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The X-Men are one of the most special parts of the huge Marvel Universe, yet when it comes to on-screen adaptation, they haven’t received much flare. While 20th Century Fox had its attempt at creating an X-Men cinematic universe and did give us some iconic movies and characters like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, it wasn’t as successful or as comic-accurate as fans wanted.

A still from Fox’s X-Men franchise | Credit: X-Men: The Last Stand / 20th Century Fox

Now that the X-Men are finally under Disney, fans expect the MCU to turn them into a new leaf and give them the content they deserve. And fans’ wants might be close to coming true if reports about Kevin Feige’s masterstroke are true.

Kevin Feige’s masterstroke that can redefine the X-Men saga The Russo Brothers | Credit: Image by Gage Skidmore, licensed under Cc-by-sa-3.0via Wikimedia Commons

While under Fox,...

How to Train Your Dragon successfully made the jump from books to film more than a decade ago, spawning a trilogy of beloved animated movies. However, when it was revealed that the first animated film in the franchise was being remade as a live-action entry, many fans were left skeptical about its prospects.

First images from live-action How To Train Your Dragon remake surface (Credit: Paramount Pictures)

According to reports, some images from the live-action adaptation have made their way online. As a result, netizens got their first look at the upcoming remake. Social media has since flooded with reactions to the looks of the fan-favorite pair Hiccup and Toothless in the live-action medium, with haters likely to change their minds after seeking the images.

How to Train Your Dragon Live Action Movie Drops First Images The Black Phone star Mason Thames plays Hiccup in the live-action remake (Credit: Universal Pictures...

Anthony Edwards has always been known for his bold personality and fearless attitude on and off the court, and that was never more apparent than in his comments about Kyrie Irving captured in the new sports docuseries Starting 5. His confidence is contagious, and hes never shy about speaking his mind. After the Minnesota Timberwolves' impressive playoff run, Edwards was riding high, ready to take on any challenge. Fresh off a win against the Denver Nuggets in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, he set his sights on Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks, declaring on national television that guarding Irving in the Western Conference Finals would be fun. However, that bold statement would come back to haunt him.

In Netflixs new series Starting 5, fans get a behind-the-scenes look at Edwards journey through the playoffs. In unseen footage from Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Edwards, known for his energy, appeared visibly exhausted,...

I'm excited to see Netflix's upcoming Devil May Cry animated series, but I wasn't expecting to hear this actor as the one portraying Dante. Created by Adi Shankar, best known for creating the streaming service's Castlevania show, the upcoming Devil May Cry series will present an original story based on the beloved Capcom game series. The trailer for Devil May Cry features plenty of action-packed moments reflective of the games' hack-and-slash, combo-based fights. It also hinted at the original ideas that will be featured throughout the new storyline.

The trailer comes off the heels of Netflix's latest animated success, the critically acclaimed Terminator Zero anime, and a little less than a month before the release of Arcane season 2. With the streaming service putting out many successful animated shows in recent years, Devil May Cry has a lot to live up to. This includes being faithful to the games while...

With over 50+ films, Camera Japan Festival is proud to announce its full and diverse line-up, combining films ranging from de newest and best Japanese arthouse, animation, documentaries, short films and classic cinema.

The 19th edition of the festival will be officially opened at Rotterdam based LantarenVenster on September 26th with a festive screening of Yamashita Nobuhiro‘s Dutch premiere of One Second Ahead, One Second Behind. One day prior, the festival unofficially kicks off at Worm with a very special screening of Alien’s Daydream. From the 3 – 6 October, the festival moves to Amsterdam’s LAB111.

With five international and seven European premieres, the festival consists of a very special and exclusive film programme. Films such as Afterschool Anglers Club, Gifts from the Kitchen, Promised Land, Sin and Evil and Till the Day I Can Laugh About my Blues will have their first screenings outside of Japan, here, at Camera Japan Festival.

