Nekko Ramen Taisho = Cat Ramen Boss

The ramen cooking cat Nekko Taisho cooks up a storm to battle his abusive Dad in this strange but funny live action film. It includes a J-pop star, and a celebrity cat named Tama who is a train station mascot. Nekko Taisho the movie came from manga originally. What makes it funny is imagining the guys running around town with puppets on strings or sticks to get this film made. There is an inexplicable scene where the plushie Nekko is playing around with two very bored Bengal cats who entirely ignore the puppet cat. The movie is hilarious as if Tampopo and Hello Kitty got thrown into a blender together. Don’t miss it.

Ponyo

Ponyo is a good mellow afternnon flick. It can be watched with kids. The subtitles on the version I saw weren’t too bad, but I did pick up on a few important words and expressions that weren’t in the subs. The film is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, using a Japanese myth. It’s basically an environmental comment. We do get to see a very glorious sea Goddess that stole the show. One character says that people are horrible and they thare destroying the ocean. It’s pretty clear where Miazaki was going with this film. Some people think he’s a master, but his work is on par with any of the better anime. This was cute but nothing really special, I wouldn’t pay to see it in a theater. The translation wasn’t perfect, and when they get the American actors involved doing voice overs, it won’t be anything like the original.