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Now in its third year, Netflix’s The Paris Theater has today announced the full lineup for its much-enjoyed Big & Loud screening series, available exclusively on IndieWire. Per today’s release, the screening series “will deliver four consecutive weeks of cinema’s most unforgettable sensory experiences with a jam-packed lineup of 70mm, Dolby Atmos, and audio-obsessive cinema.”

This year’s series will kick off August 29 and run through September 25, and will put Manhattan’s largest Atmos theater to the test with 41 films, including 13 films on 70mm, and 6 films presented with special Dolby Atmos sound mixes. Per Netflix, the series aims to offer “a completely immersive experience, with picture and sound that allows audiences to fully immerse in the worlds onscreen, reveals new details to even the most seasoned filmgoers, and brings the intricate, thoughtful sound design of some of cinema history’s most gifted film artists to life.”

As has...

Countless films and filmmakers have been influenced by auteur filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s body of work, especially his 1954 epic “Seven Samurai.”

The film, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, follows a group of seven samurai warriors who save a little village from annihilation at the hands of a group of bandits in 15th-century Japan.

Whether it’s Kurosawa’s storytelling, blocking, camera movement or even the use of weather as a character, his influences can be directly traced in modern cinema.

Quentin Tarantino’s films, such as “Kill Bill” and “Hateful Eight,” all have influences that were pulled from the film. In the 2012 film “Django Unchained,” hooded raiders come over a crested hill on horseback, which was a scene directly lifted from “Seven Samurai.”

Kurosawa’s film is the latest to screen as part of Variety 120 Screening Series presented by Barco, a summer-long program hosted by Jazz Tangcay that...

Ghost of Yōtei appears to be building on its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima, in nearly every way, and is luckily bringing back a fan-favorite game mode. We were treated to a deep dive into Ghost of Yōtei's gameplay with a State of Play dedicated solely to Sucker Punch Productions' upcoming game, where new limited-edition PS5s were also revealed.

While the whole game is shaping up nicely, a particularly exciting reveal from the State of Play was the confirmation that Ghost of Yōtei is bringing back the first game's Kurosawa Mode. The PlayStation State of Play showed various clips of Ghost of Yōtei bathed in a striking black-and-white filter, evoking the classic films of legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa is best known for iconic movies such as Seven Samurai, Rashomon, and Yojimbo.

What Is Kurosawa Mode? Thematically Perfect Homage

Kurosawa Mode, both in Ghost of Yōtei and in its...

Chris Pratt opened the year with a stinker in The Electric State, but nearly 10 years ago, he starred in a forgotten Western that’s sniped a spot on streaming charts. Pratt features alongside Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in The Magnificent Seven, a Western following seven gunmen of differing backgrounds who come together to protect a town from the private army of of destructive industrialist. The Magnificent Seven, which also stars Vincent D’Onofrio and Lee Byung-Hun (Squid Game), is streaming on Prime Video and Amazon MGM in America, where it’s one of the most popular movies on the platform, sitting at #7 at the time of writing. The film earned moderate scores of 64% from critics and 71% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and it also grossed $162 million at the box office against a $90 million budget.

The Magnificent Seven is a remake of both Seven Samurai, the 1954 Akira Kurosawa film, and the...

Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt have had a series of successful projects each, but their joint Western wasn't a big success. The action-packed Western The Magnificent Seven was a remake of the 65-year-old Western of the same name, and it didn't achieve the same acclaim as the original.

The Magnificent Seven premiered on Sept. 8, 2016, and it came from Washington's frequent collaborator, Antoine Fuqua, with whom he worked on The Equalizer trilogy and 2001's Training Day. Although The Magnificent Seven featured the two big movie stars and had critically acclaimed director attached to the project, the Western didn't impress. However, The Magnificent Seven is finding a new life on streaming, as it's currently rising on the charts on MGM+, per FlixPatrol.

The Magnificent Seven has been fluctuating in the charts on MGM+. The Western has recently risen three positions up to seventh place after spending the last few days in ninth and tenth place,...

After Keanu Reeves' assassin seemingly perished at the end of "John Wick: Chapter 4," it seems he's set for a return. "John Wick 5" will bring Keanu back from the dead, with studio Lionsgate keen to keep the franchise's momentum going after a couple of spin-off missteps, the latest being the Ana de Armas-starring "Ballerina."

Sadly, the box office returns for "Ballerina" appeared to be a death sentence for the John Wick universe, which only really seems to bring in crowds when the man himself is front and center. With a 76% Rotten Tomatoes score, an A- Cinemascore, and a title that makes no secret of the film being "From the World of John Wick," "Ballerina" should have done better than $109 million on a $90 million budget. So, why didn't it? Well, the obvious answer is, again, because John Wick wasn't the main attraction, and with TV spin-off "The Continental" also falling flat,...

