Want a collective eight minute look at two of the six animated short films in the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight DVD? Of course you do. This thing still doesn’t hit for another two weeks, unfortunately (July 7, to be precise), but it keeps looking more and more fantastic with each glimpse. It’s a little odd hearing Kevin Conroy raise his “Batman” voice up an octave or two from the way he delivered it in the original Batman: The Animated Series (I guess they wanted Bats to sound younger to keep in line with the film?), but it’s still cool having him reprise the role.

Five Minutes In Gotham (via MTV.com)

Batman: Gotham Knight Exclusive Clip (via Best Buy.com)

By Stewart Smith

© Madhouse, Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.

Director Satoshi Kon, famous for such twisted classics of Japanese animation as Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers, will be in New York for two film showcases. Along with the Beyond Imagination retrospective at the Lincoln Center, New York-Tokyo and All-Nippon Airways are presenting his most recent film, Paprika, along with a special appearance and talk by director Satoshi Kon himself. This screening is FREE with RSVP! Hit the jump for more info and to RSVP.

Japan Cuts, a festival focusing specifically on Japanese film, has announced their lineup and released a wicked promotional trailer by NYC based visual artist Motomichi to help spread the word. Click above to view it.

Japan Cuts will be taking place at the Japan Society from July 2nd to July 13th, and will be screening films in conjunction with Subway Cinema’s New York Asian Film Festival from July 3rd - 6th. July is certainly shaping up to be a great month for Japanese film in New York!

Japan Cuts (via Japan Society)

By Jesse Mann

Anyone who has seen Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies, an anime produced in part by Studio Ghibli in 1988, surely remembers crying their eyes out at what is one of the most heart-wrenching movies ever made. Now, just a couple short years after the film was remade in live-action for Japanese TV comes word that a feature length live-action remake is hitting theaters in Japan.

This timeless story of two children facing ever increasing hardships while trying to survive constant air raids in World War II Japan has resonated with viewers for years and years, and will surely do so again with this live remake. The likelihood of the film being released stateside, however, is surely slim. It opens July 5th in Japan.

New live-action adaptation of “Grave” (via Nippon Cinema)

By Jesse Mann

Subway Cinema, home of the New York Asian Film Festival, has just announced the full lineup for this year’s festival. An eclectic, sometimes quirky, and always fun lineup of feature length and short films grace the 2008 program, Subway’s seventh in a successful run of annual events. Tons of great new Japanese cinema will be on hand this year, including the world premiere opening film Then Summer Came, the wild wild antics of Sukiyaki Western Django, and many many others.

All the juicy details are available on their site as of today, including links to buy advance tickets. The festival opens on Friday, June 20th, and goes until July 6th . More info and images after the jump.

New York - Tokyo has teamed up with Viz Media to provide our special readers with another excellent giveaway opportunity! Straight from one of the currently most popular anime in America, Bleach The Movie: Memories of Nobody is going to be hitting theaters all over New York. As a limited engagement, there are only a select number of theaters, seats, and tickets available for this two-day long exclusive event starting across select venues on June 11th and 12th at 7:00pm. We’ll be handing out bundles of (2) tickets to lucky randomly selected entrants.

Or, if you’re lucky enough to be in the Union Square area, check out the particular screening at the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 on June 11th at 7:00. As a special engagement for one night only, film goers will be welcomed with appearances by Bleach Character Designer Masashi Kudo and producer Ken Hagino, who will deliver opening remarks about the film. And if that doesn’t excite you, perhaps the KON character standing at the door for pictures and poses will. The first 100 attendees of the night will receive a special commemorative armband.To check which venues we’re offering free tickets to, and find out how to enter, follow the jump.