Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron flies onto Max as the streamer extends its Studio Ghibli pact
Hayao Miyazaki’s cerebral fantasy film The Boy and the Heron is flying onto Max in the United States after winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar at this year’s awards ceremony. In addition to bringing Miyazaki’s latest breath-taking animated feature to the streaming platform, Warner Bros. Discovery is entering a multiyear pact with GKids to extend Max’s exclusive U.S. film streaming rights for Studio Ghibli.
Per the new deal, Max will be the future home of The Boy and the Heron, with a premiere date to be announced later this year. The agreement also secures exclusivity on Max for other films in Studio Ghibli’s library, including Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Porco Rosso, and more.
“Our subscribers are always looking for unique stories, and we are happy to continue to offer these award-winning, critically acclaimed films and to add ‘The Boy and the Heron...
Per the new deal, Max will be the future home of The Boy and the Heron, with a premiere date to be announced later this year. The agreement also secures exclusivity on Max for other films in Studio Ghibli’s library, including Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Porco Rosso, and more.
“Our subscribers are always looking for unique stories, and we are happy to continue to offer these award-winning, critically acclaimed films and to add ‘The Boy and the Heron...
- 3/12/2024
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
The Boy and the Heron Movie Review Rating:
Star Cast: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, and Yoshino Kimura
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
The Boy and the Heron Movie Review ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
What’s Good: The film’s animation is breathtaking, proving that classic 2D animation still has space on the big screen.
What’s Bad: The film’s story can get confusing sometimes, and many audience members will only know what is happening if they pay full attention.
Loo Break: No loo breaks for this one. The film asks for your full attention as you need to decipher its symbolism to give meaning to the film.
Watch or Not?: Yes, this could be Miyazaki’s last film and needs to be watched on the big screen.
Language: Japanese (with subtitles)
Available On: Theaters
Runtime: 124 Minutes
User Rating:
Hayao Miyazaki’s career has been one of the most...
Star Cast: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, and Yoshino Kimura
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
The Boy and the Heron Movie Review ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
What’s Good: The film’s animation is breathtaking, proving that classic 2D animation still has space on the big screen.
What’s Bad: The film’s story can get confusing sometimes, and many audience members will only know what is happening if they pay full attention.
Loo Break: No loo breaks for this one. The film asks for your full attention as you need to decipher its symbolism to give meaning to the film.
Watch or Not?: Yes, this could be Miyazaki’s last film and needs to be watched on the big screen.
Language: Japanese (with subtitles)
Available On: Theaters
Runtime: 124 Minutes
User Rating:
Hayao Miyazaki’s career has been one of the most...
- 12/30/2023
- by Nelson Acosta
- KoiMoi
Hayao Miyazaki's first feature in 10 years crept into theaters with a bang. After many years of a wish-washy retirement, the 83-year old director of beloved Studio Ghibli titles like “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke” returned with his beautifully animated “The Boy and the Heron.” Notably, though the film appeared in Japanese theaters sans PR (a deliberate choice on Miyazaki's end), the movie has taken the world by storm. I personally have been hearing about it since the day of its premiere: first, friends reporting back on their summer Japan travels; then other journalists at TIFF; and finally, within vicinity, from neighbors and colleagues near me, as the film scoops the coveted No. 1 spot in the North American box office. With Gkids' North American release hitting the high of the holidays, it is almost no wonder that film critics have been tittering about “The Boy and the Heron's” potential...
- 12/21/2023
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Acclaimed filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s Japanese film The Boy and the Heron flew to a record-breaking $12.8 million opening, making it the first original anime title in history to top the North American box office chart.
The whimsical movie — which earned Miyazaki his first Golden Globe nomination on Monday — wisely chose to open on a weekend when there were no new wide releases from the major Hollywood studios. The first and second weekends of December are generally quiet as the studios prepare to unwrap their big Christmas films.
This year, the holiday action gets underway in earnest next weekend when Warner Bros. opens Wonka, although it debuted in select markets overseas this weekend to a very promising $43.2 million from 37 markets, enough to rank No. 1 on the weekend global weekend chart.
The Boy and the Heron shattered other records as well, including already becoming Miyazaki’s top-grossing film domestically after earning $5.6 million on Friday from 2,205 theaters,...
The whimsical movie — which earned Miyazaki his first Golden Globe nomination on Monday — wisely chose to open on a weekend when there were no new wide releases from the major Hollywood studios. The first and second weekends of December are generally quiet as the studios prepare to unwrap their big Christmas films.
This year, the holiday action gets underway in earnest next weekend when Warner Bros. opens Wonka, although it debuted in select markets overseas this weekend to a very promising $43.2 million from 37 markets, enough to rank No. 1 on the weekend global weekend chart.
The Boy and the Heron shattered other records as well, including already becoming Miyazaki’s top-grossing film domestically after earning $5.6 million on Friday from 2,205 theaters,...
- 12/10/2023
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Plot: After his mother dies during WW2, a young Japanese boy, Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki), is sent to live with his Aunt, Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), with whom his munitions factory owner father is trying to start a new family. Traumatized by the death of his mother and struggling to accept his circumstances, Mahito finds himself lured into a fantasy world out of time and space by an antagonistic grey Heron (Masaki Suda). As Mahito struggles to make sense of the new macrocosm, he ends a vicious cycle of generational trauma, ultimately making peace with his new surroundings by accepting the winds of change.
