Noticias

Samuel L. Jackson is like that friend who shows up to every party and somehow steals the spotlight without even trying. We know him as the badass with the booming voice, the guy who can rock an eyepatch in the MCU, and the smooth operator who made Pulp Fiction unforgettable. But when someone’s in everything, we sometimes overlook the little gems hidden in their filmography.

Samuel L. Jackson in The Marvels (Credits- Disney)

Sure, Jackson’s the king of blockbusters and franchises, but what about those offbeat, under-the-radar performances? The ones where he didn’t have a lightsaber or a billion-dollar CGI budget backing him up. These are the movies where Jackson flexed his chops, got weird, took risks, or just straight-up reminded us why he’s a one-of-a-kind talent.

The man has range for days, and it’s almost criminal how many great films of his slip through the cracks.

Steve Buscemi is widely regarded to be one of the greatest character actors working today, as he has the ability to steal a film despite having a relatively limited amount of screen time. Buscemi has never been the type of actor who can sell a film based solely on his involvement, but seeing him pop up in classics like Ghost World and The Big Lebowski is always a nice surprise. It should come as no surprise that an actor of Buscemi's caliber would also be a great director, as he has already worked with many of the most acclaimed filmmakers working today. Although he had been doing strong work since his directorial debut Trees Lounge was released in 1992, Buscemis brutal drama Animal Factory features an amazing performance from Willem Dafoe.

From Kids to Oscar-nominated roles, Chloë Sevigny's fearless acting choices have shaped her diverse career in indie and mainstream projects. Despite mainstream success, Sevigny continues to prioritize arthouse films and fashion, showcasing her unique style and artistic vision. Sevigny's unwavering fearlessness on screen has solidified her status as a sought-after talent in Hollywood, known for her unforgettable performances.

Chloë Sevigny was always more than a trendy, diaeresis-sporting, Manhattanite "it girl" — despite the fact that her presence on the New York City nightlife scene has been a near-constant since even before her acting career began. Regardless of her NYC association, Sevigny actually hails from nearby Darien, Connecticut — a tony enclave vastly different from the Downtown Manhattan she launched into as a teen model and actress in the '90s. After some spotwork in music videos for Sonic Youth and The Lemonheads, Sevigny was cast in the groundbreaking and controversial indie...

Photo: gorodenkoff (iStock by Getty Images)

Sure, there are plenty of great free movies on YouTube—but while YouTube is awesome, it’s not the only game in town. So we decided to put together a list of other sites that also offer free movies, break down the pros and cons of each one,...

Suzanne Shepherd, an actor known for her roles in “The Sopranos” and “Goodfellas,” died Friday morning in her home in New York City, her agent confirmed to Variety. She was 89.

Shepherd portrayed Mary DeAngelis, the mother of Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco), in HBO’s crime drama series “The Sopranos,” as well as the mother of Lorraine Bracco’s character Karen Hill in 1990’s “Goodfellas.” She also had roles in “Jacob’s Ladder” (1990), “Trees Lounge” (1996), “Lolita” (1997), “American Cuisine” (1998), “Living Out Loud” (1998), “Requiem for a Dream” (2000), “A Dirty Shame” (2004), “Harold” (2008), “The Week Of” (2018) and “The Performance” (2023), among other films.

Shepherd was born on Oct. 31, 1934. She made her acting debut in the 1988 romcom “Mystic Pizza,” starring Julia Roberts, and appeared in such films as “Working Girl,” “Uncle Buck” and “Second Sight” before working on Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas.”

On the television side, she guest-starred in “Law & Order,” “Third Watch,” “Ed,” “Blue Bloods,” “Deadline,...

Steve Buscemi's latest directorial feature, The Listener, will make its North American premiere at this month's Tribeca Film Festival. The Listener follows Beth (Tessa Thompson), a helpline volunteer, through one night of work in her Los Angeles apartment where she takes phone calls from callers struggling with different problems and anxieties. While Thompson is the only actress shown on-screen through the film's 96 minutes run, audiences will hear her interactions with several callers, voiced by actors including Rebecca Hall, Jamie Hector, Margaret Cho, and Alia Shawkat.

In a first-look clip, which you can watch below, Beth is questioned by a caller (voiced by Hall) about the difficulties she faces as a helpline volunteer. Beth shares that the most challenging part is after the caller hangs up when she is left to wonder if she upset or failed them.

The Listener is penned by Alessandro Camon, who earned an Academy Award...

