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Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell is an anime classic and one that caters to both anime enthusiasts and cinema lovers. Whether it’s the visual appeal or excelling as a pioneer of cyberpunk, the movie passes the test of time with flying colors. At the center of everything great about Ghost in the Shell, there’s Motoko Kusanagi.

Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell | Credits: Studio Production I.G.

The voice actor who brought a great character like Motoko to life was Atsuko Tanaka. Motoko embodies perfection while being leagues ahead of the stereotypical representation of female anime characters. Even though she doesn’t have any flaws outright, her character is full of depth and she exhibits many admirable qualities.

For those who are familiar with the movie, it’s hard to not like her as a character. And that wouldn’t have been possible if it...

Even before knowing the difference between what’s categorized as animation and what’s considered anime, I was watching anime movies and shows like Pokemon, Digimon, Beyblade, and Dragon Ball on Cartoon Network. Thanks to Animax, my mind was exposed to Captain Tsubasa, Cardcaptor Sakura, Detective School Q, Inuyasha, and Yu-Gi-Oh! As much as I’d like to claim that I grew up with the works of Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, Katsuhiro Otomo, Mamoru Oshii, and Hideaki Anno, that’s not the case at all, as I came around to their masterpieces later in my life. In addition to that, I’m aware of all the popular stuff like One Punch Man, Death Note, One Piece, Attack on Titan, etc. So, I guess I can say that I am pretty familiar with the medium and the genres that exist within its boundaries. And yet, when I saw Kenji Nakamura’s Mononoke,...

Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 animated film Ghost in the Shell, a visually spectacular and philosophically complex masterwork that set a high standard for the franchise, was originally based on Masamune Shirow’s 1989 manga. Upon the announcement of Hollywood’s Live-Action Adaptation of Ghost in the Shell series, fans were buzzing with high hopes. However, the anticipation soon turned into dust after the cast was revealed.

Ghost in the Shell (1995) | Credit: Production I.G

Particularly, the casting choice of Scarlett Johansson as Mira Killian, the protagonist originally depicted as Major Motoko Kusanagi, received major backlash due to the whitewashing accusation. However, despite the storm of backlashes, Scarlett Johansson found unexpected support from none other than the Ghost in the Shell creator Masamune Shirow himself, who praised her portrayal and clarified that there’s no requirement for an Asian actress for this role.

Masamune Shirow’s Surprising Defense of Scarlett Johansson

While Scarlett...

The 2017 live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell sparked a huge controversy long before the film even hit theatres. At the crux of the debate was the casting of a white actress, the famous Scarlett Johansson, in the role of the central character, who in the original Japanese manga and anime, was a cybernetic human made in Japan named Motoko Kusanagi. Fans were outraged that the experience of portraying a Japan-based story was handed to a typically Western actress rather than diversifying and choosing a Japanese-born actress.

Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell. [Credit: Paramount Pictures]

While the original director of Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii, defended her casting, Johansson’s own words back in 2015 have resurfaced and added fuel to the fire of the debate. In a world where the audience demands more diversity, Johansson claimed to be an ally and did not wish...

Discotek Media announced a new slate of licenses at their Discotek Media Industry Extravaganza panel at Otakon 2024 today, including new releases of MxC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (the recut series of Takeshi's Castle which aired on Tnn/Spike TV), Gto: Great Teacher Onizuka , the live-action Ouran High School Host Club movie and more. Announcements made during the panel and stream are in alphabetical order. Android Kikaider : 43-episode Blu-ray release of the tokusatsu series in Japanese with English subtitles. Extras include a Daisuke Ban interview, vintage Hawaii stage event and retrospective video. Scheduled to release in 2024. Captain Harlock: Space Pirate : 42 episode Blu-ray release in upscaled 1080p of Leiji Matsumoto's classic series in Japanese with English subtitles. Scheduled to release in September 2024. Chie the Brat 2nd TV Series : First US release of the second Chie the Brat TV series, featuring all 39 episodes on Sd-bd in Japanese with English subtitles.

Animator Toshiyuki Inoue recently shared insights into the unique production process and director Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s dedication behind Look Back anime film during a stage greeting held on July 5, 2024.

Inoue explained that Look Back‘s animation process was not done in the typical manner where rough sketches by key animators are cleaned up by in-between animators.

“Key animation involves drawing the main points of movement, and in-between animation fills in the gaps. Usually, the lines drawn by key animators are rough and cleaned up by in-between animators. Normally, key animator lines don’t appear on screen as is,” Inoue said.

However, Look Back preserved these rough sketches by directly coloring and reflecting them on the screen. This approach maintained the hand-drawn feel, contributing to the film’s distinctive visual experience.

Highlighting the dedication of director Oshiyama, Inoue noted that in the last week of May, Oshiyama drew 1,000 frames.

He noted...

Tomorrow, the 23rd Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival starts, bringing nine days of horror, fantasy and science fiction films from all over the world to a beautiful Swiss location. This year, the poster and trailer point to a general theme of a sudden switch, a plot twist which puts an audience on the wrong footing. The focus of its main retrospective programme, called "Eat the Rich" this year, is on the portrayal of elite classes in film. Titles shown here will be ranging from classics like Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel and Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell anime to cult films like Brian Yuzna's Society. A second retrospective, called "Forever Young", will focus on aging and will show films like Ron Howard's Cocoon. And adjacent...

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

Scarlett Johansson ranks among one of the highest-grossing actors in Hollywood, thanks to her performance as Black Widow in the Avengers films and the wider MCU. Despite achieving critical and commercial success, her casting in the 2017 sci-fi film Ghost in the Shell, which sparked a controversy over whitewashing, remains one of the lowest points in Johansson’s career.

Avengers star Scarlett Johansson was criticized for Ghost in the Shell role (Credit: Marvel Studios).

However, long before Johansson’s whitewashing controversy, another Avengers star found himself in a similar situation. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch appeared in 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness but was also embroiled in a whitewashing controversy. He was cast to play the role of iconic villain Khan Noonien Singh and here is how Cumberbatch emerged from the gig.

Avengers Star Benedict Cumberbatch Was Cast as a Whitewashed Character in Star Trek

Benedict Cumberbatch is known for essaying iconic characters...

Angel’s Egg 4K Remaster Is Coming to Cinemas in North America - Main Image

Gkids continues to bring more classic anime to the big screen. Aside from its recent Studio Ghibli Fest, Gkids announced that it will bring the Angel’s Egg 4K remaster to North American cinemas.

This anime film was released back in December 1985, though it has not gotten a major release in North America. That’s not too surprising given that Angel’s Egg is more of an art film that may not appeal to mainstream audiences.

Gkids Is Bringing Mamoru Oshii’s Angel’s Egg Remaster to North America

Angel’s Egg is directed by Mamoru Oshii, one of the most acclaimed anime directors of all time. Oshii is best known for directing the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie, along with Patlabor 2: The Movie and the original Urusei Yatsura.

The film was also made in collaboration with Yoshitaka Amano,...

Angel's Egg , a 1985 Ova written and directed by Mamoru Oshii and featuring character designs by Yoshitaka Amano, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025. Following the news earlier in May of a 4K restoration release in Japan, Gkids announced today the company will screen the film in North American theaters with the same 4K restoration. Further details about the Gkids release were not announced at the time of reporting. Related: Mamoru Oshii's Classic Oav Angel's Egg to Get 4K Remaster Edition Gkids also confirmed the acquisition of their North American rights includes a physical media release. The anime short was Oshii's first original Ova and collaboration with Amano. Tokuma Shoten originally released the anime in Japan on December 15, 1985. In addition to co-working on the original concept with Oshii, Amano was also in charge of art direction, including character design, image boards, art settings and color settings. Angel's Egg features animation production by Studio Deen.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is celebrating its 20th anniversary with theatrical screenings by New York-based film distributors Gkids for three nights only: June 23, 24 and 26. Ticket for the screenings are now available for pre-order from the official Gkids website . Based on the original manga by Shirow Masamune, Mamoru Oshii writes and directs Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence at animation studio Production I.G. Hiroyuki Okiura provides the character designs and Kenji Kawai provides the music. The screenings for the film feature a new 4K restoration. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence movie poster Related: Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Anime Film Returns to North American Cinemas with 4K Restoration Gkids describes Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence : In the year 2032, the line between humans and machines has been blurred almost beyond distinction. A string of murders perpetrated by a prototype android model has drawn the attention...

"Why are humans so obsessed with recreating themselves?" GKids Films has revealed a new official trailer for the 4K re-release of the sci-fi anime classic Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, a highly regarded sequel to the seminal anime Ghost in the Shell (1995). This is one of the only animated movies to ever premiere in the Main Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, screening there in 2004 after first opening in Japan. In the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot – created solely for sexual pleasure – who slaughtered her owner. Acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii pushes further into the world and concepts first developed in his groundbreaking Gits. With its thought-provoking speculations on artificial intelligence, which have only become more relevant in our present world, Innocence celebrates its 20th anniversary returning to cinemas in a lustrous 4K restoration. With the voices of Akio Ōtsuka,...

