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Taiwan drama Family Matters and Hong Kong’s The Way We Talk have won the top awards at the 24th New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff).

Family Matters picked up the Uncaged Award for best feature film in the festival’s main competition.

It marks the feature directorial debut of Pan Ke-Yin and explores the life of a working class Taiwan family over four time periods. The film received its world premiere at Osaka Asian Film Festival in March and is an extension of Pan’s 2021 Golden Horse-nominated short film My Sister.

The filmmaker was on hand to collect the...

“Informant,” starring “Squid Game” breakout Heo Sung-tae, will open the 24th New York Asian Film Festival with its world premiere on July 11, with both the actor and director Kim Seok attending the opening night screening.

The festival, running July 11-27 across four Manhattan venues, has unveiled its second wave of programming, revealing a lineup of 50+ additional films under the theme “Cinema as Disruption.”

The Korean action-comedy sets the tone for what organizers call “a radically inclusive lineup” featuring more than 50 filmmakers, actors, and industry professionals attending from across Asia and the global diaspora.

The festival’s star-studded guest list also includes Tadanobu Asano (“Shōgun”) attending the screening of “Ravens,” Taiwanese star Vivian Sung (“Our Times”) for Korean-Taiwanese co-production “The Secret House,” and Filipino sensation Sue Ramirez (“The Kingdom”) for closing night film “Flower Girl.”

Eight films have been nominated for the festival’s signature Uncaged Award for best feature film...

New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) has unveiled the eight features that will compete for the Uncaged Award at its 24th edition, which is set to open with the world premiere of Korean action-comedy Informant.

The competition for best feature film at the festival, running July 11-27, includes titles that have already scored acclaim across Asia and chime with Nyaff theme this year of “cinema as disruption”. Organisers said its selection aimed to “challenge every assumption about Asian cinema”.

The nominees for its top prize include Time To Be Strong from South Korea’s Namkoon Sun, which won three awards...

Out of all horror and its subgenres, Japanese horrors seems to house the creepiest tropes, the strangest ghosts, and bone-chilling lores. It almost feels like each story is taking place in a wide universe where suicide forests exist, houses have souls, and the most ordinary object can be a conduit for an evil force. Compared to other ghosts who work without motives, Japanese ghosts are intensely sad—driven by a palpable and eerie melancholy that expands like a curse on everyone that crosses their paths with it. Karakasa is a half-hour short that, despite its brevity, delivers a story that is ominous, uncanny, and will surely send a shiver down your spine. What really works out for Karakasa is that its horror is not a disconnected motif; it is deeply embedded in contemporary Japanese issues and the youth’s crisis in finding housing and love and getting dragged into unwanted...

Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Yasuke drama has been going on for a long time now, and honestly, it’s tiring for the voice actor, too. What’s more disheartening is the fact that Yasuke’s voice actor was also a part of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Yes, the most underrated Transformer movie.

Having the chance to work with big franchises only to get less fame is something no one would like. Tongayi Chirisa, the voice actor of Yasuke, may be able to feel what that’s like. Even though he’s a man of many talents.

Tongayi Chirisa, the voice actor who takes Ls for others’ blunders Tongayi Chirisa plays as Yasuke in AC Shadows | Image Credit: Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t the greatest game of all time, and has its flaws. However, it shouldn’t reflect on others who’ve done their part correctly. Tongayi Chirisa,...

The last year or two has been stressful for those working in the gaming industry as AI continues to take over jobs and be a reason behind massive layoffs. However, the cast of the latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows seems to be a bit more confident than others when asked about the unfortunate competition against artificial intelligence.

This one Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Va still holds out for human output over AI | Ubisoft

From AI-generated scripts to synthetic voice acting, the fear of losing real human output is real. Fortunately, there are still some voice actors out there who seem to believe more in human talent and expression than in some artificially created MP3 files, including our very own Naoe’s Va.

Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s Voice Actor talks about AI in game development

It’s truly a fearful time for anyone whose job can easily be overtaken by...

After a long production period followed by a series of last-minute delays, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is finally hitting the market on March 20th. This game could potentially turn the tides around for Ubisoft after a series of failures that the studio has experienced in the recent past.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is moments away from release. Image Credit: Ubisoft

This will be the first addition to the Assassin’s Creed franchise to be set in feudal Japan, a place Ubisoft has long been wanting to explore. Various editions of the game are currently available for pre-order across platforms.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is all about taking it to the next level

Assassin’s Creed Shadows follows the story of two protagonists, Fujibayashi Naoe, a female shinobi, and Yasuke, a black samurai. The game was earlier bashed for being forcibly woke and historically inaccurate, but Ubisoft cleared the air by shedding...

