Tag - godzilla

 
 

GODZILLA

Both Godzilla and Kong have a rich screen history to draw on, but “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” feels like a desperate attempt for the crossover franchise to justify both its existence and its continuation.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024
‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’: Running out of steam
The latest in the Warner Bros. Monsterverse franchise shows signs of an anemic imagination.
People dressed as King Kong and Godzilla attend the world premiere of "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood last month.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 2, 2024
'Godzilla x Kong' tops North American box office with $80 million haul
Japan's favorite monster seems to be on a roll this year, winning an Oscar and topping the box office in a prized market.
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.
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
Former Giants star Hideki Matsui watches Yuto Akihiro take batting practice at the team's spring camp in Miyazaki on Saturday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Feb 15, 2024
Giants' new Godzilla Yuto Akihiro taps into Hideki Matsui's teachings to level up
Akihiro is the latest player to try and walk in Matsui's footsteps.
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.
From movies, anime, manga and even to sports stars, 2023 was a year where global audiences demonstrated their increasing fondness for Japanese soft power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 27, 2023
From Godzilla to Shohei: Japan's soft power had a big year
Little by little, Japan is getting better at pitching its copious wares overseas, and 2023 proved that.
Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” received Golden Globes nominations for best animated motion picture and best original score for a motion picture this week.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 12, 2023
'The Boy and the Heron' and 'Godzilla Minus One' win over U.S.
While both Japanese films broke records at the North American box office, Hayao Miyazaki's latest also received two Golden Globes nominations.
A Godzilla head in Tokyo's Kabukicho district. The latest installment in the franchise, which opened last Friday, follows the giant reptilian monster rampaging through postwar Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2023
Godzilla smashes U.S. record as top-earning Japanese live-action film
"Godzilla Minus One" made over $14.36 million as of Tuesday, surpassing the previous title held by "The Adventures of Milo and Otis."
Godzilla is presented with a certificate after being selected for Hollywood's Walk of Fame during a news conference in Tokyo in October 2004.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023
New 'Godzilla' flick deftly tackles postwar Japan in cinematic triumph
Godzilla strikes again: New 'Minus One' movie is a visual spectacle that challenges Hollywood's big budget norms.
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.
Japan’s most famous monster attacks Tokyo just as the city is rebuilding itself from the destruction of World War II in “Godzilla Minus One.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2023
‘Godzilla Minus One’: Legendary monster levels up visually
Admirable visual effects bring the beast to life in the franchise’s newest entry, which looks more like the 1954 original than anything in decades.
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.
“Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again” fully articulates the intentions behind the creation of Japan’s most infamous "kaijū" (monster) before Toho Studios releases the newest chapter in the “Godzilla” saga.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 29, 2023
‘Godzilla’ novellas expand on infamous monster’s origins
Shigeru Kayama’s entertaining and informative stories delve deep into the underlying pacifist beliefs of the entire “Godzilla” franchise.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 26, 2021
A look behind the scenes with Godzilla, the ‘king of monsters’
Norman England's new book, 'Behind the Kaiju Curtain,' gives an insider's take on Japan's kaiju016b craftsmanship and monster movie-making.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 13, 2021
Godzilla fetes 67th birthday with 4K remaster of iconic 1954 film
The highly anticipated remaster of the original 'Godzilla' film debuted in Los Angeles to celebrate the 67th birthday of the pop culture icon and the world's longest-running movie franchise.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 10, 2021
From AC Japan ads to 'Your Name.': The impact of 3/11 on pop culture
The triple disaster of 2011 still looms large in the collective memory of those who were in Japan at the time. How society remembers it, though, has been influenced by films, music and art.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores