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Back in 2016, Moma curator Dave Kehr programmed a series of restorations and rediscoveries from the early days of sound at Universal Studios. Across the country in Los Angeles, film historian Leonard Maltin looked at the schedule with envy and longing. “My mouth was watering,” Maltin told IndieWire. “I was so frustrated that I couldn’t just fly to New York and set up a futon in the lobby so I could go to all the films he was screening.”

Luckily, Maltin was able to see some of the films back in Hollywood when Universal archivist Bob O’Neil allowed him to sit in on screenings that had been set up to check answer prints. “I saw dozens of them,” Maltin said. “Some were good, many were unmemorable or downright bad, but every now and then I got lucky and found a real winner.”

Maltin wanted to share his discoveries with the Los Angeles film community,...

Anime is bigger than ever. With each passing year, the industry continues to make a huge impact not only on television but also in movie theaters. From heartwarming tales of love and friendship to epic clashes between good vs evil, Studio Ghibli has solidified its status as a Japanese Animation Powerhouse.

With the likes of Your Name, Suzume, Spirited Away, and many more popular titles earning millions of dollars from their international theatrical releases, Japanese Animation is taking the world by storm.

A still from Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name | Credits: Toho

Despite being recognized as the highest-grossing anime movie of all time, many titles fail to receive a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes focuses less on the quality of a movie itself and puts importance on fans critics’ scores from the community. Interestingly, there are only four anime movies with a 100% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and...

Miyazaki has become one of the most celebrated directors of kids movies for a reason, and viewers will find his films on-demand on Max.

Hayao Miyazaki has had a remarkable career. Miyazaki’s career started in 1963, and for the past six decades he has captured the imagination of audiences with his groundbreaking work. The legendary animator and filmmaker’s newest movie “The Boy and the Heron” is coming to streaming on Max on Friday, Sept. 6, joining the other Studio Ghibli titles available to stream on that service. We’ll run through the other Miyazaki films on Max below, and explain your subscription options for the streamer as well!

Sign Up $9.99+ / month Max.com Where to Stream Miyazaki’s Films:

Castle in the Sky

The Cat Returns

From Up on Poppy Hill

Howl’s Moving Castle

Kiki’s Delivery Service

My Neighbor Totoro

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Only Yesterday

Pom...

"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" is a movie decades in the making, with the original being a rare highly successful '80s movie that didn't immediately span a sequel — even if it did actually get a follow-up of sorts in the form of a cartoon series. It's not like Burton is aversed to making sequels, as he did make two "Batman" movies. Still, it's taken 36 years, but at least now we are finally getting a new "Beetlejuice," with cast both new and old — through some convincing.

As obvious as the sequel seems, it actually took a lot of effort and time for it to be made, and it wasn't until the success of "Wednesday" on Netflix that Burton's interest in a sequel became reinvigorated. During a recent press day attended by /Film's Jacob Hall, Tim Burton answered questions from a group of journalists, and reflected on the decades wait before making "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice...

(Welcome to Under the Radar, a column where we spotlight specific movies, shows, trends, performances, or scenes that caught our eye and deserved more attention ... but otherwise flew under the radar. In this edition: Netflix's beautifully-rendered animated movie "The Imaginary," the Ilana Glazer-starring dramedy "Babes," and Jake Gyllenhaal's courtroom-thriller series "Presumed Innocent.")

Do studios just have no earthly idea how to market their latest movies and shows anymore, or is it the children viewers who are wrong? That age-old debate rears its ugly head practically every time a highly-anticipated title ends up underperforming in theaters or otherwise failing to reach its intended audience. Netflix is notorious for acquiring some of the buzziest and most exciting offerings ... only to promptly bury them under an avalanche of vague, algorithmically-defined parameters that ensures they'll never see the light of day (or even just the streamer's main page) again. And, to nobody's surprise,...

Rotten Tomatoes does not measure the quality of a movie, no matter what your favorite YouTuber says. What it does measure is the percentage of critics who think a movie is at least decent. The higher the Rotten Tomatoes score, the firmer the consensus is that a movie is at least "good," rather than, say, an exact quality score of the title.

