News

Exclusive: Neon is gearing up to begin production in May on Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, with Takashi Miike set to direct. The thriller will star Shun Oguri, Lily James, and WWE star Liv Morgan (Gionna Daddio).

The film will be a U.S.-Japan co-production, produced by Jeremy Thomas for Recorded Picture Company, Sam Pressman for Pressman Film, Naoaki Kitajima for Nippon TV and Misako Saka for Olm. Executive producers include Tom Quinn, Yuzo Kuwahara, Tetsu Fujimura, Paula Paizes, Alainée Kent, Peter Watson, Ivan Kelava, Max Loeb and Mike Apgar. The deal was negotiated by Neon’s Sarah Colvin, VP of Acquisitions, and Paula Paizes from Pressman Film and Recorded Picture Company’s Ivan Kelava on behalf of the filmmakers.

Neon will release the film theatrically in North America and represent the international sales rights in Cannes this month.

Singer/songwriter Charli xcx is working on building up her film acting career, and she’s going about it in a really interesting way. A couple of years ago, we heard that she was set to make her feature acting debut with Legendary Entertainment’s remake of the infamous 1978 box office hit Faces of Death… and someday we might even get to see that movie, but as of right now it still doesn’t have a distributor. Since working on Faces of Death, Charli xcx has taken roles in the Gregg Araki thriller I Want Your Sex, Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, Romain Gavras’s Sacrifice, Jeremy O. Harris and Pete Ohs’ Erupjca, and Julia Jackman’s graphic novel adaptation 100 Nights of Hero. By taking on these projects, she has worked alongside the likes of Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Jermaine Fowler, Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega,...

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is one of the most acclaimed directors of the generation. He is known for his gory action dramas that have sprinkles of dark humor and act as tributes to all the films he has loved. He is known for films such as Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, Kill Bill, and more. He has also written books about cinema.

Tarantino has always appreciated brilliant pieces of art and has also criticized films that he felt did not meet the mark. He reportedly loved Takashi Miike’s cult horror film Audition. He especially commented on the much-talked-about final scenes in the Japanese horror film and spoke about how Miike took the audience on a ride.

Quentin Tarantino Loved The Ending Of Takashi Miike’s Audition A still from Audition | Credits: Omega Project/Creators Company Connection/Film Face/Afdf Korea/Bodysonic

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has been one of the most...

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has over 115 directing credits to his name, and it has only taken him 33 years to reach that impressive number. One of his latest credits came on a blood-soaked horror thriller called Lumberjack the Monster, and the folks at Rue Morgue have confirmed that Lumberjack the Monster is going to be available to watch on the Netflix streaming service as of June 1st.

Before the film reaches Netflix, New York City’s Japan Society (located at 333 East 47th Street) will be hosting its the North American premiere screening on Monday, May 6 at 8pm. Rue Morgue notes, “There will also be a pre-screening reception at 7pm with beverages donated by Sapporo-Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Kura. The screening is being presented in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival, as part of its Escape from Tribeca program.”

Lumberjack the Monster is based on a novel by Mayusuke Kurai and stars Kazuya Kamenashi,...

Sukiyaki Western Django is a Japanese Spaghetti Western film with a mix of cultural influences and a unique cinematic style. Fans of Quentin Tarantino will appreciate the pulpy aesthetic, violence, and cinematic techniques displayed in the film. The movie is a criminally underrated gem that deserves to be watched, especially as Tarantino's final film draws near.

Quentin Tarantino is one of the most irreplaceable artists to ever grace the film medium. His take on pulp fiction and exploitation movies, plus his sincere and unparalleled love of cinema, left such an impression on viewers that he inspired generations of filmmakers and changed popular culture forever. With his impending retirement and final film (tentatively titled The Movie Critic) creeping closer, fans aren't ready to say goodbye to him just yet. With this in mind, there's no better time than now to watch Sukiyaki Western Django.

Besides the fact that Tarantino had...

Each new episode of Shōgun raises the stakes, deepens the political intrigue, and brings us closer to the brink of war. It’s a description that, years ago, would have applied to Game of Thrones, a show to which Shōgun has been compared ad nauseam. It’s not an inappropriate comparison. Both tout sprawling casts, sweeping locations, political intrigue, backstabbing, and characters residing in moral gray areas, ready to surprise and disappoint. Though, it may be more apt to compare the show to Japan’s Chanbara or samurai films.

Given Shōgun’s intensity and cliffhangers, waiting a week between episodes is excruciating. Digging back into Game of Thrones or even House of the Dragon might not scratch that Shōgun itch in the long days between installments.

Instead, let’s dive into samurai epics in and around the Edo period when Ieyasu Tokugawa unified Japan and built a shogunate that ruled for more than two centuries,...

International filmmakers brought a fresh, critical perspective to the American western genre, showcasing morally gray antiheroes and blood-soaked violence. Films like Sukiyaki Western Django and El Topo took the western genre to new, dark, and twisted places, blending different cultural influences and unconventional storytelling. Directors like Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Leone pushed the boundaries of the western genre, creating subversive and truly iconic films like The Great Silence and Once Upon a Time in the West.

The western is a traditional American genre, but from The Salvation to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, some of the greatest westerns ever made were produced internationally. The earliest westerns directed by American pioneers like John Ford and Howard Hawks told clear-cut black-and-white stories about good triumphing over evil. When international filmmakers got their hands on the western genre, they had no emotional connection to the United States and therefore depicted the...

Tubi offers a surprising variety of hidden gems and fantastic flicks in addition to its popular horror movies. Sukiyaki Western Django is a Japanese twist on spaghetti westerns, starring Quentin Tarantino and paying tribute to Sergio Leone. Buffalo Boys is an Indonesian-Singaporean action flick that combines cowboy shootouts and martial arts for a unique viewing experience.

The end of summer is approaching, and there's no better time to brace for the upcoming storms and cooler weather than by retreating inside and slipping away into a typical streaming binge. However, if you find yourself yearning for the return of the scorching sun, you can always turn back time and travel to the wonderful world of the Western genre, where you'll also find spurred boots and big irons in ample measure.

Tubi is tailored to such an occasion. Aside from featuring plenty of vintage classics and hidden gems, you may be surprised...

Since 2007, Venice’s Queer Lion Award has reflected and elevated the best in LGBTQ cinema. Fifteen years later, founder Daniel N. Casagrande said this year’s Venice Film Festival will be “the most queer edition ever.”

Among the fest’s 30 LGBTQ-themed titles, 19 are competing for the Queer Lion, including a record six films from the main competition. They include Todd Field’s orchestra conductor drama “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett; Darren Aronofsky’s estranged gay father study “The Whale,” featuring Brendan Fraser; Laura Poitras’ doc “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” chronicling bisexual artist Nan Goldin’s life and anti-opioid crusade; Andrea Pallaoro’s trans woman family drama “Monica”; Emanuele Crialese’s “L’immensità,” starring Penélope Cruz as the mother of a transgender child; and Gianni Amelio’s “Il signore delle formiche,” the true story of an Italian artist jailed under an infamous anti-gay law.

With an average of eight to 10 nominees each year,...

Occasionally, and particularly during the last years, a number of Sion Sono works look like a tribute to himself, with him implementing aspects of his great movies of the past. This approach actually worked for some titles, with “Tokyo Vampire Hotel” being a great sample. It seems though, it does not work at all in a Hollywood-Japanese collaborative setting, with “Prisoners of the Ghostland” functioning as a faulty mixture of “Sukiyaki Western Django”, “Mad Max”, “Preacher” and Sono’s past movies. Let us take things from the beginning though.

“Prisoners of the Ghostland” is streaming exclusively on AMC+ and Shudder

The story is set in the frontier city of Samurai Town, wherea ruthless bank robber, Hero, who supposedly did not shy away from killing innocent bystanders during his “jobs” is sprung from jail by the wealthy and quite sinister kingpin The Governor, who wants him to find the whereabouts of his adopted granddaughter Bernice.

Iseya Yusuke, a veteran actor who has worked with Miike Takashi, Kore’eda Hirokazu and other leading Japanese directors in a career that has spanned two decades, was arrested Tuesday in Tokyo for possession of marijuana.

According to local media, Tokyo Metropolitan Police found four bags of marijuana, some 20 grams, in a drawer in his Tokyo residence at around four in the afternoon on Tuesday. Rolling papers were also discovered on a table.

How he obtained the drug and other details are currently under investigation.

Iseya’s agency, Kakuto Entertainment issued a statement confirming the arrest and saying that “This incident is extremely regrettable. We deeply apologize to fans and everyone concerned for causing such a big worry and bother.”

Iseya’s YouTube channel, which he launched in April, has already been taken down.

Born in Tokyo in 1976, Iseya is the half-brother of fashion designer Yamamoto Kansai. While studying at...