It’s opportune timing for a 4K restoration of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, the only anime feature to debut in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The 20 years since that premiere have been kind to Mamoru Oshii’s film, which has moved past such distinctions to endure as a landmark in both animation and sci-fi. GKids will rerelease Ghost nationwide on June 23, 24, and 26; ahead of this there’s a new trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: “In the year 2032, the line between humans and machines has been blurred almost beyond distinction. A string of murders perpetrated by a prototype android model has drawn the attention of Public Security Section 9, a unit specializing in counter cyber-terrorism. With none of the victims’ families pressing charges, suspicions arise regarding the nature of the androids and their production company. In the course of the investigation, the almost entirely cyber-bodied agent Batou, and his...

Kinoko Inu , a manga by Kimama Aoboshi about a strange dog / mushroom creature, is being adapted into a TV anime that will broadcast in Japan beginning in the fall season of 2024. A teaser visual, a commemorative illustration by Aoboshi, and a teaser video (below) have been released for the series. Additional details about the series – such as the staff, the cast, and exact release schedule – have not yet been revealed. Kinoko Inu teaser visual Commemorative illustration by manga author Kimama Aoboshi Related: Mamoru Oshii's Classic Oav Angel's Egg to Get 4K Remaster Edition The original Kinoko Inu manga was serialized from 2010 – 2022 in Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Ryu seinen manga magazine, and the series was also published in 15 collected volumes in Japan. Described as a “heartwarming comedy”, the story follows Hotaru Yuuyami, a picture book writer who is brokenhearted after the loss of his beloved family dog, Hanako, until he...

Exclusive: Animation-focused sales company Gebeka International has acquired world sales rights to an upcoming 4K remastered version of Japanese animation director Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 animated feature Angel’s Egg.

Oshii is best known internationally for 1995 breakout Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which world premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2004, and the Patlabor sci-fi franchise.

Angel’s Egg was first released on video by Japanese publishing and media company Tokuma Shoten in 1985, and, with time, it has come to be regarded by anime fans as a masterpiece that holds keys to Oshii’s later works.

The surreal, allegorical work is set against the backdrop of an underwater city and revolves around a young girl who takes scrupulous care of a large egg in the belief it is an angel’s egg. When a boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in a dream,...

Classic Fantasy Film Angel's Egg to Get 4K Remastered Version - Main Image

The classic fantasy anime film Angel’s Egg is going to be released in a 4K remastered version to commemorate its upcoming 40th anniversary.

The new film will still be written and directed by Mamoru Oshii, the mind behind the 1985 Ova.

What Is Angel’s Egg About?

Angel’s Egg is set in a seemingly tranquil era, and it follows two nameless wanderers who are just called man and girl. The young girl holds an egg in the depths of a submerged city.

She is convinced that it is the egg of an angel. Later, she meets a man with a massive gun who tells her that he is looking for a bird he saw in his dream.

One fateful night, the man inadvertently breaks the girl’s cherished egg. But he not only breaks the egg...

A 4K remastered edition of the classic Ova Angel's Egg , written and directed by Mamoru Oshii ( Ghost in The Shell ), will be produced to commemorate its 40th anniversary in 2025. As Oshii's first original Ova work and collaboration work with internationally acclaimed illustrator Yoshitaka Amano, Angel's Egg was released from Tokuma Shoten in Japan on December 15, 1985. In addition to co-working on the original concept with Oshii, Amano was also in charge of art direction, including character design, image boards, art settings, and color settings. The 71-minute Ova was an avant-garde and fantastical work based on the Noah's Ark episode from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, with only two characters — Boy (CV: Jinpachi Nezu) and Girl (Mako Hyodo). The story is about a young girl who holds an egg in her arms in a submerged city. She believes that it is the egg of an angel. One day, she...

Fears of a future where artificial intelligence overpowers flesh-and-blood humans have always been a paramount tenet of sci-fi storytelling. And when these sentient robots closely resemble human behavior and exterior appearance (as in “Blade Runner” or “AI Artificial Intelligence”), then the conundrum of whether they should be granted human dignity rather than being seen as disposable presents itself. But the closer that such a hypothetical reality feels to our present — with generative AI threatening artistic creation, for example — the less likely it seems we will ever feel compassion for these entities.

French director Jérémie Périn’s cyberpunk mystery “Mars Express” manages to further complicate our sentiments with its dense yet satisfying world-building. A gripping, heady and refreshing 2D animated take on the perils of man and machine coexisting, Périn’s first feature as a director inserts the necessary exposition in a mostly natural manner so we incrementally become aware of how this reality functions.