Still, even if it doesn't exactly measure quality, a Rotten Tomatoes score is quite useful to get an idea of whether a movie has a wide appeal or if it's polarizing (meaning different people have vastly different opinions on the title). When it comes to anime, even if the genre is becoming more and more accessible, more mainstream, and more accepted, there are only four anime movies with a 100% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

What's curious is how different, yet very similar, the titles are. That's because,...

Max has shared a curated list of films available to stream on the service in Summer 2024. Max is home to Warner Bros. Pictures films, classics and new favorites from A24, the Studio Ghibli library, and award-winning films spanning multiple genres.

The platform is showcasing its vast film library with curated summer watch lists of blockbusters, horror, family-friendly films, and more.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Dune: Part Two, the groundbreaking sequel to Dune, is now available to stream on the platform along with recent hits like Wonka and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which also has an American Sign Language (Asl) version of the film available to stream.

Viewers can also find summer favorites like Mamma Mia!, Meg 2: The Trench, A Night at the Roxbury, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Dune: Part Two

Horror fans can look to Max for their summer scares and favorite films from franchises,...

Hayao Miyazaki has a reputation for being one of the most renowned animators not only in Japan but throughout the world. The image set by Ghibli Studios is one worth commending and it leaves an impression of great character and world understanding, as well as the audience’s perception of the art. He has often been compared to some of the biggest animators and filmmakers.

Spirited Away | Credit: Studio Ghibli

Not only that, but his work has inspired many across the world. His ability to inspire isn’t limited to anime enthusiasts alone but even the biggest Hollywood film directors and producers. There have been many who have openly praised him and some of the biggest Hollywood starts have contributed their voice for the English dubbing of his works.

Hayao Miyazaki is Not the Walt Disney of Japan

During an interview (via Brian Dana Camp), Hayao Miyazaki talked about Walt...

Hayao Miyazaki has been regarded as one of the greatest animation filmmakers of all time. The animator has worked on several Studio Ghibli films, which he co-founded in the 1980s. His films such as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke have all been regarded as some of the best anime films of all time.

Miyazaki came out of his retirement to create his final epic The Boy and the Heron. The film was released last year and won many accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. While the film has many Easter Eggs that reference other films by Miyazaki, one of the most important characters is reportedly inspired by the animator’s mentor.

The Boy And The Heron Has A Reference to Hayao Miyazaki’s Mentor Isao Takahata A still from Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron

Hayao Miyazaki had announced his retirement after...

Andrew Haigh’s profoundly moving ghost story follows in a bittersweet line of dramas, from Only Yesterday to Aftersun, in which a character is transported back to their early years

I tend to be wary of movies talked up as tear-jerkers – going into any film with an expected or prescribed emotional reaction kind of sets the body up to resist. If you’ve heard anything about Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, it’s probably something along those lines. “This film will destroy you,” a colleague told me before I saw it last summer. (Should we be enticed by such a promise?) But then it did: not aggressively or unpleasantly, but by slow degrees, continuing in the weeks and months after I saw it, the memory of it returning and lingering like a deep bruise when my father died last November.

Haigh’s artful, unexpected ghost story, now streamable on Disney+ and elsewhere,...

Max will continue to be the studio’s exclusive streaming home in the United States with tiles including “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Spirited Away,” and more.

Thanks in no small part to the prevalence of streaming media, anime has become an increasingly important part of the American entertainment landscape in recent years. When Warner Bros. Discovery launched the HBO Max streaming service in 2020, the iconic films of Studio Ghibili were included in the catalog. On Tuesday, Wbd announced that it had extended its deal with the Japanese studio and that the recent Oscar-winning film “The Boy and the Heron” will stream on HBO Max’s successive streaming service Max.

HBO Max became the first streaming service to carry Studio Ghibli titles when it launched in 2020. This new multi-year extension will keep the iconic Japanese studio’s films on Max in the United States. Recent Oscar winner “The Boy and the Heron...

Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron,” which just won the Oscar for animated feature film, is streaming to Max in the U.S.

Warner Bros. Discovery announced a multiyear agreement with independent distributor GKids to extend Max’s exclusive U.S. streaming rights for films from Studio Ghibli, Japan’s legendary animation house. The streamer has been the U.S. home to Studio Ghibli’s catalog since 2020, when the service originally launched as HBO Max.

