Kurenai no Buta

just as i thought about spirited away, a pretty average story is lifted to heights by genuinely wonderful worlsbuilding and atmosphere. while i certainly very much enjoy the more eastern setting of spirited away, porco rosso has what might be the coolest world i've ever seen. a between world war setting in mussolini's italy, where everyone flies dope ass biplanes and the main character is a smoking pig. add on top of that, mostly wholesome and goofy characters,and a memorable score and baby, you've got a stew going read more

a tale more for adults than kids, this movie is somehow a workable combination of top gun & english patient read more

"Porco Rosso" is a striking rarity in the Miyazaki career, and one that will probably require a bigger effort from the fans to understand. It plays with different themes than his other works; for instance, there is not an interest on developing an enviromental message, or at depicting a major conflict involving humanity and nature. The story is closer to the coming-of-age intimism of "Spirited away", "My neighbor Totoro" or -his script- "Whisper of the heart", yet it takes a radically different focus. In fact, if I had to point a similarity among his films, the one that fits better to me is... read more