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Alex Boden, producer of Max/Wowow series “Tokyo Vice,” outlined the hurdles and triumphs of filming the first U.S. studio streamer series shot entirely in Japan during a keynote at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The keynote was delivered as part of a Motion Picture Association event at the festival.

Created by J.T. Rogers and starring Ken Watanabe, Ansel Elgort, Rachel Keller and Kikuchi Rinko, the series followed a Western journalist working for a publication in Tokyo who takes on one of the city’s most powerful crime bosses.

Boden spent nearly two years in Japan producing both seasons of “Tokyo Vice.” Before production began in 2020, several international producers had advised against shooting entirely in Japan, citing lack of incentives, studio availability and complex permission processes.

“They’d gone to other countries like New Zealand for ‘The Last Samurai,’ Germany for ‘Speed Racer,’ Taiwan for ‘Silence’ – anywhere else but Japan,...

With its body horror “The Substance” performing well at the box office, a rerelease of Tarsem Singh’s “The Fall” currently underway, and a successful streaming channel offering artful cinema from around the world, you’d think the fine folks at Mubi might slow down and smell the roses, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Returning for its seventh season, Mubi is announcing a new installment of its award-winning audio-documentary series, “Mubi Podcast.” This new batch of episodes is inspired by film critic Tim Robey’s soon-to-be-published book, “Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops.”

Highlighting films such as “Sylvia Scarlett” (1935), “Sorcerer” (1977), and “Speed Racer” (2008), Robey’s book uncovers the history behind some of the entertainment industry’s biggest flops, contrasting their initial failure with the eventual acclaim they’d garner over time. Over six episodes, “Mubi Podcast” host Rico Gagliano will use this material as a guide,...

A few notable celebrities’ passing has left Hollywood mourning. The year 2024 saw the passing of many stars who have touched the lives of millions with their talents and personas. The departure of these icons has left their fans worldwide grieving. Here are 5 notable stars we lost this year.

1. Maggie Smith

There’s no denying that the sudden passing of Maggie Smith left a void in the hearts of her fans. With two Oscars, four Emmys, and a Tony award to her name, Dame Maggie Smith, who was 89 at the time, died in the hospital on 27th September 2024, as reported by the BBC.

Maggie Smith | Credits: Alamy/Carnival Films/Album

Smith played the role of the strict but fair Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. This role gained her fans worldwide. Smith had dedicated her life to acting and had the gift of acting from childhood. In the mid-1950s,...

Lana and Lilly Wachowski used to work as a filmmaking duo, bringing us the likes of Bound, The Matrix and its first two sequels, Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending, while also scripting the likes of V for Vendetta and Assassins, plus creating the TV series Sense8. In recent years, they have been focusing on separate projects, with Lana making The Matrix Resurrections solo while Lilly has been working on the Showtime series Work in Progress and a movie called Trash Mountain. Now, during an interview with Autostraddle, Lilly has revealed that she has several other projects in the works, including an adaptation of the horror novel Manhunt.

Lilly Wachowski said, “I have my fingers in a lot of different projects. Some of the projects are big, some of the projects are small, but they’re all queer and trans. I’ve just written a script with my partner...

While Diane’s got her hands full with all the courtroom drama on General Hospital, Carolyn Hennesy also has a lot going on, although not as dramatic as her alter ego. In a recent Instagram post, she hinted at a new project she’s currently working on for Hallmark, which they haven’t even publicly announced yet. She also shared details of her fun trip to the set.

Hallmark + Utah + Christmas = Perfect Setting

On Instagram, Hennesy wrote, “For the past seven days, I have found myself in Midway, Utah. Hallmark tapped me for a…wait for it…Christmas romance entitled Deck The Walls, written by the wonderful Danny Pellegrino.” Although it’s not winter yet, she theorized that there would be many fun things to be had in beautiful Utah. She elaborated, “Not yet time for skiing or snowboarding, and I don’t fish” (Learn about other soap stars who...

Hiroyuki Sanada has won his first Emmy. On Sunday he took home the award for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in FX drama series Shōgun, on which he also serves as a producer.

“It was an East-West dream project with respect,” he said while accepting the award, “and Shōgun taught me that when people work together we can make miracles. We can create a better future together.”

In the epic drama series from FX based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel, veteran Japanese actor Sanada stars as Lord Toranaga, the ultimate strategist, whose intricate web ultimately served to unify 17th century Japan. Tadanobu Asano also stars as Lord Kashigi Yabushige, Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko and Cosmo Jarvis as shipwrecked Portuguese explorer John Blackthorne, known as ‘Anjin’.

Related: Jodie Foster Thanks Indigenous People For Sharing Their Stories With ‘True Detective: Night Country’ In Her First Ever Emmy...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Film at Lincoln Center

An essential retrospective of Brazil’s L.C. Barreto Productions begins.

