I Saw the Best Critics of My Generation

Stephanie Zacharek of Salon doesn’t like the new Hayao Miyazaki film, Howl’s Moving Castle.

I felt ambiguous at the prospect of seeing this film: Miyazaki’s [Princess Mo nonoke](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003CXBK/theusualsusp epat) was epic, luminous, and put me to sleep, wheras the pacing of [Spirited Away](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JLEU/theusualsuspep at) was just right. But Zacharek thought that Howl, based on [the book by Diana Wynn Jones](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006441034X/the usualsuspepat), was somewhat boring. Zacharek, helpfully, is always completely wrong about everything, so I’m taking that as a sign that Howl is probably pretty good, although not as good as it would have been had she thought it was a pile of unwatchable tripe.