FilmRise is proud to present special collectors editions of Sukiyaki Western Django on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital formats on June 16th. The film is presented in 5.1 DTS-hd Ma, 2.0 DTS-hd Ma and 5.1 Surround, 2.0 Stereo. Famed Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, best known for cult classics Audition, Ichi the Killer and The City of Lost Souls, redefines the spaghetti Western with Sukiyaki Western Django, an epic tale of blood, lust and greed starring Hideaki Ito, Yusuke Iseya, Kaori Momoi and Quentin Tarantino. Two clans battle for a legendary treasure hidden in a desolate mountain town. One day, a lone gunman, burdened with deep emotional scars but blessed with incredible shooting skills, drifts into town. Two clans try to woo the lone gunman to their sides, but he has ulterior motives. Dirty tricks, betrayal, desire and love collide as the situation erupts into a final, explosive showdown. Bonus Materials High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation...

Sukiyaki Western Django: Collector’s Edition Available on Blu-ray on June 16th FilmRise is proud to present special collectors editions of Sukiyaki Western Django on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital formats on June 16th. The film is presented in 5.1 DTS-hd Ma, 2.0 DTS-hd Ma and 5.1 Surround, 2.0 Stereo. Famed Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, best known …

The post Sukiyaki Western Django: Collector’s Edition Coming to Blu-ray on June 16th appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Perhaps the only genre of film that has ever feared the status of going extinct is the western. For many, it may seem that’s already the case. Believe it or not, this quintessential American genre of filmmaking is still holding on by its bootstraps.

However, despite the abundant history of western movies, the bulk of the filmography pre-dates the 1960s. I argue that the modern era is the true golden age of the western and the showcase for what potential the genre holds.

For me, the western is the epitome of quantity over quality. Prior to the 1960s, the Hollywood machine churned out countless examples of mostly formulaic flicks. Only a select portion of these deserved any significant praise.

Our contemporary fare, however, shows the opposite to be very true. As uncommon as it is to see a new western film hit theaters, or even direct-to-streaming, we find a...

In an interview with IndieWire back in 1996, one year before the death of the famous Zatoichi actor Shintaro Katsu, Takashi Miike said “I plan to make some sort of jidai-geki. Traditional with kimonos, swords and Samurais, as “Lone Wold and Cub” or “Zatoichi”. Its going to be for all of the family. It will be a mixture of Shakespeare and Samurais.” He intended to cast Takeshi Kitano for the lead, but Kitano wanted to direct the movie himself and so Miike got kicked out of the project that he once started. Kitano continued the production and finally released “Zatoichi – The Blind Swordsman” in 2003.

But Miike, not known for being work-shy, picks up his idea again in 2007 to direct a stage play with Sho Aikawa as Ichi. In addition to crowd-pleasers like “Crows Zero” (2007), “Sukiyaki Western Django” (2007), and “Like a Dragon” (2007), Miike’s turn to the traditional Japanese theatre, Kabuki, proofs...

The film about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power-plant meltdown is in post.

Endeavor Content has picked up world rights, excluding Asia, to Japanese studio Kadokawa’s Fukushima 50 and will present the film to buyers at Afm.

Directed by Setsuro Wakamatsu and starring Koichi Sato and Ken Watanabe, the film tells the story of the courageous workers who remained on site to stabilise the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant during its meltdown following the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Currently in post-production, the film is based on Ryusho Kadota’s book On The Brink: The Inside Story Of Fukushima Daiichi. Kadokawa will...

If you don't know the name Takashi Miike, then perhaps you're not a true film fan. The auteur made a name for himself in the 2000s pumping out one crazy movie after the next, continually raising the insanity level in each one. Now, he is back with the high-energy blast of shock and awe, tenderly called First Love. But make no mistake, this is not a romantic comedy.

Well Go USA Entertainment is proud to unveil the teaser trailer for Takashi Miike's crowd pleasing action crime drama First Love. The first look footage actually made its debut this past weekend at Comic-Con during the big 'Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza'. The Japanese title for the movie is Hatsukoi, and it made its world premiere during the Director's Fortnight during Cannes 2019.&#160

Critics are praising First Love with an intensity usually reserved for the most insane pieces of cinematic art. Jessica Kiang of Variety called it,...

Screening at 2008’s New York Asian Film Festival and Fantasia Film Festival, Takeshi Miike’s ‘Sukiyaki Western Django’ is an homage to the great westerns of the 60’s. Using stylised set design and tributes to just about anything to come out of Japanese popular culture, we are taken on a journey to revisit the site where the Battle of Dannoura once took place and a fabled treasure still lives to this day.

In a once sleepy mountain town, chaos reigns as the Heike and Genji gangs face off on the search for a mysterious wealth of gold. A lone gunman enters town offering his services to the highest bidder out of the red and white clans, which spurs on the already boiling tension between these warring parties. We learn that the Genji’s hold a mysterious woman with a tormented past in their possession, who our gunman...