Roxy Cinema

Another Woman and The Lords of Flatbush play on 35mm.

Museum of the Moving Image

A retrospective of the Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden begins; The Gleaners and I plays on Saturday; Speed Racer shows on Sunday.

Anthology Film Archives

An honestly titled retrospective, “Essential/Unessential Warhol,” begins.

Film Forum

A Spielberg retrospective begins, featuring E.T. on 35mm; Army of Shadows continues and West Side Story plays on Sunday.

Museum of Modern Art

“Paramount in the 1970s” includes films by Warren Beatty, Elaine May, and Peter Bogdanovich.

IFC Center

Rosemary’s Baby and a 40th-anniversary restoration of Paris, Texas play daily; Caligula: The Ultimate Cut and The Conversation continue; Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Hostel, The Goonies, Mute Witness, and The Vanishing play late.

Metrograph

The Seventh Seal,...

It was 2021 and most film festivals, big or small, were in an online only model. Perhaps due to its late summer sweet spot, The Toronto International Film festival managed a soft-hybrid, with a significantly reduced number of films, some of them at drive-ins or at un ultra low cinema capacity.  Because there were only a few Midnight Madness movies at that year's festival, Mm programmer and Speed Racer superfan Peter Kuplowsky, rented the pandemic-shuttered Royal Cinema for the nights where there were no midnight screenings. He brought in the Racer Trash collective, a diverse bunch of film editors who remixed, mashed up, and outright demolished, pop cinema and cultural ephemera, and showcased them on the Twitch streaming platform. According to a The Verge piece at the...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research

My screening series Amnesiascope partners again with Rohmer Fits for an encore presentation of Éric Rohmer shorts on Sunday.

Paris Theater

“Big & Loud!” returns with 70mm prints of Vertigo, Phantom Thread, and Boogie Nights, along with The Abyss, Close Encounters, and films by Don Hertzfeldt.

Bam

The controversial, remarkable The Spook Who Sat By the Door continues in a new restoration.

Roxy Cinema

Amalia Ulman has programmed prints of If… and The Holy Girl; “Explosive Cinema” offers First Reformed and The Battle of Algiers.

Film at Lincoln Center

As an essential restoration of Shinji Somai’s Moving continues, The Stranger and the Fog begins a run.

Museum of the Moving Image

Speed Racer and A Silent Voice have screenings.

Anthology Film Archives

Films by Buñuel, Chaplin, and Cocteau screen in “Essential Cinema“; Funeral Parade of Roses shows this Friday.

“The Madison” found its second lead in Matthew Fox. The actor best known for his work in “Lost” will star alongside Michelle Pfeiffer in the upcoming Taylor Sheridan drama, which will serve as a spinoff to “Yellowstone.”

Fox will play Paul, who is described as “a self-reliant bachelor who loves the outdoors.” He will join a cast that includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, Beau Garrett and Amiah Miller.

Fox became a household favorite for his role as Dr. Jack Shepard in J.J. Abrams’ massive hit, “Lost.” For that role, he won the 2005 SAG Ensemble Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe and Emmy for Outstanding Leading Man in a Drama Series. The actor has also starred in “Speed Racer,” “We Are Marshall” and “Emperor.” On the television side, Fox starred in and executive produced the limited series “Last Light” for Peacock and starred in the...

Matthew Fox is the latest addition to the cast of the “Yellowstone” spinoff “The Madison,” Variety has confirmed.

Fox will appear in the series alongside previously announced cast members Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, and Beau Garrett.

“The Madison” was previously in development under the title “2024.” Per the official logline, the show is a “heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.” It is not yet clear if the show will debut exclusively on Paramount+ or start off on Paramount Network like “Yellowstone.”

Fox will play Paul, described as “self-reliant bachelor who loves the outdoors.”

Fox is best known for his starring role in the ABC series “Lost,” on which he played Dr. Jack Shephard throughout the show’s six season run. He received both an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for his time on the show.

The tenure of J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot at Warner Bros. Television is expected to cross the 20-year mark. The company is in advanced negotiations with Warner Bros. to re-up its film and TV deal with the studio, sources tell Deadline.

The pending multi-year extension comes more than two years after Bad Robot’s current massive five-year pact experienced serious turbulence at the half point following the April 2022 close of the Warner. Bros.-Discovery merger when it was among a number of big-ticket items scrutinized by the new regime. At that time, HBO pulled the plug on Abrams’ sci-fi drama Demimonde before production was slated to start on the ambitious — and expensive — series.

The rough post-merger period included a handful of other greenlighted Bad Robot series not going forward at Warner Bros. Discovery streamer Max, including The Shining offshoot series Overlook and the animated Batman: Caped Crusader.

