THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS: Taste The Thrill In The Official Trailer
“Some search for meaning in life. Climbing is the only way I feel alive.”
“Some search for meaning in life. Climbing is the only way I feel alive.”
The Xiao Xiao stickman fighters of the early two-thousandsies were a thing of young, viral video internet glory (I made quite the shameless use of KaZaA back in day). Nowadays you’ll find the legacy has lived on in top-notch form, ever-changing with the times thanks to animators like Jhanzou on YouTube. His latest as of last month is called Combat Gods and I seriously hope this phenomenon continues to stay as fresh as it has been – point in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some producer saw this as an idea for feature film investment.
It’s been nearly thirty years since many of us played with a Sega Genesis and spent much of my youth in the late 80’s in front of Altered Beast. I used to get on my mother’s nerves with it back then…fun times! Nowadays, I’ve pretty much distanced myself from gaming culture, but always kept up with movies, and with the successes of films like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat at the time, I often wondered when we would see some of these other properties granted the same treatment.
Well, evidently it was only a matter of time following a 2011 press release announcing the launch of Stories International, a joint venture between Sega and advertising Hakuhodo DY Group dedicated to producing various games, comic books and novels for television and film through live action and animation with Hollywood backing. A more recent hint of Sega’s activity came back in June when news broke that one of Sega’s most popular franchises, Sonic The Hedgehog was finally going to be developed as a live-action hybrid feature for Sony Pictures.
Clearly it seemed imminent for those who have been in the know in the last three years that Sega was taking things up a notch, and I suppose the only question left would “When?”. Well, we now have an answer for that question as of this week with news former Break Media executive Evan Cholfin will be spearheading efforts at Stories International with president and CEO Suzuki Tomoya to help transition a vast list of Sega games to English-language production. So far, the titles named in the report alongside Altered Beast include the 1991 Beat ‘Em Up actioner, Streets of Rage, the 1988 hack-and-slash thriller, Shinobi, the 2011 survival horror, Rise of Nightmares and the 1999 racing game Crazy Taxi, with mentions of the 1993 3D tournament game Virtua Fighter and Golden Axe are also named in the report. Moreover, Sega has also concluded a minority investment deal with All Nippon Entertainment Works in order to help Stories International in its agenda by acquiring access to twenty Japanese rights holders for the production of mangas, TV shows, toys and comics to the screen as well.
Obviously some of the titles listed above are certainly worth taking interest in, especially Streets Of Rage and Shinobi, and even moreso with Virtua Fighter to see how it will compare with other live-action tournament adaptations as of recent. But since Sega’s entire library is now fair game, perhaps we can finally add Battletoads, Contra, Cutie Suzuki, Double Dragon, Fatal Fury, an upgraded reboot of the 1994 film, Double Dragon, and maybe even Last Battle for a more grand approach to a hopeful theatrical production of Fist Of The North Star, the latter which always fascinated me with the hopes that Kane Kosugi would be picked. I can never get over that, but that’s just me.
At any rate, look for more video game movie news in the years to come. I know I’m curious!
H/T: Variety
2014 marks the latest of many milestone successes for Japan’s acclaimed animation studio, Studio Ghibli, in lieu of co-founder and award-winning filmmaker Miyazaki Hayao’s retirement. Its other founding-half, director Isao Takahata is still active with the company since aiding its lauch in 1985, and although the future of the studio appears to be uncertain, his presence still lends credence to an otherwise memorable repetorie of classic innovative and visionary work the studio has long been known for.
Such is the case with Takahata‘s newest film in fourteen years, The Tale Of Princess Kaguya, an animated revival of a 10th century folktale about young girl discovered inside a bamboo plant. Following an arduous production period, the film was released theatrically in Japan late last year, and subsequently screened throughout this year’s film festival circuit in U.S. and Canada to a great many accolades and uproaring reviews from many industry sites. From this, it’s safe to gather this is way more than a worthwhile effort from a great studio for which its loyal fans and followers can only hope will endure in the years to come.
SYNOPSIS:
From Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and The Wind Rises, comes a powerful and sweeping epic that redefines the limits of animated storytelling and marks a triumphant highpoint within an extraordinary career in filmmaking for director Isao Takahata.
Legendary Studio Ghibli cofounder Isao Takahata revisits Japan’s most famous folktale in this gorgeous, hand-drawn masterwork, decades in the making. Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthralls all who encounter her – but ultimately she must confront her fate, the punishment for her crime.
The Tale Of Princess Kaguya is making its presence known in North America with a slate of screenings courtesy of U.S. distributor GKids who will feature their version with the voices of actresses Chloe Grace Moretz, Mary Steenburgen, Lucy Liu and co-writer Riko Sakaguchi, and actors James Caan and Darren Criss, and many more. North American screenings are kicking off as early this week, so watch the trailer below, and visit the official webistes for the film by CLICKING HERE, and for GKids Films which bares a detailed list of screenings, locations and dates.
Crave hosted a brand new animated prequel shortfilm this week titled 47 Ronin: The Way Of The Warrior. The shortfilm comes as movie goers are less than two weeks away from the premiere of the forthcoming feature length samurai epic, 47 Ronin.
Prepare yourselves for battle as life imitates art in the ultimate death match in Maker Vs. Marker, a short film that fuses stop motion with hand-drawn animation that characterises an epic battle between the animator’s hand, and a character inspired by Street Fighter resembling “Akuma”.