Machiko Kyo. Japanese star Machiko Kyo was seen in several of the most widely admired cinema classics of the 1950s, including Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu, and Teinosuke Kinugasa’s…
Chinese director Zhang Yimou and American actor Matt Damon’s epic monster movie The Great Wall gives globalization a bad name.
Scariest Movies: Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ with Janet Leigh, John Gavin and Vera Miles. Scariest movies ever made: The top 100 horror films according to the Chicago Film Critics I tend…
The Lunchbox with Nimrat Kaur. The Lunchbox movie: ‘Exceptional film’ that deserved an Oscar nomination The Lunchbox / Dabba was not the Film Federation of India’s submission to the 2014…
Like Someone in Love: Abbas Kiarostami drama features Rin Takanashi. Like Someone in Love: Abbas Kiarostami film is ‘lovely, intriguing, and stylish’ At age 73, Iranian-born director Abbas Kiarostami is…
Nagisa Oshima: In the Realm of the Senses Iconoclastic Filmmaker dead at 80 Nagisa Oshima, best known as the director of the sexually charged 1976 psychological drama Ai No Corrida…
This Is Not a Film with Jafar Panahi and the iguana Igi. Under house arrest[1] following accusations of spreading “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” of Iran, filmmaker Jafar Panahi (Cannes…
Carice van Houten and Rutger Hauer in ‘Black Butterflies’ Carice van Houten & ‘She Monkeys’: Tribeca Film Festival Awards Writer-director Lisa Aschan’s feature film debut, the Swedish lesbian drama She…
Sex-starved housewives everywhere are represented by Agnes Kittelsen, who also happens to be the “perfect” housewife, in Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy / Sykt Lykkelig – one of the 2011 Sundance…
Michelle Yeoh in Reign of Assassins: Martial arts practice. Michelle Yeoh martial arts skills displayed in ‘Reign of Assassins’ Chao-Bin Su’s upcoming Reign of Assassins marks the return of Michelle…
Sibel Kekilli in Feo Aladag’s When We Leave. Feo Aladag’s Turkish-German drama Die Fremde / When We Leave, which recently received six Lola nominations, was voted best narrative film at…
Black Rain. Animego’s DVD release of Shohei Imamura’s Black Rain includes as a bonus feature a selection of World War II-era anti-Japanese propaganda films. Sponsored by various U.S. government bureaucracies,…
Toshiro Mifune (second from right) in Seven Samurai. The Academy had its John Hughes tribute on Sunday. Tonight, Turner Classic Movies is paying tribute to someone who may not be…
My Name Is Khan movie with Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan: Cricket League comment leads to Hindu nationalist outrage and fat box office receipts. ‘My Name Is Khan’ movie: Solid…
Lucy and Ethel lesbian (false) rumors: Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance in I Love Lucy. At the San Francisco Chronicle‘s blog/column The Collective Mind, Bob Bragman talks about the unearthing…
Zhang Yimou on the set of A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop a.k.a. A Simple Noodle Story. Best known for his lush collaborations with Gong Li (Raise the…
Michiyo Aratama, Tatsuya Nakadai in The Human Condition Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition, based on Jumpei Gomikawa’s novel, is probably as well known for its scope and scale as for…
Sean Connery in From Russia with Love. The American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre will present six features (and several shorts) made in the dye-transfer Technicolor process (a.k.a. I.B. or “imbibition”), beginning…
House / Hausu by Nobuhiko Obayashi. Schedule and synopses from the American Cinematheque website. Wednesday, September 23 - 7:30 PM Japanese Cult Classics Double Feature: HOUSE (HAUSU), 1977, Janus Films,…
Spirited Away directed by Hayao Miyazaki. As part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ three-month celebration of anime, a screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2002 Oscar-winning animated feature…
Alice’s Attic. The final order of the winners of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2009 Student Academy Awards – gold, silver, and bronze medal recipients – was…
Wedding Peach. ANIME! High Art - Pop Culture “ANIME! High Art - Pop Culture,” a multimedia exhibition spotlighting the art of Japanese animation, will have its American premiere at the…
Nagisa Oshima. “No other director of Oshima’s generation has made more vital, inventive and challenging films, or taken more risks. He is a giant in contemporary cinema.” - Tony Rayns…
Erotic sex stories: “Debauched Desires.” PRESS RELEASE Kino International and KimStim are proud to release the four-DVD set Debauched Desires: Four Erotic Masterpieces by Masaru Konuma. Directed by the master…
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s capably acted urban family drama Tokyo Sonata exposes the seemingly inexorable unraveling of Japan’s traditional social fabric.
Zhang Ziyi: Actress seen in The Grandmaster. Golden Horse Awards: Singapore’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission wins Best Picture Surprisingly, the 2013 Golden Horse Award for Best Picture was…
The Monkey King 3D. Who is the Monkey King? Chance to find out as Chinese animated classic to have West Coast premiere The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven in 3D…
Tony Award winners: Eddie Redmayne in Red, with Alfred Molina. June 13 update: Hollywood took over Broadway at the 2010 Tony Awards. Or almost. Presenters included Daniel Radcliffe and Academy…
Shutter Island with Leonardo DiCaprio: Things and people aren’t necessarily what they seem to be in Martin Scorsese thriller. ‘Shutter Island’ to become biggest Martin Scorsese-Leonardo DiCaprio box office hit?…
Gotham Awards: Catalina Saavedra in The Maid. Gotham Awards winners “Kudos to you, great performance,” Rosie Perez told Willem Dafoe, after saying that Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, a dark, sex-filled…
The Masseurs and a Woman. The usual 1930s Japanese film preoccupations with societal roles are explored in writer-director Hiroshi Shimizu’s moving Anma to onna / The Masseurs and a Woman…
Based on actual events, Eran Riklis’ Lemon Tree (no connection to Sandy Tolan’s novel The Lemon Tree), which opens today in the Los Angeles area, chronicles a Palestinian widow’s fight…