"We only realize how beautiful life is... when we face death." One of the finest filmmakers of all-time. Film Forum in NYC is hosting a magnificent retrospective screening series this summer titled Kurosawa in 4K, co-hosted by Janus Films. Janus is the US distributor on many of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's classic films throughout his career. Most of his films have since been fully restored and remastered in 4K - and they'll be showing back on the big screen. Starting in NYC, of course, but hopefully more of them will tour around the country (Seven Samurai already played in many art house theaters last year). All the latest 4K restorations were completed by Toho Co., Ltd in Japan, with many being shown in the US for the very first time, including Throne Of Blood, Stray Dog, High And Low, The Hidden Fortress, Ikiru, Yojimbo, and Sanjuro. The screening series begins on July 18th,...

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There's just something about crime movies that not only continues to thrill audiences but has an appeal that transcends borders and cultures. Whether it's wish fulfillment stories that follow rebellious protagonists defying the law or capers that pack plenty of brutal action, the crime genre is an enduringly cathartic one. From police procedurals to stylish heist flicks with a noted escapist flair, there is a lot of variety and nuance within the genre, more than just the mob movies that it's normally associated with.

Simply put, we love crime movies and the genre is one that dates back to the earliest days of the cinematic medium. With so many iconic films to choose from, we narrowed it down to the best, through both their quality and expansive influence. With further ado, here are the 15 best crime movies of all time ranked.

As Amazon MGM officially introduces Denis Villeneuve as the director of Bond 26, a look at how the filmmaker’s style might change 007:

History is filled with the names of famous directors who almost got to make a James Bond movie but didn’t: Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Danny Boyle all immediately spring to mind. The announcement that Denis Villeneuve will direct James Bond 26, then, is a significant moment for a franchise that has traditionally been made by solid, safe-pair-of-hands filmmakers rather than noted auteurs.

In the past, the Bond films were carefully – even jealously – shepherded by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson. They oversaw everything from the choice of Bond actors to scripts to directors to locations, and it was a level of control that clearly didn’t sit right with some filmmakers; Danny Boyle’s Bond project came to an end when the producers “lost confidence” in his concept,...

“Believe what you feel and know you’re right because/The time will come around when you’ll say it’s yours,” croons Lena Horne as Glinda the Good Witch of the South near the climax of 1978’s The Wiz, a mega-budget adaptation of the funky all-Black Broadway reimagining of Baum’s Oz universe. Cinema history is littered with the shadows of what might have been but never was. But at least in the case of The Wiz, arguably the only all-Black Hollywood studio super-production until Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, it’s both a wonder and a testament to the kindness of the fates that something the benefit of 20/20 hindsight has cast as a true outlier managed to slip through.

And, at least in the hearts of its underserved audience, the film flourishes to this day. Odie Henderson, in his Blaxploitation survey Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras, surmised “The Wiz...

The legendary Bollywood epic “Sholay” will receive a fitting golden anniversary tribute when its fully restored, uncut version gets its world premiere at Italy’s Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival on June 27.

The 1975 Ramesh Sippy-directed classic will unspool on the festival’s massive open-air screen in Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore, marking the first time audiences will see the original ending and previously deleted scenes that were cut from the widely distributed theatrical version.

Written by the legendary duo Salim-Javed, “Sholay” masterfully blends action, thriller, revenge drama, comedy and tragedy, all underscored by R.D. Burman’s iconic musical score. The film drew inspiration from Western classics including Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West,” Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai,” and John Sturges’ “The Magnificent Seven.”

The story follows former police officer Thakur Baldev Singh, who enlists two small-time rogues — the charismatic Veeru and introspective Jai — to capture the notorious dacoit Gabbar Singh,...

In 2024, Steven Spielberg listed his 20 favorite movies of all time for Far Out Magazine, and many of them are indelible classics that one might expect Spielberg to list. "Seven Samurai," "Citizen Kane," "Day For Night," and "2001: A Space Odyssey" are all on the list, of course, although he did also throw in a few curveballs. James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" was mentioned, as was Olivier Nakache's and Éric Toledano's 2011 film "The Intouchables." He also picked out Victor Fleming's relatively obscure 1943 film "A Guy Named Joe" as one of the best ever, although that tracks; Spielberg remade the film in 1989 as "Always." 

Spielberg's #1 film of all time, however, was a safe and reliable standby; he's very fond of Frank Capra's Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life." But then, who doesn't like "It's a Wonderful Life?" 

The story of Capra's classic is possibly well-known even to non-cinephiles.

Filmmakers Jason Reitman, Teddy Schwarzman and Tom Dolby, Toho chief Hiro Matsuoka and banker Cindy Huang have been elected to the board of trustees of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the museum announced on Monday.

