Piracy on the Digital Seas Nov 15, 2008
Were they more likely to watch something like The Hidden Fortress or Spaced Invaders. Thanks in advance. (Slate)
2008 Japan Film Festival - Bigger and Better than Ever! Mar 28, 2008
For those diehard Kurosawa fans we will also be showing two award-winning films, "The Hidden Fortress" and "Sanjuro" in all their black and white splendor. Japanese animation fans will also be able to get their fix with "Atagoal Cat's Magical Forest" [Atagoal wa Neko no Mori]; Writer Masamune Shirow's much-anticipated "Appleseed: ExMachina"; and the just-released "One Piece - The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta." Plus, a collection of never-seen-before shorts from... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
VeggieTales delivers an entertaining spoof Jan 11, 2008
The pace of the story is quick, there are catchy, silly songs -- including a delightful parody of the B-52's' "Rock Lobster" -- to keep the littlest Veggie fans happy, and the computer-generated animation is pleasingly colorful and amusing, especially in the rendering of some rock monsters and scalawag Robert the Terrible's hidden fortress. For those turned off by possible proselytizing, it's pretty mild here until a figure appears near the end and casts a more theological reading on the story. (Los Angeles Times)
Toho rebuilds Kurosawa 'Fortress' Oct 30, 2007
Toho is planning a remake of Kurosawa's 1958 film 'The Hidden Fortress ... Akira Kurosawa's 1958 action comedy "The Hidden Fortress" ("Kakushi toride no san-akunin") -- said to be the inspiration for "Star Wars" -- will be remade in Japan, producer and distrib Toho has announced ... Toho has slotted "The Hidden Fortress" for a May 10 release. (Variety)
Several Villains to Blame for Lack of Sci-Fi Success Jun 5, 2007
In essence, creator Lucas was trying to revitalize another dying genre - the Western - when he took parts of Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress," fashioned some additional morality play elements to the narrative (good vs. evil, mostly) and drizzled the whole thing in a proto-religious reduction of mangled metaphysical meaning (i. e. "The Force"). (The Ledger)
Future shock: the death of serious science fiction May 31, 2007
Scattered among this collective are intriguing also-rans like Silent Running, Solaris, Blade Runner, Gattaca and "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. While some may argue for a missing favourite - Alien, The Fifth Element, I, Robot - there is a significant reasons why these movies fall outside this discussion, primary among them, their lack of an inherent allegorical nature. Serious science fiction is not a question of storytelling reclassification, but of innovation spawned by creative conjecture.... (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Stellar anniversaryHow to play a Wookiee - and 29 other facts about Star Wars May 24, 2007
The droids R2-D2 and C-3PO are said to be based on the 1958 Akira Kourosawa film Kakushi toride no san akunin (The Hidden Fortress). Other characters in Star Wars were also drawn from the film including Han Solo and Ben Kenobi. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Letters From Iwo Jima Feb 24, 2007
Akira Kurosawa often questioned such beliefs in his films and Letters has more than a few stylistic nods towards the man who made Rashomon and The Hidden Fortress (and one or two to Yasujiro Ozu, the great Japanese minimalist director). One of the non-believers is Private Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker and late conscript who can't shoot straight. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Stephen King getting really graphic Feb 3, 2007
A Hidden Fortress 1960 Sequoia Ave. No.9 Simi Valley (805) 526-6457. Brave New Worlds 22722 Lyons Ave. No.6 Newhall (661) 259-4745. (Sun-Sentinel.com)
The Secret Mainstream Feb 1, 2007
We all exalt in the survival of Kurosawa s The Hidden Fortress (1958), but the cultural significance of Carpenter s Escape from New York (1981) has proved difficult for many of us to articulate (though it does have its champions). The work of Werner Herzog presents a different case, as it offers us the only instance of a single filmmaker s entire corpus surviving until our time. (Harper's Magazine)