Like so many cyberpunk movies before it, Jérémie Périn’s ultra-cool and dazzlingly animated “Mars Express” is sustained by the vertigo between the boundlessness of computer technology and the banality of what people do with it. What separates this accomplished French “Ghost in the Shell” homage from its most obvious touchstone — and from several other detective stories in which a police team of people and androids investigate what it means to be human — is the film’s determination to dismantle that dynamic.

Much less nakedly philosophical than anything Mamoru Oshii has ever made, “Mars Express” is nevertheless fascinated by the future that artificial intelligence might choose for itself if it were unshackled from the limits of our mortal imaginations (and from the anxieties that come along with them). Périn is humble enough to only half-guess at an answer, but his steadfast conviction that humans and robots could mutually inhibit the...

Gkids has acquires North American rights to Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence and will release a new 4K restoration this summer.

First released in 2004, Oshii’s cyberpunk mystery centred on the character Batou from his 1995 classic Ghost In The Shell and is imagined as a stand-alone return to the world established in the original.

It is now the year 2032 and the line between humans and machines has become blurred as cyber-bodied agent Batou and his human partner Togusa investigate a string of murders committed by a prototype android model.

Prior to the film’s nationwide release,...

Originally released in 2004, director Mamoru Oshii's followup to the groundbreaking Ghost in the Shell anime film adaptation is getting ready to return to cinemas in North America. Gkids announced the acquisition of theatrical distribution rights for Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence , which it plans to release nationwide in celebration of the film's 20th anniversary this summer. Ahead of that, Gkids will premiere the all-new 4K restoration of Innocence at the Chicago Critics Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre this May. Related: Interview: Mamoru Oshii on Why Humans Keep Telling Stories to Each Other Synopsis: iIn the year 2032, the line between humans and machines has been blurred almost beyond distinction. A string of murders perpetrated by a prototype android model has drawn the attention of Public Security Section 9, a unit specializing in counter cyber-terrorism. With none of the victims’ families pressing charges, suspicions arise regarding the nature of...

Originally released in 2004, director Mamoru Oshii's followup to the groundbreaking Ghost in the Shell anime film adaptation is getting ready to return to cinemas in North America. Gkids announced the acquisition of theatrical distribution rights for Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence , which it plans to release nationwide in celebration of the film's 20th anniversary this summer. Ahead of that, Gkids will premiere the all-new 4K restoration of Innocence at the Chicago Critics Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre this May. Related: Interview: Mamoru Oshii on Why Humans Keep Telling Stories to Each Other Synopsis: iIn the year 2032, the line between humans and machines has been blurred almost beyond distinction. A string of murders perpetrated by a prototype android model has drawn the attention of Public Security Section 9, a unit specializing in counter cyber-terrorism. With none of the victims’ families pressing charges, suspicions arise regarding the nature of...

Kazuchika Kise is one of the best-known and acclaimed anime character designers in history. Best known for his work on the Ghost in the Shell series, he has also worked on the xxxHolic and Blood series, and is currently the principal character designer for the popular fantasy series Made in Abyss.

Recently, the acclaimed designer gave an interview for the official Ghost in the Shell website, in which he talked about his projects, about the struggles of character designers in the modern anime market, as well as his opinions on the current state of the anime market. We are bringing you the best pieces of the interview here on Anime Horizon. You can check out the full three-part interview here.

The first part of the interview discussed Ghost in the Shell and Kise’s own preferences. Here, he revealed that drawing Ghost in the Shell was quite challenging and that...

The official website for the two-part Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction anime film, based on Inio Asano's manga of the same name, announced five new voice cast members who will join its upcoming second part as follows: Ojiro-senpai voiced by Chiharu Sawashiro (Banri Settsu in A3! ) Hikari Sumaru voiced by Saori Onishi (Miyako Shikimori in Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie ) Takarada voiced by Kenichiro Matsuda (Bond Forger in Spy x Family ) Taro Miura voiced by Kengo Kawanishi (Mikazuki Augus in Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans ) Ogino voiced by Masafumi Kobatake (Senya in Bucchigiri?! ) Additionally, veteran actor Naoto Takenaka will make a supporting appearance as the "chairman" of the invaders. Among anime fans, he is well-known for his voice appearances in Mamoru Oshii films, such as Shigeki Arakawa in Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993), Kimu in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), and Master in The Sky Crawlers (2008). Takenaka is...

