Hustle and Heat (2004)

Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness explores true identity through exploration. 

This Japanese Anime movie is about Kanna, a young girl who sets on a quest across Japan to discover her true identity.

When you first hear that there is a series on Netflix where the lead character’s wife dies from cancer and he becomes dangerously suicidal, you wouldn’t immediately assume that it’s a comedy.

Women who pray together, play together. Very rarely would I describe a story about a group of punk rockers as “whimsical”, but such an engaging array of visual and comedic components make this stand-out new series the star that it is.

This film manages to be simultaneously topical and timeless. Without being preachy, it highlights society’s flawed relationship with tech; insights into the complex ideas of family struggle are expertly dispersed among a perfectly paced and balanced story.

A refreshing twist is that all the kids’ powers are…kind of useless. There’s a kid who can only move in slow motion, a kid who has every power in the world but can only use them randomly, and our main character Missy who has no powers at all. The thesis of the film seems to be that it doesn’t matter what kind of powers you have, its the way you use them, which is good for the warm and fuzzies.