AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Fresh and talented German animator Moritz Mayerhofer has released a short trailer for his original ten-minute long animated film Urs. Mayerhofer spent three years working on the film as his final thesis project at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg. The short is now touring international film festivals.

Many years Urs looked after his aging mother. But now he sets out for a dangerous journey: He carries her up a mountain to find a better place for both of them. But his mother doesn’t want to leave her home…

URS is a story about responsibility. How long can you bear an intolerable condition? Isn’t it good to try to change things? But what about others. Can you really decide what’s the best for someone else?

Source: The CGSociety

For those that have been to Tokyo, or those just interested in the ‘land of anime’ culture, here’s some very cool video of Shibuya. Be sure to check out the poster’s other videos by following the link below as well.

Shibuya Final Bargain Sale from James T. Kirk on Vimeo.

Last weekend’s premiere broadcast of the new Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins live action & CGI movie has officially become the Cartoon Network’s most watched broadcast ever. The screening pulled in 6.1 million viewers. And you wonder why the network is scaling back anime broadcasts?

Source: ICv2

Director Zebediah de Soto and Simon West Productions are prepping a 3D CG animated Night of the Living Dead: Origins prequel to George Romero’s seminal 1968 horror film. Co-screenwriter and first time feature director de Soto describes the planned prequel as, “an American-style anime.”

Let’s momentarily set aside the fact that this is a planned “Dead” movie made without Romero’s involvement and produced because the director and producers realized that the rights to the original film are now public domain. If the precise meaning of the word “anime” hasn’t been corrupted to the point of irrelevancy yet, applying it to an American motion capture CG zombie movie might be the final nail.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Viz Media’s NEW PEOPLE complex in San Francisco will host exclusive screenings of director Daihachi Yoshida’s 2007 “dramedy” Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers! and director Nice Rainbow’s (Katsuhito Ishii, Shunichiro Miki, Yuuuka Ooosumi) 2008 comedy Sorasoi beginning this Friday.

Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers! will have screenings on September 18 & 19 and 21-23.

Sorasoi will screen on September 25, 26, and 28. Director Katsuhito Ishii & select actors will personally attend the screenings on the 25th.

Variety reports that Hancock director Peter Berg will helm a feature film adaptation of the Hasbro board game “Battleship” for Universal. “‘Battleship’ is a big opportunity,” say Universal Pictures chairmen Marc Shmuger and David Linde. Berg called the pic, “A contemporary story of an international five-ship fleet engaged in a very dynamic, violent and intense battle.” The movie will open on July 1, 2011.

First thought: Huh? Second thought: Oh, it’s got nothing to do with the game besides the title.

Noboru Iguchi’s (Machine Girl) latest creation is The Ancient Dogoo Girl (Kodai Shojo Dogu-chan), a tokusatsu comedy TV series starring 18-year-old Idoling!!! member Erika Yazawa. Pop star Yazawa will play an ancient girl revived after 10,000 years to battle evil teenage monsters in present day Japan while befriending socially withdrawn teen boy Makoto, played by Masataka Kubota (Keitai Sosakan 7, Mop Girl). Iguchi directed the series’ first episode (and has a cameo appearance in the episode). Directors including Takashi Shimizu (Ju-on) and Ryuta Miyake (Ju-on: Shiroi Rojo) will helm episodes. Tokyo Gore Police director Yoshihiro Nishimura and Machine Girl & Robo-Geisha visual effects designer are contributing to the show’s models and visual effects.

The MBS network will begin airing The Ancient Dogoo Girl on October 7.

Absolutely crazy.

Source: Nippon Cinema

The Walt Disney Co. has advanced a proposal to acquire Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock. Marvel has agreed to the deal, but the acquisition will first need approval by Marvel shareholders and review for compliance with federal anti-trust regulations. Disney has had recent success appeal to a female audience with brands including “Hannah Montana” and the Jonas Brothers, and sees the acquisition of Marvel characters including X-Men, Iron Man, and Hulk as a means to reach a young male audience.

