Part of me feels that your "Miyazaki leaves me cold" take is a bit of posturing -- a way to distinguish yourself from other reviewers. But taking it seriously for a moment, I would recommend that you check out some of his older work, particularly Kiki's Delivery Service, which is a bit more grounded. I would be very surprised if you are not moved by Kiki's story.

I just took my 9-year old daughter to see Ponyo here in Manhattan. It was fun to see an art house filled with so many kids who were her age or younger. Halfway through the movie, a kid in the back shouted out, "This is amazing!" A few minutes later, my daughter turned to me and whispered, "This must be the best movie ever made ever!" All the way home, she kept repeating that it was the best movie in the world. We were home by 8:45 PM, and she crashed into bed, explaining that the movie was just too much for her. She had to go to sleep now. She curled into bed, smiling.

This isn't an Emperor's New Clothes situation, where the movie secretly sucks, but everyone is too pretentious to admit it. The movie is openly enchanting. Another kid shouted out, "Oh! They made those kids kiss!" at the end. He was so lost in the movie, everyone became real to him. It was fun to be in that world with all of them.

So, here are two ideas: (1) there is a part of you that needs to open up to these movies. Me, I fell for "Spirited Away." My daughter got hooked with "Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke" (please don't judge me -- I didn't realize that an animated movie with "Princess" in the title would be PG-13, and she just went for the nature message anyway.) You may need to find the unsophisticated kid part of you who listens to fables and falls for magic.

Or (2) these movies just don't speak to you. So? Nobody has to "get" everything. And isn't it a sign of health that there is such variety out there, that some of it reaches you and some of it doesn't? As long as there is some movie/writing/theater/music/sculpture/art-form-of-your-choice that does get to you, so be it. Art doesn't have to be all things to all people, and we don't have to be available to all art.

Still, I threw in item #1 because I'm still in the afterglow of me, those kids--and mine--enjoying the living daylights out of this movie. Kids don't know how to pretend to be entertained and and enchanted for two hours. For them, it either works or it doesn't and then they start whining and kicking the seat in front of them. Something here really works. If you can find a way to get it, good for you. If you can't, so be it. Let it go. It isn't Miyazaki's fault, and it isn't yours.

I don't like beets. Some people love them. They can have mine.

It isn't a test.

maybe you need to adjust your expectations...

But then again, our family loves every Miyazaki film. Part of their appeal is the naturalistic style of his films and the inclusion of slow pacing. The children in all the studio Ghibli films move in very childish ways. The film that turned us onto Miyazaki was "My Neighbor Totoro." The way the littlest girl goes up and down stairs is exactly how little kids manage stairs! These kind of details makes his film feel very loving and really child-centric in a way that Disney movies aren't. Disney animated films are usually about an adult doing adult things, told in a way appealing to children. Most of Miyazaki's films are about children who behave like children (even if in fantastical situations), in a way that is not cendecending. Also, as a mother of little girls, the large majority of his films center around plucky girls who are girlish, not womanish. What's not to like?

I would like to hear his opinion.

I like some of his movies(Spirited Away, though that might have been influenced by my 4-year-old's fascination with it), but didn't like Kiki, didn't like (or even finish) Princess Mononoke, and there was another (Castle in the Sky, I think was the title) which I also couldn't get through. Some of his scenes have a painterly beauty, but after awhile the very sudden emotional outbursts, and lack of nuanced [ersonalities, of the characters, and the lack of lyricality of the story, get to me.

There's a randomness to the plot and character development that, well, leaves me cold.

"Up" and "Iron Giant" were, I think, the finest anomated movies

I've ever seen, and Miyazaki' work isn't in that league.

My wife and I just got back from Ponyo. Completely amazing. It requires perhaps a slightly greater suspension of disbelief than some of his others, but we didn't mind at all and got to listen to the chorus of kids and parents in awe throughout the film, exclaiming that it was the greatest movie ever over and over. I'm sure there are people out there who don't appreciate Miyazaki, but dear god, why are we letting them review his movies? For the rest of the world, this one was fantastic.

Most children's movies are saturated with adult subtext and have little connection to children. Miyazaki's shows are completely enchanting. Even at their most magical, they are more real than almost all the stuff produced for kids these days.

""Up" and "Iron Giant" were, I think, the finest anomated movies I've ever seen, and Miyazaki' work isn't in that league."

John Lassiter and Brad Bird would seriously disagree with you -- in fact, they would probably say that it's them who are not in Miyazaki's league. Up and Iron Giant are great films; neither would exist without Miyazaki.

Anybody who watches Kiki and sees "sudden emotional outbursts, and lack of nuanced [ersonalities, of the characters, and the lack of lyricality of the story" is simply not paying attention: you'd have a hard time finding a more deliberate, lyrical, and nuanced animated film.