Howl’s Moving Castle is Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film and the first to be released since the (relative) crossover success of Spirited Away. While it’s still unmistakably Miyazaki, it breaks away from his template of the plucky young heroine by instead going with the plucky elderly heroine.

The main character, Sophie, is an 18-year old girl who has the misfortune of being transformed via magical curse (of course) into the body of a wizened old lady for her association, however brief, with a young magician named Howl. Fleeing her home in search of a cure, she ends up housekeeper in Howl’s magical castle, a fantastical contraption which resembles Baba Yaga’s hut as imagined by Terry Gilliam. From that point on, honestly, I’m not 100% sure of where the plot went so I can’t really recap it. I’m not too proud to admit that I’ve always had a bit of a problem following Miyazaki’s higher-concept films – I thoroughly enjoy them but I don’t necessarily get them. Maybe something gets lost in the translation, maybe it’s not there in the first place, maybe I’m just not that smart, but everything that follows from that point was moderately confusing. There are several powerful yet inexplicable curses on major characters, a war of some description that stays way in the background for most of the film before suddenly leaping to the fore, what may or may not be love triangles… I’m really not sure.

It was, however, beautifully rendered – no less than one would expect from the master of Japanese animation. Besides the castle itself, there is no shortage of marvelous and whimsical characters and settings to enthrall, even if the viewer has difficult keeping up with the story (ie – me). The helpful scarecrow, Mr Turniphead, and Suliman’s dog were particularly endearing. On the voice acting end, it was interesting and a little odd to hear Christian Bale providing the voice of Howl – he’s Batman, you know? It’s weird to hear Batman bemoaning the loss of his good looks or the change of his hair colour. Suck it up, Bats.

It could well be that with a little background research from Nausicaa.net, repeat viewings could be far more rewarding as far as the story goes. And I can think of worse things than to watch Miyazaki films over and over again.

Finally – Sigur Ros’ new album is entitled Takk, the Icelandic word for “thanks”, and will be out September 12 in Europe, presumably on the 13th in North America. Full tracklisting here. Also on the release calendar – Catherine Wheel’s Rob Dickinson’s first solo album Fresh Wine For The Horses is in stores September 13 and Nellie McKay’s still-untitled follow-up to Get Away From Me is out September 27.

Broadcast will be touring in support of their new album, Tender Buttons, which is out September 20. Said tour includes a stop at Lee’s Palace on November 6.

Mogwai’s Barry Burns rages to Transform Online about the vacuity of current, fashion-obsessed bands and proposes a napalm-powered solution. And you thought Stuart Brathwaite was the only grumpy one.

The Vice Guide to Toronto. Oh God.

np – Innaway / Innaway

Gapers Block talks to Sufjan Stevens about the making of Illinois. Nothing about his Superman complex, though. Via Largehearted Boy.

Billboard has the offical straight goods on that episode, though, including the fact that DC never actually issued a cease-and-desist – Asthmatic Kitty issued the recall themselves when they realized that they in fact did not own the rights to Superman and that there could potentially be an issue.

You may also note that Illinois is rocking the Metacritic scores. And if you missed it, though everyone everywhere has already blogged it, here’s a new song Sufjan performed on NPR last week:

MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “The Great God-Bird”

Two Sufjan posts in less than a week? Yeah, it’ll happen sometimes. MP3 of the week, too!

The Decemberists’ Jenny Conlee apparently takes a plus Chewbacca with her on every tour. Okay, then.

Arcade Fire side-project The Bell Orchestre will be at the El Mocambo on August 5 with The Wooden Stars. Admission $8 at the door.

Bookslut gives indie comic publisher Oni Press some love. I’ve only read a couple titles from Oni – Scott Lee O’Malley’s romance-action-comedy Scott Pilgrim and Greg Rucka’s espionage thriller Queen & Country, but have been assured as to the general excellence of everything that they put out.

Frank Miller – the man who pretty much defined the grim and gritty Batman – tells Newsarama how excited he is to be writing a 12-year old Dick Grayson in All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, which comes out next week.