We finally got a glimpse of “Shogun World” in the latest episode of “Westworld,” and the idea to mash up the two universes isn’t just a coincidence. There’s a long history of Westerns borrowing from samurai cinema and the other way around, with Akira Kurosawa studying the work of John Ford, which in turn led to many of Kurosawa’s movies to be remade as Spaghetti Westerns. The cowboy and the samurai are each lone wanderers in a lawless world, so it makes sense that the themes would crossover. Here are 10 instances in which the West met the East.

“The Magnificent Seven” (1960) and “Seven Samurai” (1954)

Akira Kurosawa’s landmark film “Seven Samurai” was highly influential on modern action cinema, but its most direct descendant was John Sturges’s “The Magnificent Seven,” starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Eli Wallach. The film is a remake but represents...

Review by Roger Carpenter

The spaghetti western subgenre is littered with series-headlining characters like Sabata, Sartana, and Ringo. But for sheer popularity as well as film volume, no one beats Django.

Director Sergio Corbucci introduced Django to an international audience in 1966. Starring Franco Nero as the titular character, the film was so immensely popular across the globe that it spawned at least 60 unofficial sequels with titles like Django the Bastard, Viva! Django, Django Kill…If You Live Shoot!, Django Kills Softly, and literally dozens of others. There was even a comedy western entitled Nude Django. The name continues to live on with Takashi Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012), which not only sports the original “Django” theme song but also a small part for Django himself, Franco Nero, as a bettor during a Mandingo fight.

The Italians are famous for jumping onto any cinematic bandwagon,...

Some intriguing new details have surfaced regarding Major Motoko Kusanagi's mother in the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, and it just might offer some insight into Scarlett Johansson's white character in the film.

During an interview with the Associated Press, Japanese actress Kaori Momoi (Memoirs of a Geisha, Sukiyaki Western Django) revealed that she has been cast in the film and that she will be playing The Major’s mother. So, a you have a Japanese actress playing a white woman’s mom. What does this mean?

Well, The Major has a few different origin stories in the franchise. All of the films and anime series are loosely based on the manga comic, and since they have separate continuities, each one has a different origin for The Major.

In one, she was in an accident as a young child that left her body beyond repair and resulted...

There is just something about the combinations of the western and samurai film genres that can produce some real movie magic. They have complemented each other over the decades and history is rife with great examples of influences (Seven Samurai to Magnificent Seven) to mashups (Sukiyaki Western Django and Red Sun(?)). Even when they do not work spectacularly (The Warrior’s Way and Bunraku) there is no denying that the themes, imagery and plot devices compliment each other like few genres can. So when the creators of the graphic novel R.E.M. Ryan Colucci and Zsombor Huszka announce the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to complete their hand-drawn animated film Orient City: Ronin & The Princess, then deliver an impressive opening scene, displaying...

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

Hong Kong’s Soi Cheang, Japan’s Takashi Miike, Australia’s Sean Byrne and American filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier are among the returning names to populate Tiff’s Midnight Madness programme. In what is an American indie horror film dominated section featuring the likes of some of the V/H/S alumni (Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, and Radio Silence quartet) presenting Southbound, Cold Comes the Night scribe Nick Simon presenting his sophomore film, The Girl in the Photographs and before being released theatrically in October via Stage 6 Films, Todd Strauss-Schulson‘s The Final Girls will receive its international premiere. Colin Geddes’ baby will be host to six world premieres with Saulnier’s Green Room making it much anticipated North American debut after replicating the big bang he made in Cannes with Blue Ruin. Here are the ten titles & fest synopses:

Baskin – Can Evrenol, Turkey

World Premiere

A squad of unsuspecting cops...

Kicking off September 10th, Toronto International Film Festival and its Midnight Madness screenings are right around the corner. This year, Midnight Madness selections include The Final Girls, Green Room, and the world premiere of The Devil's Candy from The Loved Ones director Sean Byrne.

Press Release: "Toronto — Midnight Madness returns to the Toronto International Film Festival® to satiate late night audiences’ appetites for wild sensory stimulation. The programme will present the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy films from the rabble-rousers of cinema, opening with Jeremy Saulnier’s tense siege shocker Green Room.

“Midnight Madness winds up Festival audiences as the days are winding down and they are hungry for more,” says Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “From adrenaline-filled action and untamed horror to twisted comedy and darkly blurred lines of reality, this year’s lineup welcomes back celebrated masters and fresh visionaries of renegade genre cinema.

