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We recently got our first look at Graham Roland and J. D. Dillard's upcoming streaming adaptation of William Gibson's Cyberpunk classic, Neuromancer, via some revealing set photos featuring Briana Middleton as Molly Millions, and we now have another look at the actress sporting a very different costume.

Molly, also known as Sally Shears and Rose Kolodny, was first introduced in Gibson's 1981 short story Johnny Mnemonic (which was adapted as a critically-lambasted 1995 movie starring Keanu Reeves) before going on to play a more significant role in the Sprawl Trilogy, Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988).

Millions is a ruthless, but honourable "razorgirl" (street samurai) with augmented reflexes and cybernetic implants, including razor-sharp retractable blades underneath her fingernails and vision-enhancing mirrored lenses covering her eye-sockets.

So far, Middleton is the only main cast member to be spotted on set, but other photos have revealed some background actors in various Cyberpunk-inspired outfits.

Keanu Reeves has been booked, busy, and downright unstoppable. With his charm, action skills, and signature “Keanu Zen,” the Hollywood darling is gearing up for a jam-packed 2025. The man who gave us Neo, John Wick, and Duke Caboom isn’t slowing down; oh no, he’s revving up for more blockbuster mayhem. From intense action flicks to potential TV magic, Reeves’ upcoming projects promise to keep fans glued to their screens.

Keanu Reeves in John Wick (Credits- Lionsgate)

Sure, Hollywood had its doubts about his acting chops back in the day, but Reeves has shut down those haters with an impressive career that spans decades. Whether he’s kicking bad guys in John Wick or giving us all the feels in Toy Story 4, Reeves delivers something only he can: pure magic.

While we might not see him dodging bullets as Neo in Matrix 5 anytime soon, there’s plenty on the horizon.

Thirty years ago, Keanu Reeves starred in Johnny Mnemonic, a film that began as a low-budget thriller before it was retooled as a would-be blockbuster.

It must take a considerable amount of willpower to go through a horrendous filmmaking experience and then pretend to journalists that everything’s fine. While moments of candour do occur in movie-making, the repercussions are seldom pretty; actor Shia Labeouf burned several bridges when he openly criticised Indiana Jones sequel The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull – in which he starred as Indy’s son – at Cannes in 2010.

Artist and filmmaker Robert Longo was probably wise to keep his own counsel, then, when he began promoting his feature debut Johnny Mnemonic in 1995. What had begun as a small sci-fi indie film had blown up into a would-be summer blockbuster starring Keanu Reeves; originally, Longo wanted to make a subversive cyberpunk thriller inspired by some of his favourite genre films,...

As much as we adore our short kings, the world absolutely loves a tall man. Sure, they’re probably sick of being asked, “How’s the weather up there?” but they always come in handy when you need something off the top shelf.

Table of Contents: Tall Hollywood Actors

Fortunately, there is no shortage of sky-scraping men in Hollywood. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the tallest actors in Hollywood. Click on a name to jump directly to their full profile and learn more about their careers and footwear stats.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – 6’2 ½” Dolph Lundgren – 6’2 ½” Dave Bautista – 6’2 ¾” Bill Skarsgård – 6’3 ¼” Vincent D’Onofrio – 6’3 ½” Jared Padalecki – 6’4” Liam Neeson – 6’4” Alexander Skarsgård – 6’4 ¼” Tyler Perry – 6’4 ¼” Jeff Goldblum – 6’4 ¼” Vince Vaughn – 6’4 ½” Armie Hammer – 6’4 ½” Joe Manganiello – 6’4 ¾” Tim Robbins – 6’4 ¾” John Cleese – 6’5” James Cromwell – 6’5” Kevin Durand – 6’5 ¾” Brad Garrett – 6’8 ⅛” Joonas Suotamo – 6’11” Carel Struycken – 7’0”

While the likes of Kevin Hart and Tom Cruise may not make the list, here are...

Prime Video’s November programming will dip its toe into Christmas and other holiday offerings such as The Holiday (2006) starring Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black. The streamer will also add some films with sequels arriving in theaters this month, like Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Ridley Scott’s 1992 film Gladiator.

For the full list of Prime Video programming in November 2024, see below.

Related: New On Netflix For November 2024: Movies, TV Shows and More

Nov. 1

Movies:

12 Days of Christmas Eve (2004) 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995) 50 To 1 (2014) A Knight’s Tale (2001) Absolute Deception (2013) Across The Universe (2007) Agent Cody Banks (2003) Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) Airplane! (1980) All Saints (2017) Almost Christmas (2016) Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (2004) Anger Management (2003) Apache (1954) Bad Company (2002) Battlefield Earth (2000) Battleship (2012) Big Night (1996) Blizzard (2003) Blown Away (1993) Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004) Boomerang (1992) Bucky Larson Born To Be A Star (2011) Carrie...

In the 1990s -- back when the internet was new and smartphones didn't yet exist -- there was a healthy amount of skepticism about new technology. "Cyberspace," a term coined by sci-fi author William Gibson, was a terrifying new concept for some, and many Luddites feared it. A stationary network of millions of unknown users? And they're all tapping into the same ineffable, electric realm of information that's Not inside my personal computer? It's like someone peeled back a layer of reality and revealed a whole new dimension. Indeed, Brett Leonard's 1992 sci-fi/horror film "The Lawnmower Man" refers to the 'net in those exact terms. That film also posited that Virtual Reality would come to replace real reality.

Throughout the decade, audiences were treated to numerous paranoid cyberthrillers that alternately vaunted the possibilities of the internet while also pointing out its potential for destruction. This was the age that...

The Callum Turner-led Neuromancer has found its main female lead in Briana Middleton. Middleton is set to star in the Apple TV+ adaptation of William Gibson's 1984 cyberpunk novel as iconic character Molly Millions, a cybernetically enhanced "razor girl". Neuromancer, based on William Gibson's 1984 novel, has influenced sci-fi and the internet's rise, including The Matrix franchise and the infamous Keanu Reeves movie Johnny Mnemonic.

Apple TV+s Neuromancer adaptation has landed its new co-lead. Based on William Gibsons iconic 1984 cyberpunk novel, Apple TV+'s plans for a 10-episode live-action adaptation were first announced in February 2024. Despite previous rumors that Miles Teller was being considered for the leading role as the superhacker named Case, Masters of the Airs Callum Turner would eventually be announced as the series lead in April 2024.

According to Deadline, Turner has now found his forthcoming co-star in the form of singer and actor Briana Middleton. Middleton,...

Oi there, listen up! Amazon Prime Video’s list of new releases for June 2024 includes another season of its biggest, bloodiest hit.

The Boys season 4 premieres its first three episodes on Thursday, June 13. Based on the trailers, The Boys is really leaning into the political side of its social satire with a presidential election underway and Homelander on trial for the small matter of killing a guy last season. The season will continue to air on Thursdays, culminating with the finale on July 18.

Amazon is really leaning into its sports offerings this month as well. Fans will get to watch the New York Yankees, the WNBA, and the Nwsl several times throughout June. That’s in addition to a couple of sports docs: Power of the Dream on June 18 and Federer: Twelve Final Days on June 20.

But if you’re looking for something even more explosive than Homelander and Roger Federer,...

Keanu Reeves has always had a career worth the envy of his contemporaries. From his righteous indignance against violence in turning down Oliver Stoneʼs Platoon to becoming one of the most in-demand action movie stars, even in his late 50s, Reeves doesnʼt leave much to the imagination as far as his success is concerned. But even those set on the path of success can sometimes tread down the wrong path.

Keanu Reeves [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]

Despite the direction in which Reeves was later bound to go in his career, in hindsight, the actor got his start playing charming go-getters stuck in difficult predicaments. Be it Speed or Constantine or The Devilʼs Advocate, he has always been the quiet charmer with a chip on his shoulder, fighting against all odds for the selfless greater good.

Keanu Reeves Makes a Career-Ending Choice in the Mid-90s

Just as Keanu Reevesʼ career took off...

Reeves started in TV spots, minor roles, and comedy before becoming a top action star like Wick. Films like Bill & Ted, Speed, Johnny Mnemonic, and The Matrix shaped Reeves for his role as John Wick. Roles in Constantine, Street Kings, and Man of Tai Chi helped Reeves transition from hero to morally grey characters.

Keanu Reeves has long been a star in Hollywood with incredible talent, but it feels like, in some ways, everything led up to his role in John Wick. Reeves began acting in TV spots and TV movies during the early 80s, but it wasn't long before he began landing leading roles and shaping up to be a true Hollywood star. And in the 40 years since the beginning of his career, he has come a long way and accomplished a lot.

While he got his start in more minor projects, and then moved into playing comedy-centric roles,...

Apple TV+ to adapt William Gibson's Neuromancer into a 10-episode show. Neuromancer's influence extends to The Matrix, and Gibson's works have been adapted before with Prime Video show The Peripheral and the Keanu Reeves movie Johnny Mnemonic. Apple TV+ aims to bring audiences into Gibson's "cyberpunk" world, and the potential for Neuromancer to continue Apple TV+'s sci-fi success is high.