“The [board] and I are thrilled to welcome Tom, Cindy, Hiro, Jason and Teddy to our Board of Trustees,” Academy Museum director and president Amy Homma said in a statement. “Their deep commitment to the mission of our museum will further help bring exciting exhibitions, screenings, programs, initiatives and collections and help us to grow our audiences from around the globe.”

The new board, which will take its seats on July 1, will also include Olivier de Givenchy, Dr. Eric Esrailian, Patricia Bellinger Balzer, Jim Gianopulos, Howard Berger, Arnaud Boetsch, Effie T. Brown (honorary trustee), Sidonie Seydoux Dumas, Sid Ganis (honorary trustee), Donna Gigliotti, Julia S. Gouw, Ray Halbritter, Tom Hanks, Travis Knight, Academy CEO Bill Kramer,...

Tom Dolby, Cindy Huang, Hiro Matsuoka, Jason Reitman and Teddy Schwarzman have been elected to the Board of Trustees that oversees the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the museum announced on Monday.

The five new trustees will join a board that oversees policies and fundraising for the museum, which opened in September 2021. In a statement announcing the new trustees, Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma said, “Their deep commitment to the mission of our museum will further help bring exciting exhibitions, screenings, programs, initiatives and collections and help us to grow our audiences from around the globe.”

New trustees are voted on by the existing board and ratified by the nine-member Academy Foundation Board, which includes Howard Berger, Brooke Breton, Donna Gigliotti, Academy President Janet Yang and Reitman.

Dolby is a novelist and stand-up comedian, and the director of “Last Weekend” and “The Artist’s Wife,” the executive producer of...

Shanghai-born Yueh Feng began his career in 1929 as a film extra. He eventually worked his way up to become a director for Great Wall, Cathay Studios, and the Shaw Brothers studio. Yueh’s work spanned a wide range of genres and often emphasized Chinese culture and traditional values, particularly in his Huangmei Opera productions.

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Basically a straightforward revenge-themed wuxia drama, “The Young Avenger” features Shih Szu—then promoted as the new “Queen of Swords”—in the lead. As the opening credits roll, a bounty hunter named Li Bao Chu (Shih Szu), disguised as a man, easily dispatches a trio of villains. Through a lengthy flashback that occupies nearly a third of the runtime, we learn that the hunchback swordsman Liu Tou (Fan Mei Sheng) demanded that Li’s father, Li Kui, teach him the “Piercing the Dragon” sword style. A duel ensues,...

In 2017, director Shinichiro Ueda became an instant celebrity thanks to his genius low-budget box-office smasher “One Cut of the Dead”, a clever mix of comedy and zombies with a twist he both wrote and directed. The bar had been set very high, and his following films never quite matched the success of his debut feature. This year, he is presenting his new caper/comedy “Angry Squad: Civil Servant and Seven Swindlers”, whose screenplay – co-written with Yuko Miyashita – has been in the making for a long time.

Angry Squad Civil Servant and Seven Swindlers is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Corporate tax officer Jiro Kumazawa (Seiyo Uchino) is a sweet-hearted, middle-aged family man who’s more inclined to help and advise local small-business owners than hunt down major criminals. In contrast, his colleague Mochizuki (Kawai Rina) sees herself as a superhero-style avenger, relentlessly pursuing big-time tax evaders. Her current target...

Anyone who's played a game from acclaimed Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima can tell he's a big fan of movies. His games, like the "Metal Gear" series and "Death Stranding," are well known for being deeply cinematic with wildly complex plots, and he's gotten some pretty famous movie-makers to take on roles in them. In fact, "Death Stranding" features not only actors Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Margaret Qualley, and Léa Seydoux, but it also includes vocal and motion-capture performances by directors Nicolas Winding Refn and Guillermo del Toro. Now, with Kojima and A24 now in the process of turning "Death Stranding" into an actual movie, it seems prudent to look into the impressive creative's favorite films.

Recently, Kojima has both visited the Criterion closet to discuss some of his favorite films and been asked about his favorite four movies by GQ, and while there's a tiny bit of overlap,...

Akira Kurosawa’s legacy is getting the 4K treatment with a massive U.S. festival. Film Forum in New York City will be hosting a special retrospective to honor the late auteur, including the U.S. premieres of a slew of 4K restorations of Kurosawa’s most beloved films.

From July 18 to 31, Film Forum will screen the new 4K restorations of “High and Low,” “Throne of Blood,” “Stray Dog,” “Ikiru,” “Yojimbo,” “Sanjuro,” and “The Hidden Fortress.” The festival coincides with Spike Lee’s reimagining of Kurosawa’s 1963 crime drama “High and Low,” titled “Highest 2 Lowest,” which debuted at Cannes 2025.

Kurosawa’s acclaimed “Seven Samurai” recently celebrated its 70th anniversary with a 4K restoration and theatrical re-release in 2024. The restored film debuted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival; the festival also honored Kurosawa’s contributions to cinema by incorporating a still of “Rhapsody in August” in the official Cannes poster that year.