Presuming the deal occurs, movie production & distribution deals already signed by Marvel will remain in effect. Disney’s Pixar subsidiary is “pretty excited” about the possibility of producing films featuring Marvel characters.

Source: AP Newswire & ComingSoon

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

Phoenix Pictures (License to Wed, Pathfinder) has signed on to produce an original horror film co-created by Ju-on producer Taka Ichise and creator/director Takashi Shimizu. Ichise & Shimizu developed the concept of a haunted song that drives its listeners to suicide. Chris Philpott developed the concept into a script. Ichise’s Ozla Pictures and Phoenix Pictures will co-produce the Hollywood film, which Shimizu will direct. Shimizu has previously directed the American financed films The Grudge, and The Grudge 2.

Source: Variety

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

Dreamworks Pictures has hired Oscar-winner Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost) to write the script for its remake of the 2003 Japanese fantasy drama film Yomigaeri (Resurrection). The heartwarming film focuses on a Japanese village where dead residents suddenly return to life and gently reacquaint themselves with their remaining living family members. The Dreamworks’ remake will tentatively be titled “Rainbow Bridge.”

Yomigaeri is one of three Asian films being remade by Dreamworks; the other two are Old Boy and Ghost in the Shell.

Source: Anime News Network

It’s not anime, but any American R-rated 2D sci-fi action animated film deserves some notice from anime fans. The official site for War of the Worlds: Goliath, a feature length animated sequel to H.G. Wells’ classic novel, now hosts a streaming trailer and a 12 minute long behind-the-scenes video. The movie will hit DVD early next year.

It’s neat to see serious mecha action in an American 2D animated movie – especially one not based on a comic from the “big two.” But for a flick with a budget of over $5 million, well, see for yourself.

Source: Twitch

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) has officially refused to grant a certificate (rating) to writer/director Koji Shiraishi’s recently released live action “torture porn” horror movie Grotesque, thereby rendering the film illegal to distribute on home video in the UK. Municipalities throughout the UK do have the right to grant permissions for local theatrical screenings of films not classified by the BBFC.

BBFC director David Cooke explains, “Unlike other recent ‘torture’-themed horror works, such as the Saw and Hostel series, Grotesque features minimal narrative or character development and presents the audience with little more than an unrelenting and escalating scenario of humiliation, brutality and sadism. The chief pleasure on offer seems to be in the spectacle of sadism (including sexual sadism) for its own sake… Rejecting a work outright is a serious matter and the board considered whether the issue could be dealt with through cuts. However, given the unacceptable content featured throughout cutting the work is not a viable option in this case and the work is therefore refused a classification.”

Evidently the film described as “the cruellest Japanese splatter movie ever” has been deemed just too much for Britain.

Source: Twitch

IESB reports that director/producer Steven Spielberg is eager to acquire and produce a feature film adaptation of screenwriter Stuart Beattie’s script based on Eric Nylund’s novel Halo: The Fall of Reach. Spielberg and Creative Artists Agency are reported to be in negotiations to acquire the film production rights. This tentative film project is entirely separate from 20th Century Fox’s canceled plans for a Halo movie from producer Peter Jackson and director Neil Blomkamp, although it’s possible that one or both men may be asked to participate in the development of a Spielberg produced movie.

ZDNet reports that China Blue Hi-definition Disk (CBHD), the reincarnation of Toshiba’s ill-fated HD DVD technology, is gaining support quickly enough to surpass Blu-ray as the world’s leading high definition video format in just 12 months. CBHD players are outselling Blu-ray players in China 3-1. Blogger Robin Harris explains that the China is paying minimal technology royalties for its CBHD products, allowing their manufacture and sale at much lower costs than Blu-ray. Furthermore, since English is the #2 language in Asia, CBHD discs and players are poised to expand internationally, cutting deeply into the already marginal market Blu-ray has established.

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

Salon.com has an intriguing article up on the subject of the global recession not only driving more Japanese women into the professional hostess profession, but the increase itself possibly evolving the Japanese society’s perspective on the profession.

Article provided by Daniel Zelter