Review: As an animation enthusiast, few cinematic pleasures are more anticipated than experiencing another potential masterpiece from the “Godfather of Anime,” Hayao Miyazaki. The co-founder of Studio Ghibli is responsible for some of animation’s greatest treasures, including Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle,...
Review: As an animation enthusiast, few cinematic pleasures are more anticipated than experiencing another potential masterpiece from the “Godfather of Anime,” Hayao Miyazaki. The co-founder of Studio Ghibli is responsible for some of animation’s greatest treasures, including Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle,...
- 12/9/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
“The Boy and the Heron” marks the 14th collaboration between Hayao Miyazaki and Joe Hisaishi. But even after almost four decades of working together, the animator and the composer are finding new ways to create new sounds. “The Boy and The Heron” is the story of Mahito (Soma Santoki), a young man who leaves the firebombing of Tokyo for the Japanese countryside in World War II, and then ends up guided by the titular Heron (Masaki Suda) to a completely different place in order to rescue his stepmother Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura) from the clutches of otherworldly forces. And also a lot of birds.
But parakeets hungry for human flesh aren’t the only novel thing about “The Boy and The Heron.” Hisaishi has in the past described his Studio Ghibli scores as a two years on, two years off cycle. When releasing the “Symphonic Celebration” Ghibli collection with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,...
But parakeets hungry for human flesh aren’t the only novel thing about “The Boy and The Heron.” Hisaishi has in the past described his Studio Ghibli scores as a two years on, two years off cycle. When releasing the “Symphonic Celebration” Ghibli collection with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,...
- 11/28/2023
- by Sarah Shachat
- Indiewire
Clockwise from bottom left: The Color Purple (Warner Bros.), Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (Warner Bros.), Ferrari (Neon), and Wonka (Warner Bros.)Graphic: The A.V. Club
December has always been one of the most important moviegoing months of the year; you’ve got all the prestige pics competing for Oscar nominations,...
December has always been one of the most important moviegoing months of the year; you’ve got all the prestige pics competing for Oscar nominations,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Jen Lennon, Matt Schimkowitz, Ian Spelling, Luke Y. Thompson, and Phil Pirrello
- avclub.com
Plot: After his mother is killed during WW2, a young Japanese boy, Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki), is sent to go live with his Aunt, Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), with whom his munitions factory owner father is trying to start a new family. Deeply scarred by the death of his mother and unable to accept his aunt, he finds himself distracted by a trouble-making grey Heron (Masaki Suda) who eventually whisks him into an alternate world of fantasy and danger that is tied to his ancestors.
Review: We all have our blind spots regarding film history. I’m proud of the fact that I have a solid knowledge and love for both the Golden Age of Hollywood and classic foreign cinema, but I have one place where my film knowledge comes up glaring (and shamefully) short. I’ve never seen a Hayao Miyazaki movie. I’ve never been a major animation buff,...
Review: We all have our blind spots regarding film history. I’m proud of the fact that I have a solid knowledge and love for both the Golden Age of Hollywood and classic foreign cinema, but I have one place where my film knowledge comes up glaring (and shamefully) short. I’ve never seen a Hayao Miyazaki movie. I’ve never been a major animation buff,...
- 9/9/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
There are those who were confused upon reading the announcement that the Toronto International Film Festival would kick off its 48th edition with The Boy and the Heron, from the Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. And then there are those who heard that this latest — and possibly the last — movie made by this 82-year-old artist would be TIFF’s opening-night selection, and understood exactly why this was the correct choice. While animation is still viewed as inferior to live-action in many quarters, by people who should know better — or dismissed as...
- 9/8/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Late in the freewheeling action of The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka), the director’s young stand-in returns to the realm of the living after encountering an ancestor who gives him a handful of stones, instructing him to build a tower with them every three days to create a world of beauty and balance, free from malice. That’s as apt a summation as any of what 82-year-old anime master Hayao Miyazaki has been doing throughout his celebrated six-decade career as a consummate artist and a storyteller of unfettered imagination.
Miyazaki’s first feature in 10 years follows 2013’s The Wind Rises, a project that was announced at the time as the legendary animator’s farewell. That film’s elegiac tone and inspiring themes of molding dreams into reality and choosing creation over violence and destruction made it a fitting swan song.
But Miyazaki clearly was not done weaving his phantasmagorical worlds.
Miyazaki’s first feature in 10 years follows 2013’s The Wind Rises, a project that was announced at the time as the legendary animator’s farewell. That film’s elegiac tone and inspiring themes of molding dreams into reality and choosing creation over violence and destruction made it a fitting swan song.
But Miyazaki clearly was not done weaving his phantasmagorical worlds.
- 9/8/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
More often than not, Hayao Miyazaki’s heroes have been young women — from Ponyo to Princess Mononoke, mischief-seeking Kiki to the two sisters spirited away by furry forest guardians in “My Neighbor Totoro.” That’s the most obvious departure the anime maestro’s fans will notice in “The Boy and the Heron”: It’s about a boy, Mahito Maki (voiced by Soma Santoki), grieving the loss of his mother during wartime. He’s surrounded by women, but this quest falls on the shoulders of a character who’s reportedly closer to Miyazaki than any of his previous protagonists.
