He Endured Starvation & Humiliation, All For A Reality TV Show: TIFF Set For World Premiere Of ‘The Contestant’

Eddie Vedder knows how to put on a festival.Every year, the Pearl Jam frontman curates the annual Ohana Music Festival at Dana Point, CA’s Doheny State Beach.Once again, he’s assembled quite an extravaganza.From Sept. 29 through Oct.

The Tokyo Film Festival has set the lineup for its bumper 2023 edition, running October 23 to November 1. Scroll down for the full list. 

Italian rock band Måneskin just launched their Rush! World Tour and we have the set list from the first U.S. show.

Sophia Scorziello editor Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott are closer than ever in the trailer for Searchlight Pictures’ upcoming gay romance “All of Us Strangers.” Helmed by Andrew Haigh, the film is an adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s 1987 Japanese psychological novel “Strangers.” The two actors star as neighbors-turned-lovers — a screenwriter named Adam (Scott) and the enigmatic Harry (Mescal). As their relationship evolves, Adam returns to his childhood home to discover that his three-decades-deceased parents, played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, are seemingly alive.

Gareth Edwards directed his first movie, the 2010 indie “Monsters,” it could scarcely have been a more DIY endeavor. He had less than $500,000 to tell an intimate story about two Americans contending with giant aliens rampaging through Mexico, so his crew consisted of just his actors (Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able), a sound tech, a line producer, a translator and a driver.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japan’s Dean Fujioka (“Fullmetal Alchemist,” “The Man From The Sea”) and the U.K.’s Callum Woodhouse (“All Creatures Great and Small,” “The Durrells”) are set to star in “Orang Ikan,” a WWII-set creature horror film. The picture is scripted by Singapore and Indonesia-based Mike Wiluan (“Buffalo Boys,” HBO series “Grisse”) who will also direct the picture from next month. International rights to “Orang Ikan” have been picked up by London-based SC Films International, which will give the project its sales launch at the Busan festival and accompanying market next month. Set in the Pacific, 1942, a Japanese ship transports prisoners of war to occupied territories as slave labor.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Long before Bethenny Frankel began fighting for reality stars’ rights, there was “Denpa Shonen: A Life in Prizes,” a Japanese reality show that began airing in 1998.The show starred aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi. In a room by himself and naked, Nasubi had to fill out contest coupons in order to win what he needed to survive.

Amazon is giving all customers a free £5 voucher to spend to mark its 25th anniversary. The voucher can be claimed from 9am on Friday, September 15, but savvy shoppers will have to act quickly to take advantage, as it only lasts until midnight.

The CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences said hopes are high that the new Epic Universe theme park in Orlando set to open next year will extend visitor stays from three or four days to a full week as a new destination for families with kids age eight and above – Universal’s target demo.

For most Americans, the name Nasubi doesn’t mean anything. However, his impact on the world of television is immeasurable.

EXCLUSIVE: Blumhouse CEO and founder Jason Blum is among the Guest Sharks joining ABC’s Shark Tank for the upcoming 15th season. He will be joined by fellow Guest Sharks, Fanatics chairman & CEO Michael Rubin; Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes and CN2 Ventures and Pizzana co-founder; along with returning Guest Shark Emma Grede, CEO and co-founder of Good American and founding partner of Skims. Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks, Camino Partners and Starts With Us, is returning as a recurring Guest Shark.

VAV have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Subcönscióus’ US tour.Today (September 12), organiser Studio PAV announced VAV’s upcoming 10-date tour of the US. The boybank will kick things off on the East Coast, with a show in New Jersey.Following that, VAV will head to Illinois and Florida, before playing a single show in the territory of Puerto Rico.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Yakusho Koji, the Japanese star who was named best actor at Cannes this year in Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” is set as the subject of a seven-title showcase at the upcoming Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan. Among the septet are classic erotic film “Lost Paradise” from 1997, this year’s “Perfect Days” and 1996 film “Shall We Dance,” which was later remade in Hollywood. A former civil servant who first ventured into Taiga drama (long-running TV series broadcast by NHK), then played in several films by Kurosawa Akira, Yakusho became a major 1990s star in Asia as a result of “Shall We Dance?,” in which he portrayed a ball room dancer, and “Lost Paradise.” He also starred in Itami Juzo’s “Tampopo.” Directed by Morita Yoshimitsu, “Lost Paradise” is a tale of a man and a woman whose marriages no longer make them happy, but who rediscover desire in each other’s arms. Fatefully, however, their newfound joy means ever greater transgression of Japan’s strict morality laws. At the time of the release of “Lost Paradise,” the producers deliberately darkened the erotic scenes to make them less explicit and to achieve less restrictive release classifications.

French filmmaker Claire Denis has been announced as the jury president for the Official Section of the 71st San Sebastian Film Festival, running from September 22-30.

WOODZ has announced his 2023 ‘OO-LI And’ world tour.The K-pop musician is set to kick off his ‘OO-LI And’ tour with a two-night concert in Seoul, South Korea on October 28 and 29. WOODZ will then play three shows in Japan in early-November, as well as one concert in Taiwan.At the start of end of November, the singer kick off the US leg of his tour, which will feature six shows over two weeks in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and more.

No one can predict if Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki’s output has finally come to an end, but there’s a solemn finality to “The Boy and the Heron” that suggests he’d be satisfied if that were the case this time. Its contemplation is that of an artist who’s come full circle and is now probing at the very meaning of his extensive oeuvre through a discerning lens.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Vogter,” a psychological thriller directed by Gustav Möller, whose previous film “The Guilty” won the Audience Award at Sundance, has been pre-sold by Les Films du Losange to multiple territories. “Vogter,” which was just completed and is now in post, has been picked up for Germany, Austria, Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Cineart), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris) and Hungary (Vertigo). Les Films du Losange has closed these deals since unveiling the project at Cannes and is negotiating further sales in other key territories.

A new film by Hayao Miyazaki filmmaker (or anything from animation house Studio Ghibli) is always worth celebrating. And for Miyazaki’s first feature film in a decade, TIFF pulls out all the stops.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kim Jee-woon’s black comedy “Cobweb,” which debuted this year at Cannes, is set for a U.S. theatrical release in early 2024.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent With fashion-themed films and series building momentum on the festival circuit, Kevin Macdonald’s “High & Low — John Galliano” has been sold by Newen Connect in major territories ahead of its premiere at Telluride. “High & Low — John Galliano,” a documentary portrait of the controversial fashion designer, is produced by Chloe Mamelok and Macdonald through KGB Films, in association with Condé Nast Entertainment.