Short post today, but yesterday’s was long so that balances out.

np – The Band / Music From Big Pink

Free concerts are good. Free concerts taking place down the street from home are better. As part of the opening ceremonies for this year’s Celebrate Toronto! street festival, our fair city assembled a suitably eclectic (read: strange) lineup for a free show at Dundas Square last night. The big draw (for me, anyway), was Broken Social Scene’s closing set. The wild card, however, was something called Les Girafes, Urban Operetta.

Described as “ambulatory spectacle set to original music with elements of circus arts, theatre, dance and opera” and imported from France (duh), what it was nine giant (8-metres high) red giraffe puppet things winding their way through Dundas Square and up and down Yonge St while a clown and giraffe-master woman performed an opera of some description with attendent pyrotechnics and explosions of tissue paper confetti. I found it fascinating to watch these things, huge and elegant – they could have been dragons as much as giraffes – wind their way through the crowd and around the Eaton Centre. It’s rather hard to describe in words – here are some pics.

Not surprisingly, the local message board punters are falling over themselves to come up with clever ways to say how much they hated the giraffes. People around here complain about how dull and unimaginative Toronto is, and then when they do do something that is utterly bizarre and unique, they bitch about it. My take? People just like to complain far too much. Yeah, it’s unfortunate that the operetta went on so long as to cut into Broken Social’s set time, but I thought that witnessing something so utterly surreal was worth it. You’ve seen the band a dozen times before and you’ll see them again – lighten up, Francis.

When Broken Social did finally take the stage, it seemed almost as strange as the giraffes to see them in the white plastic tent set up at the front of the Square. I thought the elevated platform built at the southeast corner was supposed to be a stage? Why the need for a temporary one? The band also seemed to feel a little out of place at the venue, Kevin Drew asking the crowd if it was alright that they were playing there (but saying that got a big wad of cash for it) and Brendan Canning pointing out that one of the giant video screens displaying the show made it appear that they were sponsored by L’Oreal.

Playing with a compact lineup (at least for them) of six to nine members, the Scene on this night was bolstered by the presence of Torq, Amy and Evan from Stars who had just flown in from Stockholm that morning. I had feared that due to scheduling, none of the BSS ladies would be in attendence but Amy’s presence headed off any more “Broken Sausage Scene” jokes I might have made, and believe me, I’d have gone there. Also noteworthy was Evan’s dubious moustache. Uh, no guy. No.

Thanks to the giraffe overrun, BSS had to play a somewhat compressed set that incorporated new material and old – the new stuff sounds so good, Windsurfing Nation will simply destroy. Mark my words. But the abbreviated playing time meant that the band didn’t quite get a chance to get up to full throttle. They’re a jammy act and usually need a little time to find the groove, something they just didn’t have the luxury of on this night. And while the huge crowd was surely inspiring, the antiseptic beer tent stage with the “Toronto Unlimited” branding all over it couldn’t have been a real mood-enhancer.

But complaints seem discourteous. It was a gorgeous night, the crowd was into it, it was free and a lovely time was had by all. Unless you were trampled by a giraffe, but then at least you have a story to tell. I was a little ways back so my photos aren’t the most dynamic I’ve ever taken, but not bad either.

Tofuhut has an excellent interview with Feist, complete with musical recommendations. From BrooklynVegan via For The Records.

Rachael Yamagata tells The Salt Lake Tribune that her second album, which she’ll start recording this Fall, will be a more guitar rock affair. Via Largehearted Boy.

Frank Black gives Chart a state of the Pixies (re)union.

What do you get when you cross a guy with a camera and no compunctions with some makeout point in Japan? Hilarity. And rage. Actually a lot of rage.

np – Longwave / There’s A Fire

Exlaim! asks Stephen Malkmus questions. Stephen Malkmus responds. Magnet thinks this is a good idea and also asks Stephen Malkmus questions. Malkmus answers those as well. And if you need more sage wisdom from the Malk-man, I direct you to these previously posted pieces from Chart, CMJ, Chart (again), Flagpole and Paste. Even Questionable Content pays tribute. Bask in the Malkmus. Bask in his dapperness. Bask.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Blogcritics considers the ouvre of Malkmus’ old outfit, Pavement. And if you were hoping for a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of Wowee Zowee this year, sorry to disappoint you but there will not be one – not in ’05, anyway. Maybe next year.

