Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Film Topics
Small Screen Aug 22, 2013
'Kumo no Hitomi (Eyes of the Spider), Hebi no Michi (Serpent's Path)'
by Mark Schilling
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Language: Japanese (subtitled in English) On Sept. 9, Third Window Films of the U.K. will release an English-subbed DVD set of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s”Kumo no Hitomi (Eyes of the Spider)” and “Hebi no Michi (Serpent’s Path),” two linked 1998 low-budget shockers both ...
Small Screen Aug 22, 2013
'Transporter: The Series'
by Kaori Shoji
Director: Various Language: English The courier-for-hire role perfected by Jason Statham has passed into the capable hands of Chris Vance as “The Transporter” series moves to TV. Vance makes for a classier, sexier and more amenable transporter who knows how to chat up the ...
Small Screen Aug 22, 2013
From One Second to the Next
by Giovanni Fazio
Director: Werner Herzog Language: English “It’s life. You get one chance, and you live with the choices you make.” Director Werner Herzog’s latest may be a work for hire — a 35-minute documentary for AT&T on the consequences of texting and driving — but ...
Small Screen Aug 15, 2013
'It's Such a Beautiful Day'
by Giovanni Fazio
Director: Don Hertzfeldt Language: English Cinema is constantly cross-breeding, but a hybrid of Stan Brakhage’s impressionistic art cinema with naif stick-figure line drawing and overlapping narration like The Velvet Underground’s “The Murder Mystery” is not something I’d expected. One-man animator Don Hertzfeldt’s feature seamlessly ...
Small Screen Aug 15, 2013
Various Toho war films
by Mark Schilling
Director: Various Language: Japanese (subtitled in English) Amazon Spain is selling Spanish/English-subbed DVDs of old Toho war movies, including 1963′s “Taiheiyo no Tsubasa (Attack Squadron!),” with Toshiro Mifune starring as a fighter squadron leader, and 1968′s “Rengo Kantai Shirei Chokan: Yamamoto Isoroku (Admiral Yamamoto),” ...
Small Screen Aug 15, 2013
'Flight'
by Kaori Shoji
Director: Robert Zemeckis Language: English National hero or drunken loser? Denzel Washington stars as a smooth operator in the cockpit as well as with his hottie cabin attendants. One morning in a rainstorm, he takes the plane too high, too fast, and when the ...
Small Screen Aug 8, 2013
'First Position'
by Kaori Shoji
Director: Bess Kargman Language: English “First Position” is director Bess Kargman’s understated but powerful depiction of children aged 9 to 15 who have trained for most of their lives to compete in the famed Youth America Grand Prix, hoping to launch their professional dancing ...
Small Screen Aug 8, 2013
'Ashes of Time Redux (Rakuen no Kizu)'
by Giovanni Fazio
Director: Wong Kar-wai Language: Cantonese, Mandarin (subtitled in Japanese) Before “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai had already done a martial-arty film, and better. Now, 1996′s “The Ashes of Time” gets a rerelease on DVD, with a gorgeously restored print, but a cut that’s mysteriously seven ...
Small Screen Aug 8, 2013
'Rurouni Kenshin'
Director: Keishi Otomo Language: Japanese (subtitled in English) Amazon.com is offering an all-region English-subbed DVD of “Rurouni Kenshin.” Based on a best-selling comic, this swashbuckling samurai pic, whose former-assassin hero lays low dozens of foes with his swift, nonlethal sword, was a big hit ...
Small Screen Aug 1, 2013
'Kurenai no Buta (Porco Rosso)'
by Mark Schilling
Director: Hayao Miyazaki Language: Japanese (English subs/dub) Hayao Miyazaki’s 1992 anime “Kurenai no Buta (Porco Rosso)” is now available in Japan as a multi-language-subbed/dubbed Blu-ray. This action-fantasy about a porcine World War I pilot who battles air pirates while vying with a rival for ...
Small Screen Aug 1, 2013
'Your Sister's Sister (Love Triangle)'
by Kaori Shoji
Director: Lynn Shelton Language: English Rosemary DeWitt (“Rachel Getting Married”) and Emily Blunt (“Sunshine Cleaning”) are Hannah and Iris — they’re as different as sisters can be, but they wind up spending time in their family’s getaway cabin with Iris’ chum Jack (Mark Duplass). ...
Small Screen Aug 1, 2013
'Ted'
by Giovanni Fazio
Director: Seth MacFarlane Language: English I thought it was about as dumb as “Movie 43,” but everyone I know enjoyed this comedy about the magical talking teddy bear (Seth “Family Guy” MacFarlane) who grows up to be a foul-mouthed, beer-swilling, whore-consorting enabler of bad behavior ...