UK Film Review Podcast

Episode 43 of the UK Film Club Podcast with the latest movie reviews from Brian and Chris. In this month's episode, we cover:

Cinema
De Gaulle: Résistance
Pressure
Dog Stars

Streaming
The Runner

Indie
Just One Last Thing
We Want the Virus
Doggerland: The Dead & The Lonely
Evil inSight
Robbery at the Rockvale Theatre
The Long Spring
Loving Silence
Designed by Preeti

Nostalgia
Blade Runner

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Chris Olson interviews Mark Wolfe and Kerry McArthur, Canadian filmmakers behind the dark drama The Orchard.

Head to our website for more of our filmmaker interviews and find out more about Chris Olson on his official website, where you can also discover his other work including original acoustic mysic and sync music for film.
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In this second part, we continue our exploration of The Films of Hayao Miyazaki, focusing on what many regard as the peak of his career and his later, possibly final, works. We begin with one of the most acclaimed films of the 21st century, Spirited Away (2001), before moving through Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008), The Wind Rises (2013), and The Boy and the Heron (2023).

We start by discussing how Spirited Away became one of the greatest films of all time and earned Miyazaki his first Academy Award. We explore its themes of consumerism and capitalism, the meaning of No-Face, and why the film may not resonate with every viewer.

Next, we turn to the Academy Award-nominated Howl’s Moving Castle, considering how it became Miyazaki’s artistic response to the Iraq War and how he adapted Diana Wynne Jones’s novel for the screen.

Ponyo marks a return to childhood innocence and hand-drawn animation, prompting us to ask whether it may be Miyazaki’s most visually beautiful film. We then consider whether The Wind Rises is an overlooked work and perhaps his most personal film.

Finally, we end with The Boy and the Heron, the film that won Miyazaki his second Academy Award. We discuss whether it has the best English dub of any Miyazaki film, why he returned from retirement, and whether it could be his final feature.

We close by considering why Miyazaki’s films remain so enduring and beloved, and how his ideas have evolved from 1979 to 2023. Once again, we hope you’ll join us for this concluding part of The Films of Hayao Miyazaki.

Head to our official website for the latest film reviews.
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UKFR film critic James Learoyd interviews Isabel Moir, who is one of the programmers at this year's BFI London Film Festival. Offering incredible insight into the inner workings of the LFF, Isabel chats to James about all manner of aspects surrounding the biggest film festival in the UK. Find out more about this year's London Film Festival below:
https://www.ukfilmreview.co.uk/post/top-films-to-see-at-the-70th-bfi-london-film-festival
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Join “The Films Of… “ crew and UK Film Review critics James Learoyd and Callum Ewing, along with special co-host Tom Manning, as they analyse and discuss one of cinema’s most famous and influential directors: Hayao Miyazaki. In this first part, we explore how Miyazaki’s upbringing shaped recurring themes in his films, from environmentalism and aviation to societies that turn machines into weapons of war. Beginning with The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), we move through his filmography, including Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbour Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), and Porco Rosso (1992), before concluding part one with Princess Mononoke (1997).

The episode traces Miyazaki’s journey from animator at Toei Animation, where he met Isao Takahata, to co-founding Studio Ghibli with him and later influencing Western animation. We also discuss his approach to female protagonists such as Nausicaä and San, his creation of complex antagonists, and how the concept of ma — silence and space — shapes the pacing of his films.

We examine how Miyazaki adapted the manga and TV series he had worked on into The Castle of Cagliostro, how Frank Herbert’s Dune inspired Nausicaä, and how a trip to Wales influenced Castle in the Sky. We also cover why My Neighbour Totoro struggled at the box office before becoming a merchandising phenomenon, how Miyazaki moved from producing to directing Kiki’s Delivery Service, how the war in Yugoslavia shaped the tone of Porco Rosso, and how Princess Mononoke became one of Japan’s biggest films.

Through this first part we hope longtime fans and newcomers can sit back and relax whilst appreciating one of the master of cinema.

Remember to head to the UK Film Review website for the latest movie reviews.
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