Apple TV+ has officially greenlit a television adaptation of William Gibson’s Neuromancer, fresh off the success of their other sci-fi shows Silo and Foundation. Building on the dystopian future established in his previous short stories, many of the themes and terms featured in 1984’s Neuromancer would go on to inspire countless other science fiction tales, including 1999’s The Matrix. Previously, Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate director Tim Miller had been attached to a potential movie adaptation in 2017.

Apple TV+ officially announced that Gibson’s classic sci-fi...

Apple TV+ has ordered a series adaptation of the William Gibson novel “Neuromancer,” Variety has learned.

The 10-episode series hails from co-creators Graham Roland and Jd Dillard. Roland will also serve as showrunner, while Dillard will direct the pilot. Skydance Television will co-produce with Anonymous Content.

Per the official logline, the series “will follow a damaged, top-rung super-hacker named Case who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high stakes crime with his partner Molly, a razor-girl assassin with mirrored eyes, aiming to pull a heist on a corporate dynasty with untold secrets.”

“We’re incredibly excited to be bringing this iconic property to Apple TV+,” said Roland and Dillard in a joint statement. “Since we became friends nearly ten years ago, we’ve looked for something to team up on, so this collaboration marks a dream come true. Neuromancer has inspired so much of the science fiction...

Keanu Reeves has had a mix of hits and misses in the action genre, with some of his best work in the John Wick franchise. While some of his action movies like Replicas and Johnny Mnemonic fall flat, others like Constantine and Point Break are fan-favorites. The Matrix, with its groundbreaking concepts and genre-bending elements, remains Reeves' best action film and a cinematic landmark.

Keanu Reeves has starred in dozens of iconic action films since the 1990s. While several of these movies easily go down in cinematic history as some of the best of the genre, other Keanu Reeves action movies land on the total opposite end of the spectrum. Depending on the project, Reeves can be considered somewhat of a hit-or-miss action hero, although his unparalleled performances are typically the highlight of whatever movie he stars in regardless of critical sentiment.

At the age of 59, Reeves has proven that...

The 1990s were one of cinema's most creatively prolific decades. The rise of the indie scene produced singular early masterpieces from the likes of Peter Jackson and Quentin Tarantino, with big studios following suit. Of course, it still produced its share of terrible movies, along with underrated gems that took time to find their audiences.

Said gems often involved strong performances from great actors, overlooked and sometimes forgotten amid their better-known works. A list of 10 of them appears below: protagonists from '90s movies who never quite gained the attention they deserved.

Related: 10 Funniest '90s Rom-coms

Johnny Mnemonic Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

In and of itself Johnny Mnemonic is a well-intentioned misfire, despite author William Gibson -- who helped create the cyberpunk genre -- adapting his own work with the screenplay. The film's ideas play far better on the printed page, and time hasn't been kind to either its by-the-numbers plot...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)

One of last year’s most resonant films, Aftersun looks at the scratchy dynamics between a father and daughter while on vacation. It’s about memory, the finite nature of the relationships in our lives, and the difficulties of a parent’s diminishing mental health. Charlotte Wells knows where to put the camera in her debut—undeterred from taking risks, from placing her characters outside of the frame, from looking at shadows instead of the people themselves. Aftersun is a rare, tremendous first film, full of heart and focused melancholy; it breaks you down and fills you up simultaneously. The consistent inclusion of camcorder footage, and the fact that it enhances the story rather than becoming a distraction, further...

“The Great” returns to Hulu for Season 3 on May 12. Elle Fanning portrays Catherine the Great, desperate to turn Russia into an enlightened nation, while Nicholas Hoult plays Peter III, her libertine husband. Despite marital problems, including Catherine’s attempt to murder him, Peter now claims to be in love with his wife. The show, loosely based on history, takes a snarky, sexy, and irreverent ride through 18th-century Russia. Catherine was the longest-running female ruler in the nation’s history.

Check out “The Great” Season 3 trailer:

FX’s suspense thriller “Class of ’09” streams May 10 on Hulu. A class of FBI agents at three points in time face changes in the U.S. criminal justice system, which has been altered by AI. The series takes a deep dive into the nature of justice and the choices we make.

Watch the trailer for “Class of ‘09”:

Also returning to the Disney-owned...

Movies That Made Me veteran guest and screenwriter Dan Waters discusses his favorite year of cinema (1989) with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Love At First Bite (1979)

Hudson Hawk (1991)

Demolition Man (1993)

Heathers (1989)

Warlock (1989)

The Matrix (1999)

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Jaws (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Nashville (1975)

Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Field Of Dreams (1989)

My Left Foot (1989)

Crimes And Misdemeanors (1989)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Sex Lies And Videotape (1989)

Easy Rider (1969)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

All That Jazz (1979)

Hair (1979)

Alien (1979)

Fight Club (1999)

Office Space (1999)

Magnolia (1999)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

American Pie (1999)

The Iron Giant (1999)

All About My Mother (1999)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Pretty In Pink (1986)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Say Anything… (1989)

Miracle Mile (1989)

True Love (1989)

Powwow Highway (1989)

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Southside With You...

The 1990s were a bountiful time for fans of cyberpunk, that beautiful science fiction subgenre that deals in transhumanism, the dangers of corporate rule, and exploring the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Films like "Johnny Mnemonic" would introduce the cyberpunk concepts of the 1980s to a wider audience through the magic of the movies, but there are many other, less well-known cyberpunk creations that deserve some love. While it's not technically a movie, the 1993 anime Ova "Gunnm," released in the west as "Battle Angel," is about an hour long and was released in the U.S. on a single VHS, so it sure felt like a movie. It's also an excellent adaptation of one of the best sci-fi manga series ever that inspired James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez to do everything they could to make a live-action adaptation a reality.

"Battle Angel" was based on the "Battle Angel Alita" manga series by Yukito Kishiro,...

The 1990s were a wild time in the world of science fiction cinema, as we all reeled from the technological advances of the 1980s and tried to predict what would come after the year 2000. Then there's the totally gonzo and surprisingly prescient "Johnny Mnemonic," based on the 1981 short story by cyberpunk god William Gibson, predicting the weird and wild future of the year 2021. Unlike its contemporaries like "Judge Dredd" and "Demolition Man," "Johnny Mnemonic" was truly interested in embracing the "science" aspect of science fiction, even if it ended up being a bit too audacious for most audiences. With a screenplay by Gibson himself and starring a freshly-famous Keanu Reeves, hot off of "Speed," "Johnny Mnemonic" had the potential to be a sci-fi classic. Instead, it's a fun and fascinating misfire that takes huge swings. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's always taking its strange vision of the future 100 seriously.

The 1990s were awash in science fiction films trying to predict the future, likely inspired by the upcoming turn of the millennium. Fears of technology, capitalism, citizen uprisings, and more were taken to their most radical extremes and put on the big screen in movies like "Demolition Man," "Strange Days," "12 Monkeys," "Total Recall," "Johnny Mnemonic," and more. Each film had its own version of the future, though many of them shared similar cyberpunk aesthetics that were popular at the time. 

One of the most ridiculous movies of the era was 1995's "Judge Dredd," based on the 2000Ad comic series about a distant dystopian future where the only law enforcement are Judges, who serve as police, judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one. While the comic series would also be adapted into the 2012 cult favorite film "Dredd," starring Karl Urban, the 1995 film is an oft-forgotten misfire with some big...

It's safe to say that "Johnny Mnemonic" has not enjoyed a sterling reputation over the years. Upon its release in the summer of 1995, Roger Ebert damned it with faint praise, calling it "one of the great goofy gestures of recent cinema, a movie that doesn't deserve one nanosecond of serious analysis but has a kind of idiotic grandeur that makes you almost forgive it." Time didn't exactly soften some other critics opinions on it, either; Chris Nashawaty wrote in 2019 that the movie has its admirers but "they're all nuts."

The one person to bear the brunt of criticism for the film was director Robert Longo. In 2021, Longo reflected to Screen Slate on how "Johnny Mnemonic" affected his life: "I basically got thrown into the garbage heap for a while," he said. "My career tanked after that, for sure."

Fortunately for Longo and us long-suffering "Johnny" fans, the film was given...

In the 1990s, the internet was scary. A lot of new communication technology had opened up to the public, and Hollywood responded by making a slew of paranoid cyber-thrillers, each one positing a near-future world where one's personal information was no longer private, and where wealthy, corrupt international companies paid top-dollar to get said information for their own nefarious purposes. It was a future where the human consciousness had been damaged by prolonged consumption to increasingly truncated information nuggets. I know -- crazy, right? 

Movies like Brett Leonard's "The Lawnmower Man" envisioned V.R. technology as capable of forcibly evolving the human brain. Iain Softley's "Hackers" (1995) uncovered a neo-punk subculture of computer-savvy teens who would access anything and do anything their prankish minds desired. Irwin Winkler's "The Net" (1995) was the most daring of all, suggesting that future people might spend all their time in online chat rooms...