Ultimately, Bad...

Michael Giacchino, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and prolific composers, certainly has enough material for a greatest hits album. He’s created the brilliant scores to “The Incredibles,” “Up,” “Lost” and 2009’s “Star Trek”. An album with cues from these titles (and others that he’d composed), would do gangbusters. But he didn’t want to do just another greatest hits album.

Instead, he thought about his uncle Pete, who lived outside of Philadelphia. Uncle Pete, you see, owned an appliance store.

“He also sold stereos, and at the stereos were those big console stereos which we love. And RCA would send him tons of these demo records for the customers, so they can understand how great it sounds. Inevitably, we would go visit the store on weekends, and he would always give us albums to take home,” Giacchino explained. Soon enough, they had a giant collection of records,...

Matthew Fox has been tapped to star in drama series “The Assassin” that is currently in the works at Max, TheWrap has learned.

The “Lost” actor will also executive produce alongside writer John Glenn and original book series author, British novelist Tom Wood.

Here’s the official description of the series, per HBO: “When a merciless assassin known only as Victor is betrayed by an anonymous client, he finds himself hunted across the globe by multiple enemies that include relentless CIA operatives and a contract killer equally as deadly. To stay alive, Victor must uncover the identity of his betrayer while grappling with a buried spark of humanity that begins to resurface within him and might just be the greatest threat to his survival.”

Fox is best known for playing Dr. Jack Shephard in J.J. Abrams’ hit series “Lost,” for which he took home a Screen Actors Guild Award...

With Shōgun, the epic drama series from FX based on James Clavell’s epic 1975 novel, veteran Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada’s work pushed past any subtitle barriers to earn the show a massive worldwide following that includes 25 Emmy nominations. Sanada stars as Lord Toranaga, the ultimate strategist, whose intricate web ultimately served to unify 17th century Japan. And Sanada was not unfamiliar with the character, since in 1989’s Oda Nobunaga, he had played Tokugawa Ieyasu, the real-life man who inspired the Toranaga character.

Sanada’s epic career began at the age of just 6, and he is best known internationally for such films as The Last Samurai, Speed Racer and Bullet Train, along with the shows Lost and Westworld. Here, he describes what the role meant to him and how, as a first-time producer, he found profound meaning in bringing a culturally accurate depiction of Japan to life.

Deadline: Congratulations on your Emmy nomination.

This article is part of IndieWire’s 2000s Week celebration. Click here for a whole lot more.

Much like the decade that produced them, the movies of the 2000s were shaped in response to such profound and irrevocable change that it’s difficult to assign them a cohesive identity of their own; it can be tempting to think of them as a long suspension bridge between then and now rather than as a well-defined era unto itself. When the sun rose on the start of the new millennium, the vast majority of films were shot and projected on film, superhero movies were still considered an outlandish gamble, middle-class malaise was American cinema’s preoccupying crisis, and James Cameron was the biggest director on the planet. By the time the smoke cleared 10 years later, digital had pushed celluloid to the brink of extinction, Marvel was beginning to exert an iron grip on the multiplex,...

Anime has been big in the West ever since the days of “Sailor Moon” and “Speed Racer,” but these days, the Japanese art form has been getting mainstream shout outs left and right. At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, multiple of the world’s greatest athletes celebrated their wins by striking poses or otherwise making reference to anime favorites like “Yu Gi Oh” and “One Piece.” Earlier this summer, Megan Thee Stallion released a whole song, “Otaku Hot Girl,” about her love for anime, referencing and sampling a song from “Jujutsu Kaisen.”

This cultural growth isn’t surprising if you pay attention and see how the market has grown. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, the industry grossed $21.3 billion worldwide — and that was after a small Covid induced downturn. Anime films like “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” and “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” proved that fans would turn up in theaters, with both...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Film at Lincoln Center

A retrospective of Mexican popular cinema from the 1940s to the 1960s is underway.

Film Forum

A career-spanning Jean-Pierre Melville retrospective has begun; restorations of Ann Hui’s July Rhapsody (watch our exclusive trailer debut), Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams, Fitzcarraldo and Seven Samurai continue.

Museum of the Moving Image

A 70mm print of Playtime screens this weekend; The Color of Pomegranates and Speed Racer play.

Anthology Film Archives

Robert Bresson plays in “Essential Cinema.”

Bam

Claire Denis’ monumental No Fear, No Die continues screening in a new restoration; Mapantsula begins playing.

Museum of Modern Art

A career-spanning Powell and Pressburger retrospective continues.

IFC Center

The Time Masters, Amadeus, and In the Mood for Love play daily; Fritz the Cat, Friday the 13th, The Last House on the Left, and The Matrix play late.

