‘Raji: An Ancient Epic’ review: a brief but mesmerising action-adventure

Monsoon Wedding won the Golden Lion in 2001, just before the Twin Towers fell. That’s a long time for a nation’s film-makers to sit on the sidelines, left out in the cold – assuming they ever saw it that way.

With just two feature films under his belt, Mumbai director and playwright Chaitanya Tamhane has emerged as one of the new stars of Indian art house cinema thanks to a piercing camera that dissects the social and psychological layers of his characters. His first film, Court, was an award-winning look at the deadly bureaucracy behind India’s justice system, worthy of a nod from Frederick Wiseman.

Jay Weissberg When Chaitanya Tamhane’s extraordinary debut “Court” premiered in Venice’s Horizons section in 2014, it heralded the arrival of a bright talent willing to take risks with a cerebral kind of independent cinema.

When the Japanese Imperial Army laid siege to an innocuous warehouse in 1937’s Battle of Shanghai, the skirmish ultimately became a flashpoint that galvanized a nation. China lost that battle but won the war, and the resistance of the Eight Hundred Heroes earned the legendary status it retains to this day.

Richard Kuipers Based on a ’70s manga by Japanese master Osamu Tezuka, a bored writer’s affair with his beguiling young muse gets the live-action treatment in “Tezuka’s Barbara.” Primarily concerned with the story’s excursions into erotic surrealism and the occult while playing down its social and political themes, this handsomely packaged item isn’t deep or meaningful but does present a visually arresting account of middle-aged male ennui colliding with uninhibited and irresistible female

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentRussian World War II drama “Saving Leningrad” has sold to several major territories, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and China.The film was sold to Capelight for Germany and the U.S., Signature Entertainment for the U.K., Kinovista in France, New Select in Japan, iQIYI in China, Super Vision Trading in Taiwan, W&W Investments Holding in Poland, Eagle Pictures in Italy, Studio Show Entertainment in Sweden, and

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticFour days feels like an eternity in “The Eight Hundred,” mainland Chinese writer-director Guan Hu’s monumental, if sometimes unwieldy epic interpretation of the courageous defense of a warehouse by the Chinese Nationalist Army in October 1937. For those with little knowledge of the Sino-Japanese War, the bombardment of facts, action and characters in the 147-minute film can be too much to take in at one go.

Jamie Lang In today’s Global Bulletin, San Sebastian announces it will screen all eight episodes of Luca Guadagnino’s “We Are Who We Are” and finalizes its competition sections; Venice selects legendary composer Terence Blanchard as its third Campari Passion for Film winner; Big Light Productions gets a new COO; Small World International licenses “Big in Japan” in Russia; and Fugitive signs on as Topic’s international distribution representative.HBO has doubled down at this year’s San Sebastian

Some things just make sense, and CHAI and Hinds collaborating is one of them. Today, the two bands unveiled their new single, “UNITED GIRLS ROCK’N'ROLL CLUB,” an easy-going message of global harmony delivered in Japanese, Spanish and English.

www.btsincinemas.com, with the announcement inevitably cautioning that “dates vary per territory and (are) subject to change based on the status of local cinema re-openings.”The U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India and over 40 countries in all are listed for the later release date on Sept. 24.

Hinds have teamed up with Japanese outfit CHAI for a new single titled ‘United Girls Rock ‘n’ Roll Club’.The bands took to their respective social media pages to share the collaboration, posting group photos together.“NEW SONG OUT THIS DAMM FRIDAY UNITED GIRLS ROCK N ROLL CLUB YOU ALL INVITED,” Hinds captioned their post.

According to a recent report on Naver, via Soompi, Hyun Bin's agency VAST Entertainment will be taking legal action against a photo book featuring the Crash Landing on You star that is all set to republish in Japan on September 7 without permission. The pictures present in the photo book is from Bin's time in the Marine Corps while the republication has been inspired by CLOY's immense popularity all over the world.

“YYZ” is a big ask for any drummer, but 10-year-old prodigy Yoyoka does it justice.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticIn “Apocalypse ’45,” we see images of World War II — the last six months of it, when our forces were engaged in a grisly death-throes battle with the Japanese in the Pacific — that are more colorful, raw, and deeply naturalistic than the images we’re used to seeing. And that footage hits us with the shock of the new.American soldiers blast their flamethrowers into caves, the oily fire whipping around like something out of a dragon’s mouth.

Also Read: Is 'Greyhound' Based on a True Story?The film, which is being released in some theaters (and virtual theaters) on the Aug. 14 anniversary, will also air on the Discovery Channel on Labor Day weekend, which is closer to the Sep.

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticWant to impress your date by fighting off her molestor? Wish your stand-up comedy act would bring the house down? Or looking to pack your grumpy grandpa’s funeral with keening mourners? Call “Special Actors,” an agency that supplies performers to help you keep up with the Suzukis — or out-scam your scammers.The third feature by Shinichiro Ueda, director of Japanese cult zombie comedy “One Cut of the Dead,” is a daffy ensemble trickster comedy with a few “gotcha”

A pair of Mahatma Gandhi’s glasses are going under the hammer after an auction house found them stuffed in an envelope and hanging out of its letterbox.

Rick and Morty anime short has been released online, and it raises some major questions around the relationship between the two main characters.Back in March, Adult Swim shared a five-minute Rick and Morty short called Samurai & Shogun, created by Japanese studio Deen Digital.Now, Deen have shared a surprise, unannounced second edition called Rick and Morty vs. Genocider, which you can watch below.