Howl's Moving Castle

From the opening frames of Hayao Miyazaki's newest feature toon, Howl's Moving Castle, we know we are in the hands of a master filmmaker taking us places few movies ever do. An absolute triumph on every level, the flick leaves CGI extravaganzas like Robots and Madagascar in its dust, and this Americanized version has been deftly dubbed into English by the likes of Billy Crystal in a surreal role of wisecracking fire, and Christian Bale as the titular magician Howl. Adapted from a novel by Diana Wynne Jones, the classically animated tale (now one of Japan's all-time blockbusters) tells the story of a teenage girl whose life is literally uprooted by a strange wizard when she's turned into a 90-year-old woman by the Wicked Bitch…er, Witch of the Waste. With some images of the portable castle's amazing journeys rivaling Fantasia, Howl's isn't just some Japanese import that elementary school kids will obsess over—it could easily turn into a cult fave with midnight shows for stoners. Credit Disney and the crew at Pixar with importing this kind of artistry and bringing it to the attention of audiences who recently have only been suckling on CGI's teat.