Metrograph...

There’s no denying that 2008’s Speed Racer has developed a faithful cult following in the 15+ years since its release. And as far as the Wachowskis filmography does, it’s definitely one of the most mind blowing — visually speaking, at least. But does it rank up there with The Matrix? According to Speed Racer himself, Emile Hirsch, it’s not even a close contest – and you know which one he’s favoring.

Emile Hirsch took to social media this week to heap just about the highest praise he could on his movie, writing, “Just look up “why Speed Racer is a masterpiece” on YouTube and there’s like a thousand videos. A thousand articles written as well. Can we finally just declare that Speed Racer > The Matrix?”

Just look up "why Speed Racer is a masterpiece" on YouTube and there's like a thousand videos. A thousand articles written as well.

The capacity for sci-fi to pack imaginative exuberance, political richness, and sheer pulpy excitement into a dazzling cinematic adventure has been yielding masterpieces since the early days of the film medium, and it has allowed directors from Stanley Kubrick to Andrei Tarkovsky to Lizzie Borden to Denis Villeneuve to create some of their finest, most enduring work. At the same time, big-budget sci-fi can be a tough sell -- the greater the worlds and setpieces and ideas being put forth, the higher the risk of financial underperformance.

Unsurprisingly, film history is peppered with sci-fi movies that flopped upon release, only for them to be reappraised and re-emerge as cult favorites years later. That was true of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," the grandfather of all go-for-broke sci-fi monuments, and it has been true of countless ambitious and unique cinematic visions in the century since. No matter how hard the movies below may have flopped,...

Often overlooked by their male demographic counterparts, shojo manga magazines have as long of a storied history and continue to play a massive part in comics culture. Hana to Yume , one of the most influential shojo magazines, began 50 years ago in May 1974 and since then has brought about hits such as Fruits Basket , Skip Beat and more. For its 50th anniversary, a Hana to Yume special exhibition was held on the 52nd floor of the Roppongi Hill Mori Towers at Tokyo City View. "Party" was the theme of the event with a giant cake in the center of the foyer, alongside the gorgeous backdrop of Tokyo Tower in the background — or at least it would have been the backdrop if the day wasn't overcast. A Short History of HanaYume Five months after the founding of Hakusensha under Shueisha in 1973 (though is now its own company rather than a subsidiary), Hana...

A 1992 theatrical compilation produced by Speed Racer Enterprises and Streamline Pictures—one of the pioneering American distributors of English dubbed anime, including “Akira” and early Miyazaki, “Speed Racer: The Movie” links together multiple episodes from the iconic Americanized version of the 1960s anime, namely The Car Hater and The Race Against the Mammoth Car, which is actually split in two parts in the series.

An Archival 35mm presentation of Speed Racer: The Movie will screen in Japan Society, Friday, June 21

In the first part, we are introduced to Janine Trotter, a young woman who is a fan of Speed, in the first instance in the series where we see the concept of jealousy, as presented by Trixie's attitude. Janine is punished by her wealthy father, who hates cars because his son was killed by one. Mr. Trotter sabotages the opening of a new speedway and also causes mammoth traffic jams in the nearby city.

(Courtesy image, Graphic by The Desk)

Wallet-conscious streaming TV service Frndly TV says it will offer Weigel Broadcasting’s new retro cartoon channel MeTV Toons when the network launches later this month.

The announcement was made in an email sent to some customers and business partners on Wednesday, and comes about a week after Frndly TV accidentally told a subscriber on Facebook that the channel would debut on the service.

“You’ve been asking for it, so we’re adding MeTV Toons to the Frndly TV lineup!” the email sent on Wednesday said, adding that viewers will be able to “catch all the classic cartoons on this new channel, coming soon!”

MeTV Toons is growing out of a retro cartoon block that airs weekends on MeTV. Shows like “Betty Boop,” “Scooby Doo,” “Huckleberry Hound,” “Tom & Jerry,” “Top Cat” and “Speed Racer” are listed among some of the shows that...

"Dexter's Laboratory" changed the course of American TV animation. Like "Flapjack" after it, the cartoon gave many future legendary animators their start in the industry, from Craig McCracken and Butch Hartman to Rob Renzetti and one Seth MacFarlane. It also helped transform "The Powerpuff Girls" into a timeless hit.

The show started as a short in "What a Cartoon!" before becoming the very first Cartoon Cartoon. The man behind the show, Genndy Tartakovsky, has made hit after hit in a variety of genres and tones, from his influential "Star Wars: Clone Wars," to the devastatingly gory R-rated animated carnage of "Primal" or complex genre-bending tales of steampunk goodness like the criminally underseen "Unicorn: Warriors Eternal."

