All,

It is time, again, for FREE screenings of films at 6 pm at Catamount Arts on Wednesdays this month hosted by me. In addition to being your friendly neighborhood doctor of movies, I, Dr Pete, am also Paterfamilias Pete, and so this month we have screenings for the kids. This Wednesday, March 15, we will be screening "My Neighbor Totoro" and on March 29 we'll be watching "The Princess Bride."

"My Neighbor Totoro," one of the earliest films produced by the famed Studio Ghibli – often described as Japan's Disney – is a masterpiece by writer/director Hayao Miyazaki, the world's greatest living animator. It tells the story, from the children's perspective, of two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, moving to a country house with their father to be near their hospitalized mother. In this new setting, and in this new house, they encounter a variety of fantastical creatures.

Always magical and never frightening, the fantastical elements they discover are simply one part of the idealized and nurturing rural setting of the film. Indeed, sometimes it's hard to tell what is more magical – the creatures encountered, including soot sprites, Totoro the giant wood spirit, and a cat-bus (exactly what it sounds like), or the woods, farms, fields, and community Satsuki and Mei find at their new home. "My Neighbor Totoro" is a fairy tale, but without the cruel edge of the Brothers Grimm or the saccharine-ness of Disney. Entirely hand-drawn, with vibrant colors and settings, it's a celebration of childhood and the natural world.

And for those of you who are - ahem - not kids, you are invited too. I'll still have some wicked smart things to say, and did you see that NY Times article about the book "The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly: Life Wisdom from Someone Who Will (Probably) Die Before You"? Well, step number two is "surround yourself with the young." So ... YOU'RE WELCOME.

Dr Pete