Mermaid fairy tales have enjoyed lasting popularity since Andersen's “The Little Sea Maid” and La Motte-Fouqué's “Undine”. Recent (unequal) reboots can further attest to this enduring appeal. Nothing surprising when considering the universality of these legendary creatures across civilizations and times. As for Japanese folklore, the Ningyo has gained a significant prominence not long ago through Miyazaki's “Ponyo” (2008). Just a decade later, the director of the celebrated “Mind Game” (2004), Masaaki Yuasa, developed his own rendition, this time in the form of a coming-of-age narrative.

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

Kai Ashimoto, a taciturn and disillusioned middle school student, is raised in a small coastal town by a single father in the handcrafted umbrella shop of his grandfather, a retired fisherman. After being exposed for posting music demos online, he agrees to join his classmates, the wannabe Yuho and the carefree Kunio, in a rock band named Seiren,...

The late Satoshi Kon was amongst the most prominent Japanese animators, with his works transcending the world of anime and manga, thus creating a modern division of the genre, which chiefly addressed a more mature audience. However, he did not accomplish that via sex and violence, but through the profundity of his themes and a complex style of presentation. The former becomes evident in his nightmarish worlds of terror that are based on concepts like fixation, publicity and the perspective of reality and personal identity, while the latter is clear through the mixture of fantasy and reality in the surrealistic environments of his movies. Additionally, he was equally elaborative as a designer and animator; hence, his works amount to masterpieces, both visually and in content.

Satoshi Kon was born on October 12, 1963 in Kushiro, Hokkaido. Early on, he became a fan of anime and manga, chiefly “Mobile Suit Gundam” and “Space Battleship Yamato...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

In all honesty, the films of 2023 should take a backseat to the images we are seeing every day in Gaza, where journalists and average citizens have been recording and documenting a daily assault on their homes and livelihoods by the Idf. Whatever fakery we watched and enjoyed in the cinema this year should always be kept in perspective in importance with images that are real and actually happening right now. The Palestinians who have documented these important images have been targeted and killed with intent and purpose to silence what their photos and videos are showing and saying.

List of journalists who have been killed.

The below is of lesser note:

Best First Watches:

Angel’s Egg La belle noiseuse Centipede Horror Charley Varrick Coffy Crimson Gold...

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.

Anatomy of a Fall (Justin Triet)

The ensuing days after a romantic breakup, even if it isn’t a cataclysmic one, are an uncanny time. Perhaps once the spell of verbal conflict and sparring’s ceased, suddenly your sole companion for the most intimate thoughts is yourself once again, but it’s an opportune moment for contemplation: how did it really go wrong? Or, can I be honest with myself and acknowledge my own partial responsibility for its demise? For Sandra (Sandra Hüller) and Samuel (Samuel Theis), the key onscreen and offscreen players in Anatomy of a Fall, are enduring this quagmire, although their inevitable breakup was enforced––the latter has just tragically died. – David K. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD...

It seems that the commercial value of Asian films, both of the past (for the most part) and of the current ones, is having an impact also on physical media, with a number of established and newer companies releasing even more movies from the region in 2023. At the same time, the competition seems to up the quality of releases which keep getting better and better, to the joy of collectors, a number of which are definitely among the writers of Asian Movie Pulse.

Without further ado, we list here 30 Best Asian DVD and Blu-ray releases of 2023, in no particular order.

1. The Katsuhito Ishii Collection (Third Window Films)

Over the course of his career Japanese auteur Katsuhito Ishii has gained not only popularity among the festival crowd but a loyal group of fans, which all the more understandable when watching his works, that are now gathered in one comprehensive boxset thanks to Third Window.

Game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the hugely popular “Death Stranding,” had two pieces of news coming out of the Game Awards 2023.

On Thursday evening at the Game Awards show in L.A., Kojima appeared on stage with filmmaker Jordan Peele to announce his next game project: “Od,” which Kojima describes as an “immersive and totally new style of game” that will explore “what it means to Od on fear.” It’s being produced in partnership with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios.

In addition, Kojima announced that his documentary film “Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds” — which follows his journey to form an independent games studio and his creative process behind “Death Stranding” — will be distributed worldwide in the spring of 2024 exclusively on Disney+.

Peele, the acclaimed director of “Get Out,” “Us” and “Nope,” will be “one of several talented storytellers” involved in the “Od” project, according to Kojima Productions. “We are...

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.

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (Rob Reiner)

One of the most brilliant comedic minds to ever live finally gets his due in Rob Reiner’s loving documentary. Framed around a conversation between the two, Brooks dives into all of his creative output while still proving he’s as witty as ever––and indeed, if you’ve never seen some of his early late-night bits, you’ll be howling along. And since you’ll be looking for more from Brooks to watch after watching, Lost in America and Defending Your Life are on Max, Modern Romance is on Tubi, and Real Life is on Kanopy.

