Birthday Spotlight & Top 10: Hayao Miyazaki

Today is the 80th birthday of one HAYAO MIYAZAKI, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, animation or otherwise. Throughout his filmography, from his exceedingly fun debut LUPIN THE 3RD to his elegiac (possible) swan song THE WIND RISES, his mastery film storytelling has few rivals. Each film transcends genre, tone and conventional narrative to find something deeper than what we’ve been conditioned to look for in cinema. I am by no means an anime aficionado, but Miyazaki’s films are undeniably worthy of the lofty, high-minded praise you have just read, so I would recommend celebrating his 80th year with any of his films, all of which are now streaming on @hbomax.