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has quickly become one of the more recognised names among genre fans around the world, with films such as Audition, Ichi the Killer, and Sukiyaki Western Django only some of the features he’s known for in his extensive filmography. While his last feature, Yakuza Apocalypse, made its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Miike is already in the midst of production on his next film.

Titled Terra Formars, Miike takes solely on directing duties this time around, working from a screenplay by Kazuki Nakashima. The film itself is an adaptation of a manga by Ken’ichi Tachibana and Yû Sasuga, and stars Pacific Rim‘s Rinko Kikuchi and Arrow‘s Rila Fukushima alongside 13 Assassins‘ Takayuki Yamada and Emi Takei. While festival premiere dates or theatrical release dates have yet to be announced, the first trailer for the film has already been released. The trailer can be seen below.

Over the past twenty years, Takashi Miike has shocked viewers with his transgressive work, never ceasing to be innovative no matter what genre; whether tackling samurai epics like 13 Assassins, J-horror such as One Missed Call, westerns like Sukiyaki Western Django or with family friendly films such as Phoenix Wright. this week, fans are treated to a couple of trailers for his next two films; first Over Your Dead Body (which we’ve already posted), and now The Great War of the Underworld courtesy of Twitch. There’s plenty of over-the-top footage and crazy set pieces, to have fans of the filmmaker really excited. Here’s the official plot:

“Akira (Hayato Ichihara) admires Genyo Kamiura who is the most powerful yakuza. Genyo Kamiura has been targeted numerous times, but has never died. He is called the invincible person. Because of Genyo Kamiura, Akira enters the world of the yakuza. His yakuza...

Well, it was only a matter of time before Sony Pictures Japan would reveal the first full Shinjuku Swan trailer. They've done so by unleashing a truly badass trailer for Sono Sion's highly anticipated live-action crime drama. The trailer comes with plenty of new footage showing off additional cast members, new locations, beautiful girls, tough guys, and of course, fighting.The maverick Japanese helmer is going to explore some of the deepest corners of Kabukichō, Tokyo's infamous entertainment district, and he's brining young stars Go Ayano (Rurouni Kenshin, Gatchaman), Sawajiri Erika (Ghost Train, Helter Skelter), Yamada Takayuki (Ikigami, Crows Zero), Iseya Yusuke (Casshern, Sukiyaki Western Django) and others along for the crazy and bloody ride.Here's a short spoiler-free synopsis of the picture:Shiratori Tatsuhiko works as a scout...

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

Great news for all Sono Sion fans out there! The maverick filmmaker will make a return in 2015 with Shinjuku Swan, a live-action adaptation of Wakui Ken's popular Kabukichō-set adult manga. Anime News Network reports that the main cast will include Go Ayano (Rurouni Kenshin, Gatchaman), Sawajiri Erika (Ghost Train, Helter Skelter), Yamada Takayuki (Ikigami, Crows Zero), and Iseya Yusuke (Casshern, Sukiyaki Western Django). The plot revolves around a jobless youngster who one day gets thrown into Tokyo's dangerous and unpredictable underground world of entertainment:Shiratori Tatsuhiko works as a scout for Burst, a talent agency in Kabukichō, Shinjuku's red light district. In a business where money means everything Tatsuhiko finds himself in a constant struggle between rival talent scouts and the yakuza.Production of the hotly...

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

Although writer/director Quentin Tarantino has halted further development of his Old West screenplay "The Hateful Eight", designed to be a 70-millimeter Western epic, certain story details from the script have now leaked online:

"...the script is an ensemble Western, with the story broken into the chapters 'Last Stage to Red Rock', 'Son of A Gun', 'Minnie’s', 'The Four Pasengers' and 'Black Night, White Hell'. There are parts for Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. Jackson and Madsen would play bounty hunters returning 'human plunder' to a town called 'Red Rock' in exchange for hefty rewards.

"Their characters, a former major in the Union army and a man named 'John Ruth', dominate the first two of the script’s five chapters. They run into a Southerner named 'Chris Mannix' on the road, and three of them, along with their driver...

According to reports, writer/director Quentin Tarantino will follow up his last film "Django Unchained" with a new western action epic:

"I had so much fun doing 'Django'", said Tarantino...

"..."and I love Westerns so much that after I taught myself how to make one, it’s like 'Ok! Let me make another one' now that I know what I’m doing."

Currently finishing up the screenplay for "The Hateful Eight", Tarantino said he is showing the script to Oscar-winner, Tarantino regular Christoph Waltz and Bruce Dern ("The Cycle Savages") to star in his next film.

Dern can currently be seen in director Alexander Payne’s "Nebraska".

"The Hateful Eight" Weinstein production will target a summer start.