Where to Stream: Max

Before, Now & Then (Kamila Andini)

In Before, Now & Then the social...

Originally announced back in 2021, the all-new “Terminator: The Anime Series” is coming soon to Netflix, and a first-look teaser was debuted out of “Geeked Week” this afternoon.

Check it out below and read on for everything you need to know.

The anime hails from Japanese animation studio Production Ig (Ghost in the Shell). The eight-episode series is part of the Terminator universe but will center around new characters.

Here’s the official synopsis…

“2022: A future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines. 1997: The AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity. Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity.

The 1995 'neo-noir cyberpunk' animated feature "Ghost in the Shell", directed by Mamoru Oshii, based on manga comics by Masamune Shirow, starring Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ōtsuka, and Iemasa Kayumi, will be re-released November 8, 2023 in theaters:

".... with a narrative incorporating philosophical themes focusing on self-identity in the year 2029, 'cyborg' federal agent 'Maj. Motoko Kusanagi' ...

"... hunts 'The Puppet Master', who illegally hacks into the computerized minds of cyborg-human hybrids.

"Her pursuit of a man who can modify the identity of strangers leaves Motoko pondering her own makeup...

"... and what life might be like if she had more human traits.

"With her partner, she corners the hacker...

"... but her curiosity about her own identity...

"... sends the case in an unforeseen direction..."

Click the images to enlarge...

The Creator is a sci-drama film directed by Gareth Edwards, who co-wrote the film with Chris Weitz. Set in a dystopian future where a war between the humans and the artificial intelligence rages on, Joshua an ex-special forces agent is recruited to capture and kill the Creator, who is known as the architect of advanced AI. The Creator stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Allison Janney, and Madeleine Yuna Voyles. So, if you loved the original sci-fi film here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Space Sweeper (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Synopsis: Set in 2092, spaceship Victory is one of the many that live off salvaging space debris. Crewed with a genius space pilot Tae-ho(Song Joong-ki), a mysterious ex-space pirate Captain Jang(Kim Tae-ri), an spaceship engineer Tiger Park(Jin Sun-kyu), and a reprogrammed military robot Bubs(Yoo Hai-jin), Spaceship Victory surpasses all other space sweepers. After...

If you need an example of a movie that doesn’t earn the portentous use of chapter titles and an “Everything In Its Right Place” needle-drop, look no further than The Creator. The new film from visual effects indie wunderkind-turned-ip peddler Gareth Edwards––the seven-year gap between this and the film you definitely forgot was the most successful grosser of 2016 pointing to confirmation of him not being that movie’s chief author––is an admirable pursuit of big-budget, original sci-fi, a film I kind of wanted to like. The sight of James Cameron/Mamoru Oshii-mechsuits stirred some warm feelings, yet the problem is the intrusion of sentimentality, something beyond Edwards’ talents to pull off.

In the 2060s, the advance of artificial intelligence is at a place where Western robots are subservient little Chappies running around; in the East, humans and machines have essentially merged. Though in a “whoops my bad,...

Iconic Events Releasing, a company specializing in distributing special engagement theatrical events to theatres, brings the action and bold visual storytelling of anime to the big screen as it announces a slate of upcoming nationwide theatrical events for the latest installment of Ax Cinema Nights.

A different acclaimed anime feature will be screened at over 300 theatre locations across the country beginning in September and continuing through February 2024.

Celebrated films will include a Satoshi Kon Film Festival that will screen 3 of the legendary Director's most renowned anime feature films – Perfect Blue 25th Anniversary, Tokyo Godfathers 20th Anniversary, and Paprika, as well as special presentations of Ghost In The Shell and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. Both subtitled and dubbed screenings are scheduled.

Ax Cinema Nights is a year-round movie event series celebrating the best new and classic anime films by bringing them to theaters across North America. It provides the passionate fan...

In many respects, the ‘80s are highlighted as a boom period for anime, something perhaps unwittingly foretold by Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino in his famous “Anime New Century Declaration” — a promo event for the “Ms Gundam” compilation movie “Mobile Suit Gundam 1” that unexpectedly drew a crowd numbering in the thousands. The event was emblematic of that coming explosion — anime production reaching newfound scale, finding larger audiences in turn, and maturing as both a medium and an industry. It would be a decade that saw more confident spending, bigger original productions, and a much deeper roster as new creators.

In a retrospective piece about the moment, “Anime: A History” author Jonathan Clements wrote that while Tomino would become a figurehead, his “new world order” would belong to the next generation. It would be a dynamic new age defined by works like the famous Daicon III & IV Opening Animations, made...

