Movies

October 28, 2019 2:00PM PT The social media skirmish that broke out after Martin Scorsese called Marvel movies “not cinema” and compared them to “theme parks” has reached Japan. There has been heavy local coverage of the back-and-forth between Scorsese and allies such as Francis Ford Coppola, and Marvel defenders, including Marvel Comics Universe directors

After a rocky few years, cinema from the Philippines is once again bristling with energy and innovation. International interest is rising, and the Tokyo International Film Festival’s 2019 selection reflects some of that. The recent launch of two incentive schemes by the Philippines government may help the country’s production become more international. The Tokyo festival

In sealing a $2.2 billion deal to buy Endemol Shine, Banijay Group chairman Stephane Courbit realized a long-held dream to own the producer and distributor of such shows as “Big Brother” and “Peaky Blinders.” But will the merger also pave the way for fulfilling the ambitions of another French media magnate, Vivendi’s Vincent Bolloré? Vivendi

Robert Evans, Paramount executive and producer of “Chinatown” and “Urban Cowboy,” died on Saturday at 89. Hollywood executives, actors and producers shared their reactions to his death. Golden Globe winner and ex-wife Ali MacGraw, who married Evans 50 years ago last week, remembered her former partner fondly. “Our son Joshua and I will miss Bob

October 28, 2019 11:59AM PT Richard Gere is to receive the Special Award to an Actor at the 27th edition of EnergaCamerimage, in Torun, Poland (Nov. 9-16), an event that draws the world’s leading cinematographers. In a statement, the festival described Gere as “a charismatic and versatile performer of great charm and magnetic presence,” referencing

Francis Ford Coppola remembered his sometime-patron, collaborator and frenemy Robert Evans as a producer with “strong instincts” in an emotional tribute. Evans, the legendary producer and former head of Paramount Pictures, died on Saturday night at the age of 89. He played a crucial role in the creation of such film classics as “Rosemary’s Baby,”

October 28, 2019 9:58AM PT Paramount has canceled Monday night’s “Terminator: Dark Fate” premiere in wake of a brush fire that broke out in Los Angeles. “In light of the ongoing, active fires being battled in the area, Paramount Pictures and Skydance have canceled tonight’s Los Angeles premiere of ‘Terminator: Dark Fate,’” a spokesperson for

Robert Evans, the Paramount executive who produced “Chinatown” and “Urban Cowboy,” and whose life became as melodramatic and jaw-dropping as any of his films, died on Saturday night. He was 89. Even though Hollywood history is filled with colorful characters, few can match the tale of Evans, whose life would seem far-fetched if it were

The fifth annual Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Project will kick off in November to support five pairs of female filmmakers with a three-day immersive program headed by industry professionals. The 10 women will work with master class advisors like Sarah Jessica Parker and producer Alison Benson (“Divorce”) along with mentors such

“Charlie’s Angels” is set to land in China on Nov. 15. The new movie iteration of the 1970s TV show stars Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinksa as the three gun-toting, karate-chopping investigators sent on dangerous missions by the mysterious Charles Townsend, whose private detection firm now has branches around the world. Elizabeth Banks

Ask Lina Wertmüller if she’s pleased to be honored by Hollywood, and here’s the typical response you get from the groundbreaking director, who at 91 is still out to shock: “I certainly am. It beats a kick in the balls!” Wertmüller, in 1976, became the first female director to receive an Academy Award nomination for

Rachel Weisz is set to star as Elizabeth Taylor in See-Saw Films’ “A Special Relationship,” exploring Taylor’s journey from actress to activist. The story will be told through the lens of Taylor’s friendship with her assistant Roger Wall. Based on the screenplay written by Academy Award-winner Simon Beaufoy (“Slumdog Millionaire”), the upcoming production will be helmed

Edgy Chinese youth drama “Better Days” battled through two tangles with Chinese censors to come out on top this weekend as the highest grossing film in the world with a $81.5 million three-day debut, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. Local language melodrama and star power with a dash of grit can go a

Guillaume Canet, one of France’s most successful actors and filmmakers, is set to direct “Asterix & Obelix, the Silk Road,” a live-action film that will mark the next installment of the blockbuster French comic book franchise. Pathé is co-producing the film, budgeted at $60 million, with Les Enfants Terribles and Tresor Films. Pathé will also

Unfolding while Japan simultaneously hosts the Rugby World Cup, recovers from the recent Typhoon Hagibis, and prepares for the upcoming Olympic Games, the 32nd edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival got under way Monday, with a strong sense of Japanese tradition and heightened conservatism compared with previous years. That feeling was reinforced by last