Exclusive: UTA has signed award-winning actor, director, writer and producer Steve Buscemi and his Olive Productions banner for representation in all areas.

Buscemi currently co-stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the TBS anthology comedy series Miracle Workers that’s executive produced by Lorne Michaels. He starred in the HBO drama, Boardwalk Empire, which earned him a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy nominations.

He was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy for his role as Tony Blundetto in season five of The Sopranos and was nominated for Guest Actor Emmy nominations for his appearances on NBC’s 30 Rock and IFC’s Portlandia.

Some of his film credits include Martin Scorsese’s New York Stories; Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train for which he received an IFP Spirit Award Nomination; Alexandre Rockwell’s Sundance Film Festival Jury Award-winner In the Soup; Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island...

In his acting life, Steve Buscemi has certainly mixed things up, finding time for Bruckheimer/Simpson blockbusters, Pixar animation and even Adam Sandler movies in a bid to avoid typecasting as the definitive New York indie guy. In his directing career, however, he tends to stick to a certain genre: small, intimate, personal films like his excellent 1996 debut Trees Lounge, which told the story of a melancholic underachiever whose life revolves around a seedy dive bar where the crowd of misfit regulars become his bizarre de facto family. Loneliness is a familiar motif in Buscemi’s work, and he excelled himself with that in 2005’s Lonesome Jim, starring Casey Affleck as a young man who’s failed in the big city and now has to move in with his parents.

The Listener, surprisingly only his fifth movie, contains elements of both these titles, starring Tessa Thompson as Beth, a helpline...

When Chloë Sevigny found herself walking the Oscars red carpet nominated for her work in 1999’s “Boys Don’t Cry,” it was surprising, to say the least. Her brand of indie film anarchy, which she shared with her sometime boyfriend Harmony Korine, wasn’t really Oscar material. “I remember like the year before Harmony and I watching and being like, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if we could like nuke the Oscars and like just wipe away all the status quo?,'” she told IndieWire during a recent interview.

Sevigny’s 1990s in film started with her breakout role in Larry Clark’s ever-controversial 1995 “Kids” and ended with her at the Academy Awards, nominated for Best Supporting Actress, playing the girlfriend of Brandon Teena. It was a journey from the sensational fringes of the avant-garde to the biggest platform imaginable. “I told my publicist that the minute I’m in People magazine,...

Celebrating 10 years of Asian cinema in Helsinki

The only film festival that shows exclusively new East and Sout-East Asian films in Finland celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2022 with special screenings. Helsinki Cine Aasia returns to movie theaters with a full-length festival. The festival will be held from May 5th until May 8th at Finnkino Kinopalatsi, Kino Regina and Cinema Orion, with additional screenings at Jyväskylä’s Aurora.

Traveling to the 60’s of Thailand

Our opening film “Anatomy of Time” comes from Thailand, and is directed by Jakrawai Nilthamrong. It will be screened on Wednesday May 5th at Kino Regina.

The film was awarded with the Grand Prize at Tokyo FILMeX 2021. The story of Anatomy of Time got its inspiration from director Nilthamrong’s own family history.

Phuttiphong Aroonpheng acted as the cinematographer on the film. Aroonpheng’s own film “Manta Ray” was shown at Helsinki Cine Aasia back in 2019.

“Anatomy...

Originally appearing here in July, 2021, Filmmaker‘s interview with Ryusuke Hamaguchi about Drive My Car is being reposted today alongside the film’s Best International Feature win at the 2022 Academy Awards. — Editor It might strike some as sacrilege when I say that the excitement I’ve felt around Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s run of recent work reminds me of watching (and catching up with) the films of Arnaud Desplechin in the 2000s. Drive My Car, which had its world premiere in Competition at Cannes, follows the ecstasies and agonies and everything in-between of Happy Hour, Asako I & II (worth singling out […]

The post “You Never Know When You Will Have a Great Image”: Ryusuke Hamaguchi on the Oscar-Winning Drive My Car first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Originally appearing here in July, 2021, Filmmaker‘s interview with Ryusuke Hamaguchi about Drive My Car is being reposted today alongside the film’s Best International Feature win at the 2022 Academy Awards. — Editor It might strike some as sacrilege when I say that the excitement I’ve felt around Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s run of recent work reminds me of watching (and catching up with) the films of Arnaud Desplechin in the 2000s. Drive My Car, which had its world premiere in Competition at Cannes, follows the ecstasies and agonies and everything in-between of Happy Hour, Asako I & II (worth singling out […]

The post “You Never Know When You Will Have a Great Image”: Ryusuke Hamaguchi on the Oscar-Winning Drive My Car first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s mesmerizing character studies often snag awards at major film festivals, and 2021 was no exception. In fact, this year felt like a culmination of the master filmmaker’s efforts to date. Hamaguchi had two feature films in NYFF’21: Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, both of which previously won awards at Cannes and Berlin, respectively—and both of which transport us deep into the conscience of troubled characters.