Tarantino previously had a featured cameo in director Takashi Miike's 2007 Japanese feature "Sukiyaki Western Django".

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek Quentin Tarantino in "Sukiyaki Western Django"...

Guess what? Quentin Tarantino is working on another western. Before you start celebrating the return of Jamie Foxx and Django, the filmmaker wants you to know it’s not a sequel to his award-winning flick. And, no, it’s probably not a follow-up to director Takashi Miike’s “Sukiyaki Western Django,” either. Damn it all. So what in the hell is Quentin Tarantino working on? He told Jay Leno that he can’t say much about the project at the moment. But he really wants you to know that he’s working on something for the big screen. And it’s a western. But it’s not “Django 2.” In other words, it’s not really news. Sorry to get your hopes up. Here’s what the director said: “I can’t talk that much about it, but I will say one thing. I haven’t told anyone about this publicly,...

After languishing in development for years, director Joe Dante's Roger Corman biopic The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes is finally coming together, with Quentin Tarantino set to play Roger Corman.

The movie almost got off the ground back in 2010, when Colin Firth was attached to star as the legendary B-movie filmmaker. The story is set in 1967, centering on Roger Corman's experience making The Trip, which starred Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson in one of his earlier roles. Here's what Roger Corman had to say about the story, adding that he will also appear in a cameo role.

"It's the story of how I made The Trip in the 1960s about LSD. It starred Jack Nicholson in one of his first roles and I took LSD so I knew what it was all about. It was very controversial but it was the only American picture invited...

If you know horror at all, you know Roger Corman’s low-budget but often brilliant works of high-class camp. You also might know that Corman is responsible for giving directing and acting opportunities to the likes of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich…the list goes on and on. Now Corman is getting his own biopic, called The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes, with none other than Quentin Tarantino in the lead role.

Joe Dante will be directing The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes, a comedic take on the director’s life that focusses on the making of The Trip, a 1960s slice of weirdness centering around an LSD trip. The original film starred Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern and Peter Fonda, with Corman behind the camera. Corman himself will have a cameo in Dante’s film, as a film producer trying to stop Roger Corman from making the movie.

Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...

Up until now I haven't posted any of the trailer for Lee Sang-il's Unforgiven (Yurusarezarumono), remake of Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning film of the same name. Primarily because the trailers didn't include subtitles and I knew sooner or later we'd get a look that would actually give you something to consider rather than the visuals and action beats. Well, that day is today. Unforgiven is set to play the 2013 Toronto Film Festival and I have for you a subtitled trailer along with three clips from the film which stars Ken Watanabe (Inception), Koichi Sato (Sukiyaki Western Django) and Akira Emoto (The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi) that takes the classic Western to Meiji-period Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate has just collapsed and the Ainu aborigines strive to settle the land alongside the newly established government. Jubei Kamata (Watanabe) is a relic of the Tokugawa shogunate, and during that time his name alone terrorized...

Japan and America have had an interesting cinematic exchange going on ever since the 1950s. Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films – themselves informed by the aesthetics of westerns – were in turn transformed into American westerns. More recently, directors like Quentin Tarantino have helped produce Japanese films that mimic American westerns (check out the crazy Sukiyaki Western Django, if you don’t believe me). That exchange now continues with the Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, now titled Yurusarezaru mono and starring Ken Watanabe.

We already had a teaser for the film awhile back; now we have the full Japanese language trailer. Watanabe plays the lone gunman, now living a peaceful life at home, who takes on bounty hunting work. The film is written and directed by Sang-il Lee, based on David Webb’s original Unforgiven script. It also stars Akira Emoto, Jun Kunimura, Yuya Yagira, Eiko Koike, Shiori Kutsuna and Koichi Sato.

With a trailer for his unreleased 2007 sex comedy “Oliviero Rising" hitting the web a few weeks back, the rare presence of Vincent Gallo on the film scene recently grew just a bit more noticeable. The actor/director's own output, like directorial effort “Promises Written In Water,” remains an unknown in terms of a proper release, but in terms of appearing before a camera, a globe-trotting Japanese film will feature Gallo later this year. In a characteristically unexpected move, Gallo has been announced as the final cast member for director Junji Sakamoto's suspense drama “Human Trust,” which finished filming in Japan, Russia, Thailand, and the U.S. this past spring. Centered on the legendary “M Fund,” a supposed stash of treasure from WWII, the film follows a conman Yuichi (Kôichi Satô of “Sukiyaki Western Django”) as he's hired to travel across the globe and steal the money by two mysterious men.