Forty years ago, a clerical error and bad blood cost Akira Kurosawa an Oscar.

The legendary Japanese filmmaker's Ran proved the final samurai masterpiece of his distinguished career. His third Shakespeare adaptation, the film is epic in every sense of the word — massive in scale, shot in glorious color, with vicious betrayal and intense action and emotion. At the time of its release in 1985, Kurosawa was certainly well-regarded by the Motion Picture Academy, receiving an Honorary Award for Outstanding Foreign-Language Film for Rashomon, followed by Best Foreign-Language Film in 1976 for Dersu Uzala. The 58th Academy Awards found Ran competing for four awards, including Kurosawa’s only Best Director nod — despite not being submitted for Best Foreign-Language Film, a snub that was the product of a messy history.

Kurosawa was remarkably influential in the West. Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars was essentially a remake of Yojimbo, and films as...

Actor-director collaborations are unlike any other in movies, and have more in common with a musician-conductor, or even a star athlete and coach. It involves people with different roles and skills who together elevate the entire production through their abilities (actor/musician/athlete), and leadership (director/conductor/coach). Some may go even further, and say the relationship between actor and director is almost like the instrument and its musician. But whichever way you characterize the actor-director relationship, there's no denying there have been many great ones in movie history. We're looking at the best ever.

I'm focusing on quality, not quantity, so while Bill Murray has been in almost every Wes Anderson movie, he's mostly been in small roles. I'm also looking at diversity of output, so while Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford have made four movies together, all were "Indiana Jones" movies (though Ford famously turned Spielberg down for...

The underrated sequel to The Magnificent Sevenis about to saddle up at a new streaming home. Per Prime Video, 1966's Return of the Seven is set to become the streaming platform's latest addition.

Return of the Seven -- starring Academy Award winner Yul Brynner as Chris Adams -- will be available for streaming on Prime Video beginning June 1. It followed after the success of The Magnificant Seven (which itself was a remake of the 1954 classic Seven Samurai), with Brynner as the only cast member to reprise his role.

Directed by Burt Kennedy from a screenplay by Larry Cohen, Return of the Seven saw Brynner return to his iconic role as Cajun gunfighter Chris Adams. In the 1966 film, Adams banded together with his remaining allies from the original Seven and a few new recruits to stare down an army of villains who captured the residents of a small Mexican village to further their nefarious endeavors.

From movie-star-driven releases to IP-driven ones, industry norms keep on evolving, and in the mainstream side of things, studios mostly bank on things that are tried and proven in the current climate. Barring something like HBO, which is renowned for branching out into uncharted territories with its ventures, studios, for the most part, tend to avoid risks.

Eric Newman, one of the major forces behind Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, has shed light on this risk-averse business approach that has riddled mainstream studios and the execs’ decision-making.

It’s hard to sway execs toward risky ventures in the current climate Eric Newman | Credit: Gage Skidmore/Cc-by-sa-2.0/Creative Commons

Having been in showbiz for a better part of 25 years, Eric Newman, who remains closely affiliated with Netflix, following his association with Grand Electric, discussed studio execs’ tendencies to decline ideas. Unless it turns out to be as major as Star Wars and Twilight,...

Although he is widely regarded as one of cinema's greatest auteurs, Akira Kurosawa always struggled to find acceptance in his home country of Japan. His story was similar to that of the Indian maestro Satyajit Ray, whose internationally acclaimed movies weren't considered commercial enough in his home country. But Kurosawa continued making incendiary cinema till the very end of his life and career, disproving Quentin Tarantino's theory about movie directors losing their touch as they grow older. Last year, Kurosawa's masterpiece Seven Samurai was re-released theatrically in honor of its 70th anniversary. And this past week, 15 locations celebrated the 40th anniversary of Kurosawa's Ran.

Originally released in 1985, Ran was perhaps Kurosawa's final masterpiece. It was a modest hit at the box office, but it remains one of the best-regarded films of that era. The movie generated nearly $50,000 this past weekend, registering a per-theater average of over $3,200. In fact, by this metric,...

Yet again a filmmaker has gone to the throne of Japanese giant Akira Kurosawa for inspiration. Among the lauded director’s films Hollywood has turned into English-language adaptations are Seven Samurai, which became The Magnificent Seven twice (including once with Denzel Washington); Rashomon, which became Paul Newman’s The Outrage; Ikiru, remade a few years ago as Living; Yojimbo, which led to an uncredited inspiration for A Fistful of Dollars; and 1958’s Hidden Fortress, unquestionably an inspiration for George Lucas and Star Wars.

Now chalk up another one with Spike Lee’s new take on Kurosawa’s 1963 drama High and Low, in which Toshiro Mifune played a shoemaker executive who is torn between paying the ransom to his chauffeur’s son’s kidnapper after the criminal nabbed him by mistake instead of the executive’s son, who was safe. It becomes a moral dilemma, especially as the exec really needs...