I sat down with Hamaguchi during the festival to discuss Drive My Car, which opened November 24th via Janus Films and will continue to expand in the weeks ahead.…...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Double Walker (Colin West)

If one is looking for some post-Halloween chills, Colin West’s micro-budget ghost story Double Walker mostly fits the bill, albeit with a few stumbles. Approaching the supernatural with a more grounded feel akin to Paul Harrill’s Light From Light and David Lowery’s A Ghost Story, the film tracks a woman in specter form (a stand-out Sylvie Mix) who tracks down those responsible for her murder. While the production’s limitations can be painfully clear at times, with flat cinematography and flashbacks that feel far too on the nose, the film eventually coheres into a compelling look at the sins of humankind and what may come after death.

Where to Stream: VOD

Happy Hour and Asako I & II...

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film won best feature and best screenplay.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was the big winner at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), which took place on the Gold Coast in Australia today (November 11).

Scroll down for the full list of winners

The film – Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 best screenplay winner – won best feature film and best screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife and is based on a novella of...

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car triumphed this eve at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The movie scooped best film, which Japanese filmmaker Hamaguchi shared with producer Teruhisa Yamamoto, and best screenplay, which the director shared with Oe Takamasa. Scroll down for the full list of winners on the night.

Further winners included Asghar Farhadi, who took Best Director for A Hero, and Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, which win Best Documentary Feature Film.

Two Jury Grand Prizes were awarded this year, one to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Rehana, and Leah Purcell for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.

Best Performance by an Actor was awarded to Georgian actor Merab Ninidze for Alexey German Jr’s House Arrest, while Best Performance by an Actress went to Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana. Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won achievement in cinematography for Taste.

This was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s...

Leah Purcell is the first Australian to be awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) after being recognised for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.

A total of ten films from 11 countries triumphed at the 14th Apsa Ceremony tonight, which was presented from Hota (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast.

A re-imagining of the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in the 1893 Snowy Mountains.

Purcell wrote directed, starred in, and co-produced the project, which was adapted from her stageplay of the same name.

The Apsa international jury said the final product represented “not only an artist’s total dedication to her craft but also a spirited act of courage and tenacity”.

“The Drover’s Wife is a film that quickly...

Japan’s Hamaguchi Ryusuke earned double honors on Thursday at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. His “Drive My Car” was named best film, while he shared the best screenplay award with the film’s co-writer Oe Takamasa.

The 14th Apsa ceremony was held at the Home of the Arts in Queensland, Australia and gave prizes to ten films from eleven territories. The event also marked the official opening of the third Asia Pacific Screen Forum conference series.

The second place or Jury Grand Prizes were awarded jointly to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Bangladesh drama “Rehana” (aka “Rehana Maryam Noor”) and to Leah Purcell for her debut feature “The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.” “Rehana” lead Azmeri Haque Badhon was awarded the prize for the best performance by an actress.

Iran’s Asghar Farhadi was awarded achievement in directing prize for “A Hero” (aka “Ghahreman”) which the Apsa jury called “an intimate epic.

Writer and director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi awed the 2021 Cannes Film Festival with “Drive My Car,” his epic, three-hour adaptation of a Haruki Murakami story. It’s certainly not hard to mine cinematic material from any Murakami story (see: 2018’s “Burning”), but Hamaguchi brings an ever-melancholy new spin to the celebrated Japanese author’s road tale. The film, which won Best Screenplay at Cannes, has also been selected as Japan’s entry for the International Feature Film Award at the 2022 Oscars. “Drive My Car” opens in New York City on November 24, followed by a rollout starting in Los Angeles on December 3 before heading elsewhere. Watch the first U.S. trailer for the film below.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Two years after his wife’s unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer to direct a production of ‘Uncle Vanya’ at a theater festival in Hiroshima.

Nohara Tadashi is one of only two Japanese directors with films in the Tokyo International Film Festival’s main competition section. “Third Time Lucky” is his first theatrical feature.