Deadline is reporting that prolific Japanese auteur Miike Takashi, whose work includes Audition, Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins and Lesson of the Evil, is finally taking the plunge and making his English language feature debut. Better yet, he has cast Tom Hardy in the lead of The Outsider, set to start filming in Japan. Now in fairness, Miike has directed in English before, both in his Masters of Horror segment, Imprint and Sukiyaki Western Django, and with the Japan setting there is likely to be a fair amount of Miike's native tongue spoken in this one too, but this is still a very important step in the director's move towards making a full-blown Hollywood feature.Set in the aftermath of World War II, The Outsider, written...

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

The great Takashi Miike is making his way back to the horror genre with an as of yet to be titled new film focusing on one of Japan's most famous ghost stories, Yotsuya Kaiden. Read on for the first details.

Miike directs from a screenplay by Kikumi Yamagishi (Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai, The Happiness of the Katakuris). Nobuyasu Kita (13 Assassins, Hara-kiri) rejoins Miike behind the camera as cinematographer with Toshiaki Nakazawa (13 Assassins, Departure) producing. Production designer Yuji Hayashida and composer Koji Endo are also join the crew. Celluloid Dreams/uConnect, the sales division of uMedia, has acquired the international rights for the project in Cannes.

Recognized in many contemporary representations including The Ring franchise, the evil spirit Oiwa appears in her white burial gown, straggled hair, and drooping eye from when she was maimed by poison. Originally presented on stage in the early 1800s, Yotsuya Kaiden has been remade and reconfigured many times,...

(This article contains some minor spoilers for Django Unchained and be warned that most of the clips included are Nsfw)

Like many of Tarantino’s previous films Django Unchained is filled to the brim with film references. Below I’ve attempted to guide you through some of these references and links to other films.

I’ve only seen the film once at a screening and am sure that given the opportunity to sit down with the film on Blu-ray I will undoubtedly find even more, so the following is in no way definitive but hopefully provides some answers to for those wondering what Tarantino was referencing in Django Unchained. Also, most importantly, hopefully it will lead you to check out some of the films in question.

The most obvious film reference in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is right there in the title. Django was a 1966 ‘spaghetti western’ directed by...

Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 spaghetti western, “Django”, is legendary as the film that launched 100 unofficial sequels. This is obvious hyperbole and urban legend—to date only 30-something are accounted for—but it still spawned a crap load of badass westerns. These movies run the gamut from trying to recreate the grim tone and setting of the original, to offerings like “Sukiyaki Western Django”, Takashi Miike’s manic mod take on two feuding frontier clans. The latest, and highest profile installment, Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained”, falls somewhere in between. Set in 1858, a few years before the Civil War, Tarantino’s second consecutive dive into historical waters presents a grim, stoic bounty hunter, but also uses the writer/director’s trademark quick, witty banter to skewer one of America’s darker chapters: slavery. The film juxtaposes the past with the modern. Setting, costumes, and story all scream old timey, though the music,...

Back in August, we reported that Ken Watanabe, best known for his roles in The Last Samurai, Inception and Letters from Iwo Jima, would be headlining a Japanese remake of the Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood movie Unforgiven, titled Yurusarezaru Mono. Production has been moving along and the film is currently being shot in northern Japan in a remote area of Hokkaido. Press was recently invited to the set and today we get our first look at Watanabe as a samurai with a violent past named Kamata Juube, courtesy of Tokyo Hive. Pictured in the first look image below with Watanabe is Sato Koichi (Sukiyaki Western Django) as the feared local police cheif portrayed by Gene Hackman in the original. The film takes place after the collapse of the Edo shogunate in 1880 and follows Juube, who...

Read More

Read Comments...

We walked the Comic-Con Hall H line this morning to meet the die-hard Quentin Tarantino fans waiting to see today’s Django Unchained panel. Tarantino fans are among the most devoted (one person came all the way from Malaysia for the event) and film-literate at Sdcc, unlike some…other…passionate fan bases. (Also mixed in among the Hall H line throngs this a.m. were fan boys and girls waiting to see clips from Iron Man 3 and The Hobbit at those upcoming panels.)

The Django Unchained fans we spoke to were most excited about Inglorious Basterds star Christoph Waltz reuniting with Tarantino,...

Sneak Peek the first trailer from director Quentin Tarantino's upcoming western action feature "Django Unchained" :

"...set in the South two years before the Civil War, 'Django Unchained' stars Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx as 'Django', a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter 'Dr. King Schultz' (Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz).

"Schultz is on the trail of the murderous 'Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty.

"The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing 'Broomhilda' (Kerry Washington...

