Tag - film

 
 

FILM

The former Okaya City Hall in Nagano Prefecture, where parts of the movie "Godzilla Minus One" was filmed
CULTURE / Film
Mar 16, 2024
Nagano area where latest 'Godzilla' made becoming filming hot spot
The scenic Suwa area has become popular for its convenient proximity to Tokyo and its readiness to accommodate film projects.
"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.
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.
"Tsushima: Fukushima Speaks Part 2" is directed by freelance journalist Toshikuni Doi, featuring the testimonies of people seeking the return of their hometown, which has been deemed uninhabitable for a century after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 12, 2024
Film poses moral questions about 2011 Fukushima disaster displacement
The 187-minute documentary focuses on the impact the accident had on the daily lives of people who are unable to return to their hometown.
Nintendo's popular video game character Super Mario will return to the big screen in April 2026.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024
Nintendo announces new 'Super Mario' movie
The video game company will partner with animation studio Illumination again for the animated feature scheduled for an April 2026 release.
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
Nikon's acquisition of RED, a favorite in Hollywood, promises to propel the Japanese firm into the world of cinema.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 8, 2024
Nikon to buy U.S. cinema camera maker RED
The acquisition of RED, a favorite in Hollywood, promises to propel the Japanese firm into the world of cinema.
Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada attends the red carpet event for FX's "Shogun" at the Academy theater in Los Angeles on Feb. 13.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 27, 2024
Disney’s ‘Shogun’ has a lot to teach the West
Walt Disney returns "Shogun" to the screen and reinvents an epic tale for a new generation.
Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, at his office in Burbank, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2024
Disney reshuffles leadership at troubled namesake movie division
New President David Greenbaum oversaw the release of Oscar nominated "Poor Things" and previous winners such as "The Shape of Water" and "Nomadland."
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.
Film director Hideo Sakaki leaves the Akasaka Police Station in Tokyo on Wednesday as police take him to prosecutors.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2024
Film director Hideo Sakaki held on suspicion of sexual assault
While allegations of sexual abuse were made against Sakaki as far back as March 2022, this is the first time that the director has been taken into custody.
Women in a cotton field at a welfare facility in Yamanashi Prefecture in the film "Fujiyama Cottonton." The film aims to show audiences the everyday lives of people with disabilities.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2024
New documentary offers a look at life with disabilities in Japan
"Fujiyama Cottonton" shows how people at a welfare facility live full lives by communicating and pursuing simple passions.
"The Boy and the Heron" won the Animated Film prize at the 2024 British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 19, 2024
Hayao Miyazaki's 'The Boy and the Heron' wins BAFTA
The film also won the Animated Prize at the Golden Globes and is a nominee for Best Animated Feature at the U.S. Academy Awards.
Diagnosed at a young age with a rare variant of glycogen storage disease type IV, Mark Bookman went on to distinguish himself in academia in both the United States and Japan.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Feb 19, 2024
New film honors life and legacy of disability pioneer Mark Bookman
Free screenings of THE new documentary on Japan-based disability rights advocate Mark Bookman will be held around Tokyo on Feb. 24, 25 and 27.
Straight-to-video films, locally called “V-Cinema,” were popular in the 1990s and into the 2000s, becoming a training ground and launchpad for Japanese directors and actors.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2024
Threatened with extinction, V-Cinema hopes for new saviors
Physical deterioration and copyright issues mar the influential film genre that once served as a launchpad for directors and actors in Japan.
Director Toshihiko Tanaka (left) is pictured in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Feb. 2, after his film, "Rei," won the top Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 5, 2024
Toshihiko Tanaka wins top prize for 'Rei' at Rotterdam film festival
The Japanese film "Rei" directed by Toshihiko Tanaka won the top Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, an annual event for up-and-coming filmmakers.
The title monster in “Godzilla Minus One” is a threat, of course, but the real story is about finding community in the wake of destruction.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2024
‘Godzilla Minus One’ stomps into ‘Oppenheimer’ territory
Those movies, along with “The Boy and the Heron,” are essentially in conversation about the moral weight of American and Japanese actions in World War II.
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.
Journalist Shiori Ito sheds a tear as she speaks to reporters outside the Tokyo district court on Dec. 18, 2019, after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2024
Japanese journalist brings lonely #MeToo battle to Sundance
Shiori Ito's fight for justice is the subject of "Black Box Diaries," a documentary she herself directed.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world