Veteran programmer Yoshi Yatabe and his team have steadily steered the Tokyo International Film Festival competition away from the mediocrity of its early years, when even the winners couldn’t get distribution deals in Japan. The 14-film competition line-up for this year’s 32nd edition is a mix of seven world premieres and titles previously screened at

October 28, 2019 12:55AM PT An initiative of the Japan Foundation Asia Center, Crosscut Asia is a TIFF section dedicated to films from Asia, especially from emerging markets. Thematically, the sixth edition of Crosscut Asia takes a snapshot of Southeast Asian genre films. It presents eight horror, fantasy and dark future films from the region,

Lina Wertmüller wants to see a big change for the Oscars. The 91-year-old Italian director had Isabella Rossellini acting as her translator while accepting her honorary Oscar on Sunday night at the Academy’s Governors Awards in Hollywood. “She would like to change the Oscar to a feminine name,” Rossellini said. “She would like to call

October 27, 2019 11:45PM PT Korean drama “Kim Ji-young, Born 1982” opened on Wednesday and landed on top of the South Korean box office. The film adaptation of a best-selling feminist novel of the same title earned $8.3 million from 1.12 million admissions over five days, including $6.31 million from 829,000 admissions earned over the

October 27, 2019 11:09PM PT After months in limbo, Lulu Wang’s breakout Asian-American family drama “The Farewell” is finally set to hit theaters in China on November 22, more than four months after its US release. Leading Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan bought the rights and is distributing, following a deal negotiated by Endeavor Content. A

Festival favorites like Neon’s “Parasite,” Roadside Attractions’ “Judy” and Fox Searchlight’s “Jojo Rabbit” have helped ignite a once-sleepy independent box office. It’s a welcome development for the specialty market, which has stalled in recent months outside of sparse hits like A24’s “The Farewell” ($19.5 million) and Roadside Attractions’ “The Peanut Butter Falcon” ($20.1 million). Industry

Under Takeo Hisamatsu, the Tokyo International Film Festival has expanded its animation section, this year making it one of the event’s main pillars. But he says that the time is not right for a focus on Kyoto Animation, the beloved production house where 36 people died this summer, the victims of an unprecedented arson attack.

It’s not unusual to encounter an animated tale in which the hero is an incorrigible child (just look at “Boss Baby” or the Teen Titans). But the title character of “Ne Zha” is no mere mouthy delinquent. He’s a scamp from hell, a tauntingly invincible bad-seed superkid who has been infused, from birth, with the

Born in 1938 in Onomichi, a port town facing Japan’s Inland Sea, Nobuhiko Obayashi began making experimental films in the 1960s and showing them at galleries and other sites around Tokyo. With lines forming around the block for these films, which captured the free-spirited, anything-goes mood of the times, Obayashi branched out into TV commercials.

Born in 1931 in Osaka, Yoji Yamada entered the Shochiku studio in 1954 at the height of Japanese cinema’s postwar Golden Age. He debuted as a director in 1961 with the comedy “The Strangers Upstairs” and thereafter specialized in the genre, though he found hits hard to come by. In 1969 his fortunes began to

Though “Joker” bested “Maleficent” in North America, Angelina Jolie’s “Mistress of Evil” remained victorious at the international box office. Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” collected another $64.3 million from 56 foreign territories, boosting its overseas haul to $228 million. Globally, the dark fantasy sequel is nearing the $300 million mark with ticket sales currently at

Put on a happy face: In its fourth weekend in theaters, Warner Bros.’ “Joker” returned to the top of domestic box office charts, narrowly defeating Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” The two villains had been in a close race for first place, but Sunday estimates show “Joker” will walk away victorious with $18.9 million in

At age 14, Ruka feels adrift in the world. At school, she doesn’t have any friends. At home, her parents are absent or distracted most of the time: Ruka’s dad works at the local aquarium, while her mother spends her days drinking beer indoors. This wide-eyed loner may be “just” an anime character, but she’s

The 21 films in the Czech Joy section at the Ji.hlava docu fest represent a remarkably wide range of stylistic approaches, several representing international collaboration and taking on weighty subjects ranging from grief and loss to corruption and the destruction of the environment. Among the entries in the competitive event are three shorts and several

A characteristic of many documentaries at Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, says festival director Marek Hovorka, is that they don’t necessarily provide answers but provoke questions. That’s certainly true of “The Building,” a poetic, lyrical and stunningly shot biopic of a vast, communist era building in Ukraine. “The Building” is one of nine films in