JAPANESE IMMERSION IN HOLLYWOOD - Rental Family and Demon Slayer

Two of the most striking films I watched this 2025 awards season came from Japan. Curiously, both brought me closer to my son, Francisco, a true representative of Generation Z.

Chico, as I call him, was born in 2001 and, like many of his peers, grew up fully immersed in the digital world. Since childhood, he has been drawing, perhaps inspired by his deep love for Japanese anime and manga. He has seen and read practically everything this extraordinary cultural industry produces. The result of this passion is that today he speaks Japanese fluently.

Early this year, he traveled to Japan with a friend, a trip financed entirely by his own savings. He returned enchanted, determined to go back soon, this time bringing his parents along to show us the country he has come to love so deeply.

I, on the other hand, was born in the 1950s, in a completely different world. Understanding how he thinks and acts isn’t simple; we belong to different universes. Yet the love I feel for him has helped me break down barriers and see the world through his eyes. Once again, art has served as a bridge.

The first adult film I ever watched - at the age of 14 - was the Japanese classic Harakiri (Seppuku) by Masaki Kobayashi (1962). The story of a masterless samurai who seeks permission to commit ritual suicide in the mansion of a feudal lord, explaining the reasons that led him there, left a profound mark on my adolescence.

The film is considered one of the greatest ever made and awakened in me a lasting love for Japanese cinema, especially samurai films. I’ve always associated them with old American Westerns: tales where good and evil are clearly drawn, and the hero, reluctantly but inevitably, does what must be done, whatever the cost.

With that background, I return to the theme of this essay: two recent Japanese films that, in very different ways, brought me closer to my Francisco.

The first is the anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle, part of the wildly popular franchise about young Tanjiro, who becomes a demon slayer after his family is killed and his sister transformed into one of the creatures he now hunts. His mission, to cure her, drives him through ever more perilous battles.

Released in September 2025, the film became a worldwide phenomenon, grossing over US$667 million and becoming the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time. Distributed internationally by Crunchyroll in partnership with Sony Pictures Releasing, it is now reaching audiences worldwide, including Brazil.

When I received an invitation to a screening, I asked Chico if he’d like to join me, and of course, he immediately agreed. He had already shown me the original anime, which I found interesting, if a bit “exaggerated” in its premises, as so many of his favorites tend to be. I often joke that manga and anime writers must smoke something special before creating such wildly imaginative worlds. (That joke alone shows the generational gap between us.)

Still, I went, I watched… and I liked it. The animation is dazzling, the narrative long and complex yet engrossing. It’s violent, yes, but also beautiful. The samurai films I loved in my youth were equally bloody. The difference lies in the Japanese worldview, profoundly distinct from the Western one, and that’s precisely what makes it so fascinating.

The second film I saw that week touched me in a similar way: Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser. It’s a dramatic comedy directed by Hikari (the pseudonym of Japanese filmmaker Mitsuyo Miyazaki) and co-written with Stephen Blahut. Alongside Fraser, the cast includes Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto.

A U.S.–Japan co-production, Rental Family premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2025, and will open in American theaters in November.

Fraser plays a lonely American actor living in Tokyo who begins working for a real, and distinctly Japanese service: agencies that “rent” people to play family roles. One can hire a “father,” a “daughter,” or even mourners for a fake funeral.

What begins as a purely professional arrangement, in keeping with the restrained Japanese spirit, grows complicated as the Western protagonist becomes emotionally entangled with those around him. The film, by turns tragic and comic, captures the clash and convergence of two cultures, revealing, ultimately, that while our customs differ, our humanity remains the same.

After the screening at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles, Brendan Fraser spent a good time speaking with the audience about the production. He mentioned that his first meeting with Hikari lasted six uninterrupted hours, and his post-screening conversation nearly as long.

Watching these two Japanese films gave me something rare: a moment of artistic and emotional communion with my son, whose mind and era are so different from mine. He wasn’t born in Japan, but he belongs to this new century, a generation that sees the world through another lens.

May the love that unites us remain our bridge, and may our differences never keep us from understanding one another. Watching Rental Family and Demon Slayer, I caught a glimpse of the joy our next reunion will bring, perhaps in Japan, the land that now binds us both.

                                                

GALA NIGHT FOR THE SECRET AGENT IN LALALAND

On Sunday, October 19, the BRAVO Film Festival, the new name for the traditional Brazilian Film Festival in Hollywood, opened in style with the screening of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s latest film, The Secret Agent. The feature is Brazil’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Oscars, and its first public showing took place in one of the elegant screening rooms of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

The event drew an audience filled with both Brazilian and international stars, including the stunning Ana de Armas, Venezuelan actor Édgar Ramírez, and the legendary Edward James Olmos, actor, director, producer, and longtime activist. Representing Brazil were Bárbara Paz and Débora Nascimento, who added even more charm to the evening.