In 2013, the world-renowned toon auteur announced his retirement from feature filmmaking. He disbanded Studio Ghibli, the company he’d co-founded, and let its artists scatter to find work where they could. But Miyazaki couldn’t stop drawing. And this time, the adventure he imagined centered on a 12-year-old boy and the...
In 2013, the world-renowned toon auteur announced his retirement from feature filmmaking. He disbanded Studio Ghibli, the company he’d co-founded, and let its artists scatter to find work where they could. But Miyazaki couldn’t stop drawing. And this time, the adventure he imagined centered on a 12-year-old boy and the...
- 9/8/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
In cinema, few names are as iconic as Hayao Miyazaki, and his latest adventure carries the weight of expectation. Drawing inspiration from the mysticism of Japanese folklore and grounded in the pain of personal loss, The Boy and the Heron, which opened the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, is a visual spectacle that rekindles the art of 2D animation in an era dominated by the digital.
It is a bit of a mixed bag as there are moments of beauty along with narrative missteps. From Studio Ghibli’s signature heartwarming touches to a plot that might perplex, this visual stunner undeniably reaffirms Miyazaki’s status as one of the world’s most beloved filmmakers.
The film starts with Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki) waking up to the sound of warning sirens. There is a fire in the town hospital that belongs to his mother. He tries to help put out the fire, but...
It is a bit of a mixed bag as there are moments of beauty along with narrative missteps. From Studio Ghibli’s signature heartwarming touches to a plot that might perplex, this visual stunner undeniably reaffirms Miyazaki’s status as one of the world’s most beloved filmmakers.
The film starts with Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki) waking up to the sound of warning sirens. There is a fire in the town hospital that belongs to his mother. He tries to help put out the fire, but...
- 9/8/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
The great Miyazaki is back!! GKids has revealed a short teaser trailer for The Boy and the Heron, the new feature film from the iconic filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. This is his 12th feature film, and his latest since The Wind Rises in 2013. After opening in Japan in July, the film is premiering at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival this week with a big theatrical release planned this fall. "A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki." With an original score by Joe Hisaishi. Described as a "big fantastical film", it follows a boy who discovers an abandoned tower in his new town and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron.
- 9/6/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Studio Ghibli has pulled back the curtain on Hayao Miyazaki’s animated fantasy epic “The Boy and the Heron,” the director’s first feature since his 2013 drama “The Wind Rises.” The movie will get a U.S. theatrical release on Dec. 8.
After playing in Japan, the film is now set to open the Toronto International Film Festival — the first animated or Japanese film to do so. It will also screen at the New York Film Festival. “The Boy and the Heron’s” release in Japan came with conspicuously little promotional material, an effort to maintain an air of secrecy around the enigmatic film. The only image of the movie before its Japanese release was of a mysterious heron, and the new trailer marks the first official footage released publicly to audiences.
The film has grossed $52.5 million to date in Japan, eight weeks into its theatrical run. That makes it Studio...
After playing in Japan, the film is now set to open the Toronto International Film Festival — the first animated or Japanese film to do so. It will also screen at the New York Film Festival. “The Boy and the Heron’s” release in Japan came with conspicuously little promotional material, an effort to maintain an air of secrecy around the enigmatic film. The only image of the movie before its Japanese release was of a mysterious heron, and the new trailer marks the first official footage released publicly to audiences.
The film has grossed $52.5 million to date in Japan, eight weeks into its theatrical run. That makes it Studio...
- 9/6/2023
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
Dealing with themes of sexual/domestic abuse in mainstream (Japanese) cinema is not exactly the easiest thing to do. Yukihiko Tsutsumi, however, who shot “12 Suicidal Teens” back in 2019, seems like the man to do the job, in adapting Rio Shimamoto’s Naoki Prize novel. Let us see how he fared.
“First Love” is screening as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
The protagonist of the story is Yuki Makabe, a psychologist who believes that the main blame for the violent behaviour of any children lies with their parents. Yuki lives a nice enough life, being respected in her field and married to photographer Gamon, who is set on taking care of her, essentially being in charge of all house chores due to his wife’s rather busy schedule. At one point, Yuki becomes fascinated by the case of Kanna Hijiriyama, a college student who has been arrested for...
“First Love” is screening as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
The protagonist of the story is Yuki Makabe, a psychologist who believes that the main blame for the violent behaviour of any children lies with their parents. Yuki lives a nice enough life, being respected in her field and married to photographer Gamon, who is set on taking care of her, essentially being in charge of all house chores due to his wife’s rather busy schedule. At one point, Yuki becomes fascinated by the case of Kanna Hijiriyama, a college student who has been arrested for...
- 2/20/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
In the very first episode of the first season of BBC’s acclaimed police procedural ‘Luther’, the psychotic evil genius Alice Morgan, who is also the series’s most interesting character, refers to a black hole when she appears to share a little information about herself to her nemesis/object of obsession, the titular main character. “It consumes matter, sucks it in, and crushes it beyond existence. When I first heard that, I thought that’s evil in its most pure.” She explains with a sly grin and fascinated look, “Something that drags you in, crushes you, makes you nothing.”