Principal photography is underway near Budapest on “Rise of the Raven,” an epic drama series produced by veteran Canadian producer Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes of the Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah”) that marks the most lavish TV production in Hungary’s history.

Adapted from author Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 10-episode series tells the story of the Hungarian warrior Janos Hunyadi, who defeated the Ottoman army in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade, halting its march across Europe.

Lantos, whose producing credits include “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Eastern Promises,” spoke exclusively with Variety about a passion project more than a decade in the making. He was joined by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Robert Dornhelm and Hungarian directors Attila Szász and Orsi Nagypal, who joined the conversation fresh off shooting an epic battle sequence outside Budapest.

The Hungarian-born Lantos, who was in Cannes this year with David Cronenberg...

Clint Eastwood's quiet romance "The Bridges of Madison County" was released in June of 1995, right into the middle of a busy summer blockbuster season that included "Casper," "Braveheart," "Johnny Mnemonic," and would soon go up against "Congo" and "Batman Forever." Eastwood's film, made for a modest 22 million, was counterprogramming for every one of those films, offering a calm, mature romance among the typical summer movie thrills and violence. "Bridges" was also unusual in that it also starred Eastwood, already in his mid-60s, as a romantic lead. 

Prior to the original book's publication in 1992, it had already attracted the attention of...

The post Giving Clint Eastwood Complete Control Kept Him In The Bridges Of Madison County appeared first on /Film.

2021 might have been a strange year, but at least it wasn’t as strange as the movie Johnny Mnemonic made it out to be. The dystopian futuristic thriller was made in 1995 and featured Keanu Reeves as a man with a cybernetic memory implant, and though it was a modest box office hit at the […]

The post Making ‘Mnemonic’ Wasn’t Easy For Keanu Reeves appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Kitano Takeshi, a contemporary icon of Japanese cinema, is to receive a lifetime achievement award next month at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy.

“A legendary artist on Friday the 29th of April will receive the Golden Mulberry Award for lifetime achievement on the stage of Feff 24,” the festival announced Friday with barely concealed delight.

Kitano who has film credits as writer, director, producer and performer, as well as a whole TV comedy career, is known for the brutal sergeant he played alongside David Bowie and Sakamoto Ryuichi in Oshima Nagisa’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” and for incursions into Hollywood in “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Ghost in the Shell.”

His Japanese oeuvre ranges from fine art to gangster genre thriller. He has credits in film noir (“Violent Cop”), romance (“A Scene at the Sea”), drama masterpieces and hard-boiled cult saga “Outrage.”

“For Far East Film Festival 24, a truly...

Writer/director/actor Jim Cummings joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Thunder Road short film (2016)

Thunder Road (2018)

The Wolf Of Snow Hollow (2020)

The Beta Test (2021)

Jack Reacher (2012)

The ’Burbs (1989) – Ti West’s trailer commentary, Burbs-Mania from Tfh

Big (1988)

War Of The Worlds (2005) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review

Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Children Of Men (2006)

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002)

Russian Ark (2002) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Beach (2000)

Titanic (1997)

28 Days Later (2003)

Victoria (2015) – Eduardo Rodriguez’s trailer commentary

Krisha (2015)

Dogtooth (2009)

Inside Out (2015)

Toy Story (1995)

Finding Nemo (2003)

Wall-e (2008)

Up (2009)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Oren Peli’s trailer commentary

False Positive (2021)

Repulsion (1965) – Michael Lehman’s trailer commentary

Seduced And Abandoned (1964)

Divorce Italian Style (1961)

La Dolce Vita (1960) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002)

Speed Racer...

Showbiz careers have no logic because there are too many unpredictable factors: audiences’ fickle tastes, industry perceptions and, of course, luck. But even given the elusive nature of career success, Keanu Reeves is unique.

For one thing, he is stronger than ever after a 35-year career, showing a longevity that might have surprised even his ardent supporters in the 1980s.

Most actors would be thrilled to have one successful film franchise, but Reeves — who celebrates his 57th birthday on Sept. 2 — has three: “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” which in 1989 established him as a comedy actor; plus “The Matrix” (1999) and “John Wick” (2014), both of which put him in the pantheon of action heroes.

Reeves, who is of Hawaiian, Chinese, English, Irish and Portuguese heritage, made his professional debut in 1984, with small roles in various TV series, then made his big-screen bow in “Youngblood” (1986), which tapped into his skill at hockey.

He...

A brief history lesson, if you’ll indulge me.

