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Studio Ghibli has long captivated audiences with its imaginative, hand-drawn films. Known for masterpieces like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, the studio excels at blending fantasy with deep emotional themes. Miyazaki’s latest film, The Boy and the Heron, is no exception, and surprisingly, Robert Pattinson, most renowned for his dark live-action appearances, was hired as the voice for its English language version.

Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in a still from The Batman | Credit: DC Studios, Warner Bros.

The decision was reportedly supported by an iPhone recording demonstrating his passion and originality for this role. The Boy and the Heron is an unusual story about life, death, and self-discovery with a crucial role played by the enigmatic Heron. Despite initial skepticism, Pattinson’s excitement for the project and his innovative preparation proved he was the perfect fit for this complex and unusual role.

A surprising pick: why Robert...

The Boy and the Heron was one of the most successful 2023 films and yet Hayao Miyazaki’s most convoluted work so far. While it’s still very much a masterpiece in its own right, the audience failed to comprehend the real story and message behind it.

Mahito Maki’s story is complex. As a young boy living in Japan during World War II, he’s bound to have some trauma but we witness it first-hand during the first scene itself. At the beginning of The Boy and the Heron, Mahito runs toward a burning hospital where his mom is and loses her.

Mahito Maki from The Boy and the Heron, directed by Hayao Miyazaki. [Credit: Studio Ghibli]

After losing his mother, his father decides to marry her sister, Natsuko, to give Mahito some semblance of a normal family. She’s even pregnant, and this makes the young boy resent them further.

Final voting is February 11-18. The 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2 and air live on ABC at 7 p.m. Et/ 4 p.m. Pt. We update our picks through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.

The State of the Race

“The Wild Robot” has further momentum for Best Animated Feature after grabbing two additional Oscar nominations for score (Kris Bowers) and sound. This is a first for DreamWorks Animation. However, the sci-fi adventure is in a very tight race with indie sensation “Flow,” which also secured a Best International Feature nomination for Latvia. “Flow” is on a roll of its own, capturing prizes from the Golden Globes, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the European Film group. After last year’s win for Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron,...

Studio Ghibli has had a long and illustrious career and has come to be renowned for its magnificent stories and fantastic settings. It has to also be noted that Studio Ghibli has never been afraid of coming out with a unique idea, which might or might not be accepted.

A still from When Marnie Was There. Credits: Studio Ghibli

This is why they have always been a pioneer in creating masterpieces that effortlessly blend magical realism with profound emotional themes. However, among many such tales, the work When Marnie Was There, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, stands out as a uniquely grounded story.

It focused on largely ignored themes such as loneliness, mental health, and self-discovery. The work may not have achieved the widespread acclaim of ‘Spirited Away‘ or ‘My Neighbor Totoro‘ or even an Oscar like ‘The Boy and the Heron.’

When Marnie Was There is a mirror to the human psyche

At its core,...

The announcement of this year’s Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature has sent waves of shock and disappointment across the anime community, with Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Look Back absent from the list.

Ayumu Fujino in Look Back. [Credit: Studio Durian]

Instead, the nominees include Flow, Inside Out 2, The Wild Robot, Memoir of a Snail, and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. No anime movie was on the list.

However, to say that anime and the Academy Awards have a rocky relationship would be an understatement. Every few years, some anime film reshapes popular culture, and Look Back is the latest buzzworthy hit, thrilling fans ahead of Oscars 2025.

Look Back was not nominated for the Best Animated Feature

Flashy titles that came out in 2024 kept many anime fans’ hopes high for the 97th Academy Awards. Yet, it seems next year might follow the usual pattern, with Disney claiming victory. Still,...

The official website of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed a list of nominees for the 97th Oscars on Jan 23, 2025.

While a total of five anime movies, including Look Back, The Colors Within and Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim were eligible for the Best Animated Feature Film category, none of them made the final cut.

The nominations for the Best Feature Film Category include:

Flow Inside Out 2 Memoir of a Snail Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl The Wild Robot

The 97th Academy Awards will take place on March 2, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy & the Heron won the Oscar Award for the Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, held on March 10, 2024. It marked the director’s second win in the category, following Spirited Away in 2003.

It was also the only anime film to...

Oscar season is upon us once again, and Disney fans everywhere are waiting to see if the House of Mouse can climb back on top for Best Animated Feature. After losing out to the likes of Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (2023) and The Boy and the Heron (2024), Disney hasn't been top-dog since 2022.

Now, Disney has 15 nominations for 2025, but it will have to contend with four others for Best Animated Feature. Along with Flow, Memoir of a Snail, Wallace and Gromit, the acclaimed Inside Out 2 is also in the running for the Oscar. However, one additional competitor could mop the floor with them.

Riley or the robot?

On paper, the two contenders are apples and oranges. It's Pixar's return to Riley's mind with a new team of emotions up against an emotional story about a shipwrecked robot and her animal friends. However, the crown will go to the more emotional family-friendly affair.

The list for the 2025 Academy Awards nominations was recently released, and it has been the talk of the town since then. The Oscar 2025 list has many contentious perceptions, but the biggest one is that not a single 2024 anime film made it to the list. This was certainly heartbreaking for hardcore anime fans, considering the fact that anime has become a mainstream phenomenon.

The Boy and the Heron | Credit: Studio Ghibli

While the anime art form is still underappreciated in many different places, 2024 changed it in a major way because of some great pieces of work that attracted a lot of attention. However, the fact that the Oscars 2025 are not nominating a single 2024 anime has a much deeper reason behind it that many anime fans fail to understand.

The main culprits behind this are Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai, who have been nominated for and even won Oscars in the past.

The Oscars (and awards ceremonies in general) have a big animation problem. For much of Oscars history animated films have been shut out of nominations, with only animated short films having their own category. Then, once the Best Animated Feature category was created in 2001, it quickly came to be dominated by Disney films' and kids films in general. The Academy didn't take long to essentially consider the entire medium to be nothing more than a yearly celebration of Disney's marketing prowess, and the butt of endless dumb jokes about how tiring it is to watch a cartoon with your kids.

Granted, there have been surprises, like "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" going home with the win back in 2022, or when Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" won last year. Still, the award has historically been rather predictable: a simple battle between the big American studios, and an award...

To say that anime and the Academy Awards have a rocky relationship would be an understatement. Every few years, some anime film reshapes popular culture, and Look Back is the latest buzzworthy hit, thrilling fans ahead of Oscars 2025.

It’s always been maddening how underrepresented anime is during the Academy Awards, but 2025 might just top that. The highly publicized chatter for Look Back was stunned to find out the anime that ruled supreme above others in 2024 was shunned from the Oscars’ Animated Feature category.

Look Back. [Credit: Studio Durian]

Flashy titles that came out in 2024 kept many anime fans’ hopes high for the 97th Academy Awards. Yet, it seems next year might follow the usual pattern, with Disney claiming victory. Still, the snubbing of Look Back from the Oscars 2025 has enraged fans, and they have been speaking their minds online.

Outrage sparks as Look Back Misses 2025 Oscars Nomination

The Academy Awards have had a long,...

Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away continues to attract audiences from all over the world, not only for its wonderful visuals and intriguing characters but also for its ability to incorporate complicated cultural nuances into a globally accessible plot. His masterpiece features several awe-inspiring moments, in which some scenes leave fans especially the younger fans puzzled.

Spirited Away | Credit: Studio Ghibli

One such scene involves Chihiro smashing a little worm-like organism inside Haku. After that a somewhat mysterious encounter in which Kamaji tells Chihiro to “cut the line!” This specific scene may appear unclear to international audiences, and even younger Japanese viewers, however its origins may be traced back to a traditional Japanese ‘good luck charm.’

Cultural symbolism: what does “Cut the Line!” mean?

In the specific scene of Spirited Away, Chihiro expels a black, worm-like thing from Haku’s body after he consumes a healing dumpling she gives. Kamaji, while watching the incident,...

Hayao Miyazaki is the celebrated maestro of animation and has managed to capture the hearts of fans all across the world. Not just that, he has delivered some of the most unforgettable films in cinematic history.

Mahito in a still from the movie ‘The Boy and the Heron’ | Credit: Studio Ghibli

Of all the Japanese animated movies, Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away was the first to receive an Oscar. It was a much-deserved win for Studio Ghibli, which set a precedent for the Japanese animation industry as well.

All of this led to hype around the making of his latest venture, The Boy and the Heron, to be a topic of extreme excitement and controversy. While the film has received widespread acclaim and even managed to get an Oscar, it also holds the unfortunate tag of being the lowest-rated Miyazaki film.

The Boy and the Heron is the lowest-rated...

The biggest celebration of Japanese film, the Japan Academy Prize, is gearing up for its 48th annual ceremony on March 14, 2025. Ahead of then, the Japan Academy Prize Association revealed the nominees for all the top awards today . The Animation category is filled with some of the biggest anime films from 2024, including Look Back , Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, and more! The full list for Animation of the Year includes: Ganbatte Ikimasshoi Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram Look Back Outside of anime, the latest Kingdom live-action film, Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General , is up for Picture of the Year, with director Shinsuke Sato up for Best Director, lead actor and supporting actor Kento Yamazaki and Takao Osawa up for their respective awards as well as many production awards. The Cells at Work live-action film also picked up a few nominations,...

Hayao Miyazaki, the genius behind Studio Ghibli, has created some of the most influential and beloved animated films in history, including Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and The Boy and the Heron. Environmentalism, social justice, feminism, and other issues happening in real life are deep-set themes in most of his acclaimed work.

Hayao Miyazaki | Image by 文部科学省ホームページ, licensed under Cc By-sa 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

While other directors of his caliber will measure success with the likes of the Oscars, Miyazaki’s vision is greater than that. Having been at the helm of Studio Ghibli as a company face, he has filled so many hats with his fantastic career, such as director, writer, producer, and animation director for studio productions.

Miyazaki, a self-proclaimed cynic, has many times demonstrated an extreme aversion to most practices related to the anime industry. The focus of this practice has immensely complemented the golden rule provided...

It was criminal that the Best Animated Film category didn’t exist at the Oscars before 2001. Iconic films like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Mulan missed out on the golden statuette. While Beauty and the Beast became the first animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture, the absence of a dedicated Animated Feature category left a void in recognizing the artistry of animated films at the Oscars.

The creation of the award, in hindsight, inadvertently confined animated films to their own category. Following the 81st Academy Awards, cinephiles noted that no rule prevented Wall-e from being nominated for Best Picture, sparking debates on animated films’ true recognition.

At the time of the award’s introduction, Disney had cooled off, and Pixar (distributed by Disney) took the reins, dominating with creativity and innovation. Pixar has claimed 11 of the 23 Oscars for Best Animated Feature.

Today, the animated landscape is more competitive than ever.

Christian Bale is known for taking on challenging roles that push him to his limits, whether it was playing the cold and calculating Patrick Bateman in American Psycho or the deeply emotional role of Jesus in Mary, Mother of Jesus. His commitment to fully becoming these characters made him a standout actor. But what inspired him to choose such intense roles, and how did he prepare for them?

Christian Bale as Jesus in Mary, Mother of Jesus | Credits: Netflix

In a past interview, the actor opened up about his approach to acting, revealing how some of these roles impacted his life in ways he hadn’t expected. Some characters had a stronger effect on him than others, even influencing his sleep in surprising ways.

How did Christian Bale balance intense roles like Bateman and Jesus?

Christian Bale is known for his dedication to every role he takes on, no matter how challenging or intense.

World War II dramas and grand historical epics still have their place in the best international feature Oscar category — Italy’s contender, Vermiglio, the story of a Sicilian army deserter who arrives in a remote Alpine village in 1944, is betting on the Academy appeal of World War II tales — but the expansion of the Academy to include more members outside the U.S. has broadened the range of films in contention. An Oscar shortlist these days is as likely to include a Korean horror-thriller about class conflict (2019 Oscar winner Parasite) or a donkey-focused road movie from Poland (2022 nominee Eo) as it is a handsome old-school costume drama.

Beyond the obvious frontrunners this year, dark horses abound: Rich Peppiatt’s cheeky “docu-drama” Kneecap, about an Irish rap group, has been winning audiences to the cause since its Sundance debut (awards masters Sony Pictures Classics snatched it up on the eve of...

The Italian box office held steady in 2024 with cinemas taking €493.9m in 2024 from admissions of 69.7 million.

The result is almost in line with 2023, representing a slight 0.4% dip in box office and a 1.3% fall in admissions, according to figures from Italian box office organisation Cinetel.

It is a decent result for Italy given the disruption to film releases caused by the US actors’ and writers’ strikes and competition from major sporting events during the summer. Notably, Italy held on to the strong box office gains of 2023, when the box office surged by 62% in the wake of the pandemic.

Top 30 films in Italy,...

In the realm of anime, it is safe to say that no one can beat Hayao Miyazaki’s works. The Japanese filmmaker and chairman of Studio Ghibli has been dropping hit after hit for as long as the anime community can remember, and his projects are not only popular in Japan. He has a global fan following, and one of the main reasons behind it is that the dubs of his movies are as spectacular as the subs.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away | Credit: Studio Ghibli

The comparison between dub and sub has been an age-old debate, and the only one who is safe from it is Miyazaki and his anime movies. His dubs and subs are almost equal in comparison, and they are true to the core message that he tries to portray through his work. Aside from that, they also work because they feature some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Gold House has unveiled its fifth annual Gold List with “Wicked” and “Moana 2” among the films being honored.

The list spotlights the most exceptional achievements in film by Asian Pacific creatives over the past year. It also serves as a guide for awards voters and celebrates a monumental year for Asian Pacific representation in cinema.

Since its launch five years ago, the Gold List has celebrated an emerging tide of increasing representation in film by honoring over 200 Asian Pacific films and creatives, with many proceeding to receive Academy Awards. Among those films are “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Minari,” “Rrr,” “Parasite,” “The Boy and the Heron” and “The Elephant Whisperer.”

In a year when Asian Pacific creativity dominated the box office —”Moana 2″ and Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” alone grossed over $1.2 billion globally — the Gold List celebrates these blockbusters alongside “All We Imagine As Light,” “Dìdi” and “Monkey Man.

Studio Ghibli is known for its breathtaking visuals, timeless stories, and its profound ability to capture the imagination of audiences worldwide. One of the primary flagbearers of this unparalleled success is Hayao Miyazaki; the filmmaker whose works like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke have secured his legacy as one of the greatest pioneers in the history of animation.

Hayao Miyazaki’s most recent film The Boy and the Heron | Credit: Studio Ghibli

However, despite his towering achievements, there’s an untold side to Hayao Miyazaki’s creative journey. Beneath the whimsical tales of magic and nature lies a bunch of unmade projects, that Miyazaki has candidly described as too “serious” and “not entertaining”. What would anime and Studio Ghibli look like today if Miyazaki had been free to create these more serious films?

The stories that Hayao Miyazaki never told

Hayao Miyazaki has always been an enigma.

China’s total box office in 2024 saw a sharp decline of 23% year-on-year, dropping to $5.81bn (RMB42.5bn) – the lowest takings since 2015 and 34% down on the pre-Covid peak in 2019 – indicating ongoing struggles to recover from the pandemic.

Last year’s annual gross was down from $7.5bn (RMB54.9bn) in 2023, which was seen as a more encouraging figure despite still being 14.5% behind pre-pandemic 2019.

A total of 501 films were released (425 local and 76 foreign titles), comparable to 512 titles in 2023.

A trio of local films topped the chart, with each exceeding the RMB3bn ($410m) mark: Jia Ling’s Yolo ($472m/RMB3.46bn); Han Han...

In a major upset, Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis’ “Flow” won the Golden Globe for best animated feature on Sunday evening. A co-production between Latvia, Belgium, and France with a modest $3.7 million budget, “Flow” made waves simply by earning a nomination in a category traditionally dominated by big-budget studio films.

While it’s handled by Sideshow and Janus Films whose track record includes the Oscar-winning “Drive My Car,” “Flow” faced an uphill battle in the Golden Globe race, competing against two Disney/Pixar blockbusters (“Inside Out 2” and “Moana 2”), a DreamWorks feature by animation legend Chris Sanders (“The Wild Robot”), a big-budget Netflix production from Oscar-winning Aardman Animations (“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”) and Oscar-winning director Adam Elliot’s “Memoirs of a Snail.”

In the film, a biblical flood has submerged everything in its path, including Cat’s home. There are no humans to be found anywhere, although their material legacy remains.

A pair of dramas exchanged haymakers at the 2025 Golden Globes on Sunday night, as Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist finally emerged as the two lead contenders in an unruly awards season.

Jacques Audiard’s trans-themed Spanish-language musical Emilia won four Golden Globes, including best comedy or musical, while Brady Corbet’s immigrant epic The Brutalist won three, including best drama and best director, clarifying what until now had been an unusually murky picture filled with a half-dozen contenders making their case.

“The light always wins over darkness,” Emilia Perez star Karla Sofía Gascón, the first openly trans performer to be nominated for a Globes lead actress prize, said as the Netflix film won best comedy or musical. “You can maybe put us in jail, you can beat us up. But you can never take away our soul.”

For his part, Corbet noted some artists had been shunted aside in Hollywood.

English actress Florence Pugh has been at the peak of her career for quite some time now. From portraying Amy March in Little Women to playing Jean Tatlock in Oppenheimer, Pugh has gained a lot of love and support from fans and has become one of the greatest actors in Hollywood. However, what many fans don’t know is that Pugh has also dipped her toes into the anime world.

English Actress Florence Pugh | Credit: Instagram@florencepugh

Pugh has played the role of Kiriko, one of the elderly maids who work at Natsuko’s estate in The Boy and The Heron. In fact, The Boy and The Heron is Pugh’s highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes, crossing Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. In a way, The Boy and The Heron became her biggest movie for the year 2023.

The high rating of The Boy and The Heron hints that in many ways,...

Disney can often attract big names to appear in their animated movies, even if they are only offering a minor role. This means that some A-list actors and Oscar-winners have obscure roles in Disney movies that fans could easily miss. While the stars behind the biggest characters are usually publicized, like Dwayne Johnson in Moana and Robin Williams in Aladdin, it can be hard to recognize other actors based solely on their voices.