I opted to quote Alice Morgan because that’s what the principal characters in the most cynical film ever made by the talented Tetsuya Nakashima are to each other: black holes. They drag each other into their own darkness, crush one another, and make all involved into nothing.
Buy This...
I opted to quote Alice Morgan because that’s what the principal characters in the most cynical film ever made by the talented Tetsuya Nakashima are to each other: black holes. They drag each other into their own darkness, crush one another, and make all involved into nothing.
Buy This...
- 9/20/2018
- by Mr. 0
- AsianMoviePulse
Eiga.com is reporting that a new spin-off movie of the popular Aibou (Partners) series titled Aibou Series: X Day is in the works.
In 2009, Partners supporting character Mamoru Yonezawa (Seiji Rokkaku) got his own spin-off movie titled Partners: CSI Files. X Day will feature Metropolitan Police Department criminal investigator Kenichi Itami (Kazuhisa Kawahara) and cyber crime specialist Akira Iwatsuki (Kei Tanaka) in a brand new partnership.
In 2008, the first Partners movie, starring Yutaka Mizutani and Yasufumi Terawaki, built on the success of TV Asahi’s long-running TV drama by earning 4.44 billion yen at the box office.
In 2010, Mitsuhiro Oikawa teamed up with Mizutani for Partners: The Movie II which earned 3.17 billion yen.
Series 10 of the drama ended in March, and marked the end of Oikawa’s run.
The new movie will be directed by Hajime Hashimoto with a screenplay by Takeharu Sakurai, both of whom work on the TV drama.
In 2009, Partners supporting character Mamoru Yonezawa (Seiji Rokkaku) got his own spin-off movie titled Partners: CSI Files. X Day will feature Metropolitan Police Department criminal investigator Kenichi Itami (Kazuhisa Kawahara) and cyber crime specialist Akira Iwatsuki (Kei Tanaka) in a brand new partnership.
In 2008, the first Partners movie, starring Yutaka Mizutani and Yasufumi Terawaki, built on the success of TV Asahi’s long-running TV drama by earning 4.44 billion yen at the box office.
In 2010, Mitsuhiro Oikawa teamed up with Mizutani for Partners: The Movie II which earned 3.17 billion yen.
Series 10 of the drama ended in March, and marked the end of Oikawa’s run.
The new movie will be directed by Hajime Hashimoto with a screenplay by Takeharu Sakurai, both of whom work on the TV drama.
- 6/22/2012
- Nippon Cinema
Craig here (from Dark Eye Socket) with Take Three. Today: Alice Braga
Take One: Blindness (2008)
As per the José Saramago novel that Blindness is based on, no characters have names in the film, thus Braga is known only as ‘Woman with Dark Glasses’. (Julianne Moore is ‘Doctor’s Wife’; Danny Glover is ‘Man with Black Eye Patch’ etc.) She’s one of a gathering of randomly afflicted people who succumb to a mysterious blindness epidemic. All the cast, however big or small the role, collaboratively convey the exact amount of conviction in their roles. They remain true to their characters’ physical, psychological and emotional positions each step of the way. There’s a defiant ‘all in it together’ aspect, in which each actor instinctively plays off one another in rewarding ways, not least when it comes to Braga.
Two prominent scenes stand out. Both speak volumes about who WwDG is...
Take One: Blindness (2008)
As per the José Saramago novel that Blindness is based on, no characters have names in the film, thus Braga is known only as ‘Woman with Dark Glasses’. (Julianne Moore is ‘Doctor’s Wife’; Danny Glover is ‘Man with Black Eye Patch’ etc.) She’s one of a gathering of randomly afflicted people who succumb to a mysterious blindness epidemic. All the cast, however big or small the role, collaboratively convey the exact amount of conviction in their roles. They remain true to their characters’ physical, psychological and emotional positions each step of the way. There’s a defiant ‘all in it together’ aspect, in which each actor instinctively plays off one another in rewarding ways, not least when it comes to Braga.
Two prominent scenes stand out. Both speak volumes about who WwDG is...
- 7/24/2011
- by Craig Bloomfield
- FilmExperience
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima. Review: Adam Wing. Based on the award-winning novel by Minato Kanae, Confessions (a.k.a. Kokuhaku) is a beautiful, tragic and deeply affecting drama about a teacher's terrifying plan to avenge her daughter's murder. Writer-director Tetsuya Nakashima is best known for candy-covered voyages and bubblegum bounciness, taking tragic tales of darkness and drowning them in vibrant colours and sing-along pop numbers. With Confessions he takes a significant step, shifting his attention to the blues and greys of modern Japanese society. He’s no stranger to pulsating soundtracks, spunky editing and imaginative use of CGI, but with Confessions he grounds his heart-wrenching tale in gut-punching reality. The result is no less hypnotic, but in removing the comic book trimmings of previous work, Nakashima has provided a more lasting impression. Takako Matsu - Nakashima’s first and only choice for the lead - plays Yuko Moriguchi, a tragic teacher...