Born in 1983 and a 2009 alumnus of the Graduate School of Film & New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, Nohara is no industry newcomer. He served as assistant director on “Passion,” the 2008 graduation project of fellow film student and now widely celebrated Hamaguchi Ryusuke.

After co-directing another student film, “Elephant Love,” Nohara worked as Ad for a satellite broadcaster and as a production manager for a CG production company. After moving to Kobe in Western Japan, he directed a short, “talk to remember,” that screened at the Hiroshima International Film Festival in 2015.

His big professional break, however, was Hamaguchi’s “Happy Hour,” a 2015 ensemble drama that Nohara co-scripted with the director and one other writer. Premiering at Locarno, where its four leads...

Japanese film sellers are once again out in force at Tiffcom, which is completely online for the second year in a row. Buyers will find much familiar from the Busan market, but new titles are on offer as well.

Nikkatsu

Japan’s oldest continuously operated studio, Nikkatsu is bringing Matsui Daigo’s “Just Remembering,” a romantic drama selected for the TIFF competition. Ito Sairi and Ikematsu Soksuke star as a couple on the verge of a break-up who reminisce about better days. Matsui’s original script was inspired by the Jim Jarmusch classic “Night on the Planet.”

Also, on offer is the other Japanese competition title, “Third Time Lucky.” The film is the directorial debut of Nohara Tadashi, a scriptwriter whose credits include Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s 2015 ensemble drama “Happy Hour” and Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s WWII thriller “Wife of a Spy.” Kawamura Rira, who also appeared in “Happy Hour,” stars as...

As 2021 mercifully winds down, the Criterion Channel have a (November) lineup that marks one of their most diverse selections in some time—films by the new masters Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Garrett Bradley, Dan Sallitt’s Fourteen (one of 2020’s best films) couched in a fantastic retrospective, and Criterion editions of old favorites.

Fourteen is featured in “Between Us Girls: Bonds Between Women,” which also includes Céline and Julie, The Virgin Suicides, and Yvonne Rainer’s Privilege. Of equal note are Criterion editions for Ghost World, Night of the Hunter, and (just in time for del Toro’s spin) Nightmare Alley—all stacked releases in their own right.

See the full list of October titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.

300 Nassau, Marina Lameiro, 2015

5 Card Stud, Henry Hathaway, 1968

Alone, Garrett Bradley, 2017

Álvaro, Daniel Wilson, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandra Lazarowich, and Chloe Zimmerman, 2015

America, Garrett Bradley, 2019

Angel Face, Otto Preminger, 1953

Angels Wear White,...

Flesh+Fantasy: Hamaguchi Harvests Regrets in Eloquent Triptych

One of Japan’s most compelling and profound contemporary auteurs is Ryusuke Hamaguchi, a purveyor of the barely contained emotions roiling beneath life’s facades. His specialty leans towards women who are forced to somehow reckon with the nagging certainty of something being off or ultimately undesirable in lives otherwise stable and well-heeled.

Hamaguchi’s 2015 breakout hit, the five-hour plus Happy Hour was an ambitiously insular spectacle about four women, and 2018’s Asako I & II contends with a woman mired in a situation regarding identical lovers. His latest, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a triptych of tales somewhere between these continuums of maudlin melodrama and distilled desires compounded by regrets and suspicious agendas.…...

In the films of Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, pretending to be somebody else is usually the first step towards self-understanding. So many aspects of the rising auteur’s work betray his deep-seated belief that we have to allow for some fiction in our lives in order to leave room for the kind of honesty that “truth” keeps from us.

It’s a conviction that seeps through every stone of his lightly enchanted slice-of-life dramas, which are populated by characters that often use role-play, rehearsal spaces, doppelgängers, and the safety net of the written word as permission to reveal — or even discover — the buried essence of who they really are. That’s especially true for Japanese Oscar entry “Drive My Car,” and Berlinale winner “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which together are finally bringing the filmmaker the international attention he deserves.

“In my opinion,” Hamaguchi told IndieWire during a recent interview, “fiction is...

Exclusive: Emmy winner Steve Buscemi has wrapped production on his newest feature The Listener, starring Emmy nominee Tessa Thompson, Deadline has learned.

The contained film written by Oscar nominee Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) features only one on-screen role. It tells the story of Beth (Thompson), a helpline volunteer who is part of the small army that gets on the phone every night across America, fielding calls from all kinds of people feeling lonely, broken, hopeless, worried.