Disney's old classics generally don't have many recognizable names, because Hollywood's brightest stars weren't interested in animation and studios preferred dedicated voice actors anyway. The trend of casting high-profile actors in animated movies is a relatively recent one, starting in the 1990s and accelerating throughout the 21st century. These days, it's common for an animated movie's cast to be filled with A-list talent, but many of these actors can go unnoticed.

Thomas - Pocahontas (1995) Christian Bale

Christian...

As we continue to explore the best in 2024, today we’re taking a look at the articles that you, our dear readers, enjoyed the most throughout the past twelve months. Spanning reviews, interviews, features, podcasts, news, and trailers, check out the highlights below and return for more year-end coverage.

Most-Read Reviews

1. The Goldfinger

2. From Darkness to Light

3. The Devil’s Bath

4. Only the River Flows

5. Longlegs

6. The Nature of Love

7. The 2024 Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films, Reviewed

8. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2

9. Trap

10. Dune: Part Two

Most-Read Interviews

1. Richard Linklater on Sex, Murder, Hit Man, and the Infantilization of Culture

2. Will Menaker on the Year in Cinema: Oppenheimer, Scorsese, Friedkin & Beyond

3. Lee Daniels on The Deliverance, Shifting Culture, Douglas Sirk, and That Glenn Close Performance

4. “All Great DPs Become Alcoholics”: Rob Tregenza on Shooting Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies

5. In a Violent Nature Director Chris Nash on Creating a New Kind of Slasher,...

With a career spanning decades and a legacy immortalized through Studio Ghibli classics, Hayao Miyazaki has redefined storytelling in animation. While his most renowned and award-winning works are Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and The Boy and the Heron, his older works are nothing short of spectacular. Among them, the 1992 classic Porco Rosso particularly stands out for its unique blend of humor, melancholy, and the exhilarating romance of aviation.

Porco Rosso (1992) | Credit: Studio Ghibli

However, the most fascinating fact is that Miyazaki once declared that he was preparing to create a sequel to Porco Rosso, titled, Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie. Although the vision still hasn’t come to fruition yet, Miyazaki can make another grand comeback by delivering a marvelous narrative with this idea.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Vision for the Sequel: Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie

In the September 2010 issue of the Japanese film magazine Cut, Hayao Miyazaki shared tantalizing...

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most celebrated storytellers of our time, founding Studio Ghibli, home to iconic films like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron, and more. The Studio Ghibli co-founder is regarded as a legendary director and animator whose entire filmography is exceptional.

Hayao Miyazaki | Image by 文部科学省ホームページ, licensed under Cc By-sa 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

While fans admire Miyazaki-sensei’s storytelling, the animation studio’s ability to craft breathtaking scenery never fails to leave them in awe. Miyazaki, known for his cynicism, has often expressed disdain for many practices in the anime industry.

He once shared his harsh views on the hugely popular Pokémon series and criticized the negative influence the industry has on today’s youth.

Hayao Miyazaki’s harsh views on the globally beloved Pokémon series

Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli have been often considered to be the greatest duo in the anime industry.

The Wild Robot continues to emerge as the animated feature to beat this season after leading the nominations for the 2025 Annie Awards.

The Universal Pictures film from DreamWorks Animation led the way with 10 nominations today, followed by Disney-Pixar’s record-breaking blockbuster Inside Out 2 and Netflix’s latest from Aardman, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, with seven mentions apiece. All three films are up for Best Feature, joined by That Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Ultraman: Rising.

These awards are voted on by professional and patron members of Asifa-Hollywood who have two or more professional animation credits and contributed professional services over the last two years that contributed to animated projects. While this is a peer group award like the Oscars, but the Annie winners don’t always match the Motion Picture Academy’s.

In the last five years, the Annies and the Oscars only had two winners...

French film companies Rectangle Productions and Goodfellas have completed their merger, the two companies unveiled on Friday.

Rectangle, the production house behind San Sebastian opener Emmanuelle and 2021 Venice festival winner Happening, and Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas, who have handled international sales on such features as Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning The Boy and The Heron, and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, finalized their merger on November 4, 2024. The companies have been collaborating for years, with Goodfellas handling sales on Rectangle productions including Emmanuelle, Valerie Donzelli’s Cannes 2023 film Just the Two of Us, and Charlene Favier’s Oxana, among others.

The merger, the companies said, was “carried out in the interests of all stakeholders” and marked “an important milestone for these long-standing partners.”

Rectangle Productions, under Alice Girard and Edouard Weil, said it will retain its brand, creative independence, attached talent, and all ongoing projects. In a statement, the company said it...

Florence Pugh is one of the most popular young actresses in Hollywood, with no sign of slowing down. She’s been in several big movies recently, including Oppenheimer (2023), where she played Jean Tatlock, and The Boy and the Heron (2023), where she voiced the character Kiriko. She also stars as Princess Irulan in Dune: Part Two (2024) and has a role in the upcoming Thunderbolts (2025) as Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow in the MCU.

