Just my entry for the League of Reviewers' Thanksgiving review contest. If you like writing reviews and you aren't already a member of the union - well, why not? Anyway, here's my film review of My Neighbor Totoro.

My Neighbor Totoro, or "Tonari no Totoro" as it was known in its original Japanese release is an animated film by director Hayao Miyazaki. Having being made back in 1988, the film was very "under-the-radar" outside Japan, at least until western audiences were made more familiar with Miyazaki's works a few years ago after Studio Ghibli signed a deal to have their films, such as Totoro, distributed by Disney in the US. And so we now have a subtitled and English dubbed release of My Neighbour Totoro, the version of the film this review will center around.

The film takes place in the 1950s, with a university professor and his two daughters moving into a house in rural Japan to be closer to his wife who is hospitalized for the duration of the movie. While exploring the area surrounding the house, the girls discover a forest populated by magical spirits, led by the enormous, rabbit-like Totoro. As the film progresses and the girls encounter personal crises, they find themselves relying on the creatures of the forest for help, becoming closer to nature and their family. It's a simple story, but it's an endearing one.

While Miyazaki's earlier films had fairly conventional characters and typical good vs. evil plots, My Neighbor Totoro differs from this in many ways. Firstly, there is no villain. The focus of the film is instead on the characters' struggles with daily life, with the biggest crisis being the possibility of the children's mother being even more seriously ill. It's hard to praise a film featuring a spinning-top riding tree spirit and cat-shaped bus as being realistic, but I feel that the characters and the situations they are presented with came off as being convincing. If anything, the strange and magical elements of the film serve to entertain the audience and provide a parallel to the occasionally bleak real world, though the world as presented in the film is still seen through the pastel coloured goggles of a child. Hayao Miyazaki may be a fairly negative person, but I feel that in My Neighbour Totoro, he really managed to get the sense of nostalgia and youthful energy he strives for in his work perfectly.

In part this is due to the film's soundtrack. As usual, Joe Hisaishi provides the score, with strong orchestral pieces that bring the magical world of Totoro to life. Each piece is memorable and in the case of the opening and closing songs, way too catchy.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Studio Ghibli film without the trademark animation styl(e) Everything is hand drawn - no CGI here. The characters are very detailed and appear very lively from the way they are animated. Even Totoro, who initially appears to be nothing but a sleeping giant, possesses a spark of energy that makes him leap off the screen (metaphorically, of course). The backgrounds are all painted, and beautifully depict the picturesque Japanese countryside.

With a fairly limited knowledge of the Japanese language, I can't really comment on the Japanese voice acting. It seems fine to me, and much more appealing than the English voice overs. It's not that the dubbing is bad – when compared to other anime films, the voice work is done really well. It's just that despite the fact that a lot of minor celebrities like Dakota Fanning are used, there was really no issue with the original Japanese voices. Also, the songs in the film sound weird with English vocals and some words don't translate particularly well. Personally I prefer the original voices, but it's really a matter of personal preference.

All up, My Neighbor Totoro is a film that anyone of any age can enjoy. Even if you find the plot and characters to be too childish for your tastes (which you really shouldn't), the animation and overall production values are of such a high standard that it's impossible not to be amazed by the film as a whole. Hayao Miyazaki and the Studio Ghibli team have created a beautiful and imaginative film that deserves to be recognized as one of the greatest animated films of all time.

I give it 10/10 dust bunnies.

Once in a lifetime, a rare event occurs that only some of us get the chance to witness. Yes, I actually finished a game. And not just one game, but two games within two days.

Firstly, while everyone else was busy playing Modern Warfare 2, I finished the first Spyro game. Nothing too important, even if it was the first time in about 10 years. However, this was the first time I've ever actually got 100% completion in the game (well, technically it was 120%). I just couldn't handle the flying levels back in the day. Or Tree Tops. I've already started on the second game which isn't quite as enjoyable as I remember, though it's still decent. I'll get through all three games eventually. Yes, there were only three Spyro games ever made.

Moving on, I also finished Persona 4 after a long, yet rewarding 70+ hours. Seriously, this could very well be the best game I've played all year. Great characters, fun battles, (too) catchy soundtrack, an interesting story....well, I admit that the ending was a bit cheesy. It didn't really help that my sister and I were making fun of every single ending cutscene as they unfolded.

"No, Nanako! Step away from those train tracks!"

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH*

"Nana-chaaaaan!!!"

On an unrelated topic, I'll be away for about a week starting on Saturday. So, yeah.

Spring, Autumn, Fall, whatever you want to call it - you can't deny that over the last 3 months (and still going), there's been a lot of big games coming out. Unfortunately, I'll never get to chance to play them all. I can, however, look at the box covers, which is what I think I'll do now.

A red box is always distinctive, except that the last game I got that came in a red box was the first Buzz game for the PS2. And the last thing I want is a Mario game reminding me of an ugly polygonal Jason Donovan with an unhinged jaw. The yellow Yoshi appears to be looking up at Toad as if to taunt him for having to fly everywhere. Or maybe just because the helicopter hat looks stupid. Yeah, probably that one.