Under the deal renewal, Max will be the future home of “The Boy and the Heron”; the streaming premiere date on Max will be announced later this year. The hand-drawn, semi-autobiographical film — Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years — was produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki and features a musical score from Miyazaki’s longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi.

The extension with GKids also will keep nearly two dozen Studio Ghibli films — including “My Neighbor Totoro,...

Netflix and Studio Ponoc announced today a new deal that will see the studio's current and upcoming films exclusively distributed on the service. The Imaginary — Studio Ponoc's latest movie released in Japan on December 15 last year — will stream on the platform later this year, with no specific date announced at the time of reporting. A new teaser key art was also released. Studio Ponoc founder and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura released the following statement regarding the new agreement in a press release: "Studio Ponoc is thrilled to bring our storytelling and innovative hand-drawn, hand-painted animated films to all audiences, and in particular to children and their families to enjoy together, around the world on Netflix. Netflix’s genuine commitment to supporting animation as a vital and valuable storytelling medium, and to growing high-quality and trailblazing animation, makes Netflix a truly excellent partner." The Imaginary is based on A.F. Harrold's children's novel of the same name,...

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has a full slate of programming set for this year, as the classic movie home celebrates its 30th anniversary.

The 15th annual TCM Classic Film Festival in April will honor film historian Jeanine Basinger with the Robert Osborne Award, and pay tribute to actor Billy Dee Williams and makeup artist Lois Burwell.

Additionally, The Plot Thickens, TCM’s official podcast about movies and the people who make them will debut later in the year following the release of Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast, TCM’s latest podcast in tandem with Max.

Extending beyond the screen, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood will introduce a WB/TCM Classic Movie Tour in April.

“With the 30th year of TCM upon us, we both look back at all that’s been built over the last several decades and look ahead at what is undoubtedly one of the most exciting times in TCM’s history,...

Turner Classic Movies has announced that the network will celebrate its 30th anniversary with special themes, spotlights and stars to be included in the 2024 programming slate and upcoming tentpole events.

The classic movie channel celebrated its 30th anniversary on Friday with a reception at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Charlie Tabesh, longtime TCM programming executive, confirmed at the gathering that filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson have extended their deals to serve as consultants to TCM for another year.

At the 15th TCM Classic Film Festival in April, TCM will bestow film historian Jeanine Basinger with the Robert Osborne Award and present tributes to actor Billy Dee Williams and makeup artist Lois Burwell. Additionally, a new TCM podcast called “The Plot Thickens,” which focuses on “movies and the people who make them” will be released after a podcast made in partnership with Max, “Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast.

The wonderful folks at Pixar Animation are ready to unleash their 27th feature with the imaginative "Elemental." Drawing inspiration from director Peter Sohn's youth growing up as a second-generation immigrant in New York City, the film is a celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity, wrapped in a heartwarming romantic comedy. The story is said to be inspired by films like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "Moonstruck," and "Amélie," but is presented in a way that appeals to audiences of all ages.

"Elemental" is also one of Pixar's most ambitious films to date, with producer Denise Ream telling Total Film Magazine, "We knew it was going to be hard. We didn't know it was going to be as hard as it was." As all of the characters are different elements, they all move in entirely different ways. Considering the film showcases an entire city of different elemental folk interacting with one another,...

When one thinks of Studio Ghibli, it's hard not to get wrapped up in its magical, cottagecore fuzziness. Less is usually said of Ghibli's more meditative arm, which produced more straight-laced human dramas like the war film “Grave of the Fireflies” and “Only Yesterday”. These evocative works were the contributions of Isao Takahata. The animation director's career, like his colleague Hayao Miyazaki, reveals a penchant for sentimental fantasy. But unlike the latter, Takahata's directorial touch often delved into conflict and human suffering, with gentle but unflinching intricacy. This week, we explore the first feature Takahata ever directed, that put him in collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki, eventually leading to their founding of Studio Ghibli 17 years later.

“The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun”, made under Toei in 1968, holds the curious combination of profound melodrama and magical fantasy that is unique to Ghibli's films today. Deriving from an ancient Ainu saga,...

