Tag - film

 
 

FILM

Filmmaker and teacher Karl Neubert says he enjoys working with vintage lenses because they can capture a more cinematic look.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 25, 2023
Karl Neubert: 'The joy a student finds in their debut film is a constant source of pride'
Filmmaker and teacher Karl Neubert discusses his role as an educator to the next generation of artists and how 30 years in Japan has shaped his work.
“Blue Giant,” a feature-length anime movie that centers on young men in Tokyo who aspire to become jazz stars, was so successful in Japan and overseas that director Yuzuru Tachikawa was given an even bigger budget to re-edit the film for a second screening in theaters across Japan.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 23, 2023
Sleeper hit anime 'Blue Giant' gets an encore
The surprise success of the big-budget feature about jazz warranted a re-edited version and a second life in theaters.
Filmmaker Takeshi Kitano speaks at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2023
'Bad treatment happens' in Japan's showbiz world: Takeshi Kitano
The country's entertainment industry has always tended to treat performers as commodities, the iconic Japanese filmmaker and comedian said.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher speaks as she is flanked by Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA's executive director and chief negotiator, during a news conference following the end of the Screen Actors Guild strike in Los Angeles on Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2023
Actors union explains AI guardrails in strike deal
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) reached a deal with studios like Disney and Netflix this week to end its nearly four-month strike.
Director Wim Wenders served as president of the competition jury at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. Wenders' "Perfect Days," which opened the festival and features Koji Yakusho as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo, is Japan’s nominee for the Academy Awards’ best international feature film category.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2023
'Perfect Days' and '(Ab)normal Desire' turn heads at Tokyo International Film Festival
Wim Wenders' film opened the event, while Yoshiyuki Kishi’s multilayered drama made a splash, taking both the Audience Award and the best director prize.
Director Hideo Jojo made the switch from soft-core adult films to more mainstream entertainment with “On the Edge of Their Seats,” a drama about four teenagers watching their high school baseball team lose an important tournament game.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 10, 2023
'Pink film' director Hideo Jojo gets the red carpet treatment
Tokyo's annual film festival named Jojo — who has made over 100 titles, from soft-core adult films to theatrical features — this year's Director in Focus.
A union team captain reacts after SAG-AFTRA approved a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to bring an end to the 118-day actors strike, at a brewery in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023
Hollywood actors reach tentative deal with studios to end strike
The deal also provides protections against unauthorized use of images generated by artificial intelligence.
Sony Group has raised its full-year outlook after its media divisions outperformed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023
Sony raises sales and profit outlook as media helps offset mobile
The adjustments suggest resilient consumer spending and a weaker yen are stabilizing the business.
The Disney store in Times Square, New York, on Oct. 29
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023
Disney tops earnings forecasts as Iger sets 'building' phase
Disney now says it is on track to achieve $7.5 billion in annualized savings
From convenience stores and pizza franchises to makers of mattresses and whisky, businesses are looking to cash in on the popularity of "Godzilla Minus One."
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 8, 2023
Latest Godzilla movie is a beast at the Japan box office
Boosted by mammoth marketing campaign, "Godzilla Minus One" racks up over ¥1 billion in opening weekend.
After years of pining, gamers are finally getting the live-action Zelda movie they've always wanted.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Nov 8, 2023
A live-action Legend of Zelda movie is in development
A live-action Zelda movie has been a holy grail of video game adaptations for decades, and now that day has come.
A spear, modeled on the "Spear of Longinus" that features in the hit anime series "Neon Genesis Evangelion," protrudes from the ground in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in October.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2023
'Spear of Longinus' from anime 'Evangelion' lands in Yamaguchi
The spear is the work of young employees at a steel-maker, and is installed in the city where the series' director was born.
Meiji University professor and cinema expert Lindsay Nelson writes about 
J-horror (Japanese horror) in her book, “Circulating Fear.”
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 28, 2023
‘Horror has always been a vehicle to talk about social problems’
A J-horror expert gives her take on the essence of the genre and the cultural roots of its creative choices.
A statue of the Demon Spirit in the Mononoke Village area, a new area within Ghibli Park in the city of Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2023
Ghibli Park unveils new 'Princess Mononoke' area
The Mononoke Village area within the facility will open on Nov. 1, showcasing the sceneries of village forests in Japan.
Busan International Film Festival host Song Kang-ho presents the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award to veteran Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat at the 2023 edition of the Asian film festival.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2023
Film fans flock to Busan festival despite scandal
Busan International Film Festival remains a prestige Asian movie event amid internal strife and budget cuts.
Dariush Mehrjui attends the commemoration ceremony of the 20th Great Celebration of Iranian Cinema in August 2018
CULTURE
Oct 15, 2023
Prominent Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui stabbed to death
The 83-year-old filmmaker was indelibly associated with the Iranian new wave of cinema, having made "The Cow" in 1969, one of the movement's first films.
Over 20% of actors, stunt performers, voice actors and announcers in Japan said between October and December last year that they had experienced sexual harassment, according to a government white paper released on Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2023
Over 20% of actors in Japan say they've been sexually harassed
Over 20% of actors, stunt performers, voice actors and announcers in Japan said between October and December last year that they had experienced sexual harassment, a government white paper showed Friday.
The classic Japanese ghost story often features a vengeful female ghost.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 12, 2023
[Rebroadcast] Japan’s got ghosts
This week we discuss a few horror movies before “Uncanny Japan” podcast host Thersa Matsuura tells a classic Japanese ghost story.
Tatsuya Fuji
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 1, 2023
Japanese actor Tatsuya Fuji wins top lead actor prize at San Sebastian
San Sebastian's international film festival is considered one of the most prestigious in Europe alongside those of Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
Striking writers and actors stage a solidarity march through Hollywood on Sept. 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2023
The Writers Guild had a PR strategy like no other
So how did the Writers Guild union do it? First and foremost, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of social media in the equation.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces