‘Drive My Car’ Director and Soundtrack Composer on Crafting Film’s Emotional Score: ‘Our Film Language Was Very Similar’

Film Independent today announced that the seventh triennial Sloan Film Summit will take place from April 8-10 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

Square Enix has corrected a statement about Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, confirming the upcoming remaster will only have the refined soundtrack.The announcement blog post for the game, which was published on February 9, has been updated to reflect the inaccurate information. A statement at the top of the article reads:“This article originally incorrectly stated that users can switch between the original and remastered soundtracks.

live stream featuring American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters of the Oscars broadcast racked up approximately 300,000 views alongside the main show. According to data from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Oscars ASL live stream additionally had over 1 million impressions and was watched for 903.6 viewing hours.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentHamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Drive My Car” is now making headlines in Japan after winning the best international feature Oscar. The film is only the second from the country to take the prize, the previous one being the 2008 “Departures.” Released domestically in August, “Drive My Car” had earned only $250,000 by the end of 2021, despite winning three awards at Cannes, including best screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car scooped the International Feature Film Oscar tonight, becoming the second movie from Japan to take a competitive prize in the category formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film (it’s the fifth for Japan if we count honorary awards given out in the 1950s).

Japan has won the award, and the first time since 2008.It beat out Italy’s “The Hand of God,” Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World,” Denmark’s “Flee” and Bhutan’s “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom.”———For more of AP’s Oscar coverage visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards

Not surprisingly, the most celebrated film of the year took one of the most coveted Oscars in the world. No, this isn’t about “Power of the Dog” or the Best Picture race.

Shinji Aoyama, the Japanese film director, writer and composer known for the film “Eureka,” which won him two prizes at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, died March 21 in Tokyo after a battle with esophageal cancer, according to local reports. He was 57.Aoyama made waves in the international film community when he premiered “Eureka” at Cannes.

94th Annual Academy Awards are Sunday, and that means it's time to name the best of the best of the past year in film. While not quite as chaotic as last year's pandemic-altered releases, this year still offered an interesting mix of theatrical blockbusters, acclaimed streamers and some combination of the two (thanks, HBO Max!). The top films of the year span the cinematic spectrum as well, including a Western, a musical, a star-studded satire, a horror-noir, a Japanese road film and a handful of heartfelt family dramas, leaving voters with some big decisions to make when it comes to the Academy's biggest prizes. So, who will win? Here are ET's predictions for the 2022 Oscars, based on who's been winning with the guilds, the BAFTAs and other precursor awards shows, as well as the ebb and flow of recent film trends.

HYBE Labels subsidiary Source Music has confirmed that its upcoming girl group, which includes former IZ*ONE members Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won, are set to debut in May.Today (March 21), the agency confirmed to News1 that their next K-pop act are preparing to debut in May. The news comes just a week after Source Music confirmed that it had signed ex-IZ*ONE’s Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won as members of its upcoming girl group.“The first girl group created under HYBE with Kim Chae-won and Miyawaki Sakura is preparing with an aim to debut in May,” said the agency, as translated by Soompi.

Neil Young has announced the fourth instalment in his ‘Official Release Series’ anthology, comprising three classic albums from the 1980s – one of his own, and two collaborative efforts – as well as a rare EP that was only ever sold in Australia and Japan.‘Official Release Series Volume 4’ is set for release on April 29 via Reprise. In addition to Young’s 1980 solo album ‘Hawks & Doves’, the box set includes his fifth album with Crazy Horse (1981’s ‘Re•ac•tor’) and his debut effort with The Bluenotes (1988’s ‘This Note’s For You’).It also marks the first time many fans will be able to hear the EP ‘Eldorado’, which was initially released in Australia and Japan in 1989.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKitano Takeshi, a contemporary icon of Japanese cinema, is to receive a lifetime achievement award next month at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy.“A legendary artist on Friday the 29th of April will receive the Golden Mulberry Award for lifetime achievement on the stage of FEFF 24,” the festival announced Friday with barely concealed delight.Kitano who has film credits as writer, director, producer and performer, as well as a whole TV comedy career, is known for the brutal sergeant he played alongside David Bowie and Sakamoto Ryuichi in Oshima Nagisa’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” and for incursions into Hollywood in “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Ghost in the Shell.” His Japanese oeuvre ranges from fine art to gangster genre thriller. He has credits in film noir (“Violent Cop”), romance (“A Scene at the Sea”), drama masterpieces (“Sonatine,” “Kids Return,” Venice Golden Lion-winner “Hana-bi,” “Kikujiro,” “Dolls” swordplay (“Zatoichi”) and hard-boiled cult saga “Outrage.”“For Far East Film Festival 24, a truly incredible dream comes true: the dream of bringing one of the giants of world cinema to Udine.

Pachinko director Kogonada has opened up about his experience working with Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung on the upcoming Apple TV+ series.In a recent interview withThe Korea Herald, Kogonada spoke about his time working with Youn and gushed about her performance as the show’s main character Sunja. “Her face to me was like a map of human history and Korean history, and the notes that she can play on her face are really remarkable to me,” he said.He added that he felt so compelled by Youn’s acting that he was always eager to film the next scene with her while on set.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentTakarada Akira, best known as a star in the early “Godzilla” films and Toho’s other kaiju (monster) and sci-fi movies from the 1950s and 1960s, died on Monday, age 87. The cause of death has not been announced.Born in 1934 in Japan-occupied Korea, Takarada came with his family to Japan in 1948 as a speaker of Mandarin Chinese and English.

Lady Gaga is the lady of the night at the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Awards!

K.J. Yossman Film Mode Entertainment has inked a multi-project distribution deal with Australian director/producer Luke Sparke’s company Sparke Films.Among the titles Film Mode will represent worldwide are Sparke’s upcoming projects “Weapons of Choice,” a television adaptation of John Birmingham’s World War Two trilogy “Axis of Time” and “Primitive War,” a horror feature franchise based on Ethan Pettus’ book series.Film Mode will also handle worldwide sales rights for “Occupation: Rainfall 2” and “Occupation: Rainfall 3” – the third and fourth films in Sparke’s franchise – as well as a number of other projects still in development.

IZ*ONE member Miyawaki Sakura has spoken about her move to HYBE Labels’ Source Music in a letter to fans.Yesterday (March 14), a representative from Source Music shared that ex-IZ*ONE members Miyawaki and Kim Chae-won had signed “exclusive contracts with the agency” and would be joining its upcoming girl group.Later that day, the Japanese idol took to Instagram to personally share the news with her fans. “This time, I’ve moved to Source Music under HYBE,” she wrote in Korean and Japanese.Miyawaki shared that she had been unable to post much on social media in recent months, and apologised for keeping her fans waiting.

IZ*ONE members Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won will return as bandmates in Source Music’s as-yet-unnamed new girl group, the entertainment company has confirmed.On March 14, a representative from Source Music shared a statement confirming that the two idols had signed “exclusive contracts with the agency” and would be joining its upcoming girl group. Notably, the label had reportedly signed the two stars as early as last August, though it did not confirm the news at the time.“Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won have signed exclusive contracts with the agency on the basis of mutual trust.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentHamaguchi Ryusuke’s Oscar-nominated “Drive My Car” took eight prizes at the 45th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony, held on Friday at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takawana in Tokyo.In addition to the best picture award, the film won best director (Hamaguchi), best screenplay (Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa) and best actor (Nishijima Hidetoshi). The film also scooped prizes for cinematography, lighting, editing and sound recording.Meanwhile, best actress went to Arimura Kasumi for her work in the hit romantic drama “We Made a Beautiful Bouquet.”Best animation honors were awarded to Watanabe Ayumu’s “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko,”  a heart-warming coming-of-age film set in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

EXCLUSIVE: Japanese director Hikari is to helm Netflix’s dramedy Beef.