Despite her success, Pugh has faced online criticism, particularly regarding her body, which she has spoken out about in the past.

The actress recently shared how tiring it is for women in Hollywood to always face stereotypes and be judged for not fitting in. She pointed out that women are often criticized if they don’t follow the usual expectations, but she has always been encouraged to speak up and be herself. Pugh made it clear that...

Florence Pugh is currently one of the most popular young actresses in Hollywood. She keeps lining up big roles with no end or stopping in sight. The actress appeared in several blockbusters in the last two years In ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023), she portrayed Jean Tatlock.

She provided the voice for the character Kiriko in the English dub of ‘The Boy and the Heron’ (2023). In ‘Dune: Part Two’ (2024), she portrayed Princess Irulan. Her latest release is ‘We Live In Time,’ with MCU’s ‘Thunderbolts*’ yet to be released next year where she will reprise her role as Yelena Belova aka MCU’s new Black Widow.

Even though Pugh is lining up roles, she is not immune to online criticism. This is something that the actress commented on in the past, especially in the context of her body.

Florence Pugh again recently expressed how exhausting it is for women in Hollywood to constantly face...

If you think you know Hayao Miyazaki well, the person behind some of the most mind-blowing anime films such as The Boy and The Heron and Spirited Away, then think again! Beneath his status as a genius filmmaker, he holds strong opinions regarding some Western films for which he absolutely despises them.

A still from the Oscar-winning Hayao Miyazaki film, The Boy and The Heron | Credits: Studio Ghibli

And surprisingly, one of the least-liked franchises includes the famous Indiana Jones series. In a past interview, Miyazaki did not just criticize these Harrison Ford movies but also the fans who love them. Who knew this master anime movie director had such a feisty side?

Not every day you hear a highly acclaimed director trash a beloved franchise like this, but Miyazaki’s candid comments are definitely making us wonder – what exactly made him dislike these movies so much? Here’s what he explained.

Almost every anime fan at this point might have known about the famous beef between Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli and the controversial Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, as it was one of Hollywood’s most talked-about confrontations. As the story goes, Weinstein, then head of Miramax, demanded extensive edits to Princess Mononoke before agreeing to its American release. In response, a samurai sword reportedly arrived at Miramax’s office with the words “No cuts” etched into a note.

Princess Mononoke | Credit: Studio Ghibli

For years, this bold act has been credited to Hayao Miyazaki himself, enhancing his reputation as an uncompromising auteur. However, in an interview, Miyazaki revealed that the truth behind the sword story is quite different. The act wasn’t his but Toshio Suzuki’s; the producer who has been the backbone of Studio Ghibli’s success for decades.

Studio Ghibli vs. Harvey Weinstein: The famous conflict

The...

Hayao Miyazaki is a genius in his own right, and that is proved by the popularity of Ghibli movies. He is a one-of-a-kind director and someone irreplaceable in the field of anime films. But what is Ghibli’s future after Miyazaki?

Miyazaki is a cynical man who cannot stand most of the practices in the anime industry. For decades, he has ruled over Ghibli with an iron hand and has refused to retire after several hoaxes. But dissecting his interviews gives rise to an unpopular opinion about him.

Hayao Miyazaki Might Lead to the Downfall of Studio Ghibli with His Controlling Nature

Hayao Miyazaki has announced his retirement quite a few times. He first announced his retirement in 1997 following the release of Princess Mononoke. After the extraordinary success of Spirited Away, the director stated that he could no longer work on feature-length films but returned to direct Ponyo in 2009. He...

The legendary Studio Ghibli is responsible for some of the greatest and most iconic anime films ever made. From the apocalyptic tones of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to the award-winning introspective fantasy of The Boy and the Heron, Ghibli has continued to both inspire and uplift generations of fans. However, the contagious optimism that defines the studio's most popular works has often baffled viewers, when the films are observed in tandem with their legendary director, Hayao Miyazaki.

The visionary behind many of Studio Ghibli's most well-known movies, Miyazaki has gained a reputation for being far gloomier than the art he creates. And this reputation is largely of his own making, as many interviews with the director have led to degrading comments in reference to the anime industry and his own work. Though the popular meme featuring Miyazaki claiming that 'anime was a mistake' is a humorous fan-made edit,...

Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary Japanese animator and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, has an almost mythical status among fans of animated cinema. Known for his deeply emotional stories, breathtaking art, and commitment to hand-drawn animation, Miyazaki’s works are often very different from the flashier, digital-heavy productions of many Western studios. His masterpieces, from My Neighbor Totoro to Spirited Away, have a timeless aspect to them that draws views into their fantastical worlds rooted in deeply human truths.