Alternate history is one of science fiction’s biggest niches, at least on the bookshelves. There’s some big winners out there, like when historian and author Harry Turtledove took us on a trip through a Civil War where mercenaries funneled modern weapons to the Confederates in The Guns of the South. Meanwhile David Drake has a joyful obsession with introducing Roman centurions to aliens everywhere from Birds of Prey to Ranks of Bronze. It’s a ton of fun to splash through a world of what could have been.

Movies dip their toes into the genre to a far lesser extent, frequently sticking with takes on a post-wwii era where the Axis forces take control. There’s some fantastic movies in that niche, although they’re not often happy rides. But there are some great, zany takes on mixed-up history that a film fan can miss if they’re not looking.

I honestly never expected Steven Spielberg in a Criterion Channel series––certainly not one that pairs him with Kogonada, anime, and Johnny Mnemonic––but so’s the power of artificial intelligence. Perhaps his greatest film (at this point I don’t need to tell you the title) plays with After Yang, Ghost in the Shell, and pre-Matrix Keanu in July’s aptly titled “AI” boasting also Spike Jonze’s Her, Carpenter’s Dark Star, and Computer Chess. Much more analog is a British Noir collection obviously carrying the likes of Odd Man Out, Night and the City, and The Small Back Room, further filled by Joseph Losey’s Time Without Pity and Basil Dearden’s It Always Rains on Sunday. (No two ways about it: these movies have great titles.) An Elvis retrospective brings six features, and the consensus best (Don Siegel’s Flaming Star) comes September 1.

While Isabella Rossellini...

Playing in competition in Annecy after premiering in Cannes, Jérémie Périn’s sci-fi thriller “Mars Express” offers an uncommon spin on modern anxieties — particularly when it comes to AI.

“We so often imagine that if robots became sentient, they’ll kill us,” Périn tells Variety. “Or we see many sci-fi films where robots want to become human. In short, humans are always the point of reference – so mysterious and strange and interesting, such an amazing species. We’re a bit pretentious, and I didn’t want to play on that.”

Written by Périn and Laurent Sarfati, “Mars Express” serves a heady pop-culture cocktail, mixing hard-boiled fiction with science-fantasy comix, riffing on Philip Marlow and Philip K. Dick (with winks to “Watchmen” and “Robocop” and oh so many more) with a mystery yarn that places humans and cyborgs on equal footing.

“The film says robots and human are different, so we have to accept those differences.

So it’s come to this: Spider-Man 10, technically. The future prophesied by many Hollywood alarmists, but now with more madness in the multi-verse (I cringe every time I hear it). Our prologue sees a super-powered Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) battling the iconic comic villain The Vulture, only to be interrupted by new variants like Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and his pregnant wife Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) emerging from another universe to assist her. Come there be something a little nefarious with them?

We then catch up with the hero of the first film, Miles Morales, deep in the midst of anxiety about his secret identity being revealed to his parents. On top of this, when trailed by his own physics-bending villain The Spot (Jason Schwartzman)––who claims to have had a hand in Miles getting his powers––another complication arises as Gwen and Miles cross paths, again, across dimensions. These early...

Blu-ray distributor Plaion, previously known in Germany as Koch Media, has been responsible for some Special Editions which were absolute jawdroppers. Their release of Richard Stanley's The Color Out of Space was a highpoint for me in 2020, and last year's super special edition of David Lynch' 1984 take on Dune similarly trumped everything else for me. Unrelated, I'm known as a nutcase with regards to Mamoru Oshii's 1995 anime Ghost in the Shell, copies of which are scattered through my house in five different types of media. I listed them here a long time ago but that article is already hugely outdated. So guess what the Plaion people decided to release as their next super special editions? Oh brother... it was Ghost in the...

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Our friends at Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival are busy preparing for this year's 22nd edition of their Swiss-based genre film festival. As the programming comes together the festival has unveiled this year's poster. It is a slick and shiny work that conjurs up memories of the contemporary rendition of Westworld or Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell.    More about the poster and its creation follows in the official announcement.        Poster Nifff 2023 The Birth Of An Entity   The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (Nifff) is happy to unveil the visual of its 22nd edition, which will take place from June 30th to July 8th, 2023. For the third year in a row, our visual identity is the result of a...

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Mamoru Oshii was jury president of the new prestigious animation event.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman has scooped the grand prize at the inaugural edition of Niigata International Animation Film Festival (Niaff), which ran in the Japanese port city of Niigata from March 17-23.

