With four TV and film projects in as many years, few filmmakers right now are more prolific than Hirokazu Kore-eda.
The veteran Japanese filmmaker behind titles like the Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters and Still Walking continued his hot streak after landing his third directing honor from the Asian Academy Sunday night for his last feature, Monster. Last night’s win was Kore-eda’s second consecutive Best Director win at the Asian Film Awards after nabbing the gong with the Korean-language Broker in 2023.
“I’m in a really good spot right now,” Kore-eda told Deadline shortly before picking up the award on Sunday. “I’m not forcing myself at all. I’m constantly working. I have good stamina.” The filmmaker told us that he has no intentions of slowing down.
“I’m currently working on a streaming drama I shot last autumn. I’m in the editing phase for that now,...
The veteran Japanese filmmaker behind titles like the Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters and Still Walking continued his hot streak after landing his third directing honor from the Asian Academy Sunday night for his last feature, Monster. Last night’s win was Kore-eda’s second consecutive Best Director win at the Asian Film Awards after nabbing the gong with the Korean-language Broker in 2023.
“I’m in a really good spot right now,” Kore-eda told Deadline shortly before picking up the award on Sunday. “I’m not forcing myself at all. I’m constantly working. I have good stamina.” The filmmaker told us that he has no intentions of slowing down.
“I’m currently working on a streaming drama I shot last autumn. I’m in the editing phase for that now,...
- 3/11/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
There ain’t a living soul who’s never heard of Gintama, weeb or not. A comedy that broke the fourth wall more times than you can count, an anime that never shied away from poking fun at itself, and quirky, unforgettable characters that somehow reflect a shred of you. With almost every season topping Mal’s top-rated/most-watched list, Gintama is undeniably the king of all comedy anime.
Gintoki wasting his time away at the Yorozuya. | Gintama
There are a few comedy anime series that could potentially give Gintoki and his gang a run for their money. A situation they’re all too familiar with, funnily enough. When you’ve run out of meme-worthy content and Rofl moments from Gintama, try these to tickle your funny bone.
Asobi Asobase
A simple premise to choose a girls-only high school and let the comedy ensue. School shenanigans that sometimes go a little too far,...
Gintoki wasting his time away at the Yorozuya. | Gintama
There are a few comedy anime series that could potentially give Gintoki and his gang a run for their money. A situation they’re all too familiar with, funnily enough. When you’ve run out of meme-worthy content and Rofl moments from Gintama, try these to tickle your funny bone.
Asobi Asobase
A simple premise to choose a girls-only high school and let the comedy ensue. School shenanigans that sometimes go a little too far,...
- 2/19/2024
- by Divyashree Shashidhar
- FandomWire
Janus Films has revealed an official trailer for the wonderful documentary performance film titled Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus. This is the final performance of the master Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away in early 2023 at the age of 71. The film premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival last year as a special screening. A celebration of an artist's life in the purest sense, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is the definitive swan song of one of the world’s greatest musicians. In late 2022, as a parting gift, Sakamoto mustered all of his energy to leave us with one final performance: a concert film featuring just him and his piano. Curated and sequenced by Sakamoto himself, the twenty pieces featured in the doc film wordlessly narrate his life through his wide-ranging oeuvre. The selection spans his entire career – from his pop-star period with Yellow Magic Orchestra and his magnificent scores for filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci to his meditative final album,...
- 2/17/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
There’s last will and testaments, and then there’s Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, for which the musician and composer (for whom adjectives are sometimes adequate) enlisted his son, Neo Sora, to put on film one final performance: a 20-song symposium that would “wordlessly narrate his life through his music.” Ahead of its March 15 release from Janus Films, we have the first trailer.
As Jordan Raup said in our rundown of the best 2024 films we’ve already seen, “In a heartbreaking work that feels like a private personal home movie that the world is being graced with, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s son, filmmaker Neo Sora, captured one of his father’s final performances. Shot in beautifully austere black-and-white, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus focuses solely on the music, capturing a man contending with his physical limitations in what amounts to one of the final offerings of his astounding talent. It’s a treasure.”
Find...
As Jordan Raup said in our rundown of the best 2024 films we’ve already seen, “In a heartbreaking work that feels like a private personal home movie that the world is being graced with, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s son, filmmaker Neo Sora, captured one of his father’s final performances. Shot in beautifully austere black-and-white, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus focuses solely on the music, capturing a man contending with his physical limitations in what amounts to one of the final offerings of his astounding talent. It’s a treasure.”
