That thread comes at an interesting time because I was considering starting a similar one. I saw several anime movies recently and realized I had not seen much in the past few years (and they are very rarely distributed in theater around here if they are not by Ghibli), so I made a list of 50ish movies released in the past 3 years and started digging. Brief comments incoming for the good ones, I let you right click google the titles to know more:
Note: my rating system: yuck, meh, and then one to four stars. I only list here recent movies that were three or four stars.
Kaguya Hime no Monogartari (Tales of the Princess Kaguya): Ghibli by Takahata, based on the oldest known written japanese fiction or something. A poor bambou cutter find a little princess that turns into a human baby and decides to make a princess out of her. A pretty impressive hand-drawn children book look to it with remarkable animation (there is notably a flight sequence in the middle of the movie that is breath taking). The story is pretty dark and feels like a compilation of folk tales (no surprise at it's what it is) more than a well built coherent story, but still three stars.
Momo e no Tegami (A Letter to Momo): By the director of Jin-Roh but with preciously nothing in common. It's a coming of age movie centered on a 13 year old girl moving with her mom to an island in japanese inner sea. It takes a turn toward the fantasy/comedy as the old house they movie in is haunted by spirits. But what do they want?? The resolution is a bit over the top, which is strange because the rest of the movie is very subtle and amusing. Three stars.
Koto no Ha no Niwa (The Garden of Words): 50ish minutes movie by Makoto Shinkai that chronicles the meetings of a young woman and a teenager in a park on rainy days. The very subtle, delicate and original writing of Shinkai along with spectacular production (the backgrounds are 2D painting based on photos that are sometimes mapped on 3D models, it's jaw dropping stuff time and time again). Three stars.
Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (Wolf Children): Let's start by the problem. This is a werewolf story (or more exactly a story involving werewolves), the character design for the wolf forms is a bit crap and at times (luckily very rarely) it steps dangerously into furry territory. Other than that, it is an amazing movie about the struggles of a single mom and about choosing the life you want to live. What surprised me the most though is the quality, inventiveness and grace of the film making. Four stars!
Niijiro Hotaru (Rainbow Fireflies): A kid who lost his father has an accident and is sent several decades in the past to live the last summer of a village that will be sunken by a dam. Strange premise and strange character design for this coming of age story that never really goes were you expect it. Including in its epilogue that turns into a grand final. Three stars.
Kokurikozaka kara (From Up On Poppy Hill): Ghibli by Miyazaki (Gor? no Hayao). It's a teenage students romance set in the early 60s. It is absolutely brilliant, because the story is both haunted by the long lasting consequences of WWII and energized by a post war generation that has an unquenchable thirst to live. Four stars!