Despite his international acclaim, Miyazaki's relationship with Western animation, especially Disney, has always been intriguing. While he respects the technical brilliance of American animation, his early reaction to Disney films as a child was surprisingly dismissive. In a 2001 interview, Miyazaki revealed that Disney’s movies “amused” him, but they failed to move him emotionally. This initial impression, paired with his later, more in-depth critiques, shows how Miyazaki compares his work against the Western animation giants.

Experience Spirited Away in All of Its Magical Beauty on the Big Screen This Christmas on Boxing Day Re-release

London, 10 December 2024 – Elysian Film Group and Anonymous Content are thrilled to unveil the official trailer and poster for the highly anticipated UK and Roi re-release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-winning animated masterpiece, Spirited Away. Longtime fans and new viewers of Studio Ghibli alike can experience the fantastical film on the big screen once again on 26th December 2024.

The Standard call it “Awe-inspiring”, and Financial Times wanted to award it “Six stars out of five” for a treasure that lives and breathes on the big screen. To experience Spirited Away back in the cinema since its 2003 release means all audiences will once again get to have that “magical experience” (Empire).

Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away is a “must see masterpiece” (Digital Spy) that follows...

Hayao Miyazaki is a man who tells things as they are. He does not sugarcoat his words and has often criticized the anime industry at large. The talented director has produced many acclaimed anime movies. Two of them, Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron have also won the Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature.

Miyazaki is close friends with John Lasseter, the director of Toy Story, Cars, A Bugs Life, and other Pixar films. He was deeply moved by Miyazaki’s works and went on to serve as the executive producer for Ghibli movies and oversaw their translation and English dubbing, including that of Spirited Away.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Blunt Solution to Make Spirited Away Make Sense to the US Audience Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki | Credits: Studio Ghibli

In an interview, John Lasseter was asked what it was like bringing foreign animated films to the US market.

It took Hayao Miyazaki seven years to complete his The Boy and the Heron“, a grueling journey by an artist at the twilight of his life. The story of how the film was painstakingly made is beautifully recounted in “Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron”, a two-hour Nhk documentary which closely follows the daily chores of the master during these seven arduous years. The film conveys the sheer dedication and obsession of a man who lives, and will die, for his work.

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From 2017 to 2023, director Kaku Harakawa filmed Miyazaki hard at work, mostly staying within the premises of Studio Ghibli thanks to the exclusive access granted to the filmmaker. From Miyazaki’s workstation in the office to a house on the lot where he often takes naps in the afternoons, drinks coffee and smokes a cigarette or two, the camera is always...

The holiday season is here and that means there are lots of new releases coming out just in time to make the season bright. Below are some of the picks coming out sure to make the movie fan in your life smile. Whether it is an upgrade to a 4K edition, a reliable Blu-ray, or a special edition Box Set, this list has something for everyone!

One disclaimer: Deals as good as these can be fickle, so there’s no telling if and when a money-saving opportunity might end or if the price may change. So if you want something – snap that shit up quick! Don’t wait, only to have Festivus roll around and discover you’ve nothing to give or the price suddenly changed and you no longer have the bread. And remember that if you want to support JoBlo.com, please make all your purchases by initially clicking through our links,...

"My Neighbor Totoro" is undoubtedly one of the best Studio Ghibli movies. It gave the studio its mascot, and is a perfect movie that's both sweet and cuddly, like its titular forest spirit, but also carries layers of darkness and nuance. This is a movie about how fantasy helps kids cope in times of hardship, which made this the perfect salve when doing a double feature with one of the most harrowing war dramas ever made.

A very early Studio Ghibli production, "My Neighbor Totoro" follows two sisters who relocate to rural Japan when their mother gets gravely ill. While their father is away to spend time with their mother, the two girls have magical adventures with forest spirits.

The film's success is long-lasting, not just because it became the studio logo or because Totoro is arguably the most recognizable Ghibli character and generally one of the most popular anime characters ever.

Refresh for latest…: It was smooth sailing for Disney’s Moana 2 this weekend as it reached $600M global following last frame‘s record-breaking bow. The running split is even for the splashy sequel, with $300M domestic and $300M from the international box office.

The full overseas frame was $103.7M in 52 markets, repping a 41% drop. Japan was new this weekend with $6.5M (including previews), for the market’s biggest non-local opening of 2024; biggest December opening ever for an animated title and the No. 3 biggest launch weekend for Walt Disney Animation Studios (behind Frozen and Frozen 2).

Some other key stats here — before we dig into further detail below — include Moana 2 becoming the No. 5 movie of 2024 worldwide, surpassing the entire run of the first Moana at current rates and charting as the No. 8 studio release of the year overseas (and sans holidays).

