Here’s the first trailer — in the form of a TV commercial — for the upcoming live-action Space Battleship Yamato film.

Studio Ghibli has announced that it will be releasing a new film next summer, to be directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, an animator for the company (this will be his directorial debut). The film’s title is The Borrower Arrietty, and is based on the British story The Borrowers, “an enchanting story about miniature people living under the floorboards of a home.” Via Spoon & Tamago.

Satoshi Kon’s next film is called The Dream Machine, and unlike his previous complex and adult work (Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, Paranoia Agent), is being described as a family-friendly film. Here’s what Kon has to say about the film (taken from this interview):

On the surface, it’s going to be a fantasy-adventure targeted at younger audiences. However, it will also be a film that people who have seen our films up to this point will be able to enjoy. So it will be an adventure that even older audiences can appreciate. There will be no human characters in the film; only robots. It’ll be like a “robot movie” for robots.

The film’s official site now reveals a few images from the film, including the one pictured above. Via /Film.

How’s this for a promotion: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds opens in Japan on November 20, and the distributor is offering a money-back guarantee during the first four days of release. This means if you leave the film within the first hour of the film, you get your ticket refunded. Not a bad way to promote the film. Via Japan Probe.

The next film from Mamoru Oshii (Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell, Sky Crawlers) is Assault Girls, a live-action sci-fi flick starring Meisa Kuroki — who I must admit I have a crush on — and Rinko Kikuchi. It’s a follow-up to a planned trilogy that started with the short “Assault Girl ‘Hineko the Kentucky,’” below. Via Warren Ellis.

Following the Live from Tokyo trailer, here are some more visuals from Tokyo, this time courtesy of Joan Jimenez.

Live from Tokyo is an upcoming documentary on Tokyo’s independent music scene, directed by Lewis Rapkin. And yes, that’s Marxy that you see pop up a few times in the trailer.