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The 60th Chicago Film Festival will run from October 16-27, 2024, and will feature a retrospective of the acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda. Koreeda is known for his humanist and observational approach to storytelling, and his films often explore themes of family, loss, and the human condition.

The retrospective isn’t just a tribute to Koreeda’s work—it’s a reflection on life itself. His films delve into the choices we make, the relationships we build, and the lasting impact of our memories. Whether you’re a dedicated film lover or just enjoy a good story, Koreeda’s movies offer a thoughtful, lingering experience that stays with you well after the film ends.

The retrospective will showcase six of Koreeda’s most celebrated films:

After Life (1998): This film follows the lives of recently deceased people who are given the chance to relive one day of their lives before moving on to the afterlife.

John Hsu’s Taiwanese supernatural comedy Dead Talents Society has scored 11 nominations for the 61st Golden Horse Awards, followed by Tom Lin’s Yen And Ai-Lee and Geng Jun’s Bel Ami, with eight nods each.

Dead Talents Society and Bel Ami are among the five films competing in the best film category, along with Ray Yeung’s All Shall Be Well, Yeo Siew Hua’s Stranger Eyes and Lou Ye’s An Unfinished Film. The same five films are also running in the best director category.

They reflect the overall representation at this year’s Golden Horse Awards, with the participation of Hong Kong,...

Our weekly film quiz returns with 30 all-new movie-related questions – fair warning, it features Michael Keaton’s name three or more times…

We’re back, baby, and so is Beetlejuice in Tim Burton’s new sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Accordingly, this week’s film quiz features questions about sequels, demons, and Michael Keaton movies. It’s quizness as usual for the next few weeks too, with subjects ranging from the silent era to this year in horror movies, every Friday till Christmas.

Once you’ve completed all three rounds, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. As always, this is just for fun, but please let us know how you did in the comments (scores out of 30 this week!) and give us any other lovely feedback. Oh, and apologies if you were reading that first line aloud, that guy can...

Martine Thérouanne, director of the Vesoul Iff of Asian Cinemas and president of the Jiseok jury at the 28th Busan International Film Festival, Asia’s Cannes, presented two “Asia Star Awards” to two great actors, one Korean, Yoo Teo, the other Japanese, Iura Arata at the “Asia Star Awards” evening organized by Marie-Claire Chanel, on Thursday October 5.

The film “Past Lives” by American-Korean director Céline Song, starring Yoo Teo in the male lead role, will be released in France on December 13, 2023.

Tatsuya Fuji, Mirai Moriyama star.

Gaga Corporation has acquired international sales rights excluding Japan on Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Platform entry Great Absence ahead of its European premiere in San Sebastian later this month.

Tatsuya Fuji and dance artist Mirai Moriyama star in the recent TIFF world premiere, which marks director Kei Chika-ura’s second feature after Complicity premiered at 2018 TIFF.

Great Absence is inspired by Chika-ura’s own experiences and centres on Takashi, a man who has been estranged from his father Yohji for 20 years and returns home with his wife after receiving a call from the police...

The director of Shoplifters shows naivety in trying to turn two baby kidnappers into lovable rogues. Even Parasite’s Song Kang-ho can’t make it stick

Hirokazu Kore-eda can claim to be the greatest living Japanese film director, whose family dramas have marked him out as the heir to Ozu (although in an interview with me he said he preferred to be compared with Mikio Naruse). His work, including the Palme-winning Shoplifters (2018) is rightly revered. But he has always had a sweet tooth for whimsy and sentimentality, which I thought was on display in his much admired baby-swap drama Like Father Like Son (2013).

Now he has given us a sudsy road-movie heartwarmer set in Korea and inspired by the Korean phenomenon of “baby boxes” put out by churches for unwanted newborns. But the movie is fundamentally silly, with tiringly shallow characterisation and broad streaks of crime-drama intrigue, which only underline...

Esteemed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda walks a fine line between keen social observation and overt sentimental emotionalism in Cannes competition title Broker.

Winner of the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters and winner of the Jury Prize five years before that for Like Father Like Son, the writer-director once again displays great empathy for characters who are trying to put their lives in order, examining their predicaments from every possible angle and ultimately guiding them into a position where they can do the right thing. There is a bit of slackness in the storytelling here, a feeling of indulgence that some modest tightening might have helped, but it’s still a warm, often funny account of people finding their way through a tricky predicament.

The opening is a virtually automatic audience grabber that triggers emotional reactions from the outset: Late at night, a baby is dropped off at a big...

Lulu Wang and Dani Melia have signed a first-look television deal with Amazon via their newly formed production company, Local Time.

Wang and Melia first worked together on the critically-acclaimed 2019 feature “The Farewell.” Under the deal, Local Time will develop shows from emerging storytellers for Amazon. Wang is currently directing and executive producing the Amazon drama series “Expats,” based on the Janice Y.K. Lee novel “The Expatriates.” The Hong Kong-set series stars Nicole Kidman, who also executive produces.

“We’re thrilled to be expanding our relationship with Amazon,” Wang said. “Jen Salke and her team have been remarkable partners on ‘Expats’ and we look forward to many more artist-driven collaborations.”

Wang and Melia are also currently developing a series version of Lysley Tenorio’s novel “Son of Good Fortune” along with Riz Ahmed’s Left Handed Films. Variety exclusively reported the project was in the works in November 2021. Local Time...

In an aim to help now-shuttered independent theaters, IFC Films will allow cinemas to screen 200 of its library titles for free once they open back up. The distributor hopes that favorites like “Frances Ha,” “Y Tu Mamá También,” and even “The Human Centipede” will help drive audiences back to theaters in the coming months, a time when fewer and fewer new releases are being scheduled.

The Indie Theater Revival Project‘s offerings will be available to theaters beginning May 29, with traditional rental fees for library titles waived for theaters in the first 30 days that they’re open, starting from whatever date they reopen their doors. That means more money in the pockets in the form of ticket sales for local theater owners who have been faced with a near-zero revenue stream after closing their doors last month.

More from IndieWireHow France Is Supporting Its Film Industry During a Global CrisisWhy...

Curated retrospectives include Cannes winners, genre, family documentaries.

IFC Films has launched The Indie Theater Revival Project and curated 20 retrospective programmes for Us theatres when they emerge from lockdown, offering library titles for free during the first month they open.

The selections comprise approximately 200 films spanning IFC Films’ 20-year history – the company celebrates its anniversary this year – and IFC Films said on Tuesday (21) it will make them available to cinemas starting on May 29.

Theatres will be able to book any number of the retrospective programmes, in part or in total, any time through the first month after they reopen. No...

Curated retrospectives to be made available for participating theatres.

IFC Films announced on Tuesday (21) The Indie Theater Revival Project and has curated 20 retrospective programmes for Us theatres to screen when they reopen in the weeks and months ahead.

The selections comprise approximately 200 films spanning IFC Films’ 20-year history – the company celebrates its anniversary this year – and will make them available to cinemas starting on May 29.

Theatres will be able to book any number of the retrospective programmes, in part or in total, any time through the first month after they reopen. No film rental will be due for any of...

In an effort to help independently-owned movie theaters recover from the coronavirus pandemic, IFC Films announced on Tuesday that it will offer over 200 of its films to those theaters without any rental fees. This will help give those theaters some classic films to screen when they reopen while they wait for new films to be released.

“Independent theaters across the country have been essential partners for us at IFC Films, and we would not be where we are today without their support,” the distributor announced in a statement. “We wanted to take the first step and let theaters know that we are committed to helping them reopen their doors by providing a selection of films to program while the new release landscape gets back to normal.”

Dubbed “The Indie Revival Project,” the program will offer selections from IFC’s catalog in various curated packs, including a “Yes We Cannes!” program...

IFC Films is offering embattled indie theaters hundreds of films from its library to screen when they re-open from their mass Covid-19 related shutdown.

The movies, which include such IFC classics as “Y Tu Mama Tambien” and “Boyhood,” will be made available to cinemas without any rental fees. The retrospective program boasts roughly 200 films. Theaters will not be charged any film rental.

“We are honoring the partnership we’ve had with theaters over the last 20 years and we’re sending them a message of solidarity and gratefulness,” said Lisa Schwartz, co-president of IFC Films. “They’ve been with us since beginning and when they come back, we want to be there with them.”

The indie studio is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary and had been putting together programming to honor the occasion. After coronavirus closed most theaters in March, IFC began to rethink its plans.

“This was a positive way...

Exclusive: IFC Films is always a player at the Toronto Film Festival in acquiring films and launching awards-season entries — the Hirokazu Kore-eda-directed The Truth makes its North American debut here — but the company is making news of another kind. IFC has solidified its new streaming channel, IFC Films Unlimited, by expanding to Apple TV channels, both in the U.S. and Canada. The service launched in the U.S. last May, and today marks the debut of IFC Films Unlimited in Canada.

The Apple deal gives the IFC Films Ott service an important platform where customers can subscribe directly through the Apple TV app, for $5.99 per month. The streaming service launched with just over 400 films available in the U.S.

The subscription video on demand streaming channel is comprised of theatrically released titles from distribution labels IFC Films, Sundance Selects and genre label IFC Midnight. The Truth, which premiered at Venice,...

Hirokazu Kore-eda is without a doubt the leading name of contemporary Japanese cinema and one of the finest filmmakers on the global level. Last year’s triumph in Cannes with “Shoplifters” could be seen as the crown of his auteur career so far, so he decided to take a leap forward, into the unknown with his first film made outside of Japan and Japanese context. “The Truth”, realized through French-Japanese co-production was selected to open this year’s edition of Venice.

Both of the decisions, the filmmaker’s one to make a new film in a quick succession, and the festival’s one to give it such an honourable spot in the programme feel a bit rushed. “The Truth” is still a debut of sorts, and it shows, it is far more French than Japanese in the terms of the story, cast and crew, so the director had to face...

“I thought she’d return to her home.”

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda has been a guest at many international film festivals, but 2018 might go down as perhaps the most successful of his career. His 13th feature film “Shoplifters” has received not only the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, but as the year reached its end, it was found in many top-ten lists, from critics to general film fans alike. Even though the definition of the family unit with regards to outside factors such as poverty has been at the heart of Kore-eda’s body of work, “Shoplifters” has struck a chrod with many viewers.

But for its director the inspiration came while working on another film. During the production of “Like Father Like Son” (2013), he began to think about what actually makes a family. The film, which is about two families finding out their sons have been...

Pop culture comes to life in St. Louis next month! It’s the Wizard World Comic Con April 5th – 7th at America’s Center downtown, and boy oh boy, do they have an amazing line-up of guests!

Wizard World Comic Con events bring together thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, graphic novels, cosplay, comics, television, sci-fi, toys, video gaming, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. St. Louis show hours are Friday, February 2nd, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, February 3rd, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday,February 4th, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Wizard World Comic Con St. Louis is also the place for cosplay, with fans young and old showing off their best costumes throughout the event. Fans dressed as every imaginable character – and some never before dreamed – will roam the convention floor and participate in the famed Wizard World Costume Contest on Saturday night.

This Palme d’Or-winning drama about a Japanese family of crooks who lift a lost little girl from the streets is a satisfying and devastating gem

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters is a complex, subtle, mysterious film that builds to the most extraordinary surprise ending, a twist-reveal worthy of psychological suspense noir. Yet the film is nothing like that generically. In fact, it is another of the intricate and nuanced family dramas in the classical Japanese style, of which Kore-eda has made himself a modern master. Its significant plot shifts happen unobtrusively, almost invisibly, except for those big, heart-wrenching revelations in its final section. I admired Shoplifters very much the first time I saw it at the Cannes film festival earlier this year (it was the winner of the Palme d’Or), while also feeling that his masterpiece was still his 2011 film I Wish, which has a pellucid, almost transcendental simplicity...

by Murtada Elfadl

Kore-eda with his Palme d'Or for Shoplifters. Is an Oscar nomination next?

In Shoplifters Hirokazu Kore-eda tells us a story about how families unite with bonds of love and real connection rather than accidents of birth. Perhaps the best way to describe it is “humanist” as it puts connection, kindness and love at the forefront. According to the press notes, the director was inspired to write the story after learning about incidents of pension fraud in Japan - where families illegally received the pensions of parents who had already died years ago - and the severe criticism the perpetrators got.

I am wondering why people get so angry over such minor infractions even though there are many lawbreakers out there committing far more serious crimes without condemnation.

Shoplifters traces the relationships of a makeshift family that survives through petty crime, shoplifting and the grandmother's pension. Kore-eda, who wrote,...

Following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year – as well as subsequent screenings at a handful of other festivals including Sydney, Telluride, and most recently New York, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s masterful Shoplifters now has a domestic trailer and theatrical release date, courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

In the past, Kore-eda has found success at Cannes with the premieres of Like Father Like Son, Our Little Sister, and After the Storm. This year was no different as Shoplifters went on to win the coveted Palme d’Or. Playing into familiar narrative themes, Kore-eda tells the story of a barren family with an unconventional skillset: shoplifting. After another one of their nightly outings of petty crime, father-of-the-family Osamu and his son decide to take in a young girl that they find all alone in the streets. Eventually, their lifestyle catches up with them, and what once used to bring them together,...

"Sometimes, it's better to choose your own family." Magnolia Pictures has released the official Us trailer for the Palme d'Or winning film Shoplifters, the latest film from beloved Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda. Shoplifters is about a family of small-time crooks, but the story is really about what happens when they take in a young girl they find living on the street one day. The film's cast includes Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Kirin Kiki , Kengo Kora, Sosuke Ikematsu, Chizuru Ikewaki, Yuki Yamada, Yoko Moriguchi, and Akira Emoto. This mostly understated, beautiful Japanese drama won big at Cannes, but also won the hearts of cinephiles, earning effusive reviews from some of the toughest critics out there. If you're looking to discover some of the finest filmmaking this year, this should for sure be at the top of your list. It's a must watch film from Japan. Here's the official Us ...

As a ne’er-do-well group keep a child they have found, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s poignant drama asks, who is winning?

Hirokazu Kore-eda is now an established Cannes heavyweight and he shows why with this complex and nuanced family drama in the classical Japanese style that he has personally extended and modified over 20 years, and on which he has put his own distinctive signature. It is a contemporary view of middle-class, parochial Japan: shrewd, realistic, as clear and untroubled as a glass of cold water. But there is also a strong streak of sentiment, if not sentimentality.

Lily Franky (from Kore-eda’s earlier film Like Father Like Son) plays Osamu, a man with a shifty, wheedling grin. He is effectively the Fagin-like head of an extended family of dodgy types who are all up to no good in their way. This household appears to be a middle-aged husband and wife, a teenage daughter,...

In the months since President Donald Trump took office, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has become one of his father’s most vocal supporters — and Twitter defenders.

The president returned the favor on Tuesday and Wednesday, coming to his son’s defense after his namesake seemingly embroiled himself more deeply in the ongoing Russian collusion investigation by releasing emails detailing how he eagerly set up a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer who allegedly promised damaging information on his father’s presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

“My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency,” the president said in...

Liam Payne knows it's never too early to teach style!

The former One Direction singer took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a sweet new snap of his and son Bear's matching Yeezy sneakers.

Related: Liam Payne Gets Down While Performing 'Strip That Down' in U.S. TV Solo Debut

"Like father like son.❤️#yeezy #fatherandson," Payne captioned the pic.

The 23-year-old singer's post is only the second photo he and and his girlfriend, Cheryl Cole, 33, have posted of Bear since she gave birth in March.

Related: Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole Gave Their Baby a Sweet, Animal-Inspired Name

In an interview last month, Payne said that despite having a child together, he didn't think marriage was in the cards.

"We have a baby together," he said on the Bizarre Life podcast. "Our love for each other can't be more serious, so it is what it is, I guess."

See more in the video below.

Liam Payne's son may only be a few months old, but little Bear already has A-list style. Exhibit A: this brand new photo of the famous pop star posing with his infant son. The kicker? They're sporting matching Yeezys. "Like father like son," Payne captioned the sweet shot. In addition to the cool footwear, the newborn is sporting a onesie undeniably inspired by his name—yes, it's covered in little bears. Can this kid get any cooler? While Payne and partner Cheryl Cole have notably kept their first child's face out of the spotlight since he was born in late March, subtle shots like these make our hearts swell all the same. Being a first-time dad...

It’s never too early to start your designer shoe collection.

In a new snap Liam Payne shared of his son Bear Grey, both the “Strip That Down” singer and his baby boy’s feet are visible in matching pairs of black-and-white Yeezys.

“Like father like son.❤️#yeezy #fatherandson,” Payne, 23, captioned the Wednesday Instagram post.

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the People Babies newsletter.

Related Video: Liam Payne and Cheryl Welcome a Son

The former One Direction member and his girlfriend Cheryl welcomed Bear — the...

Prison Break has just two episodes left.  Will Michael and the team actively pursue Poseidon in order to take him down?  Will viewers find out what exactly Poseidon really wants? Read on to find out:

Michael Recruited Whip -- In a flashback from six years prior, viewers find out that Jacob used to be a professor who planned on breaking people out of prison in order to change the world. He stated the the system is slow, much like the reason Michael broke Linc out of prison. Michael told Jacob that he needed assistance on the missions, and told Jacob he wanted Whip to help him.  We then found out that Whip had been in prison, and did not have a family, so Micahel said that he would be easy to manipulate.  Michael's plans were obviously deeper than that. Michael had T-Bag confront Whip because...Whip is his long-lost son!

Some photos and a video have been posted of Donnie Yen's son James dressed up for Halloween as his dad's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story character, Chirrut Imwe. The costume that was put together for him is pretty badass. There is also a photo of Yen's daughter Jasmine dressed at a First Order Stormtrooper.

I think Chirrut Imwe will end up being a fan-favorite character in the movie and I already plan on dressing up as him next Halloween.

Yen siblings battling it out! Thank you to our amazing Bullet costume design team in Hk for making this amazing #chirrutimwe costume for James!! #happyhalloween #starwars #rogueone #bulletfilms #donnieyen #甄子丹 #stormtrooper #disney #lucasfilm @bulletfilmsofficial @donnieyenofficial @jasmineyenofficial #halloween #trickortreat

A video posted by 汪詩詩 Cissy Wang (@sweetcil) on Oct 31, 2016 at 4:22am Pdt

You can see we have the force!!

Like father like son! A recent Weezer performance turned into a family affair on Wednesday when lead singer, Rivers Cuomo, recruited his father to play the drums. Cuomo’s dad, Frank, who happens to be a jazz musician, did not shy away from joining his son onstage, and instead, entertained the crowd like a pro. Related: […]...

Can Matt Centrowitz Jr. run in his father's footsteps to Olympic gold? Two-time Olympic distance runner and four-time United States National Champion Matt Centrowitz has resurfaced on the Olympic front, but this time, the track and field veteran is paving the way for his son. It's clear both Centrowitz men share an intense bond over the sport they love. And Matt Centrowitz is right by his son's side as he coaches him to Olympic glory. "When he gets off track, I'm going to let him know he's off track," the devoted dad told NBC. Centrowitz Jr. admits that balancing their...

Like father like son? CBS’ “American Gothic” appears to be teasing a dark past for Cam as Jack’s macabre interests continue to grow. In this exclusive clip (above) from Wednesdays’ new episode, the little boy (Gabriel Bateman) seems more fascinated than sad that his grandfather has died, asking incessantly about where the body is and which stage of decay it’s in. Jack’s dad, Cam (Justin Chatwin), continues to seem appropriately disturbed by his son’s creepy obsession with death, though an illuminating revelation from Garrett (Anthony Starr) seems to imply that his disturbance could hit a little closer to home.

Ryan Lambie Jun 30, 2016

Jessica Rabbit kidnapped by Nazis. Costner rescuing Princess Diana. We look back at a few strange movie sequels that were never made…

The multi-million dollar success of any movie will inevitably leave Hollywood executives clamouring for a sequel. And while there are plenty of movies whose stories are open-ended enough to warrant a return to the creative well, there are many times when coming up with a follow-up idea requires all sorts of imaginative leaps. Just look at something like Alien: Resurrection, which had to come up an elaborate reason why Ripley had (spoiler alert) managed to survive a swan-dive into a lead foundry in Alien 3.

Which brings us to this list, which is devoted to a few of the weirder sequel ideas that never made it to the big screen. An E.T. sequel in which little Elliott gets tortured by aliens? Forrest Gump dancing with Princess Diana?...

Can our children pick and choose the personality traits they inherit, or are they doomed to obtain our lesser qualities? These are the hard questions being meditated on in After the Storm, a sobering, transcendent tale of a divorced man’s efforts to nudge back into his son’s life. Beautifully shot by regular cinematographer Yutaka Yamasaki, it marks a welcome and quite brilliant return to serious fare for writer-editor-director Hirokazu Kore-eda following last year’s Our Little Sister, widely regarded as one of the slightest works of his career thus far.

Recent Kore-eda regular Abe Hiroshi plays Ryota, a prize-winning author struggling to live up to the success of his first novel. He’s a father of one, a gambling addict, and probably a bit of an asshole. We learn the man’s been researching for his follow-up book by moonlighting as a private eye. The job adds an...

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Rod Daniel, the director of Teen Wolf and K-9, dies at the age of 73.

Here’s some (more) sad news that we missed earlier in the week: Rod Daniel, the director of Teen Wolf, has died, at the age of 73.

Daniel’s directorial career also covered films such as Like Father Like Son, K-9, Home Alone 4 and Beethoven’s 2nd. He notably was quite dismissive of his own work in a later interview he gave, telling reporter Christopher Borrelli that “I hold no illusions. I wouldn’t buy a ticket to any of my movies”.

“It's going to sound like a cop-out, but when I retired, I never once thought about it. Does that answer your question? I don't rank with the greats. I made these [expletive] movies because I could, and because they paid me a great deal of money. Which is not to say I...

Baby’s first bling! On Wednesday, Nov. 4, Kim Kardashian shared a sweet pic of two matching, diamond-covered chains — one for her husband, Kanye West, and one for her future little boy. “Like father like son. Thank you so much @lorenridinger @jrridinger @amberridinger @duanemclaughlin for this chain!!!” the reality star, 35, captioned the pic. Like father like son. Thank you so much @lorenridinger @jrridinger @amberridinger @duanemclaughlin for this chain!!! pic.twitter.com/jQxqkIeRqn — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) November 5, 2015 The mother of daughter North West is pregnant with the couple’s second [...]...

Our look at underappreciated films of the 80s continues, as we head back to 1988...

Either in terms of ticket sales or critical acclaim, 1988 was dominated by the likes of Rain Man, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Coming To America. It was the year Bruce Willis made the jump from TV to action star with Die Hard, and became a star in the process.

It was the year Leslie Nielsen made his own jump from the small to silver screen with Police Squad spin-off The Naked Gun, which sparked a hugely popular franchise of its own. Elsewhere, the eccentric Tim Burton scored one of the biggest hits of the year with Beetlejuice, the success of which would result in the birth of Batman a year later. And then there was Tom Cruise, who managed to make a drama about a student-turned-barman into a $170m hit, back when $170m was still an...

Like father like son. At an exclusive event celebrating his decade in fragrance on Thursday night, David Beckham admitted that he has a mouse in his closet—and his name is Brooklyn. Okay, he's not so much a trinket-stealing rodent but a teen heartthrob with a penchant for designer duds. "[Brooklyn] steals something from my wardrobe every single day," David told British Vogue. "I had a pair of Saint Laurent leather trousers that I had never worn, and Brooklyn found them and wore them and is still wearing them." The budding model is already following in his famous dad's footsteps; he recently landed his first fashion campaign with Polish brand Reserved. It...

The Grand Budapest Hotel, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Birdman, Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, The Theory Of Everything among Art Directors Guild nominees.

As previously announced, Christopher Nolan will receive the Guild’s Cinematic Imagery Award and production designer Jim Bissell, senior illustrator Camille Abbott, senior set designer John P Bruce and scenic artist Will Ferrell will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Hall Of Fame inductees are John Gabriel Beckman, Charles Lisanby and Walter Tyler.

The 19th Adg Awards are set to take place on January 31 in Los Angeles.

The 2014 production design nominees are:

Motion Pictures

Period Film

Inherent Vice

Production Designer: David Crank

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen

The Imitation Game

Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic

The Theory Of Everything

Production Designer: John Paul Kelly

Unbroken

Production Designer: Jon Hutman

Fantasy Film

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Production Designer: Peter Wenham

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Production Designer: James Chinlund

Guardians Of The Galaxy

Production...

The Art Directors Guild today announced nominations in 11 categories of Production Design for theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials and music videos competing in the Art Directors Guild’s 19th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards. The nominations were announced by Adg Council Chair Marcia Hinds and Awards co-producers Dave Blass and James Pearse Connelly.

The black-tie ceremony revealing winners will take place on Saturday, January 31, 2015, from the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills with comedian Owen Benjamin serving as host.

As previously announced, the recipient of the Guild’s prestigious Cinematic Imagery Award will be Academy Award winner Christopher Nolan, whose film Interstellar is in current release.

Production Designer Jim Bissell, Senior Illustrator Camille Abbott, Senior Set Designer John P. Bruce and Scenic Artist Will Ferrell will be awarded the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Awards. Hall of Fame inductees are John Gabriel Beckman, Charles Lisanby and Walter Tyler.

The Art Directors Guild has announced nominees for the group's 19th annual awards, and films that have come on strong as of late like "American Sniper" and "Nightcrawler" were in the mix along notable extravagant displays in the period and fantasy categories. However, there were a few missing pieces. In the fantasy arena, both "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" and "Maleficent" came up short, while "Exodus: Gods and Kings" missed in the period department. The most shocking snub might be "Mr. Turner's" in that field, however. (And it would have been great to see "Snowpiercer" get some love here, but, alas.) As a reminder, the Guild implemented a new rule this season. Period films must now have the majority of sets and locations designed to portray a time period at least 20 years prior to the present awards year. Contemporary films, therefore, must have the majority of...

The lavish, ornate designs of “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” the druggy 70s’ SoCal beach-city look of “Inherent Vice” and the fairy-tale landscape of “Into the Woods” are among the work nominated by the members of the Art Directors Guild for the Adg’s 19th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards.

In nominations announced on Monday, the Adg singled out 15 feature films and a number of television programs for its awards, which will be handed out on Jan. 31 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Because the Adg separates its feature-film nominations into separate categories for period films, fantasy films and contemporary films,...

New service specialises in film recommendations and saw Cj E&M join with Dolby Laboratories to provide 5.1 surround sound on earphones and headphones.

Major Korean media contents group Cj E&M has launched a new VoD service called Vingo (vingo.co.kr) specialising in film recommendations yesterday (Nov 4).

They also joined with Dolby Laboratories to provide 5.1-channel surround sound on earphones and headphones.

Vingo makes tailored recommendations for viewing on multiple devices including PC, tablet, smartphone and smartTV. Based on their experience from organizing Cj cable film specialty channels such as CatchOn, ChannelCGV and Ocn, the company says it has structured a classification system of its own for diverse tailored recommendations.

Films available range from latest box office hits, such as local sea-faring adventure The Pirates, to films currently still in theatres, such as The Whistleblower, to arthouse films, such as Koreeda Hirokazu’s Like Father Like Son and Judy Dench-starrer Philomena, and to classics...

Like father like son!

Simon Cowell took to Twitter on Wednesday to share an adorable photo of baby Eric, posed exactly like his dad -- shirtless and in aviator sunglasses.

"Taking after daddy," Simon captioned the pic.

Taking after daddy pic.twitter.com/O16zcTZEL2 ...

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I'm not sure what the deal is this week, but there are pretty much no new releases to discuss seriously in terms of purchasing. Thankfully, that opens the door for you to use all that money you've saved up for the Barnes & Noble 50% Off Criterion sale. I posted an article yesterday with a bunch of recommendations, which you can check out here, but here were the top eleven suggestions: Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman Persona Breathless 8 1/2 Seven Samurai Yojimbo and Sanjuro The Battle of Algiers The Seventh Seal Sweet Smell of Success The Wages of Fear The Night of the Hunter The fact you can now get the Zatoichi collection of 25 films for only $112 when it's regularly $224 is a steal. I own this set and have been watching Zatoichi movies since Christmas and have gone through 23 of them so far and still have the special features to watch. So check out those titles,...

The opening five-minutes of "Borgman," the acclaimed Dutch thriller that played at Cannes and Toronto last year might be dialogue-free, but it's haunting as hell and worth the watch. Read More: Cannes: Family Problems Dominate In Clio Barnard's 'The Selfish Giant' And Kore-eda's 'Like Father Like Son,' But 'Borgman' Makes Them ScaryDirected by Alex van Warmerdam, "Borgman" follows Camiel Borgman, a mysterious drifter who disrupts the lives of an upperclass family. It's a dark and surreal tale about the pervading evil in a suburban town. The clip doesn't tell us much (or anything at all really), but it's an interesting look at what is sure to be a menacing film about an even more menacing character. "Borgman" is being distributed by Drafthouse Films and will have a limited New York release tomorrow. It will have a larger expansion June 13 and June 20.  Check out the opening scene below.

Recently, Showtime released the new,official, synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Californication" episode 3 of season 7. The episode is entitled, "Like Father Like Son," and it sounds quite intriguing as Karen contemplates just going ahead and giving up on Hank, and more. In the new,3rd episode press release: Hank will get his first episode assignment, much to the dismay of coworkers ,Terry and Hugh. Meanwhile, Levon will try to bond with Rath's assistant. Charlie is going to attempt to patch things up with Marcy, and Karen will consider giving up on Hank. Actress, Pamela S. Adlon is going to guest star as character, Marcy. Episode 3 is set to air on Sunday night ,April 27th at 9:30pm on Showtime.

Superstars Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and others are sitting pretty on top! While star kids like Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, etc are still ruling the roost, B-town is gearing up for next lot of star sons, who are set to enter Bollywood. Taking a look at the new crop of celebrity offspring Page :1 Tiger Shroff Like father like son well goes with Tiger. While father Jackie Shroff made his...

Body swap movies come out all the time. Freaky Friday laid out the modern formula in 1976, and after a few dormant years, the story returned in the mid-1980s and has popped up in theaters every few years since. There was, in fact, a weird glut of five body-switching movies within eight months over fall 1987 and summer 1988: Like Father Like Son, the Italian film Da grande, Vice Versa, 18 Again!, and the biggest hit of the bunch by far, Big. Beyond that, there were two remakes of Freaky Friday (1995 and 2003), early-1990s comedies and dramas like Switch and Prelude to a Kiss, family comedies like Wish Upon a Star (1996) and A Saintly Switch (1999), and the gross-out comedy The Change-Up in 2010. There are many more, too, American and foreign alike, but they all tend to have two things in common: they all deal with two (or more) people magically exchanging personalities, and...

The youngest of film awards for Asian cinema (they have quite a few) is the Asian Film Awards which are now in their 8th year. Unlike the prestigious Golden Horse which (mostly) goes to Chinese language cinema, these encompass just about anything Asian: Japan, China, India, South Korea, The Phillipines and so on. Their best picture nominees this year:

No Man's Land (Mainland China) The Grandmaster (Hong Kong - Oscar submission last year) The Great Passage (Japan - Oscar submission last year)  The Lunchbox (India) Snowpiercer (South Korea - but extremely international with stars from the Us, Korea, and the UK. Can this just open already?!) Stray Dogs (Taiwan) 

The near misses, we assume, are Ilo Ilo from Singapore (Oscar submission last year) and Hirokazu Koreeda's Like Father Like Son from Japan (the one Spielberg might remake) since they did well with nomination tallies in major categories.  If you're...

Reality shows about eccentric families are nothing new.

Before the Kardashians asked viewers to keep up, the Osbournes ruled the ratings, the Gosselins took over TV and Rev. Run invited cameras into his New Jersey mansion.

When USA's Chrisley Knows Best premieres in March, it will be entering a crowded field. But there's something special about this series, which chronicles the lives of Atlanta-area millionaire Todd Chrisley, his wife Julie and their five children (plus two grandkids).

Todd rules his roost with southern charm and an iron fist. Think Kris Jenner (whom Todd admires for the "wonderful job" she's done...