Find...
- 2/15/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto gave his final performance in Japan knowing he was about to pass away. Now, the iconic composer’s legacy is captured in documentary “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus,” directed by his son Neo Sora.
Sakamoto collaborated with auteurs like Luca Guadagnino and also scored Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar-winning turn in “The Revenant.” On March 28, 2023, Sakamoto died after a years-long battle with cancer. Despite retiring from live performances, Sakamoto returned to the stage one final time in late 2022 to play 20 pieces presented in a curated order. The first footage of the film includes Sakamoto performing the score of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Sheltering Sky,” among other pieces.
“Opus” was filmed at the Nhk Broadcast Center’s 509 Studio, which Sakamoto said had the “finest acoustics in Japan.” Cinematographer Bill Kirstein shot the film using three 4K cameras, with Sakamoto first recording his pieces on an iPhone from his home to...
Sakamoto collaborated with auteurs like Luca Guadagnino and also scored Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar-winning turn in “The Revenant.” On March 28, 2023, Sakamoto died after a years-long battle with cancer. Despite retiring from live performances, Sakamoto returned to the stage one final time in late 2022 to play 20 pieces presented in a curated order. The first footage of the film includes Sakamoto performing the score of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Sheltering Sky,” among other pieces.
“Opus” was filmed at the Nhk Broadcast Center’s 509 Studio, which Sakamoto said had the “finest acoustics in Japan.” Cinematographer Bill Kirstein shot the film using three 4K cameras, with Sakamoto first recording his pieces on an iPhone from his home to...
- 2/15/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Janus Films has released the trailer for “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus,” a documentary celebrating the composer’s life.
Sakamoto put on one final performance in late 2022, which was captured in a concert film featuring just him and his piano. He curated and sequenced the 20 pieces himself, with the selection spanning his entire career. This includes his pop-star period with Yellow Magic Orchestra, his scores for filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci and his final album, “12.”
His son Neo Sora directed the film, which was executive produced by Jeremy Thomas. “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus” will open on March 15 in New York at Lincoln Center, with a national rollout to follow.
Watch the full trailer below.
Oscar-Nominated Short Film ‘The Last Repair Shop’ To Make Television Debut
The Oscar-nominated short film “The Last Repair Shop” will make its television debut on ABC owned television stations and select affiliate stations on Saturday, Feb. 17. It will also be...
Sakamoto put on one final performance in late 2022, which was captured in a concert film featuring just him and his piano. He curated and sequenced the 20 pieces himself, with the selection spanning his entire career. This includes his pop-star period with Yellow Magic Orchestra, his scores for filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci and his final album, “12.”
His son Neo Sora directed the film, which was executive produced by Jeremy Thomas. “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus” will open on March 15 in New York at Lincoln Center, with a national rollout to follow.
Watch the full trailer below.
Oscar-Nominated Short Film ‘The Last Repair Shop’ To Make Television Debut
The Oscar-nominated short film “The Last Repair Shop” will make its television debut on ABC owned television stations and select affiliate stations on Saturday, Feb. 17. It will also be...
- 2/14/2024
- by Jazz Tangcay, Caroline Brew, Diego Ramos Bechara and Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Saori Izawa, Akari Takaishi, Tatsuomi Hamada, Iwanaga Joey, Junpei Hashino, Atom Mizuishi, Tsubasa Tobinaga | Written and Directed by Yugo Sakamoto
Two years ago, Yugo Sakamoto’s quirky action comedy Baby Assassins came out of nowhere and blew me away with its story of Mahiro and Chisato two high school girls who live secret lives as assassins.
Now the girls are back in Baby Assassins 2 Babies, and they haven’t gotten any better at dealing with day-to-day things like paying their bills. A gym membership that’s been collecting late fees for five years and their insurance needs to be paid immediately. But when robbers strike the bank as they’re trying to, they intervene and get suspended from the Assassin’s Guild for using their skills off the clock.
But finding another job to pay the bills is the least of their problems. Makoto and Yuri are looking...
Two years ago, Yugo Sakamoto’s quirky action comedy Baby Assassins came out of nowhere and blew me away with its story of Mahiro and Chisato two high school girls who live secret lives as assassins.