Japan boasts one of the most robust and oldest film industries in the world, with historian Yomota Inuhiko dating its origins as far back as 1896. With visionary filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki among the industry's most recognizable names, Japan has produced some truly extraordinary films. Beyond sweeping historical epics and fantasy fare sharing the country's extensive folklore, Japan has produced a growing number of dramas that have stood the test of time.

From slice-of-life portraits across Japanese history to biting commentaries on society, Japanese dramas widely feature precision in storytelling and deliberate pacing to meditate on its themes. For decades, cinema has become a place for Japanese artists to question and subvert cultural norms directly while exploring and pondering existential themes. With that all in mind, here are the 15 best Japanese drama movies, from avant-garde pieces to animated films that delve into more humanist subject matter, showcasing different...

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.

Before we highlight this week’s picks, I want to give a special shout-out to our newly-launched Twitter account for Michael Snydel’s podcast Intermission. He’s sharing daily, well-curated streaming recommendations, so be sure to give it a follow!

Burial (Ben Parker)

From Tarantino to Mann to Marvel, mining Word War II for fictional storytelling purposes is nothing new in cinema. The latest to take the leap is Ben Parker’s Burial, a staid action thriller following Russian soldiers who are transporting the corpse of Hitler back to their homeland, per Stalin’s request. While Parker suggests some interesting ideas about conflicted nationalism at the end of a war, and he gets the table-setting right when it comes to mood, Burial...

Studio Ghibli is the most important animation production company in movie history, and I say this with absolutely no hyperbole. The home of living animation legend Hayao Miyazaki and the studio responsible for some of the most brilliant works of animated cinema ever put to screen, Studio Ghibli has consistently broken new ground and completely redefined what stories are possible to tell in animation since its inception in the 1980s. Founded by Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli films have become internationally beloved classics, and have even inspired an upcoming theme park set to open in Japan later this year.

Back in 2020, HBO Max snagged the streaming rights to Studio Ghibli's entire filmography, but Gkids recently announced that the entire Studio Ghibli catalog is now available for digital download-to-rent in the United States and Canada. The films will be available to rent in both English and Japanese languages and this...

Some of the most acclaimed films in animation history are finally available to rent online.

Gkids, the animation specialist distributer, has released the catalog of acclaimed Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli starting Tuesday. 22 films from the studio — including Oscar winner “Spirited Away” and nominees such as “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “When Marnie Was There” — will be made available to rent on all major digital platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon VOD, Vudu, Google Play and Microsoft. The films will be be priced at 4.99 per title, and all will be available in HD, with most being offered in the original Japanese language as well as English dubs.

The news marks the first time that Ghibli’s films have been made available via digital rental. The catalogue has been one of the pillars of Gkids’ business since the distributer acquired the North American film distribution rights to the studio’s films in 2011, followed...

Revisiting last year's introduction when putting together 2021's favorites, it is with a shock to realize how little has changed in the wildly disrupted world of cinema under the shroud of the pandemic. The urge to copy-and-paste the whole shebang is quite tempting indeed.What can we say about this year, 2021? We got a little more used to long-term instability. Cinemas and festivals re-opened, only for some to close again. We, like many, ventured carefully out into the world to finally see films again with audiences, all kinds: nervous ones, uproarious ones, spartan ones, and delighted ones. It was an experience both anxious and joyous. We also doubled down on the challenges, but also the pleasures, of home viewing: of virtual cinemas and virtual festivals, of straight to streaming premieres, of trying to capture a social joy in semi-isolation by connecting with others over experiences shared and disparate.The long...

Adapted from Baku Yumemakura’s mid-‘90s manga series of the same name, Patrick Imbert’s “The Summit of the Gods” might reflect the awed and glassy tone of recent French animation (the similarly ethereal “I Lost My Body” comes to mind), but its most formative influence is fittingly Japanese: Studio Ghibli.

