an evening in cary

some things are worth driving for, and that includes yummy indian food and seeing HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE!

my evening with keith and kate started off at cool breeze, an awesome vegetarian east indian restaurant (whihc also serves ice cream). we shared several amazing dishes, including a chutney sandwich, which consisted of spicy green chutney, onions, beets, tomatoes, and potatoes--on white bread. our more traditional choices were great too, especially the malai kofta. i'm getting hungry again just thinking about it--i will have to venture over to cary again soon.

then it was time for the movie, which is playing at the crossroads 20, a huge mega-theater type place. the place was pretty packed with an interesting combination of teens with unnatural hair colors, nerds, families, young couples, and old ladies. i'm not sure which category we fell into, since i hesitate to label either keith or kate as nerds. they're very athletic, after all.

so anyway, throughout howl's moving castle, i was breathlessly thinking, "this might be my favorite miyazaki movie ever!" it was just gorgeous and adorable and occasionally dark. and i really liked the voice actors (especially billy crystal, surprisingly, and of course christian bale has the sexiest voice ever). then came the last three minutes, where the cheese factor was suddenly cranked up to 11, and i was forced to rethink things in a slightly more critical manner. i did really like the movie, but the war subplot (whihc i'm pretty sure wasn't in the book, although i don't really remember) didn't always work for me. i guess it added to the dramatic tension, and miyazaki does like to be heavyhanded about current events (there are some plugs for the environment on a lesser scale), and it did add some interesting things . . . but all in all, it might not quite edge out spirited away for magnificence, heartwarmingness, etc. definitely he did some really neat things w/ the character of sophie, the heart of the movie, and there were tons of other lovable characters who i'm still "awww!"-ing over. i will have to see it again (perhaps several times) to really take it all in, i think!

tomorrow: hitting that loco pops place y'all keep talking about, along w/ the other kate. :)