What happened, Charizard? You used to be one of the coolest Pokemon, but now you're hanging around with this bunch? Seriously, that Meganium is wearing a bow tie. Go take that stupid bag off and get some real friends.

This is probably the worst zoo ever. I don't see any divisions between the animals. Just look at the expression on that lion's face - you know it's about to take a massive bite out of that panda. Also, the giraffe looks way too smug about all of this.

"No, Swannie, stop pecking at my armour." "Seriously, Swannie, you see how big this sword is? Now stop bothering me and let me stare off into my partner's cleavage."

And Natal isn't even out yet.... KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

It's like Mickey knows he looks out of place.

Luigi is enjoying this WAY too much. Also, seeing as though he can fly and all, shouldn't Tails be cheating or something?

Characters from all over the Marvel universe unite for one common purpose - to shout at each other.

Way too bright.... Must look at something easier on the eyes....

ARGHHH! That's even worse! I hope you all just banged your head against your keyboard many times. I swear to God, Courtney - If you do anything like this to Lexie....

I've been very busy lately, not much time for gaming so there's not much to talk about.

Well, I saw someone playing a DSi on a bus today. Not too remarkable, except I've never seen anyone actually play a DSi before, let alone on public transport. Asides from the odd kid with the PSP or someone playing TapTap Revenge on their iPod Touch, I just never seem to see that many people playing portable systems on public transport. When I flipped open my DS to play Advance Wars on a long bus ride to Melbourne I recieved nothing but dirty looks. Oh, and 10 dollars from a guy who wanted me to switch seats with his girlfriend. Sweet!

I'm still playing a lot of Dual Strike. It's what I have to turn to when Devil Survivor starts to annoy me (which it does a lot). I've also returned to playing the original Spyro the Dragon, because I never actually completed it. 11 years since I got the game, I can now complete the flying stages easily so I should be able to get 100% completion. Once I beat Tree Tops, at least.

And that's about it. Exams start and finish next week so I should be able to write/play more when they're over.

There are a lot of games out there that we claim are shining examples of innovation. But what if these games aren't as innovative as they initially appear? In fact, what if they're just blatant rip-offs of an early, uncredited game. Those are the games I'm about to expose. Well, one of them. The rest are kind of just grasping at straws but they're still not as original as you might think!

Game: Guitar Hero (2005)

Claim to Fame: First game to let you "rock out" with a fake guitar controller, first mainstream music game.

Stole credit from: Guitar Freaks (199, Dance Dance Revolution (199

So what is the difference between Guitar Hero and Guitar Freaks? Well, about two buttons on the controller. Guitar Freaks just never really took off outside of Japan. Maybe it was the steady decline of the arcade, maybe it was the lack of songs that were actually English. Even though you might not have heard of the series, new versions of Guitar Freaks are still being released, with the game up to its 17th version (that's almost as many games as Guitar Hero).

The game could also be linked up with Drummania, a drumming simulator, so you could rock out as a full band (minus the singer) before Rock Band was even a thought (really, I checked the minds of Harmonix employees and everything). But of course, Guitar Hero was the first music game to break into the mainstream! While I can see why Western audiences didn't exactly get into Pop 'n' Music and Taiko Drum Master (which is shameful, really), there was one music game which I thought managed to connect with the West before the invention of Guitar Hero.

Dance Dance Revolution was, pardon the pun, a revolution. Sure, watching someone beat Through the Fire and the Flames is pretty impressive, but five years ago those same crowds would be drawn to the crazy Japanese kid moving his feet at blinding speed to some song no-one could understand the lyrics to (not that I can understand Dragonforce lyrics). Think about it - people wanted to use DDR in physical education lessons. And nothing says mainstream like sport. You don't see any music lessons using Guitar Hero as a teaching tool, do you?

Game: Shenmue (1999)

Claim to fame (well, infamy): Invention of "Quick-Time-Events"

Stole credit from: Dragon's Lair (1983), E.T. (1982)

Ugh, the QTE. We're all hate them, but you shouldn't hate Shenmue for creating them (but it's alright to hate Shenmue if you think its boring). Direct all your anger towards Dragon's Lair, the 1983 laser-disk arcade game. Asides from graphics that were really ahead of the time, it also had what are generally considered to be the first quick-time events. But I don't follow that school of thought. I believe that the first game to feature QTEs was something even earlier.

Ah, E.T. for the Atari 2600. We all hate it, except me. I still can't forgive it for having what I think is the first quick-time event, though. As I mentioned when I actually played it, the icon at the top of the screen changes depending on where you are. If you press the red button on the controller when it pops up, a variety of things will happen. I'll leave it up to you to decide, but personally I think that E.T. should be to blame for the invention of the QTE. Is there nothing that game can't be blamed for?

Game: Nintendogs (2005)

Claim to Fame: Starting virtual pet craze

Stole Credit From: Tamagotchi (1996)

Screw you, Nintendogs! You ain't got nothing on my Tamagotchi duck!