Zack Snyder’s R-rated Star Wars film eventually came to be Rebel Moon, a wholly new IP that the Man of Steel director ended up creating for Netflix. Snyder pitched his vision for the galaxy far, far away, and specifically wanted the project to be R-rated.

Snyder’s version of the story took inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, which is a classic cinematic experience that has since become pretty iconic as a stock plot in a lot of shows and films.

Given that George Lucas also took inspiration from Kurosawa’s samurai films, it only made sense for Snyder to look to these films to inspire his take on the Star Wars franchise. However, that was never meant to be given that Disney had just purchased the IP, and was still figuring out what direction they would like to go with it.

An R-rated Star Wars project might...

After holding up a diner in Pulp Fiction and going toe-to-toe with The Hulk in the MCU, Tim Roth is now establishing himself as a bona fide action star with his new movie, Seven Snipers. Along with a fellow Marvel vet and some established action stars, Seven Snipers looks to be a new action thriller, loosely inspired by Akira Kurosawa's classic samurai film, Seven Samurai. The film is currently doing the sales rounds at this week's Cannes market, and the first look at Roth in the movie has been revealed.

The movie was announced by Deadline, along with the first look at Tim Roth as one of the titular seven snipers. Only a still has been released to the general public, but lucky viewers and prospective buyers at Cannes have seen some actual footage from the new action movie. Seven Snipers is directed by Sandra Sciberras (The Dustwalker) and written by Andrew O'Keefe.

We are officially living in an age where '90s movies are regarded as period pieces, and that thought makes many of us millennial types feel old. However, we can find comfort in aging knowing that the best art is timeless, and some movies will find new fans for as long as they are available to the viewing public. This brings us to "Ben-Hur," a 1959 historical epic about betrayal, friendship, and faith, which FlixPatrol reports is riding high on Tubi at the time of this writing.

Based on Lew Wallace's novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ" from 1880, the William Wyler-directed epic tells the story of Judah (Charlton Heston), a Jewish prince who embarks on a vengeance crusade against his old friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd). In short, Messala imprisons and enslaves Judah for speaking out against the Roman Empire, so it is understandable why their relationship becomes strained afterward.

Co-organized with Japan Society and Japan Foundation, New York, Metrograph is pleased to commemorate this master of Japanese cinema’s golden age with Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us, a two-part 30-film retrospective—presented entirely on rare film prints imported from archives and collections in Japan—on the 120th anniversary of his birth. The series runs from May 9 – 31 at Japan Society, continuing at Metrograph from June 5 – June 29.

Metrograph’s program will begin with When a Woman Ascends the Stairs followed by a post-screening reception hosted by Japan Foundation, New York at the theater. Tickets for the series will go on sale Wednesday, April 30, with a limited number available for the opening night event.

Over a career spanning four decades from 1930 to 1967, Mikio Naruse bore witness to the making of modern Japan, before and after World War II, in films that primarily examine the cruel condition of women cast adrift in a society in constant,...

The annual celebration for Cinco de Mayo, aka the Fifth of May, is here, and everyone couldn’t be more excited about the same. A vibrant celebration of Mexican resilience and heritage, it commemorates the Mexican Army’s victory over French forces on May 5, 1862, at the Battle of Puebla. To say the least, it’s a great time to appreciate the country’s rich cinematic heritage.

That said, what better way to enhance activities for the same than to watch films that reflect and showcase Mexico’s resilience, heritage, tradition, and history? For the same, here are some of the top picks for the holiday, ranging from historical dramas to animated adventures, which provide both entertainment and education at the same time. Without further ado, dig in!

Classic Mexican Films to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo The Magnificent Seven. | Credits: United Artists.

The Magnificent Seven: Though a Western classic, this...

The visionary behind Dune and Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve, is famous for his compelling storytelling techniques that dive into the darker aspects of humanity. Yet, when he first came across the script for Sicario, a riveting thriller about the US-Mexico drug war, his initial reaction was not what you’d expect.

The honest response pointed to just how emotionally taxing such intense narratives can be, even for experienced directors like him. What made him hesitant about taking on the film was the thought that this would be another morally complex and brutal project that would ask too much of his creative and emotional reserves.

Denis Villeneuve is not new to the emotionally taxing world of dark thrillers

Villeneuve is known for having consistently worked with darker subjects; human suffering and moral ambiguity have been recurring themes in some of his best works. Be it the intense psychological tumult in...

Film directors are the masterminds behind the magic, the real wizards of the silver screen. While actors may get all the glory, it’s the directors who pull the strings, calling the shots (literally) and shaping the stories we love. From the old-school legends who defined cinema to the fresh talents shaking things up today, the film industry has been home to some of the most iconic filmmakers in history.