Following the screening, a conversation was held with Kleber Mendonça Filho and the film’s producer, Emilie Lesclaux, moderated by acclaimed and Academy Award-winning director Walter Salles. The discussion delved into the film’s themes and creative process, offering the audience a glimpse into the mind of one of Brazil’s most respected filmmakers.

The night concluded with a lively cocktail reception, where guests mingled freely, exchanged impressions, and took plenty of selfies with the stars.

The reception for The Secret Agent was enthusiastic, with warm applause and praise from both Brazilian and American attendees.

Let’s hope this strong start helps carry the film all the way to the Oscars.

 

WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK IN THE WATER…

Fifty years ago, a 28-year-old filmmaker changed the way the world looked at the ocean. His name: Steven Spielberg. His film, known in Brazil as Tubarão, was simply called Jaws.

Before Jaws, the American summer meant catching waves, taking vacations, and relaxing by the sea. But that enormous mechanical shark shattered our peace, and in doing so, gave us one of the most thrilling movie experiences in history, filling theaters around the world with screams and applause.

Released in 1975, Jaws didn’t just terrify audiences; it revolutionized Hollywood. It created the concept of the summer blockbuster, forever changing how major studios produced, marketed, and distributed films. The era of “high-concept cinema”, big ideas, bigger budgets, and unforgettable taglines was born.

Now, to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles is paying tribute with a spectacular new exhibition: “Jaws: The Exhibition.”

The show features more than 200 original artifacts, behind-the-scenes photos, storyboards, props, production equipment, and interactive displays spread across six immersive sections. Visitors can see the two versions of the Amity Island billboard (before and after the shark attacks), step aboard a recreation of the Orca’s cabin and stern, and marvel at the Panavision underwater camera used to film the shark’s chilling underwater shots. And, of course, greeting everyone at the entrance is “Bruce”, the original mechanical shark that terrified generations.

Unlike many of the young fans now discovering the film through this exhibition, I was lucky enough to see Jaws when it first premiered. At the time, I wore a beard, glasses, and had curly hair, not unlike Richard Dreyfuss, who played the marine biologist Hooper.

When the lights came up at the old Roxi Cinema IN Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, after that first screening, a few people actually thought I was him. I walked out of the theater feeling absurdly proud.

Years later, I had the chance to interview Dreyfuss. We took a photo together, both of us nearly bald and beardless by then. He could have been my brother.

The exhibition runs at the Academy Museum until July 26, 2026.

If you find yourself in Los Angeles, don’t miss it. It’s not just a tribute to a film, it’s a celebration of the moment cinema learned how to truly make us afraid to go back in the water.

A Different Spike Lee Returns in Great Form - With a Powerful, Beautiful Message

It’s been five years since Spike Lee last released a film. His most recent work, Da 5 Bloods (2020), marked a strong political statement, as much a war film as a meditation on race and legacy. Now, Lee returns in full force with Highest 2 Lowest, an apparent police thriller that is, in fact, much more than it seems. The film is a bold remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic, High and Low, and stars Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and A$AP Rocky. This marks the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington, and perhaps their most mature yet.

The story follows David King, a successful music producer and founder of Stackin’ Hits Records, whose son is kidnapped on the same day he’s about to close a multi-million-dollar deal. What unfolds is a gripping series of twists and revelations. Beyond the tension and mystery, the film delves deep into the modern cult of celebrity, the moral decay of the entertainment industry, and the way fame and fortune have come to eclipse integrity and community — themes that feel strikingly relevant in today’s pop culture landscape, where figures like Sean “Diddy” Combs and Kanye West dominate headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Highest 2 Lowest explores questions of success, responsibility, and identity. What does an artist owe to the community that shaped him, and to himself? Lee uses the framework of a thriller to expose the commodification of art, and the moral toll that comes with success in an industry that often prizes profit over purpose.

According to The New Yorker, critic Richard Brody describes the film as marking “a conservative turn for the iconoclastic Spike Lee”:

“It’s fascinating when filmmakers make drastic changes late in their careers, as Martin Scorsese did with The Wolf of Wall Street and Francis Ford Coppola recently with Megalopolis. Now it’s Spike Lee’s turn, and in his new drama Highest 2 Lowest, he changes in a surprising way.”