Far from arriving fully-formed in 1984’s ‘Neuromancer’, the sci-fi subgenre now dubbed ‘Cyberpunk’ was not was a melting pot of ideas first developed by writers such as Philip K. Dick, Jg Ballard and Harlan Ellison. Projecting their paranoia of capitalist enterprises gaining more and more control over our lives and sedating any resistance through ubiquitous cheap sex and chemically distraction. The aesthetic elements-dense cityscapes covered in neon, integrated Western & Eastern cultures-were drawn from Japanese Cyberpunk, influenced by the country’s urban architecture and culture. All of which proved appealing to a young jobbing writer named William Gibson.

Gibson had been immersed in the counterculture scene since his late teens. He took mind-altering substances, sold drug paraphernalia and became close friends with punk musician John Shirley. Shirley encouraged his then-nascent writing and the result was 1986’s ‘Burning Chrome’ demonstrating the purest distillation...

All streaming services go through a down period after the excitement of Spooky Season, it’s only natural. Thankfully with its list of new releases for November 2020, Hulu is making the best out of a barren pop culture landscape.

For starters, Hulu is premiering one of its major 2020 reboots this month as Animaniacs arrives on Nov. 20. Yakko, Wakko, Dot, and the rest of the Warner gang are set to return for this long-awaited revival of the animated classic. That’s about it as far as original series go but Hulu is also premiering original movies Greta, about climate activist Greta Thunberg on Nov. 13; and Run, a horror film starring Sarah Paulson, on Nov. 20.

Still, despite all the Animaniacs, Gretas, and Sarah Paulsons, the biggest hits this month might just be on the library content side of things. November 1 sees the arrival of some major TV properties. For starters, racy British...

Now that we’re just over halfway through October, it’s time to look ahead to what’s arriving on Hulu across November. And the penultimate month of the year is set to deliver a humungous haul of new movies and TV shows. In particular, fresh off their Huluween celebrations, the streaming service is celebrating Christmas early with a load of holiday-related titles dropping on November 1st.

Various films with Christmas in the name land that day – including Christmas in Compton, The Dog Who Saved Christmas and Once Upon a Time at Christmas – as well as a bunch of festive Food Network shows. A few more arrive on the 15th as well. But even if you’re not in the mood for holiday cheer until December, there’s still plenty to enjoy from what’s coming to Hulu in November.

Check out the full list below:

Released November 1

Skins: Complete...

Takeshi Kitano is one of the most recognizable contemporary Japanese filmmakers internationally, with films like “Sonatine” and “Hana-bi” having screened in festivals all over the world and netting numerous awards, Venice’s Golden Lion included. However, before becoming an director in 1989 with “Violent Cop”, Kitano also had a significant career as an actor (among other capacities) that reaches as far in as 1969, and currently numbers 68 credits to his name. This list is a celebration of his work as an actor. In case you are wondering, no, “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Ghost in the Shell” are not among them, and yes, the order of films is completely random

1. Shunpei in Blood and Bones

Takeshi Kitano is sublime in the central role, portraying an awful and very violent man, who does not seem to have any shred of kindness or benevolence on him. Sai, through Shunpei and the impact he has to those around him,...

Fans of the cyberpunk genre, with its dystopian futures, cybernetic implants, and virtual worlds have been treated to a number of winning contributions lately. Altered Carbon has returned for another season on Netflix, Westworld continues to be successful on HBO, and Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is set to be developed by Amazon Prime. Early cyberpunk can trace its roots to sci-fi in the '50s, but the true archetypes of the genre saw a meteoric rise in the '80s, with film adaptations of Philip K. Dick's book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" into Blade Runner, and later William Gibson's short story "Johnny Mnemonic" into a film starring Keanu Reeves in the '90s.

Related: 10 Shows To Watch If You Like Altered Carbon

Even now, as fans look forward to another Matrix film, from a trilogy that took inspiration from the best cyberpunk stories, there are...

The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows. In this edition, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home talk […]

The post The Morning Watch: Multi-Verses vs Parallel Universes, ‘Johnny Mnemonic’ Story Comparison & More appeared first on /Film.

Denis Akiyama, who battled Keanu Reeves in Johnny Mnemonic and portrayed the real-life creator of Pac-Man in Pixels, has died. He was 66.

Akiyama died Thursday in his hometown of Toronto after battling a "very rare and aggressive cancer," his son, Kintaro Akiyama, told The Hollywood Reporter. "He went peacefully into the light on the morning of the full moon," he said.

Akiyama was in Captive Hearts (1987) opposite Pat Morita and in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1988), and he played a mobster landlord in Balance of Power (1996) opposite Billy Blanks and Mako. He also worked often in thrillers ...

Ryan Lambie Dec 6, 2017

Composer Brad Fiedel talks to us about his stunning music for The Terminator and its sequel, T2...