Now the girls are back in Baby Assassins 2 Babies, and they haven’t gotten any better at dealing with day-to-day things like paying their bills. A gym membership that’s been collecting late fees for five years and their insurance needs to be paid immediately. But when robbers strike the bank as they’re trying to, they intervene and get suspended from the Assassin’s Guild for using their skills off the clock.
But finding another job to pay the bills is the least of their problems. Makoto and Yuri are looking...
- 11/22/2023
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Ryuichi Sakamoto’s final performance before passing in late March was captured for a concert film titled Opus, set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5th.
Recorded without an audience in December 2022, the film solely features the late Japanese composer and electronic music pioneer on his piano as he plays 20 handpicked pieces spanning his entire career, from his initial success as co-founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra to his film scores for The Last Emperor to his final album, 12. Sakamoto performs several works as solo piano performances for the first time, including The Wuthering Heights, Ichimei — Small Happiness, and a new arrangement of the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra track “Tong Poo.”
Watch a teaser from the film of Sakamoto performing a selection from his music for Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1990 romantic drama The Sheltering Sky over at Deadline.
In a posthumous statement about the concert film, Sakamoto said, “The...
Recorded without an audience in December 2022, the film solely features the late Japanese composer and electronic music pioneer on his piano as he plays 20 handpicked pieces spanning his entire career, from his initial success as co-founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra to his film scores for The Last Emperor to his final album, 12. Sakamoto performs several works as solo piano performances for the first time, including The Wuthering Heights, Ichimei — Small Happiness, and a new arrangement of the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra track “Tong Poo.”
Watch a teaser from the film of Sakamoto performing a selection from his music for Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1990 romantic drama The Sheltering Sky over at Deadline.
In a posthumous statement about the concert film, Sakamoto said, “The...
- 8/28/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
Ryuichi Sakamoto’s final performance before passing in late March was captured for a concert film titled Opus, set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5th.
Recorded without an audience in December 2022, the film solely features the late Japanese composer and electronic music pioneer on his piano as he plays 20 handpicked pieces spanning his entire career, from his initial success as co-founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra to his film scores for The Last Emperor to his final album, 12. Sakamoto performs several works as solo piano performances for the first time, including The Wuthering Heights, Ichimei — Small Happiness, and a new arrangement of the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra track “Tong Poo.”
Watch a teaser from the film of Sakamoto performing a selection from his music for Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1990 romantic drama The Sheltering Sky over at Deadline.
In a posthumous statement about the concert film, Sakamoto said, “The...
Recorded without an audience in December 2022, the film solely features the late Japanese composer and electronic music pioneer on his piano as he plays 20 handpicked pieces spanning his entire career, from his initial success as co-founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra to his film scores for The Last Emperor to his final album, 12. Sakamoto performs several works as solo piano performances for the first time, including The Wuthering Heights, Ichimei — Small Happiness, and a new arrangement of the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra track “Tong Poo.”
Watch a teaser from the film of Sakamoto performing a selection from his music for Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1990 romantic drama The Sheltering Sky over at Deadline.
In a posthumous statement about the concert film, Sakamoto said, “The...
- 8/28/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Film News
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Well Go USA releases the film in theaters on Wednesday, November 22.
Scary as it sounds, “monster” can be such a strangely comforting word. Not only does classifying someone as inhuman absolve us from acknowledging the most difficult aspects of our shared humanity, it also reaffirms the smallness and simplicity of an infinitely complex universe that continues to expand no matter how much we might want to wrap our arms around it. “Monster” is a period at the end of a sentence; it’s the permission we give ourselves to demonize whatever we don’t understand.
And, for all of those reasons, it’s also a very unexpected title for a new feature by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose achingly humanistic stories of families lost and found have never had any use for such a stiflingly judgmental term.
Scary as it sounds, “monster” can be such a strangely comforting word. Not only does classifying someone as inhuman absolve us from acknowledging the most difficult aspects of our shared humanity, it also reaffirms the smallness and simplicity of an infinitely complex universe that continues to expand no matter how much we might want to wrap our arms around it. “Monster” is a period at the end of a sentence; it’s the permission we give ourselves to demonize whatever we don’t understand.
And, for all of those reasons, it’s also a very unexpected title for a new feature by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose achingly humanistic stories of families lost and found have never had any use for such a stiflingly judgmental term.
- 5/17/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
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