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May 17, 2024
 

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Giovanni Fazio

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Giovanni Fazio
Giovanni Fazio has been The Japan Times' resident film crank since 1993. When not at the movies, he is busy recording and playing live with his band Makyo and running the independent electronica label Dakini Records.
For Giovanni Fazio's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 27, 2014
Lone Survivor
Director: Peter BergLanguage: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2014
In the ethnographic realm of the senses: An interview with Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor
You may think you know what a documentary film is — "Life as it is," as Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov once put it — but you probably haven't seen any documentaries like the ones being produced by the filmmakers at Harvard University's experimental Sensory Ethnography Lab.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2014
Zulu (Cape Town)
Any movie with Orlando Bloom in it is getting an extra star this month because he recently did what so many of us have longed to do: He took a swing at Justin Bieber. Hell, I'd give him five stars if he had landed that punch, but the Beaver was saved by his entourage before "manning up" and taking the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2014
Leviathan
One reviewer jokingly suggested that the alternative title of "Leviathan" could be "David Lynch, Gone Fishin', " and there's some truth to that: While the film is a documentary of a New Bedford fishing trawler working the North Atlantic, the disorienting, woozy aesthetic and soundtrack of industrial...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2014
Orphan Black
Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 13, 2014
Promised Land
You can never be sure which Gus Van Sant you're getting when you are about to watch a film by this stylistically promiscuous director. Will it be the sympathetic chronicler of outsider teens ("My Own Private Idaho," "Paranoid Park"); the maker of mordantly funny black comedies ("Drugstore Cowboy," "To...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 13, 2014
The Queen of Versailles
Pride comes before a fall, and proving that old proverb correct is "The Queen of Versailles," a documentary tracking one obscenely wealthy couple's attempt to build the largest mansion in America, modeled on the Palace of Versailles, no less, but with a bowling alley.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 13, 2014
Grudge Match
Director: Peter SegalLanguage: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2014
A palace fit for the queen of consumption
What sort of person would decide to build the biggest house in America? Not just the biggest, but a monstrous, mega-mansion replica of the Palace of Versailles, overlooking Florida's Walt Disney World, complete with its own bowling alley, spa, 10 kitchens, 30 bathrooms, and an entire wing for the kids....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2014
Transformers: Age of Extinction
My least favorite part of being a film critic is probably going to see Michael Bay movies. And the most horrific Michael Bay movies of all are the "Transformers" ones. So when I heard that Bay's latest, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," clocked in at nearly three punishing hours filled with fireballs,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2014
Homefront
Sylvester Stallone must really like Jason Statham, his co-star from "The Expendables" series, because in "Homefront" Sly has given him the lead in a script he had originally written for himself. Or maybe he is just feeling his age these days and slowing down. Not likely, but this film is classic 1980s...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2014
The Lego Movie
Directors: Chris Miller, Phil LordLanguage: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 30, 2014
Vampire Academy
Knock-off; noun: a copy or imitation of something popular. Knock off; transitive verb: to do hurriedly or routinely. Meeting both definitions is "Vampire Academy," a tween-targeted novel franchise penned by Richelle Mead, which has been adapted to the big screen as a lazy, deja-vu-inducing mess. Director...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 30, 2014
Mea Culpa (Tomoyo, Saraba to Iou)
People often talk about French films as if they were nothing but talky and arty, but the French have a fine tradition of policiers: tough, hardboiled cop and crime movies such as "Le Cercle Rouge" (1970) or "Un Prophete" (2009). "Mea Culpa" is one such film that packs a mighty kick: It's the type of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 30, 2014
Palestine Stereo
Director: Rashid MasharawiLanguage: Arabic (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 23, 2014
Godzilla
The old Godzilla movies made by Japan's Toho studio between 1954 and 2004 were B-grade monster movies. They were cheesy and primitive, for the most part, but displayed the charm of inventive filmmakers who were trying to transcend the limitations of budget and technology by having a guy in a rubber lizard...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 23, 2014
Rewind This!
Presumably, Josh Johnson's amusing documentary "Rewind This!" is a trawl through the cultural history of the video tape and the people who are still attached to this format. But, more than that, it's a portrait of a certain type of otaku fanboy: those obsessed with B-grade movie schlock. The documentary...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 23, 2014
Robbery
Director: Peter YatesLanguage: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2014
Enemy
Very few directors have picked up the gauntlet thrown down by David Lynch's films such as "Lost Highway" and "Mulholland Drive." These are films steeped in mysteries so deep that Lynch himself is positively daring audiences to wrap their heads around them; they are the cinematic equivalent of an M.C....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2014
Blood Ties
"Blood Ties" feels a lot like a film made by someone who grew up on a diet of gritty 1970s crime flicks set in New York, made by the likes of William Friedkin, Sidney Lumet, and Martin Scorcese.
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Kishida defends planned rule to revoke foreigners' residency
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Human bone-like objects found at Nippon Steel plant’s molten iron pot, with one worker missing
Police believe it’s highly possible that human bones found in a molten iron pot at Nippon Steel's Oita factory belong to a missing male employee.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Man suspected of using smart glasses to cheat on Waseda University exams
The Waseda University campus in Tokyo. An 18-year-old male test-taker is suspected of using smart glasses to cheat during the university's entrance exam.
Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.
In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

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