Much of Tartakovsky's style can be traced back to his work in "Dexter's Laboratory," from his use of silence to tell stories to his eye for iconography and imagery, along with his knack for pop culture references.

The electronic program guide of Frndly TV. (Screen capture by The Desk)

Low-cost streaming service Frndly TV has retracted a statement made on social media that it would carry the soon-to-launch retro cartoon channel MeTV Toons when it becomes available in late June.

The statement was made in response to a comment left on Frndly TV’s Facebook page, in which a spokesperson appeared to confirm the streaming service would carry MeTV Toons when it launches on June 25.

“We will be carrying this in our lineup — stay tuned!” the spokesperson said. Hours later, an official with Frndly TV followed up in a series of Facebook messages saying the affirmation was made in error, and that the streaming service could not comment on whether it will carry MeTV Toons at launch.

Frndly TV is one of two streaming TV platforms that carries channels from Weigel Broadcasting, the media company developing MeTV Toons.

Anime is bigger than ever. With dedicated streaming services such as Crunchyroll enjoying a meteoric rise, rivals Netflix and Prime Video getting in on the action with their own dedicated selection, and even Disney – the arbiter of western animation – now boasting a growing number of exclusive anime series on Disney+, the availability and popularity of Japanese animation has never been greater.

Yet it's in film where anime has enjoyed the biggest boom, with the likes of Your Name and Miss Hokusai heralding a new era of excellence in animation, adding to a canon of definitive works such as Akira and My Neighbour Totoro. But with decades of brilliance to choose from, getting started on anime – or just choosing what to watch for movie night – can be daunting.

We've plucked out the best of the best to get you started, with a selection that highlights the medium's rich diversity of genres and styles,...

The innovative car racing anime series Speed Racer will be revving up for all major digital platforms on June 1, 2024 from Shout! Studios. Fans of the iconic racing adventure will be treated to all 52 episodes as it becomes available for video-on-demand. Mach GoGoGo, the original 1967 Japanese-language television series adaptation from Tatsunoko Production, will also be available for video-on-demand on all major digital platforms. The popular Japanese franchise originated as a manga series created by anime pioneer, and founder of Tatsunoko Production, Tatsuo Yoshida. The manga’s success in Japan spawned the adapted TV series Mach GoGoGo. It later gained popularity in the United States ... Read more...

Fans of classic cartoons might have a new favorite channel: MeTV Toons — a new TV network dedicated to animated favorites like Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry and more — will debut this summer, TVLine has learned.

The new channel from MeTV parent company Weigel Broadcasting Co., which will be available on over-the-air broadcast television as well as ad-supporting streaming services, will air beloved Warner Bros. Discovery cartoons like Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Popeye and more, along with Rocky and Bullwinkle, Woody Woodpecker, Casper, Betty Boop, Speed Racer and others. MeTV Toons will officially launch on Tuesday,...

Image created by “Shutterstock.AI” When Emile Hirsch starred as the title character in 2008’s Speed Racer, he felt confident that he’d be in a blockbuster movie. After all, with the Wachowskis directing, the beloved kids’ cartoon was going to get a state-of-the-art makeover that combined live action with brand-new CGI effects. So Hirsch was perplexed when the movie was generally panned by critics and shunned by audiences. Over the years, though, people have slowly come around to realizing that the movie was ahead of its time, and it’s now become a cult classic. A big part of that re-evaluation came from the innovative techniques that created Speed Racer’s vibrant, cartoonish look, though Hirsch once told us that was the most challenging part of making the movie in the first place. (Click on the media bar below to hear Emile Hirsch) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads...

1999 was famously a great year for film, and it’s hard to pick what masterpiece from that year stands out as the greatest. Is it Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia”? Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”? Spike Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich”? One could reasonably come up with hundreds of answers (even the teen films that year were pretty great), but it’s hard to deny the most influential film of the year came from Lana and Lilly Wachowski.

On March 24, 1999, the Wachowskis invited America into “The Matrix:” a speculative science fiction world where the reality as we know it is all a lie. In the martial arts sci-fi saga, computer programmer and hacker Neo discovers that the peaceful world he lives in — a world that heavily resembles 1999 North America — is a simulation created by self-aware machines that went to war with their makers and won, trapping all of...

If there’s ever a movie from the late 2000s deserving of its reevaluation, might we thrust Speed Racer to the front? A dizzying piece of pop that zooms like an acid trip through the world of racing and anime, the movie just did not connect with audiences…outside of those actively under a certain kind of influence, at least. To say it went under the radar – taking in $44 million domestically on a $120 million budget – would be an understatement, but it has gained a lot traction in the 15+ years since its release, taking on a cult status that was sort of always there underneath the rubble.