By the way – how is SM’s new album, Face The Truth? I have the first two and like them alright – I never really feel the urge to listen to them, but when I do I enjoy them well enough. Here’s a track from the new album, courtesy of Matador. It seems to have a little more kick than the stuff on the first two albums but I haven’t decided if that makes it better.

MP3: Stephen Malkmus – “Baby C’Mon”

Billboard has a much more detailed breakdown of what to expect from the Billy Bragg reissues and box set coming out September 20. The clarification provided pretty much assures me that the box is something I want to have – those bonuses sound sweet. It’s sure to be a pricey item, but that’s why God invented Boxing Day sales!

Billboard also previews Death Cab For Cutie’s Plans, out August 30.

My Morning Jacket has had the release of their new album Z pushed back a couple of weeks until October 4.

PopMatters hails Colin Meloy as champion of the “faggy” outsider. Meloy and his Decemberists are once again at the Phoenix on October 13 with Cass McCombs supporting.

The East Bay Express examines the 33 1/3 series of books. Via Coolfer. I haven’t read nearly as many of these as I’d like. I wonder if the library has them?

More comic creator interviews – Londonist talks to Warren Ellis and Comic Book Resources chats with local boy Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of Scott Pilgrim. Volume three is due out in December! Huzzah.

I’ve selected the winners for my Doves contest – if you won, you know already. If not, well, I’m sure your life is still fulfilling in some way. You will soldier on. I expect I’ll be running more contests in the future, so stay tuned. They will certainly require more effort that this one though, oh yes. I will have my entertainment value.

After a day like yesterday, it was great fun to arrive home after work to find traffic snarled around my block in all directions. Turns out the police had cordoned off the entire street in front of the block directly north of mine for some reason they weren’t at liberty to divulge. It couldn’t have been too big a danger since there were only two bike cops standing watch and they were letting people walk by and I was free to go into my apartment, but still – unnerving. This actually happened a few years ago when anthrax scares were all the rage – the building across the street from me is a government facility, hence the potential target-ness of it. I don’t really see what terrorists would stand to gain from disrupting the Ontario drivers license renewal process, but I can’t let that deter me. If I’m willing to drive with a license that has my incorrect address on it, the terrorists have won.

np – Amusement Parks On Fire / Amusement Parks On Fire

Mostly bits and pieces today.

The second part of the PopMatters interview with Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers is finally up. Part one ran a month and a half ago – I was afraid they’d completely forgotten about finishing it off. Wire’s thoughts on the first two Manics albums, with the benefit of fifteen years of hindsight, are particularly interesting. Also, where they discuss the US mix of The Holy Bible vs the UK one – I have the Canadian version of that one. Was that the US version?

Stylus rediscovers the bleak majesty of American Music Club’s Mercury.

Frank Black insists to NOW that the Pixies reunion, still ongoing despite all odds, is not a big hate-in for himself and Kim Deal. They might even start recording some new material at year’s end. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t anything near a gramatically correct paragraph, but what can you do.

Some all-ages shows of note coming in September to the X-Space (which I think is in Kensington Market but I’m not certain) – on September 8th, Xiu Xiu with Frog Eyes and Das Yellow Swans and on the 24th, Portland’s The Gossip with We Are Wolves. Both shows $10 advance, $12 at the door. And the Against The Grain ad in this week’s NOW is teasing that The Decemberists will be back in town before too long. Probably late September/early October.

Torontoist. Week in shows. Blah blah blah.

Comic creator interviews with the brilliant and the insane – Millarworld talks to Joss Whedon (via Bradley’s Almanac) and Collector Times gets 20 questions with Dave Sim.

I went to see Old Boy again at the Bloor last night. You may remember me being stupefied after seeing it at the Film Festival last Fall. Um, still stupefying, even on second viewing. I thought I was ready for everything but I forgot about the teeth. Oooch.

I also got a copy of The National’s Alligator last night, though I’m not sure why. It’s on my Amazon wish list which implies that I wanted it at some point, but I don’t really remember adding it. Thankfully, a) it was used and cheap, and b) it’s pretty damn good.

Good thoughts to everyone in London today.

np – The National / Alligator