Comprising international premieres, short programs, and some of the country’s finest-ever films in new restorations, 2024’s Japan Cuts––running July 10-21 at New York’s Japan Society––has been unveiled. It’s in the festival’s nature that numerous works and directors are lesser-known on American shores, though a cursory search has one regularly stopping: new films by Takeshi Kitano (Kubi), Shunji Iwai (Kyrie), Shinya Tsukamoto (Shadow of Fire), and Gakuryu Ishii (The Box Man) populate the selection. Meanwhile, Hideaki Anno’s modern classic Shin Godzilla debuts in a new, black-and-white cut Shin Godzilla: ORTHOchromatic.

Its classics section is three-for-three: Ishii’s August in the Water, Shinji Somai’s Moving, and Toshiharu Ikeda Mermaid Legend, which is more or less one of the greatest films ever made. One can anticipate at least a couple of Japan Cuts’ current unknowns are tomorrow’s figureheads.

See the full lineup below:...

Following the recipe he implemented for “A Bride for Rip Van Winkle” and “Last Letter”, of shooting movies based on his own novel, Shunji Iwai has come up with “Kyrie”, a 3-hour movie that details the story of its three main characters over the span of 13 years. At the same time, it functions as a promotional piece for the idols in the cast, mainly Aina The End whose songs are heard throughout.

Kyrie is screening at Nippon Connection

The movie starts in the present, but eventually unfolds over several different time axes. In the present, Kyrie, a mysterious girl who only whispers except when she is singing, is trying to become a professional musician, but has no luck, even having to live on the streets. Eventually, another girl her age approaches her, Ikko, who immediately convinces her to become her manager, with the two soon sharing an apartment.

It turns...

Veteran Japanese film producer Muneyuki Kii has assembled a bold new venture to shake up Japan’s traditionally sclerotic and risk-averse approach to movie financing. The executive, formerly a lead producer at Tokyo-based studio Toei, revealed the launch Thursday of K2 Pictures, a mini-studio that aims to bring a more direct, Hollywood-style model of film funding to Japan’s industry.

The new company will launch a content fund — dubbed the “K2P Film Fund I” — to finance both live-action and animated Japanese features. K2P also has lined up an impressive roster of Japanese directors to collaborate with on its first slate, including Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters), local industry mainstay Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins), Shunji Iwai (Love Letter), Miwa Nishikawa (Sway), Kazuya Shiraishi (The Devil’s Path) and leading anime studio Mappa, known for mega-hits like Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and Attack on Titan.

Kii...

Former Toei producer Muneyuki Kim has launched K2 Pictures, which will work with major directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda and aim to create a new funding ecosystem for Japanese animated and live-action features.

The plan is to return profits that would traditionally go to film companies to investors and creators, which its founder says closely follows approaches used in Hollywood and elsewhere. Creators who team with K2 will be able to participate on projects as shareholders.

Kii, who will be K2’s CEO, says most Japanese films are produced through a system of ‘production committees’ with industry know-how formed through film companies, TV networks and publishers, which it believes makes entry into the market difficult and limits returns to producers and creators.

To this end, company has launched the K2P Film Fund I, which will provide support for animated and live-action features and enable to “investors, creators and crew...

FF7 Rebirth has less missable content than the original FF7, but some scenes can't be seen in one playthrough. The game adjusts side quests to maintain immersion, even when completed out of order. Red Xiii's quests showcase the most significant alterations in the game, reflecting his personality shift.

Getting a complete story experience in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth can take a long time, but the process tends to feel fairly straightforward in most regards. From a linear main story to checklists for side content, there isn't much about FF7 Rebirth that leaves potential for confusion, especially when compared to the less straightforward approach of the original FF7. Even after 100%ing a playthrough, however, it's actually impossible to have seen every scene that the game has to offer in one go at the story.

One inherent challenge of making a game as big as FF7 Rebirth is balancing the narrative momentum with something approaching open-world design,...

Side quests in FF7 Rebirth vary in plot relevance, from map fillers to game-changers. Certain side quests reveal deeper lore, tie into the main plot, and feature recurring characters from elsewhere in the compilation of FF7. Completing key side quests like "Dreaming of Blue Skies" adds depth and context to the game.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's side quests vary greatly in terms of story relevance. For the most part, they're largely unrelated: things like regional intel and Protorelic quests in FF7 Rebirth mostly just exist to fill in the map, and give players a chance to power up their characters. These quests have storylines of their own that usually share common characters or themes with the central plot. They're necessary, and usually entertaining, but in the scheme of things, they're pretty inconsequential.