Over the last year, the tide has become a tsunami, and as Beth goes through her shift, the stakes rise: is this the night she will lose someone? Save someone? Put a mind at ease? Make someone smile?

Eventually, Beth’s own story comes to light, revealing why she does it. All along we remain with her: listening, comforting, connecting – patching the world back together, one stitch at a time…...

The Japanese film industry has produced dozens of directors that, over the decades, have been hailed by Japanese critics as masters but never became well-known abroad. Kurosawa Akira and Ozu Yasujiro once got regularly named checked by foreign filmmakers visiting Japan; the locally renowned Naruse Mikio and Kinoshita Keisuke, far less often.

A similar situation has long prevailed with the so-called “4K” directors – Kore-eda Hirokazu, Kawase Naomi, Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Kitano Takeshi – who have collectively garnered the lion’s share of major festival invitations and prizes for nearly two decades, leaving a younger generation of Japanese filmmakers in relative obscurity internationally. Now one has decisively broken through the “4K” barrier: Hamaguchi Ryusuke.

Hamaguchi was this week interviewed on stage at the Busan International Film Festival by Korean star director Bong Joon-ho, on hand at the festival’s opening ceremony and again trod the red carpet, Friday evening, at the Asian Film Awards.

The two leading Asian auteurs held a special talk session at the Busan International Film Festival.

At the Busan International Film Festival (Biff), Oscar-winning Parasite director Bong Joon Ho held a special talk with Ryusuke Hamaguchi after the screenings of the Japanese director’s two latest films – Berlinale Silver Bear winner Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy and Cannes best screenplay winner Drive My Car – in Gala Presentations today (October 7).

As described by programme director Nam Dong-chul at the event, the “lucky 200 audience members” who succeeded in the heightened competition to book tickets to the socially-distanced talk were treated to two...

World premieres include debut from Happy Hour co-writer Tadashi Nohara and new works from Brillante Mendoza and Mikhail Red.

Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced the full line-up for its 34th edition, including the main competition section of 15 films, among which 10 titles are world premieres. Other sections include Asian Future, Gala Selection, World Focus, Nippon Cinema Now and Japanese Animation.

The competition section includes the world premieres of two Japanese films – Third Time Lucky, the debut feature of Tadashi Nohara, who co-wrote Happy Hour and Wife Of A Spy; and Just Remembering from Daigo Matsui (Ice Cream And The...

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of the key figures of the Japanese new auteurs’ wave that emerged around the 1990s. Among many names that found their success at the festival circuit, V-Cinema market or in the less official ways of distributions, Kurosawa was immediately heralded as one of the pioneers of J-horror, with titles such as “Cure” (1997) and “Pulse” (2001) granting him a cult reception across the globe. No matter what genre, dysfunction or timeframe he picks up, there is a consequence in Kurosawa’s body of work – a thrill that comes with a render of the environment, one that struggles with uncertainty and fear, and one that captivates the viewer’s attention throughout the ambiguity of expressions. It’s always a treat to watch a master resorting to his old tricks and leitmotivs, twisting his go-to formula to his needs, re-imagining one’s language for the present needs.

This time around,...

Central to any spy story worth its salt is the tension built around whom the audience should believe. But the memorable ones make just as powerful the theme of what the characters really do believe — as in, why they do what they do, whether they’re handler, agent, target or pawn. And to make matters even more fascinating, when some of those questions are left unanswered, that’s when some spy yarns achieve something profound about the battlefield on which they’re played.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of Japan’s established masters when it comes to a knotty premise wracked with tension and secrets, whether working in horror or contemporary drama (“Tokyo Sonata”). It seems fitting, then, that for his first period film, he’d choose a World War II–era espionage tale, where identity and motive are always in play, and horror is real. The result is “Wife of a Spy,...

The 65th BFI London Film Festival (Lff) in partnership with American Express today announced the full 2021 programme line-up that will be presented both in cinemas and virtually, incorporating some of the most popular elements of the successful 2020 edition into the full large-scale festival model.

Over 12 days from 6 to 17 October, flagship venue BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, the Lff gala venue for 2021, will make London’s South Bank one of two London hubs at the heart of the film festival experience. Films will also screen in a number of cinemas in London’s West End, with a selection of films at 10 venues in cities and towns across the UK. Audiences will enjoy a rich and varied programme of fiction, documentary, animation, artists’ moving image, short film, restored classics from the world’s archives as well as programmes of exciting international works made in immersive and episodic forms.