- 4/11/2011
- 24framespersecond.net
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima. Review: Adam Wing. Based on the award-winning novel by Minato Kanae, Confessions (a.k.a. Kokuhaku) is a beautiful, tragic and deeply affecting drama about a teacher's terrifying plan to avenge her daughter's murder. Writer-director Tetsuya Nakashima is best known for candy-covered voyages and bubblegum bounciness, taking tragic tales of darkness and drowning them in vibrant colours and sing-along pop numbers. With Confessions he takes a significant step, shifting his attention to the blues and greys of modern Japanese society. He’s no stranger to pulsating soundtracks, spunky editing and imaginative use of CGI, but with Confessions he grounds his heart-wrenching tale in gut-punching reality. The result is no less hypnotic, but in removing the comic book trimmings of previous work, Nakashima has provided a more lasting impression. Takako Matsu - Nakashima’s first and only choice for the lead - plays Yuko Moriguchi, a tragic teacher...
- 4/11/2011
- 24framespersecond.net
Confessions (15)
(Tetsuya Nakashima, 2010, Japan) Takako Matsu, Kai Inowaki, Yoshino Kimura, Kaoru Fujiwara, Yukito Nishii, Masaki Okada. 106 mins
From an arresting opening scene in which a teacher details to her class how her daughter was killed by two of them, and what she's done in the way of retaliation, this complex, unpredictable Japanese thriller unwinds into one of the most operatic revenge plots since Old Boy. That first half-hour sequence packs in enough for a whole movie, but this has even grander ambitions, tackling familiar teen issues – bullying, alienation, malicious texting – through shifting perspectives, slick visuals and a choice soundtrack. It's bleak and moody, but the execution is bracing.
Paul (15)
(Greg Mottola, 2011, Us) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen. 104 mins
Pegg and Frost indulge their fanboyishness, and their non-gay buddy love, in a knockabout comedy that plays like a stoner Et. Their sci-fi-geek tourists get into scrapes when they harbour Rogen's fugitive alien in their Winnebago,...
(Tetsuya Nakashima, 2010, Japan) Takako Matsu, Kai Inowaki, Yoshino Kimura, Kaoru Fujiwara, Yukito Nishii, Masaki Okada. 106 mins
From an arresting opening scene in which a teacher details to her class how her daughter was killed by two of them, and what she's done in the way of retaliation, this complex, unpredictable Japanese thriller unwinds into one of the most operatic revenge plots since Old Boy. That first half-hour sequence packs in enough for a whole movie, but this has even grander ambitions, tackling familiar teen issues – bullying, alienation, malicious texting – through shifting perspectives, slick visuals and a choice soundtrack. It's bleak and moody, but the execution is bracing.
Paul (15)
(Greg Mottola, 2011, Us) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen. 104 mins
Pegg and Frost indulge their fanboyishness, and their non-gay buddy love, in a knockabout comedy that plays like a stoner Et. Their sci-fi-geek tourists get into scrapes when they harbour Rogen's fugitive alien in their Winnebago,...
- 2/19/2011
- by The Guide
- The Guardian - Film News
This Halloween (well, Saturday October 30th to be specific), the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square will once again play host to FrightFest’s annual "All-Nighter". The full line-up has now been announced. Feast your eyes!
Of course Dread Central will be there to bring you all the info you need on the movies shown. Hope to see you there!
Confessions (UK Premiere)
A teacher attempts to wreak a terrible revenge on the students she blames for the death of her 4-year-old daughter in Kamikaze Girls and Memories of Matsuko director Tetsuya Nakashima’s ethereal and sinister shocker, selected as Japan's official entry for the 2010 Oscars. Through the most twisted retaliations, a stunning operatic style, fabulous cinematic flourishes and a theme song by Radiohead, you’ll be blown away by this intensely savage masterpiece throbbing with the darkest of emotions. Shot in the cool greys and blues of a...
Of course Dread Central will be there to bring you all the info you need on the movies shown. Hope to see you there!
Confessions (UK Premiere)
A teacher attempts to wreak a terrible revenge on the students she blames for the death of her 4-year-old daughter in Kamikaze Girls and Memories of Matsuko director Tetsuya Nakashima’s ethereal and sinister shocker, selected as Japan's official entry for the 2010 Oscars. Through the most twisted retaliations, a stunning operatic style, fabulous cinematic flourishes and a theme song by Radiohead, you’ll be blown away by this intensely savage masterpiece throbbing with the darkest of emotions. Shot in the cool greys and blues of a...
- 10/5/2010
- by Pestilence
- DreadCentral.com
FilmShaft enjoyed the hell out of this year’s Film 4 FrightFest and their Halloween all-nighters are legendary.
The programme for Saturday 30th October has been announced – and boy is it great! It’s got “American psychos, sharks, cannibal girls and a Finnish nightmare before Christmas” according to the press release sent to us and it’s littered with UK premieres, a retro classic plus a world premiere for you horror hounds to enjoy and feast upon!
Tickets went on sale yesterday (2nd October) and cost £50. For ticket info and getting them you can call: call 08 714 714 714, see FrightFest’s website www.frightfest.co.uk for the full schedule and times and buy them online at www.empirecinemas.co.uk
Confessions (UK Premiere)
A teacher attempts to wreak a terrible revenge on the students she blames for the death of her 4 year-old daughter in Kamikaze Girls and Memories Of Matsuko director Tetsuya Nakashima...