You might sense it in the structure of Imbet, Magali Pouzol, and Jean-Charles Ostorero’s screenplay, which unfolds through a series of nested memories à la Isao Takahata’s “Only Yesterday” — or “Citizen Kane.” More specific is how this film rustles with the same melancholic beauty that swirls through every frame of Hayao Miyazaki’s magnum opus “The Wind Rises.” Where that melodrama weighed the creative spirit against its most awful cost, this adventure story reaches even higher in its bid to understand why some men are compelled to climb the world’s tallest mountain and/or die trying.

Michihito Fujii has directed a film – sometimes two, and sometimes even three – a year almost every year since he first came on to the scene in 2012 with his debut “Where Is The Better Future Of A Fake Town”. His 2020 semi-fantasy coming of age film “The Brightest Roof In The Universe” (based on the novel “Uchu De Ichiban Akarui Yane” by Tomoso Nonaka) is attempting to make its own wave at this year’s Toronto Japanese Film Festival. Clearly as prolific a director as they come, you’d think that the quantity of Fujii’s output might hinder their quality. However, if this sweet tale about an endearingly awkward teen navigating love and past trauma with the help of a mysterious scooter-riding granny is any indication, then Fujii, and us, have nothing to worry about.

“The Brightest Roof In The Universe” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

The story follows Tsubame,...

To celebrate the release of the 15th Anniversary Special Collector’s Boxset of Howl’S Moving Castle on 21 December, we are giving away one special Christmas Studio Ghibli bundle, with four stunning Steelbook releases of From Up On Poppy Hill, My Neighbours the Yamadas, When Marnie Was There, Only Yesterday and Blu-ray editions of Howl’s Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, The Cat Returns.

Based on the book by British author Diana Wynne Jones and directed by the Oscar®-winning Hayao Miyazaki, the English language cast features Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner, Emily Mortimer, Josh Hutcherson and Billy Crystal.

Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a...

Deal covers 21 films including Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away.

Wild Bunch has acquired all French rights to the entire catalogue of celebrated Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli, including its new animated feature Earwig and the Witch.

Disney has traditionally released Studio Ghibli titles in France, but the licensing deal has recently come to the end of its term. The Wild Bunch deal came into effect on September 2.

The accord includes Gorô Miyazaki’s Earwig And The Witch. The film is the studio’s first feature animation in six years and made it into Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection in June.

With readers turning to their home viewing options more than ever, this daily feature provides one new movie each day worth checking out on a major streaming platform.

May 27, 2020 is a day Studio Ghibli fans have been waiting for since the Japanese animation powerhouse announced last fall it was making HBO Max its exclusive streaming home in the U.S. The debut of HBO Max brings 21 Studio Ghibli movies to streaming in the U.S. for the first time in the studio’s 35-year history, from the pre-studio release “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” to Hayao Miyazaki’s most recent directorial effort “The Wind Rises.” The initial collection of Ghibli films streaming on HBO Max includes many of the studio’s most definitive works, including the Oscar-winning “Spirited Away,” but it also features lesser-seen titles such as “Ocean Waves” and “Only Yesterday.” The latter wasn’t released theatrically in the U.

CinemaWhile Hollywood animation films have always been easily accessible, Netflix has now made available wonderful films like 'My Neighbour Totoro' and more.Anjana ShekarIMDBWhen Princess Mononoke released in 1997 in Japan, the anime film created such a sensation across that country that it became the very first animated feature film to win Best Picture in the 21st Japan Academy Prize. This win was a huge set point for animated films in the country, changing the way such content was consumed by the audience and critics. While animated films from Hollywood, popularly Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, have enjoyed wide access with worldwide theatrical releases and a fanbase spread across the globe, online streaming platform Netflix now has an impressive collection of animated films made in Japan. When discussing the list of award-winning Japanese anime films, the contribution of Studio Ghibli, founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki,...

Studio Ghibli have been in a bit of a lull since the announcement of flag-bearing director Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement back in 2014. That sad news, however, did reveal a silver lining in 2017 when it was announced that the legendary director would come out of retirement to make a new film. Not much has since been heard regarding the prolific animation studio since, but the initial couple months of 2020 have been brimming with news about them and their future. Here, we break down everything that’s been announced regarding Studio Ghibli so far this year.