Without giving away spoilers, which would do a disservice to both Lee and this remarkable film, it’s fair to say that Highest 2 Lowest argues for a return to moral clarity. Greed, vanity, and the erosion of decency, especially within a music world largely built on Black creativity, are depicted not as abstract ills, but as urgent crises demanding introspection. The pursuit of instant celebrity, even through violence or scandal rather than talent, is shown to be as destructive as it is seductive.

Simply put: it’s an excellent film. The work of a mature filmmaker who still knows how to surprise, provoke, and move an audience. I had the privilege of watching it in Spike Lee’s company, at a private screening high in the Hollywood Hills, classic Hollywood style, complete with good food, drinks, and even a live performance by the singer Aiyana-Lee, who plays Sula, a friend of the producer’s son who ends up signing with his record label. Her scene in the film is one of its most arresting moments.

Don’t miss Highest 2 Lowest. You’ll like it — and it will make you think.

Photos: Gaby Atherton

A Breath of Fresh Air Amidst a Dystopian Reality

 A few weeks ago, I attended one of the first screenings of Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, One Battle After Another, and I came away deeply impressed. The reaction of the rest of the audience, journalists and members of the American film industry, was equally enthusiastic. The film, featuring a stellar cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and a promising newcomer, Chase Infiniti, was unanimously praised. I didn’t hear a single negative comment from my fellow critics, quite the opposite.

Blending drama and comedy, the film feels remarkably relevant, even though Anderson began writing the script two decades ago. It tackles themes such as the misdirected fury of radical leftist movements of the 1970s, the absurdity of American far-right secret societies (which, as ludicrous as they seem, do exist), and the chilling behavior of the current government, with its proto-Nazi ICE troops and alligator-surrounded detention camps, alongside the underground networks protecting persecuted Latinos and undocumented immigrants. In other words: entirely contemporary.

After the screening, there was a brief discussion with the director and main cast, followed by a small dinner in the square beside the Steven J. Ross Theater, right in the heart of the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, next to the backlot where scenes from Blade Runner, and Mel Brooks’s To Be or Not to Be were filmed. There, artists mingled freely with guests, blurring the lines between Hollywood’s creative world and its observers.

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of those rare filmmakers who dismantles the usual criticism aimed at Hollywood by much of the foreign intelligentsia, the idea that the American industry corrupts global cinema. Anderson reminds me of independent directors from all over the world, including Brazil. Though he works within the studio system, his films defy Hollywood formulas. He began as a true independent and has managed to preserve that spirit in both his scripts and direction.

Born in 1970, Anderson stands among the most significant filmmakers of his generation, alongside Wes Anderson, Spike Lee, and Quentin Tarantino, auteur directors whose work is unmistakably personal. Over his career, he has won multiple awards, including the BAFTA, and earned eleven Oscar nominations, three Golden Globes, and even a Grammy. He’s also the only director to have received the Best Director prize at Cannes, the Silver Lion at Venice, and both the Silver and Golden Bear at Berlin.

For me, One Battle After Another felt like a true breath of fresh air in a moment when everything around us seems gray and oppressive. I write these lines under the weight of recent events, ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! following remarks deemed offensive after Charlie Kirk’s murder, months after CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In Brazil, comedians face lawsuits for humor that displeases those in power. Freedom of expression, both in journalism and entertainment, is being smothered, and that suffocation threatens the freedom of us all.

We are living in an age of radicalization, of blind, furious extremism, where reason and calm are drowned out by mobs convinced of their own delusions, waving torches in pursuit of “justice” that is really nothing more than collective lynching.

That’s why I recommend One Battle After Another, which opened worldwide on September 25th. The film exposes the absurdity of all this radicalism and shows that it leads nowhere. What truly matters are the enduring human values championed by figures like Christ, Martin Luther King Jr., Pope Francis, and others. Beneath its political chaos, the film tells a moving love story between a father and his daughter, two people trying to stay connected amid an insane world that has lost sight of what really matters.

So leave the madness outside, step into the dark of the cinema, and let yourself breathe again, for a few precious moments of great filmmaking.

The End

A GREAT LATIN CELEBRATION IN HOLLYWOOD

The 5th Annual Critics Choice Association Celebration of Latino Cinema and Television was a resounding success. The event, held on the afternoon of October 24 at one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious venues, the Four Seasons Hotel, was a beautiful tribute to Latino excellence in film and television.

Throughout the ceremony, heartfelt acceptance speeches highlighted the recent achievements of the Latino community in the U.S. and Latin America, while also addressing the challenges it continues to face — always with messages of courage, determination, and hope for a brighter future.

Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta received the Icon Award for her lifelong dedication to social justice on behalf of the Latino community in the United States. Her legacy — one that has inspired artists, filmmakers, and real change for over seven decades — was celebrated with standing ovations. As co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union and one of the most influential labor leaders in American history, Dolores has devoted her life to fighting for the rights of farmworkers, women, and marginalized communities. Her work continues through the Dolores Huerta Foundation and the Peace and Justice Cultural Center.

Her powerful rallying cry, “Sí, se puede” (“Yes, we can”) — later adopted by Barack Obama — remains a universal call to action. Now 95, Huerta continues to inspire the next generation of activists to step off the sidewalks and into the streets. Her extraordinary life story will soon be adapted into a feature film co-written by Barbara Martinez Jitner and Gregory Nava, who will also direct.

Cuban star Andy Garcia was honored with the Vanguard Award in recognition of his distinguished career and his latest work in the Paramount+ series Landman.

Oscar nominee and Emmy, SAG, and Critics Choice Award winner America Ferrera received the Pioneer Award for her outstanding contributions to the industry and her recent leading role in The Lost Bus (Apple Original Films).

Critics Choice and Emmy Award nominee Oscar Isaac took home the Film Actor Award for his performance in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (Netflix). The Guatemalan actor had a remarkable year, premiering two acclaimed films at the Venice Film Festival — Frankenstein and In the Hand of Dante.

Our own Kleber Mendonça Filho was recognized with the Directing Award for his film The Secret Agent (NEON). Earlier this year, he also received the Best Director Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival and the FIPRESCI International Critics Award. To make him feel at home, the event organizers seated two Brazilian CCA members — journalist Jana Nascimento Nagase and myself — at his table.

Other honorees included:

• Frida Perez, Showrunner Award for The Studio (Apple TV+)

• Anthony Ramos, Best Supporting Actor in a Film for A House of Dynamite (Netflix)

• Gabriel Luna, Best Supporting Actor in a Series for Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (Peacock)

• Tonatiuh, Breakthrough Actor for Kiss of the Spider Woman (Roadside Attractions)

• Camila Perez, Breakthrough Actress for Acapulco (Apple TV+)

“It’s a true privilege to celebrate this extraordinary group of honorees,” said Clayton Davis, Board Member and Co-Programmer of the Critics Choice Association. “At a time when Latinos are often vilified or ignored, their art is a testament to our genius, resilience, and undeniable influence. These stories reflect our community and enrich the global cultural landscape.”

It was truly a night of pride, celebration, and inspiration — a vivid reminder of the talent and impact of Latino voices in cinema and television.

(I’ve included some pictures from the party for you to enjoy.)

 

JAY KELLY - IN THE GUTTER LOOKING AT THE STARS

George Clooney’s new film is more than just a dramatic story about a Hollywood star in the midst of an existential crisis. It’s a humorous yet deeply philosophical reflection by director and screenwriter Noah Baumbach—one that resonates far beyond Hollywood.

When we reach the point where perhaps only twenty good years remain, it’s natural to look back and ask whether the choices and paths we’ve taken were truly the right ones in our pursuit of happiness. It’s a profound kind of self-examination—one that should concern us as much as checking our cholesterol or the condition of our prostate as we approach middle age.

The film follows the famous movie star Jay Kelly, played by Clooney, and his devoted manager Ron (Adam Sandler, in a surprisingly restrained and dramatic role) as they embark on an emotional journey across Europe. Along the way, the two confront the choices they’ve made, the relationships they’ve nurtured or neglected, and the legacies they’ll leave behind.

In addition to Clooney and Sandler, the cast includes Laura Dern, Greta Gerwig, Emily Mortimer (who also co-wrote the screenplay), Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Stacy Keach, and others.

International journalists based in Los Angeles attended an advance screening at Netflix’s elegant Hollywood theater on the evening of October 22, followed by a cocktail reception with George Clooney-- who, besieged by requests for selfies, barely had time to eat or drink. Afterward came the screening.

The following day, a press conference took place at the historic Beverly Hills Hotel. A lively Q&A featuring Baumbach, Clooney, Sandler, and Dern. The photos and footage I captured illustrate both events.

In both conversations, the discussion naturally turned toward the film’s larger existential themes—questions that linger far beyond the story itself. It’s this reflective undercurrent that gives the work its depth and power.

Watching Jay Kelly prompted me to think about my own life, the choices I’ve made, the roads I’ve taken, and the balance between regrets, victories, and unfulfilled dreams. Thankfully, my inventory isn’t among the worst.

Who knows? Perhaps when you watch this film, you’ll find yourself thinking about these same questions too.

#wladimirweltman, #GeorgeClooney, #adamsandler, #LauraDern, #jaykelly, #Netflix,

 

#beverlyhillshotel