Aurelia Butler

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    Studio Ghibli’s Majestic Sensibility Is Drawing Imitators

    Hayao Miyazaki and his colleagues at Studio Ghibli craft pictures that are so delicately drawn and convincingly textured that it seems as if we should be able to step right into them. Think of the bustling bathhouse of “Spirited Away” or the bucolic Japanese countryside of “My Neighbor Totoro.”But as viewers, we are never able to actually enter these worlds of tender emotions, whimsical characters and, perhaps above all, vivid locations that set the imagination ablaze. Movies are made from flat 2-D images; they remain tantalizingly out of reach.Studio Ghibli characters like Satsuki in “My Neighbor Totoro” busy themselves with distinctly video game undertakings: looking, exploring, hiding, delivering, flying.Studio GhibliThe most committed Ghibli fans can travel to Ghibli Park in Nagoya, Japan, and Ghibli Museum in Tokyo for a tactile experience of their beloved animated films. But most of us are not making that globe-trotting journey.Enter video games, which allow players to explore immersive 3-D environments and satisfy many fantasies: the sword-wielding savior, the slayer of fantastical beasts, the fleet-footed time traveler.The influence of Studio Ghibli — which turned 40 this week — can be seen throughout the industry, notably in recent additions to the Legend of Zelda franchise. Breath of the Wild (2017) and Tears of the Kingdom (2023) each offer pastoral experiences tinged with menace, similar to many Ghibli pictures; their cel-shaded graphics also evoke the studio’s exquisite painterly style. In Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda’s devoted knight Link moves between floating land masses that evoke those in “Castle in the Sky.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Tom Cruise to Receive an Honorary Oscar

    The film industry will honor Tom Cruise this fall with an Honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, along with the choreographer Debbie Allen and the production designer Wynn Thomas.Despite his death-defying stunts as the spy Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise has yet to land an Oscar for any of the eight installments of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. His portrayal of the sports agent Jerry Maguire in 1996 earned him a nod from the film academy for best actor, and as a producer he was up for best motion picture in 2023 with “Top Gun: Maverick.”But his career has not included a golden Oscars statuette. Until now.In November, Cruise will receive an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards, alongside the production designer Wynn Thomas, and the choreographer and actress Debbie Allen, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday.Dolly Parton, the singer and actress, will be presented with the annual Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her charitable works.The honorary awards, in their 16th year, are given out by the academy’s board of governors to recognize “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement” in the film industry or “outstanding contributions” to the state of filmmaking. They will be presented months before the main Oscars ceremony in March and will not be televised.This time the awards celebrate four “individuals whose extraordinary careers and commitment to our filmmaking community continue to leave a lasting impact,” the academy president, Janet Yang, said in a statement.Cruise, 62, was first nominated for an Academy Award in 1990 for his portrayal of Ron Kovic, a Vietnam War veteran, in the biographical film “Born on the Fourth of July.” He has received three other nominations since then, for “Jerry Maguire,” “Magnolia,” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    David Hekili Kenui Bell, an Actor in ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ Dies at 46

