From Up on Poppy Hill - 7/10
The most recent Ghibli movie (though I think the new one about the plane designer is already out in Japan and should be out in North America soon). This one was made by Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro Miyazaki. I've always thought there was a bit of parallelism between Miyazaki and Miyamoto.. two geniuses at what they do, innovators and artists, but now they're getting older and are trying to train the new generation (in Miyamoto's case, Aonuma etc).
But I digress. The movie itself was contemplative and methodically paced, which I liked a lot. There was lots of time to admire the beautiful visuals, and there were some striking contrasts in scenery which made the visual style quite appealing. The plot itself was alright though. It was a coming-of-age story, but not one in the Kiki's Delivery Service style; rather more grounded in reality.
My main problem with the story is similar to my complaints with Ponyo, which to me was an abomination of the worst kind. In that movie, the entire conflict was resolved by the boy making a promise to love the girl, and there was never even a doubt that he did. In "From Up on Poppy Hill" they tease at both adultery and incestuous feelings, but both of those issues (the central conflict, really) are resolved in the neatest (and therefore least convincing) of manners.
Overall worth watching but I hope Miyazaki's own next movie is up to his old standards. I feel like with the recent Pixar and Ghibli movies, it's indicative of the quality slipping at the two best animation studios in the world, which is a shame.