the film if you have any interest in excellent 2D animation or in Ghibli’s work. It’s a bravura performance, though very understated. Beautifully done work which is certainly better than any of the animated features from last year.

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Now onto the photo essay for Sunday:

- My friend Steve Fisher sent in this photo essay, and the images are too curious to pass up. Something I don’t see very often – or even at all.

Okay, so it may not have been the most romantic idea, but the chance to tour Polshek’s Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, even on Valentine’s Day, was too good to pass up.

Line of “Digester Eggs” from street level

Visitor Center entrance lobby fountain

Massive equipment

By-product Methane is used for heating the plant

Jim Pynn explains that from this command station, six people
will control the entire 53-acre plant’s operation

Views of the plant from atop the digester eggs,
some 140 feet above the street on a skybridge

Digester egg from street and from skybridge

Views across the East River to Manhattan from skybridge

- I’m not much of a football fan. I am a New Yorker. So when the hometown team goes to the Super Bowl, I have to admit it means something. It meant I had to check into the game every few minutes to see what was going on. Just the same, I was more interested in “Downton Abbey” last Sunday than in any of the car commercials.

Then there was the ticker-tape parade on Monday. It barely affected me. However, I received a slew of photos from Steve Fisher, who decided to take it in. It feels like a couple of months ago, now, but these are Steve’s photos. The comments are his as well.

It was such a beautiful weather day today, I decided
to brave the crowds to attend the ticker-tape parade
celebrating the NY Giants Superbowl victory on Sunday.

This is the scene that greeted me upon my arrival to downtown Manhattan.

It took me twenty minutes to maneuver my way one block
toward Worth Street, but this was as close as I could get.

While waiting for the ‘heroes’, the happy, rather well-behaved fans
provided some entertainment of their own, climbing trees…

And other things, including one idiot who tried to climb a building.

But don’t worry about crowd control, the police had it covered.

When do you think this kid will have to start shaving?

When the float carrying the Giant players finally drove past, this is all I could see.

This is perhaps the only glimpse I had of one of the Giants, although
without his uniform with number and name, I really couldn’t swear to it.

And while I did not get anywhere near the “Canyon” of Broadway
where the ticker-tape must have been very impressive,
I still saw a small taste of the effect.

As the festivities wound down, the last marching band
threaded through the crowd, but the only way I could
see it was watching someone’s phone.

The only thing left to do besides getting all the Mannings out of the trees . . .

. . . was to set fire to a Jets cap belonging to an unthinking person
who wore it into enemy territory.

But the highlight for me was this Giants fan.

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Finally, that’s over. Now, it’s time for BASEBALL – onto my Yankees !

Here are some new photos of my city courtesy of Steve Fisher.

The 59th Street Bridge

Sunsets

- Steve Fisher has been sending an assortment of great photos these last few weeks, and I haven’t posted much in the way of recent photos lately. So I’ve chosen some architectural beauties from the past number of pictures he’s sent and will post them today. Enjoy.

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Many thanks to Steve for the great pictures.

Happy New Year

- A beautiful bunch of rooftops. Manhattan offers a world of views of interesting rooftops when viewed from the ground. (I’m sure they’re also interesting when you get up there, but the ground’s eye view is all we have.) The Pillars of my City.

Here, Steve Fisher offers us a variety of different views when looking up.

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This group was taken around the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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- Steven Fisher caught the following photos in the back yards of Queens, NY.
Wildlife remains wild, even in the City. This is a hawk feeding on a small animal it’s caught.

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Many thanks to Steve for sharing the photos.

- It’s the annual “oh my god, will you look at the colors of those leaves” post. Steve Fisher has captured some of the highlights in the City replete with birds. Here are those images:

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- Continuing the jump about NY, I have a stash of new pictures from my friend, Steve Fisher. These are shots from all over the city. Whether Manhattan, Queens, or Brooklyn, they’re all great photos. I hope you like them.

Twilit Buildings

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The UN

Swings

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Geese

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There’s always one malcontent.

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- My friend, Steve Fisher, went to the celebration for the Statue of Liberty’s 125th anniversary. Here are a couple of photos he took:

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- A view from the other side of the bridge.
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The Chrylser Building is probably my favorite building. I find it extraordinarily attractive. I was even able to endure The Bonfire of the Vanities for the wonderful shots of the gargoyles within the film. There have been some great pictures made of this outstanding bit of architecture. Steve Fisher has a collection of pictures he’s taken of the building from Queens. I asked him to send me an assortment of these pictures and I’m happy to post them today. These are they:
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Golden gargoyles
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You couldn’t get a better shot.
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And here’s one from Brooklyn:

- Steven Fisher sent me an assortment of photos that I found beautiful. He’s an architect, and his interest in architecture is obvious in many of these images. My interest in the beauty of my City is the reason I have to post them. Steve has a fresh look in the photos, and he’s totally in sync with the way I feel.

The first is an image of a chateau in France. It leads into a lot of similar shots of rooftops in Manhattan.

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chateau at Chambord

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