It's a fine week for Hayao Miyazaki fans, with the release of the anime master piece "Spirited Away" plus two earlier delights, "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "Castle in the Sky."
1. Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki's animated Alice-in-Wonderland fable, as fierce and true as it is gentle, is a feast for the eyes, the heart, and the imagination. The mature work of a master storyteller that cannot be praised highly enough. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
2. Ran
Akira Kurosawa's glorious adaptation of King Lear in a restored "Masterworks Edition" with two commentary tracks.
3. Rabbit Proof Fence
Australian director Philip Noyce returns home with a true story seething in injustice about the widespread theft of aboriginal children to become domestics, servants, and manual laborers in white "civilized" society. Starring Kenneth Branagh, with a score composed by Peter Gabriel.4. Kiki's Delivery Service
If one is not enough, this Miyazaki is highly recommended. Kirsten Dunst provides the voice of the spirited Kiki, a thirteen year old witch who goes into business in "Kiki's Delivery Service."5. The Singing Detective
Michael Gambon will knock you out with his performance in this gripping BBC series. Robert Downey Jr. is taking over the role in the movie version. I am not convinced even he can fill Gambon's awesome shoes -- or croon like him.6. The Transporter
A stylish action flick by French director Luc Besson. Jason Statham plays Frank Martin, a man who transports packages, all kinds of packages, no questions asked. The DVD includes 15 minutes of never-before-seen, unrated footage, commentary by Jason Statham and a "making-of" featurette.7. Skins
"Smoke Signals" director Chris Eyre pulls no punches in his angry portrait of life on the impoverished Pine Ridge Reservation, a community awash in poverty, drugs, and alcoholism.8. Hysterical Blindness
Mina Nair ("Monsoon Wedding") directs this drama about New Jersey women looking for love in all the wrong places. Uma Thurman won a Golden Globe for her performance.9. 101 Reykjavik
The Oedipal crisis takes a modern twist in Baltasar Kormakur's weird and woolly comedy of a sneering unemployed slacker (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason) who still lives at home, surfing the Internet for porn by day and wasting his evenings in the local pub.