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Tag: Ghost in the Shell

  • Scarlett Johansson: It’s A Week Of Highs And Lows

    Scarlett Johansson has had a busy week!

    The beautiful starlet has signed on to reprise her Black Widow role in the upcoming film, Captain America: Civil War.

    Scarlett Johansson isn’t the only one to have been confirmed to return for the third movie in the Captain America franchise.

    Chris Evans will return in his role as Captain America, of course. I mean, who else?

    Sebastian Stan will also return as the Winter Soldier and it is reported that Robert Downey, Jr. will bring his Iron Man character to the film.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97hO7FlaAok

    Black Widow fans had feared that Scarlett Johansson’s character wouldn’t get a ton of screen time in Civil War, but it seems those fears are unfounded.

    Directors Joe and Anthony Russo said, ”We’ve been preparing for the movie since the one debuted last year. So, we’ve been working on it for a long time now.”

    They continued, ”We’re very happy how it’s coming along… It’s going to star Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson will be back, Winter Soldier will be back, and Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man will also be joining us in the next film.”

    So exciting for Scarlett Johansson!

    She was also picked up this week for a starring role in the live action adaptation of the immensely popular Japanese comic series, Ghost in the Shell.

    Fans aren’t as excited about that announcement, however.

    While Scarlett Johansson has more than proven her chops as an action star, critics of the idea say that an Asian actress should have been chosen. Fans are so upset that they started an online petition demanding that she be removed from the role.

    It states, “The original film is set in Japan, and the major cast members are Japanese… So why would the American remake star a white actress? The industry is already unfriendly to Asian actors without roles in major films being changed to exclude them.”

    The petition continues, “DreamWorks could be using this film to help provide opportunities for Asian-American actors in a market with few opportunities for them to shine. Please sign the petition asking them to reconsider casting Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell and select actors who are truer to the cast of the original film!”

    So, Scarlett Johansson may not remain in Ghost in the Shell if fans have their way, but we can at least look forward to seeing much more of her as Black Widow in the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron film, as well as in Captain America: Civil War.

    What do you think of Scarlett Johansson’s latest roles?

  • Scarlett Johansson Too White For Anime Adaptation?

    Scarlett Johansson is enjoying a seriously successful career right now, and not much can stop her.

    Except, perhaps, a petition with thousands of signatures asking her to be tossed out of a movie.

    Scarlett Johansson has just confirmed that she will be reprising her role as Black Widow in Captain America: Civil War.

    Those of us that fancy ourselves appreciators of a great superhero movie are over the moon!

    However, fans of the popular Japanese comic series Ghost in the Shell, are not super excited to see Scarlett Johansson in the lead for the upcoming live action adaptation.

    They are so distraught, in fact, that they have started a petition online to boot her from the role and cast an Asian actress.

    It states, “The original film is set in Japan, and the major cast members are Japanese… So why would the American remake star a white actress? The industry is already unfriendly to Asian actors without roles in major films being changed to exclude them.”

    The petition continues, “DreamWorks could be using this film to help provide opportunities for Asian-American actors in a market with few opportunities for them to shine. Please sign the petition asking them to reconsider casting Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell and select actors who are truer to the cast of the original film!”

    It has almost 19,000 signatures.

    Ouch. But, surely Scarlett Johansson could understand the premise of the uproar.

    Also, she is busy with so many Black Widow projects, she could throw a lesser-known Asian actress a chance to make her mark, right?

    I mean, Scarlett Johansson is already busy with Avengers: Age of Ultron and she will soon be working on Captain America: Civil War.

    What do you think? Do you love the thought of Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell or would you rather see an Asian actress in that role?

  • Scarlett Johansson Will Play Lead In Ghost In The Shell; Is Hollywood Whitewashing An Anime Classic?

    Hollywood doesn’t have a stellar track record when it comes to adapting anime, and it seems the trend is going to continue with the announcement that the oft-criticized Ghost in the Shell adaptation is pushing through. The latest news about the adaptation is that Scarlett Johansson will be starring in the lead role based on Major Motoko Kusanagi, the protagonist of the source material. The 1995 anime film is heralded as a classic among fans, and along with Akira, signaled the rise of Japanese animation in the west.

    The Ghost in the Shell manga and subsequent anime adaptation proved to be successful, that it eventually became a franchise that spawned films and an animated TV series. The story revolves around a Japanese counter-terrorism team led by the cybernetically-enhanced Major Kusanagi. The Hollywood remake starring Johansson will be the first western take on the story, and will most likely transfer the action to North America instead of Japan.

    Johansson has proven herself to be a marketable female action star with recent films like Lucy and her role as Black Widow in the Avengers franchise proving to be huge box office draws. However, a lot of the fans of the original work are not happy with the casting choice. Fans took to Twitter to accuse Hollywood of “whitewashing” and choosing popular Caucasian actresses to take on roles that were meant for Asian women. One Twitter user sarcastically remarked, “Every Asian actress alive was just too busy, probably”.

    The Ghost in the Shell live action film will be directed by Snow White and The Huntsman’s Rupert Sanders from a script written by The Reluctant Fundamentalist’s Bill Wheeler. Whether or not they stick to the source material remains to be seen. Only time will tell if the film proves to be successful enough to change the minds of the naysayers. But at this point, a lot of fans are remaining skeptical.

  • Google’s Project Glass Featured on Charlie Rose

    Google’s Project Glass Featured on Charlie Rose

    Sebastian Thrun, founder of Google X, sat with Charlie Rose this week to talk about the Google Glass Project. Thrun also taked about other projects he is involved in including artificial intelligence research, Google’s self-driving cars, and Udacity, his free online university. Google X is Google’s “secret lab” which takes what Thrun calls “moon-shot” ideas and turn them into products.

    Thrun had previously posted the above picture to his Google+ account. The photo was taken during the first part of the interview using a button on the device, and then uploaded to Google+ with a slight nod. The quality of the photo doesn’t seem great, but a final version of Glass would most likely feature a much better camera. This prototype probably has the cheapest camera they could find, just to provide proof-of-concept.

    The internet continues to make fun of the idea of Google Glass, but there is also plenty of excitement over what wearable computing may mean for the future. Speaking for myself, I want to live in a world akin to Ghost in the Shell before I die, and Glass seems to be a step in that direction, so I’m excited for it.

    Unfortunately, the video of Thrun’s interview is not embeddable, so you will have to go to the Charlie Rose website to view it. Still, make sure to come back and leave a comment letting me know what you think about the Glass Project, Thrun, and the interview.

    (via The Verge)