    Mr. Bell’s first role in a feature film was providing comic relief in the Disney hit.In Disney’s latest live-action remake, “Lilo & Stitch,” David Hekili Kenui Bell has a short but memorable role in which he is so bewildered to see aliens that he lets his shaved ice plop to the ground. The appearance was his first in a feature film.Mr. Bell, who had played minor roles in a few productions, died on Thursday. He was 46.His sister, Jalene Bell, confirmed his death on social media on Sunday and in a family statement that did not provide a cause of death.He was credited simply as Big Hawaiian Dude on his IMDb page, but on TikTok he referred to himself as the Shave Ice Guy.“Lilo & Stitch,” which is based on the 2002 film and the animated franchise, was released on May 23 and became one of the most profitable recent films as it raked in more than $800 million in sales.His role was part of a running gag in the franchise. In those moments, a sunburned character who is relaxing somewhere drops his ice cream when the aliens arrive.In one of two movie scenes where he appeared, the aliens startle him while he sits at the beach in a sleeveless shirt, with a towel on one shoulder and sunglasses atop his head. Predictably, he drops his shaved ice.“These damn aliens owe me a shave ice,” he captioned the scene on TikTok.In the original “Lilo & Stitch,” the man dropping the ice cream is bald and is often not wearing a shirt.Mr. Bell had also appeared in two episodes of a “Magnum P.I.” remake in 2018 and 2019, as well as in one episode of a “Hawaii Five-0” remake in 2014, according to IMDb. He was involved in the upcoming film “The Wrecking Crew,” about two half brothers solving their father’s murder in Hawaii, his page on the site said.He appeared in the “One Life, Right?” commercials for the Kona Brewing Company. The ads won a 2025 Pele Award, according to his sister and the organization’s website. The Pele Awards honor excellence in advertising and design in Hawaii.Outside of acting, Mr. Bell worked at the Kona International Airport near Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, according to the social media statement from his sister.Complete information on survivors was not available.To celebrate her brother’s life and express their grief, Ms. Bell said that she and her grandson went to get shaved ice.“David loved being an actor,” doing voice-overs and traveling as part of his work, his sister said. “The film industry and entertainment was so exciting to him.” More

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    Latest in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial: Timeline and Testimony

    The music mogul has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Here’s what has happened in court.Sean Combs, one of America’s most influential music moguls, is standing trial on federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors accuse him of leading a criminal enterprise that committed a series of crimes including kidnapping, arson and obstruction of justice. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have said all the sex at issue in the case was consensual. Read the indictment here.The Latest:The Jury Sees ‘Freak-Off’ Videos and a Juror Is DismissedAs the trial enters its sixth week, the prosecution has highlighted key pieces of evidence to summarize its case. Among them were a trove of text messages from Kristina Khorram, Mr. Combs’s former chief of staff, which prosecutors said showed that Ms. Khorram was closely involved in planning the intensive sex marathons that Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified as “Jane” said they endured. Over the course of the trial, those events have been called “freak-offs,” “hotel nights” and “wild king nights.”Prosecutors also showed jurors brief excerpts from videos of those events, which were taken from devices that Ms. Ventura, the singer known as Cassie, provided to the government. That evidence is sealed, and was not visible to the public or the news media. Jurors watched the videos on screens, and listened on headphones; one juror, frowning, snatched the headphones off after the first clip was played. During cross-examination, the defense chose segments of the same videos that lasted up to five minutes.The defense has called the footage “powerful evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion.”On Monday, the judge dismissed a juror who gave inconsistent information about where he lives, raising concerns that he had been seeking a spot on the jury of the high-profile case. On Tuesday, the jury saw charts that detailed phone records and text messages related to Mr. Combs’s assault on Ms. Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, and illustrated how some of the expenses related to freak-offs were paid through Mr. Combs’s companies.Prosecutors are expected to rest this week, and the defense will then call its own witnesses, who are expected to include a former human resources manager for Mr. Combs’s company and a forensic psychiatrist.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Justin Bieber Is ‘Standing on Business’ in Paparazzi Video

    A video of the singer’s heated discussion about privacy with a group of photographers has been widely shared, sometimes without the full context of the situation.Justin Bieber is making headlines again.In videos circulating across social media and news outlets, Mr. Bieber is shown having what appears to be a heated exchange with a photographer last Thursday outside Soho House in Malibu, Calif.In the days since, fans have been speculating about his well-being and whether his social media posts, many of which could be read as fairly aggressive, have been a reaction to the incident.So what happened outside Soho House?The most widely shared section of the lengthy video shows Mr. Bieber, in a blue hooded sweatshirt, holding a flashlight next to his face, asking the photographer, “It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business, is it?”The phrase “standing on business,” which can mean taking responsibility, but can also mean not backing down, is part of a larger conversation the singer has with what appears to be a group of paparazzi. Over the course of the discussion, he repeatedly expresses concern about how clips of the interaction could be misrepresented.“You’re provoking me — you’re going to take this video out of context like you always do,” Mr. Bieber says, somewhat muffled by the voices of paparazzi assuring him they will not.After that exchange, which is kept at a fairly even tone, the interaction becomes more heated. Mr. Bieber, growing increasingly frustrated, fires off numerous expletives and repeatedly asks the paparazzi why they are “trying to provoke” him.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    At the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial, a Detailed Timeline of the Hotel Assault on Cassie