Some directors are known for their jaw-dropping action sequences, others for their mind-bending storytelling, and a few for making us cry into our popcorn. Whether it’s Steven Spielberg’s heartwarming adventures, Quentin Tarantino’s blood-soaked brilliance, or Christopher Nolan’s brain-busting timelines, each director brings something unique to the table. Here are 30 legendary directors from all over the world who spellbind us with their craft.

30. Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola in The Godfather Part III (Credits- Paramount)

Francis...

Netflix’s strategic investment in Asian-Pacific filmmaking is yielding significant returns, with Apac members’ film viewing surging nearly 20% in 2024, according to data revealed at the company’s ongoing Apac film showcase in Tokyo.

The streaming giant disclosed that Apac films dominated its Non-English Film Weekly Top 10 charts more than content from any other region last year, with over 100 Apac titles breaking into these rankings. The robust performance underscores Netflix’s expanding footprint in the world’s most populous region.

“The average Netflix member watches seven movies every month,” noted Minyoung Kim, VP of Content for Apac (excluding India), highlighting film’s crucial role in the platform’s engagement strategy. For Netflix India specifically, films represent nearly half of all viewing time – among the highest film engagement rates globally. Indian titles have maintained an unbroken presence in Netflix’s Global Top 10 (Non-English) list every week over the past year.

The showcase...

The animated Lego Star Wars series, Rebuild the Galaxy, is adding another two key pieces. At Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, Japan, today, Lucasfilm announced that a new special is on its way: Rebuild the Galaxy: Pieces of the Past. The cast for that special will include an important part of Star Wars animation history, and a deep cut from the long history of Star Wars comic books. Ashley Eckstein will reprise her animated role of Ahsoka Tano (in Lego BrickHeadz form), and Ben Schwartz is expected to play the rascally alien rabbit Jaxxon.

The special will continue the story of the Rebuild the Galaxy miniseries, which centered around two nerf-herding brothers, Sig (Gaten Matarazzo) and Dev Greebling (Tony Revolori) who find an ancient artifact, the Cornerstone. Sig gets hurled into a Bizarro World version of the Star Wars universe, where Tattooine is a water world, Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best...

At the outset of the 1960s, the United States felt poised for its greatest decade yet or armageddon. The Soviet Union's launch of the Earth satellite Sputnik in 1957 had placed many Americans on edge. How had the Russkies beaten the most prosperous country on the planet into space, and what were our leaders doing to counteract this disaster? This led to one of the most contentious and closest Presidential elections in U.S. history, which found Democrat John F. Kennedy narrowly prevailing over Republican Richard M. Nixon. Many were hopeful that the country was in the right, aspirational hands; almost just as many were convinced we'd consigned the country to certain doom.

In times like these, people used to go to their local movie theater to escape the fresh hell of the outside world. They'd line for any entertainment that promised some kind of catharsis. Romances, comedies, romantic comedies, horror flicks,...

The Matrix is easily one of the most beloved and iconic sci-fi franchises of all time. The first three films of the cyberpunk franchise have continued to be a hit even over two decades since its release, and its latest addition came in 2021 with The Matrix Resurrections.

Although not all the installments of the franchise were as successful as the first film, which won four Academy Awards and became a pop culture symbol, including the red pill and blue pill conversation and its filmmaking style, the franchise continues to be a huge hit. The story will continue with The Matrix 5, although it will take a new direction. Speaking with Cbr's Grae Drake when promoting his newest action spy film The Amateur, Laurence Fishburne also weighed in on a possible The Matrix remake.

As Drake pointed out that a remake of The Matrix "would be wild," Fishburne replied, "You know what,...

Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is one of his most famous creations. The Ghibli film created waves in Japan, though it was not received with the same enthusiasm in the West. Nonetheless, it remains one of the most eye-opening Ghibli films.

Princess Mononoke is about a tale as old as time: the struggle between mankind and nature. The plot begins with humans who have disrespected nature and are playing a huge role in its devastation. It then shows the forest rebelling and humans becoming mere toys in its hand.

Princess Mononoke had to fight several stereotypes | Credits: Ghibli

The movie has themes of environmentalism and a dire protest against capitalism. But it also actively fights to rid Japan of its several stereotypes.

Hayao Miyazaki calls out an Akira Kurosawa masterpiece for creating a stereotype

Seven Samurai is an epic samurai action movie directed by none other than Akira Kurosawa. It...

At this point in their careers, Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua simply trust each other and it's not hard to see why. The pair's first collaboration, 2001's "Training Day" resulted in an Oscar win for Denzel, which considering this was the first movie in which the esteemed star played a villain, is a pretty good outcome — even more so when you consider Denzel's "Training Day" casting sparked so much controversy that he was warned against taking the role by the NAACP.