First up, the news of Studio Ghibli’s catalogue coming to Netflix across the world filled fans all round with joy. Several of the Studio’s films are often considered among the best of not just animation but cinema in general, and fans had been waiting with bated breath for them to hit the world’s biggest streaming platform.

Netflix will be adding 21 feature films from famed Japanese art house Studio Ghibli beginning February 1. Among the titles that will be available outside the U.S., Canada and Japan are My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Arrietty, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea and When Marnie Was There. The deal was made with Studio Ghibli’s distribution partner Wild Bunch International, as part of Netflix’s efforts to grow its animated library.

For the first time ever, this catalogue of Studio Ghibli films will be subtitled in 28 languages, and dubbed in up to 20.

Founded in 1985 by Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli has produced 22 feature-length films. Many of them are legendary including Miyazaki’s Oscar winner Spirited Away. The director was named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people in 2005.

Producer Toshio Suzuki at Studio Ghibli said, “In this day and age, there...

Japanese art house Studio Ghibli has found a home on Netflix.

Starting Feb. 1, 21 films from the Academy Award-winning Studio Ghibli will be available on Netflix through distribution partner Wild Bunch International, the streaming platform announced Sunday.

The deal excludes the U.S., Canada and Japan. HBO Max acquired the U.S. rights to the animated library last year, with the films debuting on the platform in the spring of this year.

Studio Ghibli’s catalogue, which will include Academy Award-winner “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke,” “Arrietty,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Tale of Princess Kaguya,” will be subtitled in 28 languages and dubbed in up to 20 languages.

Also Read: HBO Max Acquires Us Streaming Rights to Japan's Studio Ghibli Films

“In this day and age, there are various great ways a film can reach audiences,” producer Toshio Suzuki at Studio Ghibli said in a statement. “We’ve listened to our fans and...

It took 34 years, but Studio Ghibli is finally embracing the internet era: The celebrated Japanese animation studio’s entire film catalogue, including classics such as “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” will be available for digital purchase in North America starting December 17.

Indie distributor GKids announced Tuesday that Studio Ghibli’s films would be available in both English and Japanese languages. The suggested retail price is $19.99 per film, and the films will be available on Apple TV, Amazon, and Google Play, among other services.

“The Wind Rises” is the studio’s only film that will not be available for digital purchase this year; that film will be available for digital purchase in the third quarter of 2020.

The studio’s projects are enormously popular: The 18-year-old “Spirited Away” outpaced “Toy Story 4” at the China box office in June when the former opened for the first time in Chinese theaters. “Spirited Away...

GKids will release the entire Studio Ghibli catalog of animated films for digital purchase for the first time in North America on Dec. 17.

The Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli catalog includes best animated film Academy Award winner “Spirited Away” and five other Oscar-nominated titles: “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “The Wind Rises,” “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” “When Marnie Was There” and “The Red Turtle,” which was co-produced with Wild Bunch.

Films will be available to purchase in both English and Japanese languages on all major digital transactional platforms. It’s the first time the Studio Ghibli films will be available for digital purchase anywhere in the world. GKids previously announced an exclusive U.S. streaming deal with HBO Max for the Studio Ghibli library starting in May.

Director and studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki was given an honorary award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards in 2014, and the...

Studio Ghibli’s entire library of films, including classics such as “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Princess Mononoke,” will be made available for digital download in the U.S. and Canada beginning on Dec. 17, the distributor Gkids announced Monday.

This marks the first time any of the films from the Japanese anime giant will be available on any digital platform. And the news also comes months before the Studio Ghibli films are meant to stream exclusively in the U.S. on HBO Max beginning in May 2020.

The films, 21 in all dating back 30 years to 1984, will only be available as digital download-to-own, with each film retailing for $19.99. The films will not be available for rental at this time, but Gkids says the movies will be available for purchase on all major digital platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon VOD, Vudu, Google Play, Sony, Microsoft and Fandango Now. Further, both the original...

Titles include Oscar winner Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya.

In an unprecedented move, Gkids has said it will make the entire catalogue of Studio Ghibli Japanese animation, including Oscar winner Spirited Away, The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There, available for digital download-to-own in North America.

From December 17, consumers will be able to purchase the inventory on all major digital transactional platforms, marking the first time the films have been made available via digital transaction anywhere in the world.