But occasionally, a side quest comes along and changes the whole trajectory of the plot. These side quests are few and far between.

The Japan Academy Film Prize Association held the 47th edition of its awards ceremony on March 8, 2024. The nominees are selected by the Nippon Academy-Sho Association of industry professionals from the pool of film releases between January 1 and December 31, 2023 which must have screened in Tokyo cinemas.

Following its success at the recent Blue Ribbon Awards and leading with 12 nominations, Toho Studios' and Takashi Yamazaki's kaiju cinema masterpiece “Godzilla Minus One” takes top honours winning Picture of the Year and a slew of technical awards. Sakura Ando cements her place as one of Japan's top actresses securing both awards for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (for “Monster”) as well as Supporting Role (for “Godzilla Minus One”).

The full list of winners is described below.

Picture of the Year

Monster

Godzilla Minus One

Mom, Is That You?!

September 1923

Perfect Days

Animation of the Year

Kitaro Tanjo – GeGeGe no...

The 66th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 24, 2024. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2023. The trifecta wins for “Godzilla Minus One” come as no surprise, sweeping the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. Yuya Ishii picks up the Best Director award for both his movies “The Moon” and “Masked Hearts”.

Best Film

Masked Hearts

Ichiko

Egoist

Monster

The Dry Spell

Godzilla Minus One

Mom, Is That You?!

(Ab)normal Desire

The Moon

One Last Bloom

Perfect Days

Bad Lands

September 1923

Do Unto Others

As Long as We Both Shall Live

Best Director

Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts

Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster

Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist

Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One

Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!

Best Actor

Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire

Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!

Kyrie Irving — the singular basketball talent and moth-to-the-flame of NBA controversy — has embarked on a rebranding campaign with his new corporate benefactor, Chinese apparel giant Anta. Irving is now the superstar face of Anta Basketball — in a deal that also makes him the brand’s chief creative officer. In late September, Irving and Anta unveiled Kyrie’s new logo called “Enlightened Warrior.”

This Anta debut turns the page on a disturbing chapter in Irving’s career. But has his deal with the Chinese shoe giant simply opened the lid on even darker controversy?...

Busan International Film Festival has unveiled its full line-up, including opening and closing films, and announced that Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat has been named as Asian Filmmaker of the Year.

Chow will be feted through the screening of two of his most iconic films – Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow – as well as recent release Once More Chance, directed by Anthony Pun.

In addition to Chow, international guests expected at the festival include Luc Besson, Japanese filmmakers Hirokazu Kore-eda and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Korean-American filmmakers Lee Isaac Chung and Justin Chon, and Chinese actress Fan Bingbing.

The festival will open with the world premiere of Jang Kun-jae’s Because I Hate Korea, adapted from the popular novel by Chang Kang-myoung, and close with Chinese filmmaker Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor, starring Andy Lau, which is receiving its world premiere in Toronto.

How do the stars of The Neighborhood feel about hitting 100 episodes?

“Well, we came in together in free agency and said, ‘Let’s get 200,'” Max Greenfield tells TVLine. “We’d already done the hundred thing. We were both free agents, like Kyrie [Irving] and [Kevin] Durant,” who teamed up on the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets before being traded to different teams this year, “but this is going to end in a better way” — especially if Cedric the Entertainer has any say in the matter.

More from TVLineThe Neighborhood Exclusive: Kevin Pollak Cast as Max Greenfield's TV Dad — See First PhotosThe...

Dave Chappelle’s third opening monologue on Saturday Night Live opened with a disclaimer denouncing antisemitism. “And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time.”

Chappelle began his 15-minute stand-up on Kanye West’s disastrous few weeks, during which anti-semitic comments caused him to lose, among other things, more than a billion dollars in a single day.

“I gotta tell you guys, I’ve probably been doing this for 35 years now and early in my career, I learned that there are two words in the English language that you...