2
THE OPENING ACT
NOVEMBER 3�10, 2021
STAFF
What we’re into
follow us
FILMS BY HAYAO
MIYAZAKI
ONLINE
I
www.goeasternoregon.com
TWITTER
twitter.com/GoEasternOregon
FACEBOOK
www.facebook.com/
goeasternoregon
INSTAGRAM
www.instagram.com/
goeasternoregon
contact us
RAISING THE CURTAIN
ON THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
f there’s the slimmest of silver
linings to this pandemic, it’s that
we got the chance to do the sort
of personal projects we normally
put off . Watching the fi lms of
Hayao Miyazaki was one of those
things I always told myself I
would do when I had the time. Lo
and behold, a world in crisis had
created the time and HBO Max
provided the means by containing
nearly all the Japanese animator’s
output across three decades.
It wasn’t hard to fall for Mi-
yazaki’s work. All of his movies
are painstakingly animated by
hand, using the medium to tell
simple stories that are life affi rm-
ing without being saccharine,
the narrowest of tightropes to
walk. But I don’t think I was ready
for 2001’s “Spirited Away” by the
time I got to it.
“Spirited Away” tells the story
of Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who
moves to a new town. On the
way to their new house, Chihiro
and her parents take a detour
and stumble upon an abandoned
theme park. In short order, the
theme park reveals itself to be
a portal to the spirit world and
IMDb
Chihiro’s parents transform into
pigs after dining on a mysterious
meal. Chihiro spends the rest of
the movie trying to escape the
employ of a malevolent witch
and save her parents.
I’m not doing the fi lm justice,
not only by glossing over the
nuances of plot for the sake of
brevity, but also because the
fi lm transcends words. How do
you describe a movie that’s also
about greed and modernization
and collective purpose? How do
you talk about a fi lm that doesn’t
talk about any of those themes
explicitly, but rings in your head
for days afterward because of its
conviction and moral clarity?
I can’t really answer those
questions, but I don’t need to.
“Spirited Away” can be viewed
whenever you want, provided
you have the time.
— ANTONIO SIERRA, REPORTER,
EAST OREGONIAN
EDITOR
Lisa Britton
Go! Editor
editor@goeasternoregon.com
541-406-5274
Sarah Smith
Calendar Coordinator
calendar@goeasternoregon.com
SUBMIT NEWS
Submit your event information
by Monday for publication the
following week (two weeks in
advance is even better!).
Go! Magazine is published
Wednesdays in the  Wallowa
County Chieftain and Blue
Mountain Eagle. It publishes
Thursdays in The Observer, Baker
City Herald and East Oregonian.
New releases
‘EQUALS’ BY ED SHEERAN
Huge things have happened
to Ed Sheeran since his last solo
album — marriage, loss, father-
hood. They’re all on the new col-
lection “Equals,” an album that
sweetly sounds like a man who
now has all he needs.
“I have grown up/I am a father
now/Everything has changed/
But I am still the same some-
how,” Sheeran sings on the
revealing opening song, “Tides.”
Don’t believe it: He has changed.
Gone is the heartbreak and
bitterness that gave a sly edge
to songs on previous albums.
Gone is much of the insecurity
that made Sheeran so relat-
able. That guy you imagined
down at the pub with his mates
enjoying a pint and a packet of
crisps is now home, shutting out
the world.
The bulk of “Equals” are
love songs to his wife, Cherry
Seaborn, like the unabashedly
romantic “First Times,” when
he sings: “The greatest thing
that I have achieved/Is four little
words, down on one knee.”
— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ADVERTISING AND
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Baker City Herald
541-523-3673
The Observer
541-963-3161
East Oregonian
541-276-2211
Wallowa County Chieftain
541-426-4567
Blue Mountain Eagle
541-575-0710
Hermiston Herald
541-567-6457
Quality Vehicles. Reasonable Prices.
10500 West 1st St., Island City, OR• 541-204-0041
HOMESTEADMOTORSOR.COM