Spy Game: Kurosawa Finds Passion & Terror in History’s Gloom

One doesn’t tend to associate period melodrama or espionage with Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a perennial genre auteur who revels in existentialist subtexts. For his first outing in these waters with Wife of a Spy, Kurosawa reveals one of his most invigorating narratives in years, co-written by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Tadashi Nohara.

Tempestuous romance and horrific manipulations gird the sordid historical subtexts of Japan on the eve of entering WWII, presented through the perspective of its most problematic character, an unhappy, headstrong housewife played with resolute naïveté by Yu Aoi.…...

Japan Cuts 2021 Film Festival:

Enter the World of Japanese Cinema at Home and on the Big Screen

August 20 – September 2

North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema returns for its 15th edition as an online and in-person hybrid event! Following last year’s entirely online edition, this summer’s festival offers 14 days of unique access to 38 dynamic new films from Japan for audiences across the United States—including studio films, independent gems, documentaries, shorts, avant-garde works and more—through Japan Society’s virtual cinema.

Additionally, Japan Cuts is thrilled to welcome back New York City festival goers to Japan Society’s historic auditorium, for an exciting and diverse selection of Japanese cinema, perfectly suited for a return to the big screen!

Explore the Lineup →

In-person Screenings:

All in-person screenings will take place in Japan Society’s auditorium, located at 333 E. 47th Street in New York, NY.

Ticket On-Sale Dates (In-Person):

Members: Tuesday,...

This year’s Cannes Film Festival may have marked a big comeback moment for cinema, but dealmaking was a different story. All the usual North American players were at the festival, but only a handful of major deals materialized over the course of the 10-day event.

These included Neon’s acquisitions of Norwegian Competition entry “The Worst Person in the World” and Directors’ Fortnight winner “A Chiara” as well as Sony Pictures Classics’ pickup of the Finnish crowdpleaser “Compartment No. 6.” However, by and large, this year’s buzziest Cannes movies already had their distribution plans sorted at the start, from Palme d’Or winner “Titane” to Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” (A24).

There were plenty of lower-profile Cannes highlights that ended the festival without any North American plans announced. As theaters reopen and distributors eye new opportunities to experiment with an evolving arthouse market, we implore buyers to give these Cannes highlights a chance.

It seemed inevitable that Haruki Murakami’s prose would find a way into the films of Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The director returns with Drive My Car, based on Murakami’s novella of the same name—the story of a writer who finds solace in the company of the young woman driving his car. It’s a graceful, aching film that sculpts and stretches Murakami’s story into an enchanting three-hour epic about trauma and mourning, shared solitude, and the possibility of moving on. The narrative also doubles as a lovely ode to the car itself, and the strange ways that people open up when cocooned inside them.

Premiering in Cannes, it is Hamaguchi’s second film to feature in a major festival in 2021 after Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy scooped Berlin’s Silver Bear. Both were shot around the pandemic, though it was only during delays to the much larger production...

Throughout his short career, Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi has often used literary touches to track the passage of time. His 317-minute debut, “Happy Hour” sprawled out like a novel, while his recent Berlin winner “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” split the subject into an anthology.

He’s even evoked such interests with his film’s titles, naming his 2018 Cannes competition entry “Asako I and II” to underscore the fact that we can be wholly different people at different points in our lives.

And so when “Drive My Car,” which premiered on Sunday in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, rolls its opening credits a full 40 minutes into the three-hour film, you get the sense that Hamaguchi is playing with the idea of prologues, of elements that sit just beyond a narrative arc that shades everything that follows. It’s a wonderful impulse that works beautifully in the film — perhaps a little too beautifully,...

Adapted by “Happy Hour” and “Asako I & II” auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi from a short story by Haruki Murakami, “Drive My Car” is a head-on collision between an emerging filmmaker fascinated by the interior lives of women, and a famous author who… is not. But these two wildly disparate storytellers aren’t the only people vying for control of the wheel in this beguiling three-hour gem, as a third major figure is soon introduced to help steer them in the same direction: legendary playwright Anton Chekhov.

And why not? If the brief and uneven history of Murakami adaptations has taught us anything, it’s that the sensually aloof solipsism of his writing is best interpreted by people who aren’t afraid to impose their own will upon it. That’s what Lee Chang-dong did with “Burning,” and that’s what Hamaguchi does here. The result is — an intimate stage whisper...

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi is back in Cannes with some critical momentum at his back.