Hello to all you spokon (anime involving sportsmanship and competition) and soccer anime lovers, welcome to my review of all the matches from the first season of Blue Lock , the competition where only the forwards who best use their egoism will survive until the end. Isagi, Bachira and the rest gave us some high-octane emotions throughout last season, but with so many matches it's hard to remember who beat who, and who the top scorers were. But fear not, before the match against the Japan U-20 team that is coming in the second season, I'm going to review absolutely all the duels we witnessed. Without further ado, let's get started! All Bluelock Matches First Selection Second Selection Third Selection First Selection: Group League Matches Team X vs Team Z 5 - 1 Yuza Dokomo Tsukoteru Eiyu Yawara Banku Daiya Morinaga Chihiro Ezaki Haato Meiji Kosei Otsuka Ruto Kora Burai Daido Shoei Barou...

An ambush of an agent sets the team into motion on CBS’s NCIS: Hawaii season two episode 11. Directed by Christoph Schrewe from a script by Megan Bacharach and Matt Bosack, episode 11 – “Rising Sun” – will air on Monday, January 16, 2023 at 10pm Et/Pt.

Season two stars Vanessa Lachey as Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant, Alex Tarrant as Kai Holman, Noah Mills as Jesse Boone, and Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara. Jason Antoon plays Ernie Malik, Tori Anderson is Kate Whistler, and Kian Talan stars as Alex Tennant.

“Rising Sun” Plot: When Special Agent Pike (Mark Gessner) is ambushed while working undercover with a local Japanese crime family, the team must find the person responsible for orchestrating the attacks. Also, Kai goes deeper into his investigation regarding an old friend turned criminal.

Episode 11 guest stars include Moses Goods, Jonah Ho’Okano, Vince Shin, Takuma Anzai, Masumi, Bruce Locke, and Eric Mita.

“Senna,” Netflix’s biggest and most ambitious series ever in Latin America, now has a director. Seasoned Brazilian film-tv action thriller director Vicente Amorim — whose credits include “Good” with Viggo Mortensen and “Yakuza Princess,” with Japanese American singer Masumi and Jonathan Rhys Meyers — has boarded the production.

Portraying the life of Formula One racing genius Ayrton Senna, “Senna,” produced for Netflix Brazil by Sao Paulo-based Gullane in partnership with the Senna family, is now in prep.

The eight-episode fiction miniseries will plumb “the intimacy of the man who became a national hero and conquered the world,” Netflix Brazil announced on Monday.

It looks set to be the biggest play ever by Netflix for one of its biggest markets anywhere in international. In January 2021, Netflix was reported to have already run up 19 million household accounts in Brazil, nearly as many as the streamer’s then 25.49 million for the whole of Asia.

Following its well-received world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival, Yakuza Princess is now on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD from Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing, and we caught up with lead actress Masumi to discuss training in martial arts, working with her husband (renowned martial artist Kenny Leu), and collaborating with Vicente Amorim for Yakuza Princess.

How did you first get involved with Yakuza Princess, and what about the character and the story made you interested in taking on this role?

I had just started going to an acting school that my husband (Kenny Leu) introduced me to. Three months into the school, I found out that Kenny’s manager (Andrew Ooi) was at a meeting with Yakuza Princess’ producer regarding another project, and happened to have spoken about the movie. Andrew happened to have my self-tape (was given by my agent Sara at Brs/Gage days prior) at the time,...

Yakuza Princess will be released to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, DVD and On Demand on November 16 from Magnolia Home Entertainment. Directed by Vicente Amorim, and starring Masumi, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Tsuyoshi Ihara, we have an opportunity for Daily Dead readers to win a Blu-ray copy!

"Set in the expansive Japanese community of Sao Paulo in Brazil — the largest Japanese diaspora in the world — Yakuzaprincess follows Akemi (Masumi), an orphan who discovers she is the heiress to half of the Yakuza crime syndicate. Forging an uneasy alliance with an amnesiac stranger (Rhys Meyers) who believes an ancient sword binds their two fates, Akemi must unleash war against the other half of the syndicate who wants her dead."