The programme for Saturday 30th October has been announced – and boy is it great! It’s got “American psychos, sharks, cannibal girls and a Finnish nightmare before Christmas” according to the press release sent to us and it’s littered with UK premieres, a retro classic plus a world premiere for you horror hounds to enjoy and feast upon!
Tickets went on sale yesterday (2nd October) and cost £50. For ticket info and getting them you can call: call 08 714 714 714, see FrightFest’s website www.frightfest.co.uk for the full schedule and times and buy them online at www.empirecinemas.co.uk
Confessions (UK Premiere)
A teacher attempts to wreak a terrible revenge on the students she blames for the death of her 4 year-old daughter in Kamikaze Girls and Memories Of Matsuko director Tetsuya Nakashima...
- 10/3/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
#11. Confessions Director: This Tetsuya NakashimaCast: Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura, Masaki Okada, Yukito Nishii, Kaoru Fujiwara, Ai Hashimoto Distributor: Rights Available. Buzz: Featured at the New York Asian Film Festival, this had richter scale type implications back home in Japan. Might be the revenge film of the year. The Gist: Tetsuya Nakashima's Confessions is one of Japan's most important films of the year. A stylized mixture of cruelty and compassion, the film spins the dark tale of vengeance of a teacher whose little daughter has been killed by two of her students in seventh grade. Tiff Schedule: Friday September 17 9:00:00 Pm Ryerson Saturday September 18 5:30:00 Pm Scotiabank Theatre 11 Sunday September 19 9:30:00 Am Scotiabank Theatre 11 ...
- 9/7/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Yesterday it was announced that manga artist Tatsuya Egawa (Golden Boy, Tokyo Daigaku Monogatari) has completed work on his second live-action film as a director and that it will be released this summer. Unlike his last film, 2006’s “Tokyo University Story”, this is not based on one of his manga, but an entirely original story.
Takuya Ishida (The Chasing World) and Sei Ashina (Nanase Futatabi: The Movie) star as two of 10 people gathered together in a room to play a mysterious game. In fact, they’ve each been brought there under a secret contract, and are not allowed to reveal any details about their true identities to each other. The film is said to highlight dark aspects of the human psyche, illustrating people’s potential for lust and violence when trapped somewhere and controlled.
Other cast members include Shunsuke Kubozuka, Ai Maeda, Keisuke Horibe, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Nana Natsume, Jai West,...
Takuya Ishida (The Chasing World) and Sei Ashina (Nanase Futatabi: The Movie) star as two of 10 people gathered together in a room to play a mysterious game. In fact, they’ve each been brought there under a secret contract, and are not allowed to reveal any details about their true identities to each other. The film is said to highlight dark aspects of the human psyche, illustrating people’s potential for lust and violence when trapped somewhere and controlled.
Other cast members include Shunsuke Kubozuka, Ai Maeda, Keisuke Horibe, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Nana Natsume, Jai West,...
- 6/11/2010
- Nippon Cinema
A full trailer has been released for Tetsuya Nakashima‘s upcoming film Kokuhaku (Confession). In addition to showing off some of the stunning visuals we’ve come to expect from Nakashima over the years, the new footage seems to give a much clearer impression of the film’s tone than the previously released teaser.
Also, a few new production stills from the film were recently released to various media outlets by Toho.
The film is based on an award-winning novel written by rookie author and housewife Kanae Minato. Actress Takako Matsu (K-20, Villon’s Wife) plays a dedicated teacher at a junior high school who’s young daughter is found brutally murdered. Believing two of her own students are responsible, she decides to leave the school, but not before a final chilling confession to her class in which she informs them that she’s already enacted her plan for vengeance.
Also, a few new production stills from the film were recently released to various media outlets by Toho.
The film is based on an award-winning novel written by rookie author and housewife Kanae Minato. Actress Takako Matsu (K-20, Villon’s Wife) plays a dedicated teacher at a junior high school who’s young daughter is found brutally murdered. Believing two of her own students are responsible, she decides to leave the school, but not before a final chilling confession to her class in which she informs them that she’s already enacted her plan for vengeance.
- 3/12/2010
- Nippon Cinema
While we wait for the schedule for Fantasia 2009 to be finalized, we did receive a couple of press release announcing the fest's line-up, and per usual, those of you who are planning to attend are in for one helluva genre extravaganza.
First up is a bit of news about the fest's extended schedule: Due to a veritable deluge of feature presentations, Fantasia is extending its 13th edition for two extra days and will therefore be taking place from July 9th to the 29th at Concordia University’s Hall Theatre. As North America’s largest genre film festival, Fantasia will once again make good on its promise to deliver diversity, innovation, entertainment, food for thought and a good dose of eccentric and biting humour.
Next is a message from Fantasia's Co-Director of International Programming, Mitch Davis, highlighting some of this year’s spotlights:
2009 marks the 100-year anniversary of Hong Kong’s film industry,...
First up is a bit of news about the fest's extended schedule: Due to a veritable deluge of feature presentations, Fantasia is extending its 13th edition for two extra days and will therefore be taking place from July 9th to the 29th at Concordia University’s Hall Theatre. As North America’s largest genre film festival, Fantasia will once again make good on its promise to deliver diversity, innovation, entertainment, food for thought and a good dose of eccentric and biting humour.
