Sunday, February 24

Chrome Hounds

Ouch and ouch, Japanese game show.



I am speechless about this.

Akira Live Action



Verbatim from Variety

Here the original article

Warner Bros. will turn anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo's six-volume graphic novel "Akira" into two live-action feature films, the first of which is being fast tracked for release in summer 2009. Legendary will co-finance with WB.

Each feature will be based on three of the books in Otomo's series. The story takes place in New Manhattan, a metropolis that was rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years earlier. Otomo will exec produce the films.

Graphic novel was first adapted for the bigscreen in 1988 as a popular animated film which Otomo directed.

Studio has closed a seven-figure rights acquisition deal with manga publisher Kodansha and has set Ruairi Robinson to direct a script by Gary Whitta ("Book of Eli"). Andrew Lazar's Mad Chance will produce with Appian Way's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson.

WB had the "Akira" rights several years ago only to let them lapse and then recapture them in a spirited bidding battle.

Robinson, an Irish helmer who has been Oscar nominated for his short film and commercials work, is making his feature debut.

The project was brought in by exec veep Greg Silverman, who has supervised "300" and "Batman Begins."

Lazar is producer on the WB comedy "Get Smart," and he's about to start production on the Jim Carrey starrer "I Love You Phillip Morris" for EuropaCorp.

Appian Way is producing the John Cusack starrer "The Factory" for WB and Dark Castle.


Harry Knowles from Ain't It Cool News

Joseph Gordon Levitt is the rumored director for the live action Akira who did BRICK and the upcoming STOP LOSS and G.I. JOE movies.

Leo DiCaprio might be pretty boy but he does some really good roles like Blood Diamond and Aviator. And from the buzz I heard, the director seem to be good one too.

I will be waiting for the live action since I feel it will be a good movie.

Personally I wished they take up Domu instead. It is more intense and cinematic than Akira. I can never forget this signature cover from Dark Horse comics...



Heh, I can wish.

Higurashi Live Action Trailer



The live action version of this horror story is here. Some people are excited, some are more muted like me here.

It remains to be seen.

Contemporary Heroines on the Japanese Screen

'Letter from Japan: From Girls Who Dress Up Like Boys To Trussed-up Porn Stars - Some of the Contemporary Heroines on the Japanese Screen'

Rosemary Iwamura

An incredible number of Japanese films are about women. This seems inconsistent in that Japanese society, and its film industry, is dominated by men. But Japanese women see a lot of movies. While there are more women in the workforce than before, it is still common for Japanese women to stop working after marriage - and although this may mean married women are relatively house-bound, it also means that, after they have cleaned their small homes, they are often left with more free time than Japanese men. So, when producers make films about women, they are, in effect, making these films for women. That is, they are acknowledging the importance of female audiences to the industry and are therefore deliberately catering to women's tastes (Richie Lateral View 151-155).

Another possible reason for the number of films about women could be more traditional. Japanese directors have tended to use female characters to communicate social messages (Richie). Indeed, even as early as the late 1920s, Japanese directors made use of female protagonists to criticise gender inequality, class and political oppression. 1 But while it has been a strong tradition in Japanese film making that women's strength, resilience, and ability to cope with problems has been celebrated, moreoften than not these women were depicted leading self-negating lives (and managing in the process to be both appealing and maternal). In addition, female representations have functioned on-screen in largely supporting roles; that is, to reveal more about, or to guide, the male character (as in The Discarnates, discussed below). And until recently, this kind of representation of 'woman' dominated Japanese screens.

Full text