We have (2) Blu-ray copies to give away! For a chance to win, make sure to follow @DailyDeadNews on Twitter and interact with our contest post: https://twitter.com/DailyDeadNews/status/1460347758204882948

We'll randomly select 2 winners on November 22nd,...

Story of a yakuza turf war survivor smuggled to Brazil has real style and a devil-may-care cheek

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has turned up in some rum old places of late. He gave one of his best performances as a Gestapo officer in the Norwegian drama The 12th Man, largely overlooked in early 2019. Now the roaming Irishman can be seen playing second blade to the singer-actress Masumi in a thriller set among São Paulo’s Japanese community, the most populous of its kind outside Japan.

Vicente Amorim’s film is fundamentally an exercise in shifting fistfuls of tropes – and cliches: beardy senseis, terse men named Takeshi, ambient Christopher Doyle lighting – halfway around the globe for the heck of it. Reheated 10,000 miles from source, these ingredients are presented medium-fresh. Like street-cart fusion cuisine, this film will fill a hole, if you have a particular hankering.

A glum arthouse market may be entering a gateway weekend into happier days after months of distributors — with rare exceptions — pulling out their hair at dismal per-screens averages. That’s because festival buzz is mounting for film after film – from Card Counter, Dune and Spencer, to King Richard and Cyrano.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Dear Evan Hansen open in theaters on Sept, 17 and Sept. 24 after Toronto premieres. Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch from Cannes rolls out Oct. 22. Warner Bros’ Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark has an Oct. 1 release date. Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast has a Nov. 12 theatrical date after a world premiere in Toronto (and a glimpse at Telluride.)

It’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe of arthouses, films set to give a bump to a specialty...

After recently screening at the Fantasia Film Festival, Yakuza Princess is now screening in theaters and is available on VOD services. Directed by Vicente Amorim, and starring Masumi, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Tsuyoshi Ihara, we have an exclusive clip just for Daily Dead readers!

"Set in the expansive Japanese community of Sao Paulo in Brazil — the largest Japanese diaspora in the world — Yakuzaprincess follows Akemi (Masumi), an orphan who discovers she is the heiress to half of the Yakuza crime syndicate. Forging an uneasy alliance with an amnesiac stranger (Rhys Meyers) who believes an ancient sword binds their two fates, Akemi must unleash war against the other half of the syndicate who wants her dead."

Based on the graphic novel "Shiro" by Danilo Beyruth, Yakuza Princess was written by Fernando Toste and Kimi Howl Lee.

To learn more about the movie and where you can watch it, visit the official website at: https://www.

Yakuza Princess goes for the jugular with visceral katana-slicing action, but unfortunately gets bogged down by sluggish pacing. Adapted from the graphic novel "Samurai Shiro" by Brazilian comic book artist Danilo Beyruth, the film has striking cinematography and intriguing characters. It takes a deep dive into Japanese organized crime, samurai culture, and sword fighting tactics. Issues arise when the mystery that drives the narrative drones on. The tension established continually deflates with melodramatic lulls. A brutal finale swerves Yakuza Princess back on track for a recommendation.

In 1999 Osaka, Japan, a family gathering turns into a bloody massacre. Twenty-one years later in São Paulo, Brazil's Japanese district, Akemi (Masumi) struggles with the random murder of her beloved grandfather. She follows his wishes and continues to practice Kendo with her nearly lifelong master (Toshiji Takeshima). Meanwhile, two seemingly separate events have major repercussions. Takeshi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), a fierce Yakuza lieutenant (kanbu), learns a long kept secret.

Musician turned actress Masumi stars in Yakuza Princess with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers who helped her with acting tips for her first acting role. Masumi plays a sword-yielding heir to a Yakuza dynasty, but ironically she's afraid of sharp, pointy objects. She talks about her training and what it was like acting for the first time in an action film.

Based on the acclaimed graphic novel "Samurai Shiro" by Danilo Beyruth and set in the expansive Japanese community of Sao Paulo, Brazil — the largest Japanese diaspora in the world — Yakuza Princess follows orphan Akemi (played by pop star Masumi), who, upon turning 21, discovers that she is the heiress to half of Japan's expansive Yakuza crime syndicate. After forging an uneasy alliance with an amnesiac stranger who believes an ancient sword binds their two fates, Akemi unleashes war against the other half of the syndicate who wants her dead.