Sneak Peek more new images from director Quentin Tarantino's upcoming western action feature "Django Unchained" :

"...set in the South two years before the Civil War, 'Django Unchained' stars Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx as 'Django', a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter 'Dr. King Schultz' (Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz).

"Schultz is on the trail of the murderous 'Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty.

"The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive. Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing 'Broomhilda' (Kerry Washington...

Sneak Peek more new images supporting writer/director Quentin Tarantino's upcoming western genre, action feature "Django Unchained".

The new film stars Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz :

"Django treks across America with the German dentist turned bounty hunter 'Dr. King Schultz' (Waltz), to retrieve Django's wife 'Broomhilda' (Kerry Washington) from the charming but sadistic 'Francophile' plantation owner 'Calvin Candie' (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his entourage of ruthless slavers..."

Cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson ("Pulp Fiction"), Kurt Russell ("The Thing") , Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat") , Laura Cayouette, Dennis Christopher, Don Johnson ("Miami Vice") , M.C. Gainey, makeup artist Tom Savini, Anthony Lapaglia, James Remar ("48 Hours"), Walton Goggins ("The Shield") , Tom Wopat, Misty Upham, RZA and Michael Bacall.

From the Weinstein Company, "Django Unchained" will be released in North America, December 25, 2012.

The title of Tarantino's film, refers to director Sergio Corbucci's 1966 'spaghetti western' feature "Django", starring actor Franco Nero,...

Sneak Peek new poster designs supporting writer/director Quentin Tarantino's upcoming western genre, action feature "Django Unchained".

The new film stars Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz :

"...the film is set in the 'Old South' following 'Django' (Foxx), a freed slave.

"Django treks across America with the German dentist turned bounty hunter 'Dr. King Schultz' (Waltz), to retrieve Django's wife 'Broomhilda' (Kerry Washington) from the charming but sadistic Francophile plantation owner 'Calvin Candie' (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his entourage of ruthless slavers..."

Cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Sacha Baron Cohen, Laura Cayouette, Dennis Christopher, Don Johnson, M.C. Gainey, Tom Savini, Anthony Lapaglia, James Remar, Walton Goggins, Tom Wopat, Misty Upham, RZA and Michael Bacall.

From the Weinstein Company, "Django Unchained" will be released in North America, December 25, 2012.

The title of Tarantino's film, refers to director Sergio Corbucci's 1966 'spaghetti western' feature "Django", starring actor Franco Nero,...

Curiously missing from many top ten lists of last year was Takashi Miike's “13 Assassins,” his sweeping ode to the samurai epic with enough stunning imagery and action to match its thematically rich story. The prolific director is occasionally known for tossing off films with a whiff of exercise and effort (read: “Ninja Kids!!!”), but that film displayed such mastery behind the camera, including a final 45-minute battle of incredible geography and flow, that one couldn't help but be blown away. Now, Punch Drunk Critics has dug up news of his latest project, an adaptation of the best-selling graphic novel “Aku No Kyoten” ("Lesson of the Evil"), and those who are new to Miike's wonderfully diverse filmography are sure to be surprised while his other fans crack a giant grin.

The adaptation, set to shoot in April this year, marks the reunion between actor Hideaki Ito and Miike, last seen...

When did movies about teachers start getting so dark? DreadCentral reports that genre director and icon Takashi Miike has signed on to direct Aku no Kyoten (translated to Lesson of the Evil), an adaptation of the 2010 graphic novel by Yusuke Kishi.

The movie will star Hideaki Itô (lead of Miike‘s Sukiyaki Western Django) as the beloved and charming teacher Seiji Hasumi, who uses his outgoing outward appearance to mask his sociopathic and psychotic tendencies. The darkness inside Hasumi manifests itself in the murder of his students, which he considers “mercy killings,” as the students are dealing with bad parents as well as constant bullying. That, sadly, sounds far more proactive than what actual teachers and school faculties do to combat those problems. Filming is set to start in April, with a hope to premiere the film at this year’s Venice International Film Festival in August, before a planned theatrical release in November.

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently streaming on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to Being Flynn, The Snowtown Murders, and Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.

This Friday theaters will be filled with pairs of men, from a couple of kooky comedians, to an estranged father-son team, and a duo of deadly Aussies. But if these new releases aren’t enough to satisfy your craving for chills, laughs and heartwarming moments, we’ve got you covered with some of the best selections Now Streaming.

Based on Nick Flynn’s poignant memoir, this drama centers on his time volunteering at a homeless shelter, and how it led to an unexpected reunion with his estranged father. Paul Dano and Robert De Niro co-star; Paul Weitz directs.

Want more memoir-based dramas?

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) Dito Montiel...