Japan’s entry into this year’s Oscar race is Weathering With You, and while the Irving Mall will be the only theater playing this animated film regularly as of this weekend, you can catch it at a multiplex much closer to you before then. Wednesday and Thursday feature both Japanese-language and English-dubbed versions of the film.
The story takes place in a Japan that has been hit hard by climate change, with the entire archipelago drenched in soaking precipitation. Against that, a teenage boy named Hodaka meets a girl named Hina who is working at McDonald’s and slips him a free Big Mac when he needs one. It turns out she can change the weather whenever she wants, so Hodaka sets up a business for her creating patches of sunshine for special occasions around Japan. It pays better than McDonald’s. Reviews have frequently compared this to director Makoto Shinkai’s previous film, Your Name, to which it bears many similarities. Regardless of how derivative it might be, Weathering With You boasts some amazing visuals, and the English dub includes the voices of Alison Brie, Lee Pace, and Riz Ahmed (none of them in the lead roles, oddly enough).
Weathering With You runs Wed-Thu at various movie theaters. Check Calendar for showtimes. Tickets are $16.24. Call 818-761-6000.
