Country: Japan

Although it’s still far from the quality we have come to expect from the manga and anime, ‘Naruto The Movie 2’ is clearly a much more fitting slice of Ninja pie to entertain fans between episodes.

Naruto’s first cinematic outing does just about enough to pass the time, but it remains a far cry from the quality that we have come to expect from the series.

‘Nausicaa’ has its cake and eats it, being a pacifist’s warning about conflict and conservation while cramming in edge-of-the-seat thrills and excitement.

The story is weak as water and most of the humour falls flat, with even the puppet thing getting old very quickly.

A fiercely independent feature, sometimes to its own detriment, ‘New World’ is still a fascinating travelogue and fish-out-of-water escapade that is oddly charming.

The film is a fairly tedious mystery that will do little to excite or entertain even the most desperate viewer.

There may not be much here that we haven’t seen before, but it’s certainly been a while since we’ve seen most of it done so well.

‘Nobody Knows’ is worthy film-making, memorable well beyond its two hour duration and recommended to anyone seeking challenging, not necessarily uplifting cinema.

‘Nobody To Watch Over Me’ packs quality into every area, from the probing direction to a superb cast without a weak link among them.

His film version isn’t quite perfect and unfortunately pales compared to the novel but it is far from disrespectful to the source material and is a better version than many may have expected.

It may not be the type of film that international Studio Ghibli fans have come to expect, but ‘Ocean Waves’ proves that the studio is just as capable of producing a winner in every genre.

Not a classic, but for those not yet bored by vengeful serial killing and familial mysteries, there is much to recommend here.