Speed Racer star Emile Hirsch is well aware of the movie’s modern reception, although it does remind him of its flop at the box office. “When it came out, it was unanimously dogged…I remember we were all like, ‘Man, this movie is so good.

This article contains spoilers for the ending of Lost.

Hiroyuki Sanada, star and producer of FX’s excellent miniseries Shōgun, is one of the most successful Japanese actors working in Hollywood today. English-speaking audiences have to come to know and appreciate the Tokyo-born performer through his roles in films such as The Last Samurai, Speed Racer, The Wolverine, Army of the Dead, and John Wick: Chapter 4.

TV nerds (including yours truly) had an entirely different introduction to Hiroyuki Sanada, however. For us, Sanada’s Western pop culture career begins with the final season of classic ABC drama Lost.

Despite what you may have heard about its ending Lost is one of the best genre series to ever grace network television. It also, admittedly, wasn’t perfect. And its simultaneously ingenious and infuriating use of Sanada in its sixth and final season is a perfect microcosm of the show overall.

Sanada...

Episode 3 of Crunchyroll Presents: The Anime Effect is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else you listen to your podcasts! If you're waiting to watch the video episode, it'll be live on Crunchyroll and YouTube at 7 p.m. Et. Listen or Watch on: Episode 3 Summary Nick, LeAlec, and Leah welcome Polygon’s Eic and co-host of The Besties podcast Chris Plante to dissect findings from “The Anime Opportunity." First, they discuss the new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth game , Pokémon Day reveals and which side of Missouri is the “right” side? All that and more, only on The Anime Effect . Topics Discussed in Episode 2 Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete Tower of God Season 2 One Piece English Dub Solo Leveling documentary True Beauty Viral Hit The End of Evangelion Pokémon Legends Z-a Pokémon Tcg Pocket Polygon's "The Anime Opportunity" Study Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!

Acclaimed Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada has built an impressive $10 million net worth over his prolific decades-long career in Hollywood and Asia. With his latest high-profile role in the TV series Shōgun, Sanada continues demonstrating why he’s one of the most reliable actors working today. But how did the martial artist-turned-thespian accumulate his fortune before this new samurai epic?

What Were Hiroyuki Sanada’s Breakout Hits in Japan and Asia? Hiroyuki Sanada in Mortal Kombat

Hiroyuki Sanada first gained fame in the 1980s by starring in Japanese and Hong Kong martial arts films, including The Ninja Dragon and Shogun’s Shadow. His athleticism and discipline from years of combat training allowed him to perform dangerous stunts that cemented his action-hero status.

This extreme dedication and discipline came from his upbringing. Sanada started training in martial arts when he was very young. He gained a black belt when he was 15 years old.

Lilly Wachowski is bound to direct “Trash Mountain,” a queer comedy-drama starring rising comedian and actor Caleb Hearon. The film follows a young gay man living in Chicago who returns to his hometown in Missouri following the death of his hoarder father.

Along with starring in the feature, Hearon also co-wrote the script with Ruby Caster. Colin Trevorrow, who directed Hearon in “Jurassic World Dominion,” is producing the feature with his banner Metronome Film Co., alongside Eddie Vaisman and Julia Lebedev for Sight Unseen.

“Trash Mountain” will mark the first solo directorial feature effort for Wachowski, who is best known for writing and helming the original “Matrix” trilogy with her sister, Lana Wachowski. The duo’s other projects include the lesbian crime thriller “Bound” and the colorful manga adaptation “Speed Racer.”

In recent years, Lilly has worked in television, as a co-creator of Netflix’s “Sense 8” and as a showrunner,...

The Matrix and Sense8 mastermind Lilly Wachowski is here to take out the trash for her next film, Trash Mountain. The project finds Wachowski teaming up with comedian Caleb Hearon for what Collider says is an emotional comedy about closure through sorting the belongings of a hoarder. Casting for the film is underway, with Colin Trevorrow producing alongside Eddie Vaisman and Julia Lebedev of Sight Unseen.

Caleb Hearon, a rising comedian, wrote the script with Ruby Caster. The comedian also stars in the project, which sounds like part tearjerker and part knee-slapper. According to Collider‘s exclusive report, Trash Mountain “follows a gay Chicago man in his 20s who must return to rural Missouri to deal with the death of his father — an obsessive hoarder who has left a house full of items, some valuable and some not so, to pick through.”

The report indicates that Lilly Wachowski and Colin...

Anime and manga live-action adaptations, especially English-language ones, have a mixed track record. For every "One Piece" and "Speed Racer," which manage to capture the endless imagination of the medium, there are thrice as many "Dragonball Evolution" and "Ghost in the Shell" bad movies that nearly ruin their source material.