Yakuza Princess is a rip-roaring, violent action...

Coming out this weekend in North America, Yakuza Princess is a Filmland Internacional Production and Warner Brothers co-production, in association with XYZ Films. Directed by Vicente Amorim, Yakuza Princess is adapted from the graphic novel "Samurai Shiro" by Danilo Beyruth. I haven't read the graphic novel, so I can't speak to any differences in the film as it pertains to the source material, though I do find it interesting that the title of the work is based on an important, yet different character.  The title refers to titular character Akemi (singer Masumi, who spells her one name...

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

Hello, everyone! Hard to believe it, but September is nearly upon us, which means we have a brand new month of Digital and VOD premieres to look forward to as we gear up for this year’s Halloween season. For all you James Wan fans out there, the wait to see Malignant is almost over, as his latest horror film will arrive on HBO Max on September 10th, and for the fans who have been anxiously awaiting more horror from Mike Flanagan, Midnight Mass will be making its way to Netflix on September 24th. Arrow is set to debut Jumbo exclusively on their platform tomorrow, and Shudder has a trio of exclusive films headed to their service throughout September as well: Simon Barrett’s Seance, Martyrs Lane, and Superhost from Brandon Christensen.

Check out the full rundown of all the digital debuts happening over the next few weeks, as there...

The legal drinking age in most countries around the globe is 18 years old; Brazil is among those nations. Japan, however, makes their young people wait until they turn 20 for the right to booze it up. Yet, in nonsensical fashion, when Akemi (singer-songwriter Masumi), the Japanese-born, Brazilian-raised heroine of Vicente Amorim’s “Yakuza Princess,” toasts in front of her late grandfather’s portrait, she follows American regulation and celebrates finally turning 21 as a major milestone. Such a seemingly trivial detail is indicative of the astounding incoherence and misguided international ambitions of this subpar action saga.

Gruesome dismemberment at a family party opens the film, adapted from the graphic novel “Samurai Shiro” by Danilo Beyruth. That incident in Osaka two decades prior landed Akemi and her grandfather in Sao Paolo — text on screen explains the South American city hosts the largest Japanese community outside of the island state. But while having Brazilian creators at the helm,...

A young woman discovers she’s a crime family heiress in “Yakuza Princess,” a grimy action-thriller set in the neon-drenched streets of São Paulo’s Japanese district. Adapted from Danilo Beyruth’s graphic novel by Brazilian filmmaker Vicente Amorim (“Motorrad), “Yakuza” delivers stylish shootouts and eye-catching swordplay but lacks the dynamic characters and story-telling panache required to lift it into the top grade. Starring Japanese American singer Masumi in her first feature role, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as an amnesiac assassin, this well produced item still packs enough punch to satisfy undemanding action fans and should perform respectably when released in U.S. theaters and on VOD on Sept. 3.

Considering São Paulo is home to the world’s largest ethnic Japanese community outside Japan (an estimated 1.6 million people), it’s surprising how rarely the city’s Nikkei Burajiru-jin (Japanese Brazilians) have been granted leading character status in feature films. “Gaijin:...

Yakuza Princess Review — Yakuza Princess (2021) Film Review from the 25th Annual Fantasia International Film Festival, a movie directed by Vicente Amorim and starring Masumi, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Kenny Leu, Eijiro Ozaki, Mariko Takai, Toshiji Takeshima and Nicolas Trevijano. Yakuza Princess is a mostly unconventional yet occasionally routine action picture that keeps audiences [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Yakuza Princess: A Fast Moving Flick with Guns and Swords [Fantasia 2021]...

Masumi in Yakuza Princess Photo: Magnet Releasing

A thundering slice of action built around one young woman’s calling to avenge the family she never knew, Vicente Amorim’s Yakuza Princess had its première at the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival and will soon be released in cinemas. It stars Masumi in her breakthrough role as Akemi, alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Tsuyoshi Ihara as mysterious men as mysterious strangers who know how to fight but may or may not be on her side.

Every sword has a story Photo: Magnet Releasing

Prior to this, Masumi was best known for her music. A talented singer/songwriter, she rose to fame by playing her guitar in Dallas clubs, going on to perform all over the world, but turned down an offer to make her a pop idol in Tokyo because she wanted to retain control of her musical direction. Acting, she says, was...