    Jurors were also shown how expenses related to the sexual encounters were paid for by the mogul’s companies, as well as text and phone records surrounding a 2016 assault.Just after noon on Tuesday, the courtroom where Sean Combs is standing trial went silent.For a second time in Mr. Combs’s federal trial for sex trafficking and racketeering, jurors were shown explicit videos of “freak-offs,” the extended sexual encounters that are central to the case — this time, in excerpts chosen by the defense.On Monday, during questioning of a federal agent by prosecutors, jurors had viewed a series of short clips from the videos, each about 30 seconds in length. On Tuesday, during cross-examination, the defense chose segments that lasted up to five minutes.Jurors, wearing headphones, kept their eyes trained on screens in front of them. But, following an order from the judge supervising the case, Arun Subramanian, the videos were not displayed to reporters and members of the public in the gallery. The footage was taken from devices that Casandra Ventura, Mr. Combs’s on-and-off girlfriend for about 11 years, turned over to the government during its investigation.For about 20 minutes, as the videos were played, the courtroom was largely hushed while jurors watched. Mr. Combs, sitting in his chair, leaned back and tapped his fingers rhythmically against his right thigh. His lawyers eyed the jurors closely.On Monday, some jurors had seemed visibly uncomfortable when viewing the clips. But on Tuesday, they showed little reaction. When the videos ended, one juror rubbed his face and eyes.Teny Geragos, the defense lawyer cross-examining the agent, DeLeassa Penland of the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, said nothing about the videos, only giving the time codes for when the segments would stop and start; in some cases, she indicated that they were resuming where Monday’s clips had ended.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Alfred Brendel, Bravura Pianist Who Forged a Singular Path, Dies at 94

    With little formal training but full of ideas, he focused on the core classical composers, winning over audiences (though not every critic) around the world.Alfred Brendel, a classical pianist who followed his own lights on a long path from obscurity to international stardom, gaining a devoted following in spite of influential critics who faulted his interpretations of the masters, died on Tuesday at his home in London. He was 94. His death was announced by his family in a news release.Mr. Brendel was unusual among modern concert artists. He had not been a child prodigy, he lacked the phenomenal memory needed to maintain a large repertoire with ease, and he had relatively little formal training. But he was a hard and cheerfully patient worker. For the most part he taught himself, listening to recordings and proceeding at a deliberate pace as he concentrated on a handful of composers, including Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Liszt and Schoenberg.“I never had a regular piano teacher after the age of 16,” he told the critic Bernard Holland of The New York Times for a profile in 1981, although he did attend master classes in his native Austria with the Swiss pianist and conductor Edwin Fischer and the Austrian-born American pianist Eduard Steurmann. “Self-discovery is a slower process but a more natural one.”Mr. Brendel in England in 2007. “I have never belonged to any club,” he said. “I do not believe in schools of piano playing.”Jonathan Player for The New York TimesOver the years, Mr. Brendel developed and continually revised his own ideas on using the modern piano to make well-worn music sound fresh without violating the composers’ intentions. How well he succeeded was very much a matter of taste. His analytical approach appealed especially to intellectuals and writers, and it didn’t hurt, either, that he was himself an erudite writer on music history, theory and practice.His fans filled the house to overflowing for recitals in New York, London and other major cities — including for his memorable cycle of the complete Beethoven sonatas at Carnegie Hall in 1983. Among his champions was Susan Sontag, who contributed a blurb to one of his several books of collected essays, “Alfred Brendel on Music” (2000), saying he had “changed the way we want to hear the major works of the piano repertory.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More