君たちはどう生きるか (aka The Boy And The Heron) (2023)

Set during WWII Japan, a young boy (Soma Santoki) loses his mother in a hospital fire. Shortly thereafter, his father (Takuya Kimura) marries his wife's sister (Yoshino Kimura) and they relocate to her family's rural estate in the country. It is there that the boy encounters a mysterious Heron (Masaki Suda) that will guide him to another world. Inspired by the novel HOW DO YOU LIVE (but not an adaptation of) by Genzaburo Yoshino and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE). A new anime by the great Miyazaki is always a treat and this colorful and layered fantasy doesn't disappoint. Winner of last year's Oscar for best animated film, the film is more personal than Miyazaki's other movies in the sense that much of it is influenced by his own childhood. The film is more complex than some of Miyazaki's more kid friendly movies like MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO and KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE. The animation, no surprise, is stunning and of course, there's a lovely score by Joe Hisaishi. I watched the original Japanese language version  but the English dub includes voice work from Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Florence Pugh and Dave Bautista.