Next is a message from Fantasia's Co-Director of International Programming, Mitch Davis, highlighting some of this year’s spotlights:
2009 marks the 100-year anniversary of Hong Kong’s film industry,...
- 6/30/2009
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Director: Yosuke Fujita. Review: Adam Wing. Some films defy description, if I were to describe to you the plot behind Yosuke Fujita’s quirky comedy Fine, Totally Fine you would probably choose to look no further. On paper it reads like one of the dullest movies ever made, delve a little deeper however and you will discover one of the freshest, funniest movies of the year. So lets see how you do, shall we? Teruo (YoshiYoshi Arakawa) is in his late twenties, he works as a park tree trimmer and lives at home with his family. In his spare time he helps out at his fathers second-hand bookshop and dreams one day of building the ultimate haunted house. He demonstrates his passion for scares throughout the movie with the aid of inventive homemade dummies and random spurts of comedy genius. Hisanobu (Yoshinori Okada) is one of his oldest friends, he...
- 5/10/2009
- 24framespersecond.net
- Yoshiyoshi Arakawa has been a recognizable face in Japanese cinema over the few years, appearing as a supporting character in some of the best films the country has to offer (Ping Pong, Memories of Matsuko). He finally gets his shot at a starring role in the offbeat comedy Fine, Totally Fine and boy does he run with it. The film follows three listless characters who form the most pathetic of love triangles while trying to make something of their lives. Teruo (Arakawa) is a horror geek who boasts about wanting to create the world’s scariest haunted house but is too lazy to make it a reality. His best friend Hisanobu (Yoshinori Okada), a straight-laced hospital administrator, plays Igor in his experiments in fear. Hopelessly quirky – and clumsy – Akari (Yoshino Kimura) provides the meat in their love sandwich as a socially awkward amateur artist who can’t find a
- 7/2/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
Hong Kong Filmart
Yosuke Fujita's "Fine, Totally Fine", a comedy about lovable losers scoring petite triumphs, has invited comparisons with the deadpan, Jarmusch-like ironic comedies of Nobuhiro Yamashita. That is true in so far as both directors like to make slackers central characters, and both refrain from noisy, exaggerated farce. Of the two, Fujita is less conscious about setting down an auteur's stamp. Like a craftsman, he patiently develops comic scenarios that utilize to ingenious effect props, sets and characters that make perfect sense only in the film's off-kilter world.
Sporting juvenile but impish humor in the spirit of "Mr. Bean" with little psychological baggage, "Fine, Totally Fine" easily transcends language and cultural barriers. This is a sleeper well on its way to becoming a cult fave in the specialty Asian theater and DVD circuit.
Though Fujita won the Japan Film Angel Prize for new scriptwriters, there's not much of a plot to talk about. The frisson really comes from the characters, each carrying a rich and esoteric universe inside. Park gardener Teruo thinks life is one continuous Halloween. He gets his kicks from scaring people, and dreams of opening a haunted house of Disney proportions. Played by comedian Yoshiyoshi Arakawa (the milky-skinned masochist in Miike's "Like a Dragon"), he gets laughs just by facing the camera. His buddy, hospital clerk Hisanobu (Yoshinori Okada), is such a compulsive Mr. Nice Guy that he hires Akari as a manual worker, even when she arrives at her interview right after diving into a puddle.
Akari (Yoshino Kimura) is aptly described as "a beauty with a really minus aura." Literally all thumbs, she breaks anything she touches, even her own finger when pressing the elevator button. But she is also a gifted artist who feels more at home in the company of the homeless. When she stumbles into the lives of Teruo and Hisanobu, she provokes a childish rivalry. But love moves in mysterious ways. Though she's a bull in a China shop, she finds her ideal partner in a pottery restoration expert. Yoshino Kimura is a revelation. It's hard to imagine the irresistible siren of "Sukiyaki Western Django" and "Sakuran" metamorphosing into a bumbling and diffident klutz, but her acting is so convincing that she becomes more charming with each new blunder.
The film carries it off by superb comic timing, delivering running gags that become more amusing by cumulative effect. For example, Teruo's numerous tricks to scare people, or Akari's goofs, like failing to wrap a kinky bondage magazine in front of an increasingly nervous customer are not that funny taken out of context, but combined with the characters' unique traits, they are side-splitting. Kudos also go to the creative set and props design, as each interior is distinctively decorated, arrayed with paraphernalia that reflects every character's personality and predicament. Most inventive is the horror figures or head models of Teruo that jump out of every other frame like his freaky clones.
FINE, TOTALLY FINE (Zenzen Daijoubu)
Tohokushinsha/Stylejam Inc/Pony Canyon/Yomiuri TV
Sales Agent: Stylejam Inc
Credits:
Writer-director: Yosuke Fujita
Producers: Naoko Arai, Kozo Kogoe
Executive producer: Naoki Kai
Director of photography: Yoshihiro Ikeuchi
Music: Ekomomai
Production designer: China Hayashi
Editor: Zensuke Hori
Cast:
Teruo Toyama: Yoshiyoshi Arakawa
Akari Kinoshita: Yoshino Kimura
Hisanobu Komori: Yoshinori Okada
Eitaro Toyama: Keizo Kanie
Running time -- 110 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Yosuke Fujita's "Fine, Totally Fine", a comedy about lovable losers scoring petite triumphs, has invited comparisons with the deadpan, Jarmusch-like ironic comedies of Nobuhiro Yamashita. That is true in so far as both directors like to make slackers central characters, and both refrain from noisy, exaggerated farce. Of the two, Fujita is less conscious about setting down an auteur's stamp. Like a craftsman, he patiently develops comic scenarios that utilize to ingenious effect props, sets and characters that make perfect sense only in the film's off-kilter world.
