studio ghibli – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

Hello everyone!! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.

This week’s movie is Kiki’s Delivery Service, which is a Studio Ghibli production. It is not my favorite one (that is Arietty, then When Marnie was Here) but it is pretty cute. And I love little Jiji, her cat.

We picked a great night to watch. The day was rainy, the evening was rainy. We had ramen bowls full of chicken and noodles and miso broth and veggies, and it was delicious. Then we settled in to watch Kiki, all super snug.

Kiki is a little witch in training. The movie begins with Kiki leaving home on her own, to find a city for her and Jiji to live in while she goes through her year of training. The viewer knows immediately that Kiki is maybe not the most smooth of witches, as she bumbles into trees and ricochets all over as she shoots off into the air on her broom, with Jiji hanging on for dear life.

One thing I love about this movie is such a small little detail – Kiki’s radio. She has it with her and plays it so often, whether she is at home or on her broom, and for some reason, I just really like that. She lays in bed listening to it, it is next to her while she is cleaning, it hangs from her broom, it is just a cute detail.

Kiki is from what looks like a rural village, and she moves to the much larger city of Koriko, which is modeled after a combination of major cities around the world – Stockholm, Milan, San Francisco, Lisbon, Paris, etc. It has all the energy of an actual city, with bustling busy streets, heavy traffic, but still manages to maintain a level of beauty and coziness, with cobbles and flowers and quaint little shops, like the bakery where Kiki finds herself living and working.

Kiki slowly begins to make a little life for herself. She makes friends with Osono, the bakery owner and her husband, and lives with Jiji in their spare attic bedroom. She also becomes friends with Tombo, an idealistic young man with a passion for aviation, an older woman I think they call Madame, and Ursula, an artist who lives in a cabin in the forest, and is friends with crows (that look like magpies to me).

On the surface, this little sweet cartoon is just that. Kiki’s journey, making friends and a community for herself, starting her little delivery service, becoming who she is meant to be. But it also has a message of not giving up, to not quit when we fail, because failure is part of life. We try, sometimes we fail, and then we pick ourselves back up and try again. Kiki’s friend Tombo wants to fly so badly that he invents a crazy flying machine powered by bicycle and willpower. It crashes and fails its first time out, but at the end, we see him flying out over the sea with Kiki on her broom next to him. He did not quit.

Kiki finds herself in a similar situation, feeling down and not quite herself and perhaps, even losing her magic. She is burned out after working so hard, because Kiki is a very hard worker. She is polite and kind and goes out of her way to help others sometimes, on top of her responsible work ethic. Ursula sees how Kiki is struggling when she makes a surprise visit to town, and invites Kiki to come back to the cabin with her to spend the night. The two have a few heart to hearts, and Ursula tells her that it is ok to have these moments, and that every artist, every person needs to find their own inspiration.

Ursula: Trusting your spirit! Yes, yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. That same spirit is what makes me paint and makes your friend bake. But we each need to find our own inspiration, Kiki. Sometimes it’s not easy.

The scenes at the cabin are so cozy and perfect to me, and have such an attention to detail. The way Ursula looks down at her drink, swirls it around a bit as she considers what she is saying, that gesture is just so real. I also love this sort of hint at the healing powers found in simplicity and in nature.

Ok, I can’t talk about this movie without talking about Jiji the cat! I just love this little character. He has his own distinct personality and I simply adore him.

This movie is just so cozy and sweet and full of goodness. Friendship and found family and art and creativity – I just love it. There are actually a few different versions out there, including two different English language versions, a 1998 version and a 2010 version. I watched the 1998. There is also of course the Japanese language version that is the original.

You can find this movie on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Hulu to watch streaming for a fee. You might also be able to find it at the library.

If you have watched along with us, and want to share your link, please feel free. We would love it!

Up next is the 1945 version of Blithe Spirit!

Also, don’t forget to enter our Comfy Cozy Care Package Giveaway! You can enter here!

This year was a great year of movie watching. So much of us it revolved around themes which was different for us but not bad different. In fact, I watched a lot of movies I would never have otherwise watched! We watched so many old classic movies, horror movies, holiday movies, and movies by Studio Ghibli, with a few oddball new movies thrown in there too. However, all of these are movies that I was seeing for the first time. I was shocked at how many of my favorites this year are cartoons, but I really shouldn’t be. That fits perfectly with who I am.

Let’s work our way up to my very favorite, shall we? We will start near the bottom of my favorites list..

This one just squeaked into the top faves this year. I absolutely love Wes Anderson but this was not my favorite of his movies. I did however sit entranced because of the sheer beauty of it, the visual aspects. Anderson movies all have that quality, they are so stunning to just look at, and this one was no exception.

I loved all of the Studio Ghibli that we watched this year, but I did have a few standout favorites, and Howl’s Moving Castle was one of those. Be prepared to see a few more on this list! Love and whimsy and cute to boot, all qualities that pull me in. It is not all lighthearted though, there is a deeper meaning, themes of looking for a return to innocence, wisdom, self-acceptance are wrapped up in this magical story.

What a fantastic movie! Katherine Hepburn is like a sharp-edged beautiful weapon, gorgeous and regal, but at her core just wanted to be loved for herself. I also fell in love with James Stewart in this movie! (My Full Review)

Encanto!! This movie was just plain fun! Colors and music and the message of the importance of communication, good open honest dialogue with family and friends. There were many days and nights Wyatt and I bopped around to the soundtrack, especially “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”.

Sigh. I loved this sad movie. I am a sucker for..well, I just won’t say it. Spoilers and all you know. It was very nearly so close my favorite Ghibli.

This movie came out of left field for us, with how much we absolutely loved it. It was such a perfect movie, and Dan Stevens was at his best. We will definitely be watching this one every year now. (My Full Review)

Oh my gosh did I love this movie! No one is safe in this whodunit, whether from being murdered or accused of murder or even from the comedy that takes no prisoners. I actually can’t wait to watch it again.

Death on the Nile had to be right at the top of this list. As I said, I am a lover of beautiful cinematography, stunning costumes, visually appealing set design, and this had all three – plus Poirot!

This was my year of Cary Grant. I had never before understood the appeal of Grant – I am chalking that up to not ever having watched this movie. (My Full Review)

This movie is based on the book The Borrowers and I have always been enchanted by the idea of tiny little beings living among us – I was that kid who always looked for fairies (and maybe I still do). I would also love my house to look like Arrietty’s house, so cozy and cute and full of warmth. This was the movie I kept thinking about all year, and I could watch it every single day.

I would love to hear your favorite movie watches of the year!