Titles, which will be available in both English and Japanese, include Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away,...

Titles include Oscar winner Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya.

In an unprecedented move, Gkids has said it will make the entire catalogue of Studio Ghibli Japanese animation, including Oscar winner Spirited Away, The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There, available for digital download-to-own in North America.

From December 17, consumers will be able to purchase the inventory on all major digital transactional platforms, marking the first time the films have been made available via digital transaction anywhere in the world.

Titles, which will be available in both English and Japanese, include Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away,...

HBO Max continues to pad its streaming fare with an exclusive deal for the entire catalog of Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. It’s the first time the lauded toon producer’s films have been licensed to a streamer.

The deal with Studio Ghibli distributor Gkids includes 2001’s Spirited Away, which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, and four other pics that were nominated in that category: Howl’s Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There.

“Studio Ghibli films are visually breathtaking, completely immersive experiences” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer at HBO Max and President of TNT, TBS, and truTV. “Exciting, enchanting and deeply humanistic, these wonderful films have captured people’s hearts around the world, and we are proud to showcase them in an accessible way for even more fans through HBO Max.”

Founded in 1985 by animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata,...

HBO Max has taken the U.S. streaming rights to Japan’s Oscar-winning animation house, Studio Ghibli, which reps the first time the latter’s content has been licensed to a streamer.

The deal with North American distributor Gkids includes 21 Studio Ghibli movies: Castle in the Sky, The Cat Returns, From Up On Poppy Hill, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, My Neighbors the Yamadas, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Ocean Waves, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko, Ponyo, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, The Secret World of Arrietty, Spirited Away, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, Tales From Earthsea, When Marnie Was There, Whisper of the Heart and The Wind Rises (which is launching in the fall of 2020. Most of these titles will be available when HBO Max launches.

“Studio Ghibli films are visually breathtaking, completely immersive experiences” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, HBO Max and President,...

The anime film community has lost one of its most prominent members with the passing of Isao Takahata, the Oscar-nominated anime pioneer who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki in June of 1985. As a writer, director, and producer of several timeless animated films, Takahata is known mostly for his work on such films as Grave Of The Fireflies, Pom Poko, Only Yesterday, and The Tale Of... Read More...

Takahata’s credits included Grave Of The Fireflies.

Japanese filmmaker Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, has died aged 82.

Takahata directed animated classics such as Grave Of The Fireflies, Only Yesterday and Pom Poko. His most recent film as director was The Tale Of Princess Kaguya, which was nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards in 2015.

Born in 1935 in Mie Prefecture, Takahata started his career in 1959 and worked on both animated features and TV series as a screenwriter, director and producer.

While Miyazaki is best known for pure fantasies, Takahata focused on realistic dramas,...

Isao Takahata, the Oscar-nominated anime visionary who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and wrote, directed and/or produced many acclaimed films, died today in Japan. He was 82. Local media reports cite sources saying he died in a Tokyo hospital after a long illness.

Takahata began his animation career in 1959 at the Toei Animation Company, where he met eventual Oscar-winner Miyazaki. Described by many as both friends and rivals, they founded production company Studio Ghibli in 1985. Among its early classics was Grave of the Fireflies (1988, right), which Takahata also wrote and directed. He would go on to produce such acclaimed anime films as Only Yesterday (1991) and Pom Poko (1994), and his final film as writer-director — 2013’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya — earned him an Oscar nom for Best Animated Feature. It also screened in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Takahata also produced the popular anime TV series Heidi,...

Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, has died at 82, according to Yahoo! Japan. Takahata was a revered director in his own right, helming such animated classics as “Grave of the Fireflies,” “Only Yesterday,” and “Pom Poko”; he most recently directed “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” which received near-universal praise an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Takahata’s career dates back to the early 1960s, when he worked in both the film and television industries in his native Japan. In addition to directing, he also worked as an animator, screenwriter, and producer, with his final credit coming on Michaël Dudok de Wit’s acclaimed “The Red Turtle.” Among his many other accolades, Takahata received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival in 2009.

“Grave of the Fireflies” remains his best-known and most respected work, often appearing high on the list of the greatest...