The animated feature is the directorial debut of US-born French composer Pierre Földes, who also wrote the screenplay and score, and is based on a collection of short stories by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. It ollows the lives of multiple characters as they navigate existence after the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

Sold by The Match Factory, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman...

Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including an epic six-film series dedicated to the brand new restorations of the films of Nina Menkes. The slate also includes a Brian De Palma double bill with Obsession and Body Double as well as Paul Schrader’s Hardcore.

Additional highlights include the Andrea Riseborough-led Please Baby Please, three films by Eugene Kotlyarenko, a Ghost in the Shell double bill, and, ahead of their release of Passages later this year, Ira Sach’s Little Men.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

March 1 – Glass Life, directed by Sara Cwynar | Brief Encounters

March 2 – The Great Sadness of Zohara, directed by Nina Menkes | Phantom Cinema: The Films of Nina Menkes

March 3 – Please Baby Please, directed by Amanda Kramer | Mubi Spotlight

March 4 – Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader

March 5 – Kedi, directed by Ceyda Torun

March 6 – Magdalena Viraga, directed by...

It would be an understatement to say I am a fan of Japanese director Mamoru Oshii's work. His 1995 anime adaptation of Ghost in the Shell is my most-owned film (even this article on my incurable double-dipping of that title is outdated already...), and few people in cinema can touch my buttons like he does. That doesn't mean, however, that I can easily recommend him to other people. The man knows how to make commercially viable cinema when pressured to do so, but when left unchecked he creates baffling works of personal art, where he himself seems to be the only intended audience. And so it seems to be with his newest live-action film I Can't Stop Biting You, a loose adaptation of his own...

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Anime isn't a genre. It's a medium, one that's still fighting for mainstream acceptance in the West. Its hold on American audiences is stronger than ever, with Studio Ghibli blockbusters and franchises like "My Hero Academia" earning critical acclaim and global adoration. However, too many people still associate animation with children's viewing. While there are plenty of great anime films that parents can show to their kids, this attitude still leads to confusion. Not only is some anime emphatically not child-safe, but if you dismiss it as kids' stuff, you're missing out on some great movies.

If you've never watched an anime film before, rest assured that it's not all sailor uniforms and jiggly bits, just like how action movies aren't all gravelly-voiced men and sexy ladies. There's something for everyone, although we also confess that you're going to see a lot of Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii here, and for good reasons.

Despite the fact that a number of them are interesting, Mamoru Oshii’s live action works never reached the level of his animated ones. And how could they, since the latter include some of the most iconic anime of all time, with the likes of “Ghost in the Shell”, “Angel’s Egg” and “Patlabor” among others. Now in his 70s, the Japanese filmmaker still insists on coming up with the occasional live-action, with “I Can’t Stop Biting You”, based on his own animated series, “Vlad Love”, being the latest one.

I Can’t Stop Biting You is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam

In Kurusu Private High School, Maki, Niko, Kaoru, and Nami, four girls who are obsessed with blood donation, have started the Blood Donation Club, essentially distancing themselves from the whole of the school environment, with the exception of the school nurse, Ms Chihiro, who is their closest “associate”. One day,...

This post contains spoilers for the ending of "Ghost in the Shell."

At least twice throughout its 82-minute runtime, Mamoru Oshii's 1995 anime film adaptation of "Ghost in the Shell" quotes from a biblical passage. On a boat in the fictional New Port City circa 2029, Major Motoko Kusanagi, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka in Japanese and Mimi Woods in the English dubbing, hears a whisper from her "ghost" and says, "For now, we see through a glass, darkly." This same line is referenced in the title of "A Scanner Darkly," with that book's author, Philip K. Dick, having penned the source material for "Blade Runner," a notable influence on "Ghost in the Shell."

Toward the end of the movie, Kusanagi quotes again from the passage in 1 Corinthians more at length, saying, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.

Spend enough time in anime fandom and you hear a common refrain: "They don't make shows like they used to anymore." Do they? There's plenty of great anime still being made: Fall 2022 alone brought an incredible bumper crop of anime series across multiple genres. Some may prefer the masterpieces of the past, but those masterpieces were exceptional even then. Even so, it is indisputable that certain kinds of anime are simply not made anymore. Original anime series are scarce. Modern shows rarely last beyond 12 or 13 episodes. Robots drawn in traditional 2D animation, outside of specialist studios like Trigger or Sunrise, are rare. Even the newest "Gundam" series, usually the industry standard for 2D giant robot shows, struggled weekly to maintain the standard of its mechanical animation. To find series like the long-running psychological thriller "Monster," or the slice-of-life mystery "Haibane Renmei," you have to go back 20 or 30 years in the medium's history.