One of the best ones is not really based on an anime or manga — though it is quite clear that "Akira" was a huge influence — Josh Trank and Max Landis' "Chronicle." The film is set in Seattle and follows three teens who acquire telekinetic powers. Soon enough, the fun and games turn dark and deadly when one of them begins to lose control and relish in their power. Aside from very direct visual references to Katsuhiro Otomo's iconic (and very influential) anime masterpiece, "Chronicle" manages to capture the quick and chaotic descent into madness and horror that plagues the...

Christian Oliver completed filming on his final movie before he died.The 'Speed Racer' actor and his two daughters - Madita, ten, and Annik, 12 - died in a plane crash in the Caribbean on Thursday (04.01.24), as their plane was flying from J. F. Mitchell Airport in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to St. Lucia, and in a tribute to the German-born star from Nick Lyon, the director shared a photo from the last day of shooting on 'Forever Hold Your Peace', which was taken just two weeks before on 20 December.Sharing a photo of himself and Nick - who also had a producer credit on the thriller - he wrote on Instagram: “This is our 5th film together. @christianoliverofficial and me produced this one, and this is our last day of filming! We talked about producing a film together for years and finally did it!

The wife of actor Christian Oliver has spoken for the first time in the aftermath of the plane crash on Thursday that claimed her husband and two daughters.

A statement “from Jessica Klepser and family” was posted on Wundabar Pilates’ page by Amy Jordan, the company’s owner. Klepser, who was married to Oliver, is the regional manager of the California branch of the pilates studio.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic plane accident on January 4, 2024, which took the lives of our beloved family members. Our daughters, Madita (12), and Annik (10), along with their father Christian, were returning from a holiday in the Caribbean when the single-engine plane they were traveling in experienced engine trouble and fell into the ocean. Unfortunately, all four passengers on the small aircraft did not survive.”

Oliver appeared in films The Baby-Sitters Club, The Good German, Speed Racer and Valkyrie,

The Friday Instagram statement continued.

Hollywood actor Christian Oliver, his two young daughters and the pilot died in a plane crash near a Caribbean island, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force announced.

Oliver, whose real name was Christian Klepser, was 51. His daughters, Madita Klepser and Annik Klepser, were 12 and 10, respectively. Pilot Robert Sachs also died in the crash, reports Variety.

They were the only passengers aboard the plane. The aircraft was a small, one-engine plane owned and piloted by Sachs. It crashed one nautical mile west of Petit Nevis, a small island in the Grenadines, Thursday afternoon.

As per Variety, the plane left from the J.F. Mitchell Airport in Paget Farm, Bequia, an island in the Grenadines, around 12:11 p.m. bound for St. Lucia as its final destination.

“Moments after taking off, the aircraft experienced difficulties and plummeted into the ocean”, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force wrote in a statement.

The German born actor and producer appeared in Hollywood films including Speed Racer and The Good German.

German born actor Christian Oliver, known for Hollywood films including Speed Racer and German series Alarm For Cobra 11, has been killed in a plane crash in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, according to a report from local police.

A Facebook post by the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said 51-year-old Oliver (whose birth name was Christian Klepser), his young daughters Madita Klepser and Annik Klepser, and pilot Robert Sachs were all pronounced dead after their bodies were recovered from the...

The German born actor and producer appeared in Hollywood films including Speed Racer and The Good German.

German born actor Christian Oliver, known for Hollywood films including Speed Racer and German series Alarm For Cobra 11, has been killed in a plane crash in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, according to a report from local police.

A Facebook post by the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said 51-year-old Oliver (whose birth name was Christian Klepser), his young daughters Madita Klepser and Annik Klepser, and pilot Robert Sachs were all pronounced dead after their bodies were recovered from the...

Christian Oliver, a German-born actor who played roles in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Speed Racer, and Hunters, was killed in a plane crash on Thursday (January 4th).

According to a statement released by the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, the actor, identified as Christian Klesper, and his two daughters (aged 10 and 12) were aboard a private plane from Paget Farm, Bequia headed to St. Lucia before crash landing in the Caribbean Sea.

The Rsvgpf shared that the plane took off around noon from Paget Farm and “experienced difficulties and plummeted into the ocean” shortly after takeoff. Oliver, his daughters, and the pilot and owner of the aircraft were initially found by divers and fishermen from Paget Farm, and then handed over to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard. The exact cause of death has yet to be revealed, but it is believed that...

Christian Oliver, best known to TV audiences for playing Brian Keller on NBC’s Saved by the Bell: The New Class, was killed in a plane crash on Thursday. He was 51 years old. Oliver’s two young daughters — 10-year-old Madita and 12-year-old Annik — and a pilot, Robert Sachs, also died in the crash.