Yakuza Princess Opening everywhere Friday, September 3rd Every Sword Has A Story. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel “Samurai Shiro” by Danilo Beyruth and set in the expansive Japanese community of Sao Paulo, Brazil — the largest Japanese diaspora in the world — Yakuza Princess follows orphan Akemi (played by pop star Masumi), who, upon …

The post Beware the Yakuza Princess ⚔️ In cinemas and on VOD Sept. 3 from Magnet Releasing! appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Stars: Masumi, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Eijiro Ozaki, Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Written by Vicente Amorim, Kimi Lee, Tubaldini Shelling, Fernando Toste | Directed by Vicente Amorim

Based on Danilo Beyruth’s graphic novel Samurai Shiro, Yakuza Princess takes a familiar story and gives it a new twist by setting it in São Paulo Brazil. Why there? Because it’s the home to over 1.6 million Japanese and Brazilians of Japanese ancestry, the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. It’s also, like most Brazilian cities, overcrowded and rife with poverty, crime and corruption. What better place to set a film about the Yakuza?

Twenty years ago in Osaka Japan we watch as a family photo session turn into a massacre as a gunman opens fire, killing everyone. In Present day São Paulo Shiro wakes up in the hospital. Badly injured and with no memory of his past. His only possession an ancient katana.

Akemi...

Based on the graphic novel, Samurai Shirô, by Danilo Beyrouth, Yakuza Princess is like a bloody, violent, no holds barred episode of NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? as the film follows a young woman on her journey to discover family truths. A film about loss, with themes of identity and belonging, and in a stylish, thrilling, and mysterious neo-noir package with strong elements from the jidaigeki genre and samurai history, Vicente Amorim’s Yakuza Princess treads in the footsteps of a dark legacy.

A home sits beneath the hills as a flag burns ahead. A family is met with bullets and steel, a dynasty of crime in Osaka is believed to be destroyed. But in present-day São Paulo, the family’s sole survivor embodies its fighting spirit as she trains in Kendo, a traditional Japanese martial art derived from the fighting methods of samurai. Akemi (singer-songwriter Masumi...

We enter 20 years into the past at a birthday party in Japan. This wealthy family spared no expense for the celebration but no amount of money can stop what’s coming. Swords are drawn, guns are fired, and soon enough everyone is dead—save a little girl taken from her mother’s lifeless arms. The assumption is that the victors have stolen her to nurture as their own before the inevitable discovery of her real heritage and subsequent desire for revenge. Learning the opposite to be true is thus a confusing hiccup once we fast-forward to present-day Brazil and find Akemi (Japanese singer-songwriter Masumi) mourning the death of the man who raised her: a man she calls Grandfather. How did she get there? We’ll find out soon enough.

Director Vicente Amorim and fellow screenwriters Tubaldini Shelling, Kimi Lee, and Fernando Toste have no qualms with Yakuza Princess—based on...

A historic massacre. A legendary sword. A young woman with a secret even she doesn't know. Yakuza Princess may be set in Brazil - São Paulo to be precise – but it has the key pieces of a Japanese action movie in place from the outset. These come courtesy of graphic novelist Danilo Beyruth, whose work also inspired director Vincente Amorim’s 2017 film Motorrad, and the film has something of the feeling of a graphic novel throughout. Dark though its palette and themes may be, it has a distinctly bright and poppy undercurrent throughout, introducing central character Akemi (Masumi) via a karaoke number.

Masumi is a professional singer and this is her first film appearance, bar a couple of shorts, but she soon demonstrates her capability extends beyond musical performance. She does a lot of her own stunts (the sequences involved are short, so not too arduous, but still require some.

Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing have dropped the official trailer for the Brazilian action thriller film Yakuza Princess, starring Japanese American singer Masumi and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors). The action-packed trailer explores the dangerous world of the Japanese mafia. Rhys Meyers' character Shiro teams up with a strange woman who wields a highly coveted katana sword. The official synopsis for the film can be read below.

"Set in the expansive Japanese community of Sao Paulo in Brazil - the largest Japanese diaspora in the world - Yakuza Princess follows Akemi (Masumi), an orphan who discovers she is the heiress to half of the Yakuza crime syndicate. Forging an uneasy alliance with an amnesiac stranger (Rhys Meyers) who believes an ancient sword binds their two fates, Akemi must unleash war against the other half of the syndicate who wants her dead."

The two-minute footage of the trailer introduces Akemi as a...