Tag - academy-awards

 
 

ACADEMY AWARDS

"Godzilla Minus One" director Takashi Yamazaki (second from left) celebrates with members of his visual effects team after they won the Oscar for best visual effects.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2024
The night Godzilla trampled Hollywood
The humanity behind visual effects and animation won in the end, and Japan should be proud.
In the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards, analysts believed the winner for best animated feature to be a toss-up between Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 15, 2024
An agile campaign helped Hayao Miyazaki score another Oscar award
Even the greats can use an assist when it comes to awards season in Hollywood, and Studio Ghibli has no shortage of supporters.
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One,” which won an Academy Award for best visual effects earlier this week, was made for a reported $15 million — a small fraction of the budgets used by its Hollywood competitors.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024
'Godzilla Minus One' fought the odds and won big at the Oscars
Once mocked, the long-running monster franchise took on Hollywood's behemoths — and won.
The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima remains an iconic symbol of the destruction of the atomic bomb on that city.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2024
Hiroshima grapples with 'Oppenheimer' Oscars success
While locals would have liked to see more Japanese representation in the film, they are at least happy that some discussion is taking place.
Christopher Nolan poses with the Oscars for best picture and best director for "Oppenheimer," in the Academy Awards press room on Sunday.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2024
The Academy gives Christopher Nolan's masterpiece its highest accolade
It is, in the words of its director, the story of the most important person who ever lived.
Masaki Takahashi, Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya and Tatsuji Nojima celebrated winning the Oscar for best visual effects on the Dolby Theatre stage in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2024
Oscars 2024: A night to remember for Japanese cinema
Filmmaking peers in Hollywood honor the excellence of two Japanese titans: Studio Ghibli and Godzilla
Korean Canadian director, playwright and screenwriter Celine Song walks on the stage to pose for photos after a screening of her film, "Past Lives" in Seoul last week.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024
Oscar-nominated Korean diaspora film follows 'lives we leave behind'
"Past Lives," which marks Celine Song's debut as a director, is one of several recent films that address the Korean diaspora.
Three years ago, Sean Ono Lennon became intrigued by the possibility of expanding the message of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” the 1971 protest song by his parents, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, through a narrative film. The resulting work is the 11-minute film “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” directed by Dave Mullins.
CULTURE
Mar 7, 2024
How Sean Ono Lennon helped his parents send a message
To keep their legacy relevant for a new generation, he worked on the short “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko.” Now it’s up for an Oscar.
When Japanese American makeup artist Kazu Hiro first started experimenting with makeup as a teenager in the 1980s, one face leapt out at him from books and magazines he saw in shops: legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2024
Oscar-nominated makeup genius Kazu Hiro comes full circle with 'Maestro'
Nominated for his fifth Academy Award, Kazu Hiro faced some criticism for the way he depicted Bradley Cooper as conductor Leonard Bernstein in "Maestro."
Wim Wenders (left) co-wrote the script for “Perfect Days” with top advertising creative Takuma Takasaki. Japanese star Koji Yakusho (right) won best actor at Cannes last year for his performance as the film’s protagonist, a taciturn toilet cleaner in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2024
Oscar-nominated 'Perfect Days' is 'not about toilets,' Wenders says
The director's film about a taciturn cleaner who keeps Tokyo's public toilets spotless prompts reflections on urban solitude, community and growing older.
A man holds a poster for "The Boy and the Heron" at a movie theater in New Mexico in December.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2024
Miyazaki anime and Godzilla film among Oscar nominees from Japan
An anime directed by Hayao Miyazaki and the latest Godzilla movie were among the Japanese films nominated for U.S. Academy Awards.
An Oppenheimer film poster at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York in July
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 24, 2024
'Oppenheimer' to be shown in Japan, eight months after meme outrage
The release date is almost eight months after memes mixing visuals from the film "Barbie" with atomic blasts provoked anger from people in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 10, 2023
The Oscars are upon us. What films are you rooting for?
Discussing what makes a great movie is fun conversation fodder. What kind of movie do you think is worthy of an Academy Award?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 2, 2023
‘From this day forward, I will always be "Oscar-nominated actor Ke Huy Quan”!’
After mounting a major career comeback and losing his health insurance, the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” actor says the news was surreal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2023
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ leads the Oscar nominations
Daniel Kwan’s oddball sci-fi movie, 'Everything Everywhere All at Once,” led in sheer number of Oscar nominations, with 11 total.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2022
Excitement in Hiroshima after 'Drive My Car' Oscar win
Ryusuke Hamaguchi's film, which was shot mainly in Hiroshima and won an Academy Award for best international feature film, could renew interest in the prefecture as a filming locale
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 30, 2022
Jada Pinkett Smith says it's a 'season for healing' after Oscars incident
The actress didn't refer directly to the incident involving her husband, Will Smith, and comedian Chris Rock in an Instagram post.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 29, 2022
Will Smith apologizes to Chris Rock after academy condemns his slap
'I was out of line and I was wrong,” Smith said in a statement. 'I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 25, 2022
How well do you know Japan's Oscar history?
Ryusuke Hamaguchi's “Drive My Car” is nominated in four categories at the 94th Academy Awards, but win or lose, the film joins an exclusive club for cinematic greats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 15, 2022
‘Drive My Car’ won a Golden Globe. Could it also pick up an Oscar?
“Drive My Car,” a film based on a short story by Haruki Murakami and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, has garnered a long list of prizes since premiering last July at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won three awards, including best screenplay.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on