Across a varied and illustrious career, New York-born musician Brad Fiedel has conjured up some unforgettable sounds. He was the keyboard player for soft rock outfit Hall & Oates in the 70s; as a composer, Fiedel's career spanned 20 years and an eclectic mix of film and TV: cult horror classic Fright Night, hit drama The Accused, 90s sci-fi action thriller Johnny Mnemonic to name a few.

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But for most movie geeks, Fiedel will be most closely associated with his unforgettable music for James Cameron's Terminator and Terminator 2. By turns percussive and melancholy, his electronic score encapsulated the themes of Cameron's nightmarish chase movies as eloquently as the images: the off-kilter,...

Keanu Reeves has his fair share of successful Sci-Fi films like The Matrix, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and Johnny Mnemonic among others. Now he's making his return to the genre and bringing the project to New York Comic Con.

Reeves will bring the first footage from his sci-fi feature Replicas to the convention next month. Thanks to THR we have our first photo of Reeves in the film.

Reeves stars in the movie as scientist who becomes obsessed with the idea of bringing his family back to life with cutting edge cloning technology after they all tragically die in a car crash. Alice Eve also stars as Reeves' wife, with Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch also among the cast.

The movie's director Jeffrey Nachmanoff and producer Stephen Hamel will also attend the Nycc panel.

New York Comic Con runs Oct. 5-8.

Ice-t, who starred in such genre films as Tank Girl, Johnny Mnemonic, and Leprechaun in the Hood, is going full horror with a bit role in the independent Clinton Road. He will star alongside Vincent Pastore and Ace Young, adds Variety. The story is based on the real-life Clinton Road — a notorious, 10-mile stretch […]...

This weekend Replay Events, one of the UK’s premier gaming and event entertainment companies and the driving force behind Play Expo Blackpool And Manchester (both events that team Nerdly have attended in the past), added another Northern event to their roster: Play Expo Leeds, an all-day gaming celebration taking place which took place at Leeds United Football Club’s Centenary Pavillion on Sunday April 16th.

Of course the Play Expo events are all about playing games: be it pinball, arcade games or consoles, be they retro or modern. There are plenty of items to buy too – gamers can stock up on retro games, consoles and all sorts of collectables. Many from local vendors (a great way to get your name out there in the community for sure). But the focus of Play Expo’s is most definitely on games.

This latest event in Leeds is easily one of the...

Author: Matt Rodgers

Growing up in the UK’s equivalent of The Shire meant that access to the escapism of video rentals was something as distant as The Misty Mountains. The arrival of a man who looked like Stanley Uris from Stephen King’s It, driving a van that was filled to the rafters with VHS, and which glowed like the Pulp Fiction briefcase when opened, introduced me to a roll-call of the 80s Action Heroes. Monosyllabic men, who quipped their way through bullets and bodies. The first plastic case to cross my sweaty palms featured a muscular fellow, holding a gun, against a colourful heatmap backdrop. It was Predator, and that was a long time ago.

About where things began to change for the real expendables is hard to pinpoint. Why did these one-time box-office giants; Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van-Damme, and to a lesser degree Lundgren, suddenly find their powers diminishing?...

Check out these essentials even if you don’t catch the new movie.

Another week, another live-action remake of an animated classic. Well, you could argue that most of Ghost in the Shell isn’t really live action, since there’s so much that’s CG. You could also say it’s not a remake so much as a new adaptation of a Japanese comic book. Regardless, a lot of it is a pretty faithful copy, so a good percentage of this week’s list of Movies to Watch could apply to the manga or the anime versions of the story (I’m making it a given that you should see the original). That’s good for any of you boycotting the new movie due to its whitewashing controversy.

These 12 titles are worth seeing either way:

The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)

Despite being a cheap, cheesy sci-fi B movie, this is a significant work for being possibly...

Nestled between William Gibson's claim-staking 1984 novel Neuromancer and the Wachowskis' gamechanging The Matrix, Mamoru Oshii's 1995 cops-and-cyborgs tale Ghost in the Shell is almost assuredly better known than widely seen – next to Akira, it's one of the few anime titles that folks who don't know an Astro-Boy from a Dragonball Z can namecheck. Watch it now, and you'll see how Oshii's manga adaptation both grafted earlier influences onto its source material and influenced countless works that came after it. Like its main character, the movie caused ripples even when its presence seemed invisible.