The single-jet engine plane hit the water while traveling from St. Lucia from the island of Bequia in the Caribbean. The plane experienced “unexplained issues” shortly after takeoff, and an exact cause of the malfunction has not yet been determined.

More from TVLineStarsky & Hutch's David Soul...

Christian Oliver, a German-born actor known for roles in Speed Racer, Hunters, The Good German and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, is believed to be dead after a private aircraft carrying him and his two daughters crashed into the Caribbean Sea on Thursday.

Four bodies were recovered by the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, including that of the actor — who was identified as Christian Klepser — and his daughters, Madita, 10, and Annik, 12. The 51-year-old actor and his children were found along with authorities believe is the owner and pilot of the aircraft.

“The Rsvgpf expresses condolences to all who are negatively affected by this tragic incident,” the local Pd said in a statement on social media. “The Rsvgpf will update the public as more information is gathered. Investigation into the matter continues.”

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Oliver’s reps for comment.

According to the local authorities,...

Christian Oliver, an actor you’ll recognize from movies such as Speed Racer, The Good German and Valkyrie, has sadly passed away at the age of 51.

The actor and his two young daughters – Madita Klepser, 10, and Annik Klepser, 12 – were involved in a deadly plane accident on Thursday (January 4) in the Caribbean.

Keep reading to find out more…

According to reporting from Deadline, Christian and his daughters were on a single-engine plane headed to St. Lucia at the time of the accident. Robert Sachs, the owner and pilot of the plane, also perished.

An investigation into the accident is still ongoing.

“Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced difficulties and nose-dived into the ocean,” the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said in a press release. “Fishermen and divers from Paget Farm went to the scene of the incident in their boats to render assistance.”

In his final post on...

Actor Christian Oliver, his two young daughters and the pilot died in a plane crash near a Caribbean island on Thursday, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force announced.

Oliver, whose real name was Christian Klepser, was 51. His daughters, Madita Klepser and Annik Klepser, were 12 and 10, respectively. Pilot Robert Sachs also died in the crash. They were the only passengers aboard the plane.

The aircraft was a small, one-engine plane owned and piloted by Sachs. It crashed one nautical mile west of Petit Nevis, a small island in the Grenadines, Thursday afternoon. The plane left from the J.F. Mitchell Airport in Paget Farm, Bequia, an island in the Grenadines, around 12:11 p.m. bound for St. Lucia as its final destination.

“Moments after taking off, the aircraft experienced difficulties and plummeted into the ocean,” the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force wrote in a statement.

Hollywood actor Christian Oliver, known by his real name Christian Klepser, and his two young daughters have been found dead following the recovery of four bodies from a plane crash off a Caribbean island on January 4, according to NBC News. The 51-year-old actor, recognized for roles in films like Speed Racer and Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, as well as TV shows such as Hunters and Sense8, was on board a small plane that encountered difficulties and landed in the ocean, according to the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force. The deceased include his daughters, 10-year-old Madita Klepser and 12-year-old Annik Klepser, along with the plane’s pilot and owner, Robert Sachs, according to the police. The incident occurred shortly after the single-engine plane took off from Becquia, a small island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines that’s popular with tourists. The plane was en...

Christian Oliver (real name Christian Klepser), who starred in films including Speed Racer and Valkyrie among others, was killed Thursday along with his two young daughters when their small plane crashed into the sea off a Caribbean island. The owner and pilot of the plane, identified as Robert Sachs, also died in the crash. Oliver was 51.

According to authorities, the single-engine plane took off Thursday afternoon from J.F. Mitchell Airport in Bequia, a tiny island and part of the Caribbean nations of St. Vincent and Grenadines and was headed to nearby St Lucia when it crashed.

Among the dead were Oliver’s daughters, Madita Klepser, 12, and Annik Klepser, 10.

“Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced difficulties and nose-dived into the ocean,” the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said in a statement provided to media outlets. “Fishermen and divers from Paget Farm went to the scene of the...

Supervising sound editor and designer Dane A. Davis — who won an Oscar for 1999’s The Matrix — will receive Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Career Achievement Award during the org’s 71st annual Golden Reel Awards, which will be held March 3 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.

“With his work on The Matrix, Dane Davis set a new standard for how to use sound to create worlds, add impact to stories, and arouse the emotions of the audience,” said Mpse president Mark Lanza. “Since then, he has continued to innovate across features, animation, television, and other mediums. We are excited to recognize his unique accomplishments with our annual Career Achievement Award.”

Davis has been a sound editor and designer for four decades. His roughly 180 film, TV and game credits include the Wachowski sisters’ Matrix series, as well as Speed Racer, Sense8, Bound, and Jupiter Ascending. Additional credits include Allen v Farrow,...