Human Interest

Image: Studio GhibliGreat news if you missed The Boy and the Heron during its initial theatrical run, and felt serious FOMO when it picked up an Oscar for Best Animated Feature last night: Hayao Miyazaki’s (possibly final?) movie is coming back to North American theaters soon. Alex Winter on His Character in Destroy All Neighbors This news was bundled in with a message on X from Studio Ghibli co-founder and film producer Toshi Suzuki, as well as New York-based distributor GKIDS. Director Miyazaki, who is 83 years old,…

James Cameron fans have been eagerly anticipating this week, when collector’s editions of The Abyss, True Lies, and Aliens hit 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray for the first time, joining recently released special collector’s editions of Cameron’s mega-blockbusters Titanic, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water. io9 has an exclusive clip from the special features arriving with The Abyss to share today.Will We See More of Uhura's Relationship with Spock? | io9 InterviewThe clip comes from brand-new documentary “The Legacy of The Abyss,”…

Photo: Steve Granitz (Getty Images)The specter of naked Sydney Sweeney, a rom-com actress whose boobs recently joined the culture war, is getting the horniest (and dumbest) members of X—the website formerly known as Twitter—to click malicious links.Even Twitter Can’t Kill Twitter | Letter From the Editor404Media was the first to report that the social media platform is swimming in “Sydney Sweeney leak” scams, the likes of which are encouraging hopelessly aroused web users to click through to bad websites that seem to be…

Image: LoungeflyThe Loki-inspired collection of accessories and apparel, include a full-size backpack (MSRP: $125), convertible tote bag (MSRP: $85), convertible cross-body bag (MSRP: $65), wallet (MSRP: $50), hooded jacket (MSRP: $110) and tee (MSRP: $40). Image: LoungeflyThe Loki-inspired collection of accessories and apparel, include a full-size backpack (MSRP: $125), convertible tote bag (MSRP: $85), convertible cross-body bag (MSRP: $65), wallet (MSRP: $50), hooded jacket (MSRP: $110) and tee (MSRP: $40).…

Photo: Mike Coppola (Getty Images)The Oscars award ceremony is a night for the stars of Hollywood to gather together and celebrate cinema, while also looking incredibly glamorous is lavishly expensive and immaculately presented couture. And yet no one at last nights awards—no one—could beat the hottest look of the night: a soft vinyl monster toy spray painted gold and given a lil’ bowtie.The Godzilla Minus One team—sorry, the Academy-Award-winning Godzilla Minus One team—have have the time of their lives this awards…

Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, wants everyone to chill out about the photo of her and her kids, which has caused an international firestorm after being pulled by some of the world’s biggest photo agencies for being “manipulated.” According to Middleton, that is correct. In fact, she Photoshopped it herself.Will Scanlan Ever Find Love? | The Legend of Vox Machina“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Middleton said in a post on her and Prince William’s X, formerly Twitter,…

Image: TohoGodzilla is a titan of moviemaking, but now he’s toppled his loftiest goal yet: award season. Just announced at the 2024 Academy Awards, Godzilla Minus One—io9's favorite movie of 2023—has won the Oscar for best VFX.Reservation Dogs | First FandomsThe movie overcame strong competition from the likes of Disney—with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and 20th Century Studios’ The Creator up for nods—and other Western studios to take the prize, one which makes history in a number of ways. It’s the Godzilla…

Image: Toei AnimationThe world was shocked to learn on Thursday night to learn that Akira Toriyama, creator of the eternally longlasting Dragon Ball franchise, had passed away at the age of 68. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Has Infectious Good EnergyWhether you were born in the 80s or in the 2000s, you couldn’t not know what Dragon Ball was on some level. In a lot of ways, he’s why anime is the juggernaut as we know it today. The shonen series rose to prominence alongside Toonami in the mid-90s, in turn becoming one of the biggest…

It’s been a week of highs and lows in the world of genre entertainment—as we took a look at the aftermath of Dune: Part Two’s monumental release last weekend, and Lego teased a gorgeous new Batman: The Animated Series tribute. But little compared to the shock that came Thursday evening that one of the most influential artists of our time, Dragon Ball’s Akira Toriyama, passed away. Read all that, and more, in io9's biggest stories of the week. — James Whitbrook It’s been a week of highs and lows in the world of genre…

Pigcasso, the famous painting pig who took the world by storm with her jaw-dropping expressionist works, has died at eight years old, her caretaker Joanne Lefson said this week.Is This Product Actually Vegan?“Your life made a difference in the world. You not only challenged the art fraternity Pigcasso, you also inspired millions of people to acknowledge farmed animals as the sentient individuals that they are–each one worthy of our empathy and compassion,” Lefson, an animal rights activist, said in an Instagram post on…