Sporting juvenile but impish humor in the spirit of "Mr. Bean" with little psychological baggage, "Fine, Totally Fine" easily transcends language and cultural barriers. This is a sleeper well on its way to becoming a cult fave in the specialty Asian theater and DVD circuit.
Though Fujita won the Japan Film Angel Prize for new scriptwriters, there's not much of a plot to talk about. The frisson really comes from the characters, each carrying a rich and esoteric universe inside. Park gardener Teruo thinks life is one continuous Halloween. He gets his kicks from scaring people, and dreams of opening a haunted house of Disney proportions. Played by comedian Yoshiyoshi Arakawa (the milky-skinned masochist in Miike's "Like a Dragon"), he gets laughs just by facing the camera. His buddy, hospital clerk Hisanobu (Yoshinori Okada), is such a compulsive Mr. Nice Guy that he hires Akari as a manual worker, even when she arrives at her interview right after diving into a puddle.
Akari (Yoshino Kimura) is aptly described as "a beauty with a really minus aura." Literally all thumbs, she breaks anything she touches, even her own finger when pressing the elevator button. But she is also a gifted artist who feels more at home in the company of the homeless. When she stumbles into the lives of Teruo and Hisanobu, she provokes a childish rivalry. But love moves in mysterious ways. Though she's a bull in a China shop, she finds her ideal partner in a pottery restoration expert. Yoshino Kimura is a revelation. It's hard to imagine the irresistible siren of "Sukiyaki Western Django" and "Sakuran" metamorphosing into a bumbling and diffident klutz, but her acting is so convincing that she becomes more charming with each new blunder.
The film carries it off by superb comic timing, delivering running gags that become more amusing by cumulative effect. For example, Teruo's numerous tricks to scare people, or Akari's goofs, like failing to wrap a kinky bondage magazine in front of an increasingly nervous customer are not that funny taken out of context, but combined with the characters' unique traits, they are side-splitting. Kudos also go to the creative set and props design, as each interior is distinctively decorated, arrayed with paraphernalia that reflects every character's personality and predicament. Most inventive is the horror figures or head models of Teruo that jump out of every other frame like his freaky clones.
FINE, TOTALLY FINE (Zenzen Daijoubu)
Tohokushinsha/Stylejam Inc/Pony Canyon/Yomiuri TV
Sales Agent: Stylejam Inc
Credits:
Writer-director: Yosuke Fujita
Producers: Naoko Arai, Kozo Kogoe
Executive producer: Naoki Kai
Director of photography: Yoshihiro Ikeuchi
Music: Ekomomai
Production designer: China Hayashi
Editor: Zensuke Hori
Cast:
Teruo Toyama: Yoshiyoshi Arakawa
Akari Kinoshita: Yoshino Kimura
Hisanobu Komori: Yoshinori Okada
Eitaro Toyama: Keizo Kanie
Running time -- 110 minutes
No MPAA rating...
TOKYO -- Inspired by the "spaghetti westerns" of the 1960s, Japanese director Takashi Miike is making the first "sushi western."
The director has talked close friend of Quentin Tarantino into appearing in the movie, titled Sukiyaki Western Django, after Miike made a guest appearance in the Tarantino-produced horror movie Hostel.
"To make a western like this has long been a dream for Miike," said producer Masao Osaki. "His father was a huge fan of spaghetti westerns and he always wanted to make his own, so now it is his turn. And we think it will appeal to all filmgoers," he said. "The older generations will want to see it because of the spaghetti western connection and younger people will be attracted by the great cast."
The Hideaki Itoh starrer is the tale of clashes between two rival gangs and is scheduled to open in late 2007. The 800 million yen ($3.8 million) movie will be distributed by Sony Pictures.
Filming began this weekend at the Syonai Movie Studio in Yamagata Prefecture, northern Japan, and the cast includes Kaori Momoi, who also appeared in Memoirs of a Geisha, Koji Sato and Yoshino Kimura.
The director has talked close friend of Quentin Tarantino into appearing in the movie, titled Sukiyaki Western Django, after Miike made a guest appearance in the Tarantino-produced horror movie Hostel.
"To make a western like this has long been a dream for Miike," said producer Masao Osaki. "His father was a huge fan of spaghetti westerns and he always wanted to make his own, so now it is his turn. And we think it will appeal to all filmgoers," he said. "The older generations will want to see it because of the spaghetti western connection and younger people will be attracted by the great cast."
The Hideaki Itoh starrer is the tale of clashes between two rival gangs and is scheduled to open in late 2007. The 800 million yen ($3.8 million) movie will be distributed by Sony Pictures.
Filming began this weekend at the Syonai Movie Studio in Yamagata Prefecture, northern Japan, and the cast includes Kaori Momoi, who also appeared in Memoirs of a Geisha, Koji Sato and Yoshino Kimura.
- 11/20/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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