In another milestone,...

The relationship between Hayao Miyazaki and Yoshiyuki Tomino has always been a fascinating story of rivalry, professional envy, and mutual respect. While they are both legendary filmmaker coming from the same era, their careers, and creative philosophies could not be more different. Miyazaki is celebrated for his universally beloved films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, and Tomino’s Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam delves into the darker, grittier aspects of human nature and the horrors of war.

Yoshiyuki Tomino | Credit: Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, Cc By 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This dichotomy extends to their personal opinions about each other’s work, stating that he only likes Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron. Apart from these opinions, Tomino also considers Miyazaki an “enemy”, however, the reasons behind it are not simply envy or animosity.

Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Opinion on Hayao Miyazaki Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron...

Hayao Miyazaki isn’t new to criticism; the renowned Ghibli director has received negative feedback on almost all of his anti-war movies. Unfortunately, for haters, Miyazaki movies will never stop delivering strong commentaries on war and other disasters created by human follies.

The Boy and the Heron | Credits: Studio Ghibli

From The Wind Rises, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke to The Grave of the Fireflies, all of these Studio Ghibli films depict or reference different wars. The magic of Miyazaki is that he never portrays outright battles but the struggles of those affected.

Hayao Miyazaki Wants Japan to Remember the Atrocities it Had Committed Howl’s Moving Castle | Credits: Studio Ghibli

In August 2024, Hayao Miyazaki was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award, which recognizes individuals and organizations in Asia who have achieved distinction in their respective fields. It also honors their public service and contributions to Asia. During the acceptance speech,...

“Robert Pattinson Talks About Batman Movies Delay” (Photo Credit – Facebook)

Since the release of The Batman in 2022, fans have been eagerly anticipating the continuation of Matt Reeves’ take on Gotham City. Starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, the movie offered a younger portrayal of the iconic superhero. With critical and commercial success, Warner Bros. quickly greenlit a trilogy and spin-offs like The Penguin.

However, the timeline for subsequent installments has been surprisingly slow.

The second movie, The Batman Part II, is slated for release on October 2, 2026, a four-year gap from the original film. In a recent interview, Pattinson remarked that the delays might leave him “retired by the end of them.”

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Tentpoles Dune: Part Two, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Deadpool & Wolverine and TV series including Fallout and Agatha All Along lead nominations for the 52nd Saturn Awards, which recognize the year’s best genre movies and series.

Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two topped the overall noms list with 14 including Best Science Fiction Film and acting noms for Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya among others, followed by studio stablemate Beetlejuice 2 with 13 noms including Best Fantasy Film; Warner Bros topped all studios with 35 noms.

Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine had 10 nominations.

On the TV side, Amazon MGM Studios’ video game adaptation Fallout was tops with five nominations: Best Science Fiction Television Series, Best Actor on Television (Walton Goggins), Best Actress on Television (Ella Purnell) and Best Guest Star on Television (Kyle MacLachlan). Amazon MGM had a leading 17 TV noms among the studios, while Disney was second with 11.

Organized by the Academy of Science Fiction,...

Cast members of AMC’s hit anthology series “The Walking Dead” accept the Dan Curtis Legacy Award at the 51st annual Saturn Awards in February 2024. (Courtesy photo)

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films will host the 52nd Annual Saturn Awards on Groundhog Day next year, the organization announced on Wednesday.

The awards ceremony will honor the best TV shows and movies in the genre of science fiction, horror and fantasy with its annual banquet on February 2, which will stream live via Electric Entertainment’s platform Electric Now and on The Roku Channel for the first time.

Nominees for the Saturn Awards were announced this week, with Warner Bros Discovery (Wbd) grabbing the top spot for the most-nominated entertainment company with 35 nominations. Wbd-owned or produced films like “Dune: Part Two,” “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” and “Wonka” were among the titles mentioned. Dune: Part Two was the most-nominated singular title with 14 potential award wins.

After close to three hours of deliberation, the New York Film Critics Circle named Brady Corbet’s three-hour-plus epic The Brutalist as Best Film. The group also named the pic’s star Adrien Brody as Best Actor.

A24 snapped up the movie after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it earned a 13-minute ovation. The Brutalist stars Brody as László Tóth, a World War II Hungarian refugee architect in the U.S. and Guy Pearce as the complex real estate tycoon who enlists Tóth’s talents of Brody’s character. Corbet, who won the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice, shot The Brutalist in Hungary with tax credits for under $10M. It opens on December 20. A24 also will be showing the epic, which also stars Felicity Jones and Alessandro Nivola, in 70Mm.

The NYFCC handed its Best Director award to RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys director RaMell Ross,...