The 42-year-old filmmaker’s breakthrough feature Happy Hour wowed international art house fans in 2015, but his 2018 Cannes competition entry Asako I & II received a markedly mixed reception, with some praising the director’s clarity of vision and others calling it a misfire.

As of late, Hamaguchi is riding high on the international festival circuit. He co-wrote Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurasawa’s period thriller Wife of a Spy, which won the best director award at the 2020 Venice Film Festival; and his 2021 omnibus feature Wheel of Fortune ...

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi is back in Cannes with some critical momentum at his back.

The 42-year-old filmmaker’s breakthrough feature Happy Hour wowed international art house fans in 2015, but his 2018 Cannes competition entry Asako I & II received a markedly mixed reception, with some praising the director’s clarity of vision and others calling it a misfire.

As of late, Hamaguchi is riding high on the international festival circuit. He co-wrote Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurasawa’s period thriller Wife of a Spy, which won the best director award at the 2020 Venice Film Festival; and his 2021 omnibus feature Wheel of Fortune ...

With Happy Hour and Asako I & II director Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s stellar triptych Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy picked up for a U.S. release by Film Movement, we’re now looking to see when his second film of 2021, the Haruki Murakami adaptation Drive My Car, will premiere and get acquired. With rumors of a 170-minute runtime, the first teaser has now arrived.

Starring Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Masaki Okada, and Reika Kirishima, it was reported the story follows a stage actor and director happily married to his playwright wife. Then one day the wife disappears and, two years later, the hero is appointed the director of a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he is assigned a mostly silent young woman chauffeur, an encounter with more significance than he at first expects.

With a Japanese release planned for this summer, we imagine it may time up with a festival debut at Cannes.

Bachelorette alum Rachel Lindsay revealed on Tuesday that she will no longer co-host the podcast Bachelor Happy Hour, which is also co-hosted by Becca Kufrin.

“All good things must come to an end and I feel that all things run their course but for me I have run my course when it comes to the podcast,” Lindsay said.

The season 13 Bachelorette announced her exit during the 99th episode of the audio program. The episode kicked off with Kufrin hyping up the 100th episode and the two continued the program by remembering the podcast’s most memorable moments with a number of guests from Bachelor Nation.

Lindsay shared the news towards the end of the episode, noting that the decision to leave the podcast wasn’t an easy one.

“I’ve been struggling. That’s no secret, and it’s been really, really hard for me lately and a lot of...

Following up the stellar Happy Hour and Asako I & II, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s streak continued last month with the premiere of his latest film, the triptych Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. Meant to be a small-scale project filmed while he prepared his next film, we’re hoping U.S. distribution for his Berlinale premiere arrives soon, but in the meantime, we have the first look at his second feature of 2021.

Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, staring Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Masaki Okada, and Reika Kirishima, is adapted from Haruki Murakami’s story, first published in the English-language anthology Men Without Women. With the film now completed, it was reported the story follows a stage actor and director happily married to his playwright wife. Then one day the wife disappears and, two years later, the hero is appointed the director of a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he is assigned a mostly silent young woman chauffeur,...

Richard Gilliland, a prolific actor who nearly 50-year career included Designing Women, Thirtysomething and series-regular roles on Just Our Luck, Operation Petticoat and Heartland, has died. He was 71. His family said he died March 18 in Los Angeles after an unspecified brief illness.

Born on January 23, 1950, in Fort Worth, Texas, Gilliland appeared in dozens of TV shows, ranging from The Streets of San Francisco, Medical Center, a recurring role on McMillan & Wife and Marcus Welby, M.D. in the 1970s through The Waltons, Fantasy Island and The Love Boat to St. Elsewhere, Night Court, Matlock, Judging Amy, Becker, Crossing Jordan, 24, CSI, Criminal Minds and Murder, She Wrote. He also co-starred in the 1978 NBC miniseries Little Women.

He also was a series regular on three ABC comedies during the 1970s and ’80: playing a World War II Navy officer opposite John Astin in Operation Petticoat (1977-79), a TV reporter who finds...

Following his win of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” 42-year-old Hamaguchi Ryusuke suddenly finds himself catapulted to the directorial front ranks in his native Japan.

It’s not that he’s exactly obscure there: Hamaguchi’s 2018 romantic drama “Asako I & II” was selected for the Cannes competition while his 2015 breakthrough, the five-hour-plus drama “Happy Hour,” won a group best actress prize for its four leads at Locarno, as well as other awards that raised his profile at home and abroad.

