Anime | featured news

Critically acclaimed animation director Satoshi Kon, creator of "Millennium Actress," "Paprika" and " Tokyo Godfathers," died of pancreatic cancer Tuesday in Tokyo.

This week at the movies, we've got an anime hero (Astro Boy, with voice work from Kristen Bell and Nicolas Cage); a vampire war ( Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, starring Chris Massoglia and John C. Reilly); an aviation pioneer (Amelia, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere); and gore galore (Saw Vi, starring Costas Mandylor and Mark Rolston). What do the critics have to say? Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy is one of anime's most iconic and venerable characters. Now he's getting the big-screen CGI treatment, and the result, critics say, is an energetic but derivative affair.

If you were hoping to see that live-action, big screen version of the anime classic Akira, well, stop hoping.