In the years that followed, Washington and Fuqua worked together multiple times, most notably on the "Equalizer" films which saw Washington going full John Wick-mode in a trilogy of action thrillers based on the 1985 CBS series. But "The Equalizer" and its sequels aren't the only Fuqua/Washington team-ups to come in the wake of "Training Day." In 2016, the director oversaw yet another Denzel Washington first with "The Magnificent Seven,...

The ultimate confrontation between good and evil is set to unfold as the long-running superhero anime sensation “My Hero Academia” prepares to take its final bow.

At the AnimeJapan 2025 expo in Tokyo, Toho Co., Ltd. revealed a teaser trailer and key art for the eighth and final season, which will pit protagonist Deku against the villain Shigaraki.

Set in a world where approximately 80% of the population possesses supernatural abilities known as Quirks, “My Hero Academia” chronicles the journey of Izuku Midoriya and his classmates at U.A. High School as they train to become professional heroes who protect society from villains who use their powers for nefarious purposes.

“My Hero Academia Final Season” will make its global debut this October, with Crunchyroll securing worldwide streaming rights (excluding Asia). The platform will continue its simulcast tradition, delivering new episodes to international audiences on the same day they air in Japan.

Returning...

With season two of Star Wars: Visions coming in 2023, I wanted to look back at each short from season one and celebrate why they’re great. This is Visions Remembered.

The Duel is the perfect opener for Star Wars: Visions. Not just for the fans of anime, but it’s really made everyone else who never dipped their toe into the medium. When everyday people think of Japan or anime, I’m sure one of the first things that come to their mind are samurai. Opening Star Wars: Visions with a Star Wars version of a classic Ronin story eases an everyday audience into what to expect from anime before it veers into different kinds of anime genres. Maybe The Village Bride or The Elder could have been successful as first entries too, but The Duel does a fantastic job capturing what an average audience probably expects out of something from Japan short of Godzilla,...

If you think about the sorts of genres movies about samurai fall into, it’s understandable to think about epics (Seven Samurai), grim dramas (Harakiri), or maybe even Hollywood action movies (like The Last Samurai). Stories about samurai and samurai times can do a bit of everything when it comes to genre and tone, and that includes samurai movies sometimes also functioning as comedies.

Ever since the release of John Wick, every story about an individual with a violent past resuming their old ways in order to do some good has been labeled as a rip-off of the Keanu Reeves-led action film. But the fact of the matter is that this particular plotline is as old as movies themselves. Akira Kurosawa used this trope in Seven Samurai all the way back in 1954. Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name is a recognizable figure in this action subgenre, and that character began his journey on the silver screen in 1964. In the ‘90s, we got The Long Kiss Goodnight. David Cronenberg gave us his own take on this kind of story with A History of Violence in 2005. If you dip your toes into Tamil and Telugu films and their Bollywood remakes, almost every project with an aging star has that same old narrative. I don...

Japanese television series “La Grande Maison Tokyo” aired on TBS Television in the “Sunday Theater” slot, from October to December 2019. Following its success, high viewer ratings, and several TV awards, the series has spawned a few sequels; a special television episode in 2024, “La Grande Maison Tokyo Special”, depicting the restaurant’s aftermath following the Covid-19 pandemic, and – soon after – the feature film “La Grande Maison Paris” produced by TBS Sparkle and distributed by Toho and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, and released at the end of 2024. Moreover, one of the original series’ characters, Chef Shohei Hirako, has his own spinoff series.

In 2015, Japanese chef Natsuki Obana (Takuya Kimura) was running the prestigious Michelin-starred restaurant Escoffille in Paris when his life was turned upside down by an accident. During an important lunch for the Japan-France summit, an allergenic ingredient slipped through unnoticed in the kitchen and ended up in the sea urchin starter for the VIPs,...

Known for his contributions to the documentary medium with epic portraits like “The Vietnam War” and “Baseball,” Ken Burns took to the Criterion Closet recently to express his appreciation for narrative cinema and how, for him, “becoming a filmmaker was born in tragedy.” Burns shared that his mother passed from cancer when he was only 11 and soon after, his father introduced him to cinema as a way of coping.

“My dad, who had never cried before in his life — not during her illness, not when she died, not at her impossibly sad funeral — would let me stay up late and watch films,” Burns said, “He’d take me out to the Cinema Guild in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and we’d look at films together of all sorts. And I got my education there and decided to become a filmmaker when he showed me one night Sir Carol Reed’s ‘Odd Man Out...

When a game truly embraces authenticity, it takes the player’s experience to an entirely new level. The weight of every battle, the depth of every character, and the world itself feel more immersive and believable. Capcom seems to understand this well.

The game is set to release in 2026 on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. | Image Credit: Capcom

With its latest samurai title, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the studio is making a bold move to ensure the game captures the true essence of a warrior’s journey.