Rather, in an industry and society that view a major foreign prize as a big status boost, Hamaguchi’s future plans are now a matter of keen media interest.

In a group conference for the Japanese press on March 6, Hamaguchi said that the three-part anthology “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” is part of a seven shorts project.

Berlin Grand Jury Prize winner “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s deft three-story reflection on chance, the legacy of love and the contrariness of erotic desire, has clinched further key territory sales for its sales agent M-Appeal World Sales.

The new deal unveil comes as the feature has just been selected for this year’s Bafici festival in Argentina, one of the most important in Latin America.

Fast on the footsteps of clinching the top Berlinale 2021 Silver Bear in March 5’s Berlin prize announcement, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” this week closed Spain with Enrique González-Kuhn’s Caramel Films, Brazil, with the Belas Artes Group, China with Jetsen Huashi Wangju (Changzhou) Cultural Media Co, and Hong Kong, for theatrical distribution, with Edko Films.

The deals add to strong first sales to France (Diaphana), Korea (GreenNarae Media), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Taiwan (Andrews Films), Benelux (September Film) and StraDa Films (Greece).

Spain,...

When Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi made his return to fiction after time away in the realm of documentary, he dispensed with the idea that stories must conform to feature length. “Happy Hour,” the sprawling ensemble drama that sparked interest in him among cinephiles, ran more than five hours, and while his latest, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” boasts a conventional enough running time of 121 minutes, the film is actually composed of three short stories, stitched together and somewhat arbitrarily presented as a single package.

The vignettes are, by the director’s own description, explorations of “coincidence and imagination” — the first three of what he conceived as seven stories, pointing toward what might have been another epic-length project. Audiences tend not to take well to coincidence in drama, which can feel unrealistic when handled clumsily. In Hamaguchi’s hands, however, lucky (or unlucky) twists don’t feel so much like manipulation...

European A-list festivals have rolled their red carpets multiple times for Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who started conquering the Old Continent with his graduation film “Passion” in the official selection of San Sebastian in 2008. Three years later, he was in the official selection of Locarno with “Sound of Waves”, and in 2015 – in Locarno again – his film “Happy Hour” won the awards for Best Actress and Special Mention for Script. Cannes welcomed him in the official competition in 2018 with “Asako I & II”, and now he’s in the main competition of Berlinale with his omnibus “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy”, consisting of three short films dealing with the theme of coincidence and imagination.

We had the opportunity to talk to the director about his ideas and inspirations in a generous one-on-one interview, due to this year’s special circumstances – done over a Zoom call.

”Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” is a film...

Sales agent M-Appeal has closed further territory deals for Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which just won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the title theatrically post pandemic. StraDa Films is planning a theatrical release “when the situation allows.”

M-Appeal previously closed deals for France to Diaphana, which plans a theatrical release in the second semester of 2021, with 80 to 150 prints; Portugal to Leopardo Filmes, which plans a theatrical release in November 2021; Korea to GreenNarae Media, which is planning to release the film in theaters in fall or early winter of 2021, “ideally on 100 screens or more if the pandemic situation allows”; and Taiwan to Andrews Films, which is planning a theatrical release in fall or winter 2021.

M-Appeal is in...

Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi may be known for his deep explorations of women in love, but he never set out to specifically chronicle female intimacy.

The filmmaker made his name with 2015’s epic five-hour-long “Happy Hour,” which follows the friendships and lives of four middle-class women in their thirties, followed by the unconventional love story “Asako I & II,” which competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018.

He has returned to similar territory in a new fashion in his latest work, “A Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which premiered in competition at this year’s Berlinale. The film once again returns to the subject of female relationships, but this time in a series of three tight, unrelated shorts tied together by the theme of “coincidence.”

“It’s not my intention to portray only women; I’m interested in men, too. It just happens,” he laughed.

His mission, as he describes it,...

Short stories don’t often get the respect they deserve, and short films — which the film industry has deemed worthless rather than figure out how to monetize — don’t often get any respect at all. Unless, that is, several of them are packaged to resemble a feature, like three kids stacked on top of each other inside a trenchcoat and trying to pass for a single adult.

A playful triptych of self-contained vignettes (complete with their own credit blocks) that are bound together by a shared fascination with memory, coincidence, and the deep truths that shallow lies tend to uncover, Hamaguchi Ryūsuke’s wonderfully beguiling “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” is neither fish nor fowl. It feels more like a single film than it does a trio of smaller ones that have been stitched together into a makeshift anthology, but the finished product is only greater than the sum of...