Gkids, producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, has announced that it is partnering with Studio Ghibli to handle the famed Japanese animation studio's catalog in North America. Beginning October 17, 2017, Gkids will begin reissuing new Blu-ray and DVD editions of Studio Ghibli's renowned films with six initial titles from Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki: Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away followed by Castle in the Sky and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on October 31, 2017. The remaining titles will be reissued in the coming months in brand new Blu-ray and DVD, and are listed below. 

The Studio Ghibli library, led by directors and studio co-founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, is one of the most coveted and critically-lauded in animation, and includes such films as the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away, which was recently listed at...

Distributor now handles home entertainment rights as well as theatrical on Japanese studio titles.

Gkids has announced it is partnering with Studio Ghibli to distribute the Japanese animation studio’s home video catalogue in North America.

Starting on October 17, Gkids will reissue Blu-ray and DVD editions of Studio Ghibli’s films and kicks off with six titles from Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki.

The initial six Miyazaki titles are Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away (pictured), followed by Castle In The Sky and Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind on October 31.

The remaining titles, which include Hiroyuki Morita’s The Cat Returns and Tomomi Mochizuki’s Ocean Waves, will be reissued in the coming months on Blu-ray and DVD.

The home video partnership builds on the relationship between Gkids and Studio Ghibli. Gkids has handled theatrical rights for the catalogue since 2010.

Gkids released the studio’s recent...

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is stepping down from royal duties as of this Fall. The 95-year-old will continue to attend previously scheduled public engagements through August, before retiring from his public role. It is said that this is his own decision, and it comes with the support of the queen. Queen Elizabeth II will continue to carry out all her duties as monarch, and while Philip will not make appearances in an official capacity, he may still support his wife at some events. The rumor mill went into overdrive when Buckingham Palace announced an emergency meeting for all staff on Thursday morning, and the palace was quickly forced to issue reassurances that the announcement did not concern the health of either the queen or Prince Philip. Only yesterday, Prince Philip made an appearance at Lord's Cricket Ground, and the queen met with Prime Minister Theresa May. Despite being 95 and 91 years old respectively,...

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The post Spotted: Shah Rukh Khan riding a tractor alongwith Anushka Sharma in Punjab appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

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The post Check out: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta interact with the Border Security Force (Bsf) appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Only yesterday, we had reported about the young Zaira Wasim posting a rather cryptic apology on her Facebook page. For the uninitiated, Zaira Wasim is the same girl who had won hearts all over with her portrayal of the younger Geeta Phogat in the superhit film Dangal. Like everyone else, Bollywood too was in forRead More

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The dominant conversation about film in 2016 was its impending end. Just about every sphere of the cinematic world from filmmakers to established critics to loudmouth pundits had a doomsday proclamation about film, conflating national anxiety and middling blockbusters with far-flung conclusions. With the year in the books, it’s pretty easy to disagree with them. And I say that even as I diverge with public opinion on some of the biggest films of the year – Jackie, La La Land, Moonlight, Manchester By the Sea, etc.

But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my favorite experiences with film this year were less my most-anticipated than the ones that defied easy description. They weren’t always my favorites but films like The Love Witch, Lemonade, Operation Avalanche, Kate Plays Christine, and Aferim! were welcome reminders of the myriad ways that film could feel strange and new – and in...

As Studio Ghibli fans continue to anticipate the official theatrical release of “The Red Turtle” (Sony Picture Classics opens the film in select theaters January 20), Gkids is about to make the wait a whole lot easier. Starting tomorrow, December 28, the distributor is releasing the company’s 1993 drama “Ocean Waves” in U.S. theaters for the very first time, and IndieWire is celebrating by giving one reader the chance to win a Studio Ghibli prize pack.

Read More: ‘Ocean Waves’ Trailer: Studio Ghibli’s 1993 Animated Film Explores Changing Friendships

Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki, “Ocean Waves” tells the story of two friends, Taku and Yutaka, who head back to school for what they believe will be another uneventful year. But their relationship is tested by the arrival Rikako, a beautiful new transfer student from Tokyo.

Now through Friday, December 30 and 12pm Et, IndieWire readers can enter to win the Studio Ghibli prize...