The appeal of Keanu Reeves – philosopher, lover, martial artist, musician, motorcycle enthusiast, movie star – is that he carries himself lightly, even in the movies that require him to turn from "cool breeze" (the Hawaiian translation of his first name, for those of you playing at home) to howling tempest. He's the type of guy who's had to deny being Buddhist, even though he's played the Buddha onscreen – because it's just widely assumed that he would swing that way religiously. ("I haven't take refuge in the dharma," he has assured us.

Kirsten Howard Feb 17, 2017

Keanu Reeves, as much as any actor of his generation, has left a legacy to be proud of. We take a look back at his career.

Much like his character in the John Wick films, Keanu Reeves is a man with very little to lose.

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Often maligned for his lack of range as an actor, or dismissed as merely a vaguely goofy action star, every misstep that Reeves has taken throughout his career has come from an enviable ability to consistently take risks. Despite every effort to pigeonhole him, Keanu Reeves just won’t be told what he can and can’t do.

Born in Beirut to a showgirl and a geologist, Reeves is also a rabid...

Director Rupert Sanders has cast Japanese actor Takeshi “Beat” Kitano in his big screen live-action adaptation of Ghost the Shell. Kitano is an iconic actor in Japan who hasn't starred in an American film since Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Mnemonic in 1995.

The actor will take on the role of Daisuke Aramaki, who is the founder and leader of the elite task force Section 9 which is devoted to stopping dangerous criminals and extremists. Scarlett Johansson plays the lead in the film as a female Special Ops cyborg that is a part of Section 9.

Kitano also joins Michael Pitt, who is playing the villain in the story who's known as the Laughing Man. The character is described as "a bitter and vengeful man with a body that is part robot. He has a unique sense of style and has been described as a bad guy filtered through the lens of a street artist.

Ghost in the Shell: Takeshi Kitano (above in Beyond Outrage), a veteran actor and filmmaker, will join Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell. Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) is set to direct the live-action movie, based on a Japanese manga about a counter-cyberterrorist organization. Kitano is a prolific and popular presence in Japan on television and in films; his last appearance in a Hollywood production came in 1995's Johnny Mnemonic. [Cinema Today via TwitchFilm]...

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Japanese comedian and actor Beat Takeshi ("Battle Royale," "Johnny Mnemonic") has joined the upcoming live-action film adaptation of Masamune Shirow's iconic cyberpunk manga and anime franchise "Ghost in the Shell" at Paramount Pictures.

Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbaek, Michael Pitt and Sam Riley lead the cast of the film about the members of a covert ops unit that take on technology-related crime. Takeshi will play Public Security Section 9 founder and chief Daisuke Aramaki.

Rupert Sanders ("Snow White and the Huntsman") helms from a screenplay adapted by Jonathan Herman ("Straight Outta Compton"). Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul will produce the film which opens March 31st next year.

Source: The Wrap...

Takeshi “Beat” Kitano has joined the cast of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks' Ghost in the Shell, his first U.S. role since Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Mnemonic in 1995. Rupert Sanders direct the feature adaptation of famous Japanese manga series by Masamune Shirow. Paramount will release the film in the U.S. on March 31, 2017. The film follows a female Special Ops cyborg (Scarlett Johansson) who is part of an elite task force called Section 9 that’s devoted to stopping the…...

Well, now, this is some interesting news ... Japan's Cinema Today are reporting that Kitano Takeshi - the iconic director and performer - has joined the cast of the Rupert Sanders directed, live action adaptation of classic anime and manga Ghost In The Shell. The production has taken some heat for the - to this point - all white casting (Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbaek and Michael Pitt have been announced thus far) and the casting of the iconic Kitano as Section 9 chief Arakami Daisuke should alleviate some of that. This will mark Kitano's first appearance in a Hollywood film since 1995's Johnny Mnemonic and hopefully the results here are somewhat better....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

All feature new 2K remasters from Office Kitano!

The first 1000 copies of each feature cardboard slipcases with new illustrated artwork by Marie Bergeron supported by Filmdoo’s Film Creativity Competition.

All 3 now available to pre-order at: http://amzn.to/20wQ1BA

Hana-bi – January 11th

30 minute documentary from the film’s original release

Interview with Takeshi Kitano from the film’s original release

New Audio commentary by film critic Mark Schilling

New trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwTWtAE3ylY

Kikujiro – February 22nd

Jam Session – 90 minute documentary on Kikujiro directed by the award-winning Japanese director Makoto Shinozaki

Dolls – March 14th

Interviews with Takeshi Kitano, Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima & Yohij Yamamoto

Behind the Scenes

Video from the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival

Takeshi Kitano – Biography

The success of Hana-bi has confirmed Takeshi Kitano as a leading figure of international cinema. Among its numerous awards, Hana-bi won the Golden...