Rather than simply drawing inspiration from the legendary swordsman of history, the studio is taking an extra step and has modeled the protagonist’s face after one of Japan’s most iconic samurai actors, the late Toshiro Mifune.

A samurai legend returns with Capcom’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword

For those unfamiliar, Toshiro Mifune was more than just an...

1. Sanshiro Sugata (1943)

Akira Kurosawa‘s directorial debut is based on the homonymous novel by Tsuneo Tomita, the son of prominent judoka Tsunejiro Tomita, with the main character drawing from Shiro Saigo, one of the earliest disciples of Judo, a martial art that was originally created by Jigoro Kano. The film revolves around the challenges Sanshiro Sugata faces, both from himself and from opponents, in his effort to prove judo’s superiority over traditional jujitsu techniques. Gennosuke Higaki, the “villain” in the story, is also based on a real-life fighter, Mataemon Tanabe, who is considered one of the greatest modern jujutsuka.

Buy This Title 2. The Most Beautiful (1944) 3. Sanshiro Sugata Part II (1945)

Susumu Fajita’s performance is a key factor here, as he highlights Sanshiro’s struggle as he thinks about where his path has led him thus far, and how many opponents he has left shattered and disgraced along the way.

Based on the successful “Abortion Doctor” by Kazuo Kikuta, “The Quiet Duel” is Kurosawa’s only film deriving from a modern Japanese stage play. When the director saw on stage Chiaki Minoru, who later debuted as a Kurosawa regular in “Stray Dog” (1949), he immediately pictured Toshiro Mifune as his lead for his cinematic adaption. Looking at the genesis of his other films, putting the actor first in the production process was a rather unique approach for Kurosawa. Mifune had just been posed as a gangster in “Drunken Angel” (1949) and Kurosawa wanted to use the medical subject to show him from a different side. At the same time, this was a playground for his newly formed independent director’s unit, which also led to the consideration to release “The Quiet Duel” with Daiei and, unlike his previous productions, under the Toho label.

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It might ordinarily sound like hyperbole to come right out and say that a movie is one of the very best of all time, but something as grand, timeless, and exciting as Seven Samurai deserves ludicrous praise thrown its way. Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece has always been worthy of that, and probably will be until the world ends, however that might be. It’s not just one of the most influential action movies of all time, but it could well be the film that helped define the action genre as it’s now enjoyed/understood. It tells a simple story but with perfect style and grace, following a town filled with desperate people wanting to protect themselves from bandits. They endeavor to hire warriors, end up with seven of them, and then preparations for an inevitable battle commence. The final act, then, is when all the action takes place, with...

This week on the Film Stories Podcast Network: space spies, spectral forces, legendary critics and more. Here’s what we’ve been up to…

Writers on Film

A legend is in the house with John Bleasdale this week as he invites on David Thomson, an emeritus international film critic across half a century, to discuss the joy of cinema. Plus! Don’t miss The Malick Hours where John talks about 2017’s Song to Song…

Modern Horror

There’s a ghost in my house, as the old Motown song goes, but just what is haunting the family in Steven Soderbergh’s Presence? A. J. Black and Hugh McStay try to find out…

Academy Watch

In the first of several pre-Oscar breakdowns of the Best Picture nominees, Bo Nicholson is joined by Sean Wilson to dig deep on Sean Baker’s Anora, plus he talks to Violet Hammond about Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance…...

One thing I've learned from my years as a writer, reader, and sharer of media is that certain genres form constellations. By that I mean, if you come up to me and say you’re a fan of fantasy, it’s likely that your interest could be piqued by something in an adjacent genre...with the right pitch, that is.

And while book enthusiasts can talk your ear off on YouTube about what stories to read this year, and you could consult Goodreads and its exceedingly unhelpful 5-star rating system, the best way to curate your Tbr list is still through good ol’ word of mouth. I hope this can be that for you.

One of the constellations I’ve come to really enjoy recommending for Sci-Fi and Fantasy heads is Horror. Every person on this Earth has their dark side. Regardless of how much we suppress what’s inside,...

Every now and then, a film comes along that transcends its genre, reshaping the cinematic landscape and becoming something of a cultural phenomenon. Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is one such movie.

Released in 1975, this thriller didn’t just win audiences over; it reinvented the concept of the summer blockbuster. But its influence didn’t stop there. Jaws secured a rare spot in the hearts of filmmakers worldwide, including one of the most celebrated animators of all time, Hayao Miyazaki.

A scene from Jaws | Credits: Universal Pictures

From the pulse-pounding score that sticks to your bones to the ever-tightening noose of suspense, Jaws was a cultural earthquake, setting the stage for the blockbuster era that would follow. And then there’s that shark. It didn’t just swim into our screens—it sunk its teeth into the very heart of Hollywood, leaving a legacy that continues to send ripples through the industry.