Review: The illuminating 'The Secret of Kells'  Shawn Levy, The
Oregonian By Shawn Levy, The Oregonian on April 30, 2010 at 2:46
PM, updated May 01, 2010 at 9:54 AM The Secret of Kells.jpg
Just as it surprised everyone when it was nominated for a Best
Animated Feature Oscar earlier this year, the Irish film "The
Secret of Kells" surprised the Portland film press by sneaking
into the Fox Tower today for its local premiere.  It's a film
that you should not let slip away without seeing.  Directors
Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey have made a stunningly gorgeous film
that moves with magnificent, dreamlike craft and textures that
recall the masterworks of Hayao Miyazake (especially "Sprited
Away" and "Princess Mononoke").  The story is slight and given
relatively short shrift.  But the film bursts with imagination,
beauty and wonder.  "Kells" centers on a pre-teen boy named
Brendan, who lives in the abbey-cum-citadel of Kells, which is
ruled by his humorless uncle, Abbot Cellach (voiced by Brendan
Gleeson).  The abbot'