Kaori Shoji - The Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 10, 2004

Gothika Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Mathieu Kassovitz Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] It was sad, but it had to be done. After a steady diet of horror films throughout my, uh, youth, I went through a voluntary detox/rehab period to rid myself of the addiction. (Horror flicks bring on gray hair and wrinkles, doncha know?) Actually, it wasn't that hard. Rare is the truly well-made horror movie and I had already caught on to the fact that, in terms of scare factors (violence, gore, boo!), less is definitely more.

CULTURE / Film

Mar 3, 2004

Hard to the theater, landlubbers

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Peter Weir Running time: 135 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] In these days of cinematic sensitivity, men just aren't afforded the opportunity to run the whole show all by themselves (not even "Lord of the Rings" gave them that privilege), but in "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," they reign supreme . . . and on their own. Virile, unhygienic and blithely oblivious of equal rights (being set in the early 19th century) the men in "Master" really are men, as opposed to guys.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Feb 26, 2004

Getting underneath the language of skin

"Obsessed" is probably the right word to describe the Japanese's woman's relationship with her hada (skin). From her earliest years, she is exhorted by her elders to look after her skin -- scrub, cleanse, moisturize -- to achieve that tsuru-tsuru (polished) texture and shittori (moist) feel. If a young girl should bruise her face in the slightest way, there is a big fuss: "Kizumono ni nattara oyome ni ikenai! (If you damage the goods, you can't get married)."

CULTURE / Film

Feb 25, 2004

Funny how things work out

Uptown Girls Rating: * * 1/2(out of 5) Director: Boaz Yakin Running time: 92 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "Living isn't worth it if you're not gonna have fun!" declares bubbly 22-year-old Molly. "Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun" responds sagelike 8-year-old Ray. In "Uptown Girls" they form a two-girl duo, with Molly showing Ray how to be a child and Ray instructing Molly in the ways of adult responsibilities. For starters, Ray tells her to "act your age, not your shoe size." (Snide bon mots come out of Ray's mouth like well-aimed spit balls.) But Molly is more adept at losing her shoes and walking home barefoot through the streets of Manhattan on cutely pedicured feet.

CULTURE / Film

Feb 18, 2004

Don't get stung by this one

Confidence Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: James Foley Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "Confidence" is the cinematic equivalent of a dream date that's really a nightmare: gorgeous, stylish and utterly insincere. You know half an hour into your second Martini (which he suggested you drink, of course) that this guy, no matter how presentable, is not a person to introduce to your mother. He's callous. Shallow. Always on the cell phone to some girl called Cindy or Aliysha. Sigh. Likewise, "Confidence," which is directed by James Foley ("Glengarry Glen Ross") and stars Edward Burns, is all talk (an astounding amount of lines, plus a voice-over narrative throughout) and swagger, expensive suits and gleaming convertibles. The style-over-content factor is so deliberate that you begin to wonder if the title is masking a secret insecurity.

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Feb 17, 2004

Enduring life in the Japanese company

It's probably just as difficult to find a happily employed Westerner in a Japanese company as it is to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Feb 12, 2004

'Iyashi': relief for tired Japanese salarywomen

It's widely assumed that whatever their station in life, most Japanese women over the age of 24 are tsukarete iru (tired). This has less to do with modern living than something ingrained in the Japanese tradition that tires women out before their time -- namely, the emphasis on shigoto (work). Women are expected to work harder and longer than men, especially at menial tasks in the workplace and home. Why? They're generally thought to have more energy reserves (true, they live longer) and much higher endurance. How often have I heard my grandfather remark, with a sort of grudging admiration as he watched his wife going about her never-ending round of household tasks: "Onna wa tairyoku ga arukarana (Women have such strength)." Obviously he didn't choose to hear her sighs of fatigue or complaints about backaches. Most women I know can't get through the week without popping vitamins or gulping energy drinks, and the phrase "Kattarui (I'm exhauuuuusted)!" has become more a salutation than a confession.

CULTURE / Film

Feb 11, 2004

Ah, that's Dogma amore

Italian for Beginners Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Japanese title: Shiawase ni naru tame Itariagokoza Director: Lone Scherfig Running time: 97 minutes Language: Danish, Italian Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "Italian for Beginners" is a sweet, unpretentious love story about a group of lonely thirtysomethings in a Danish suburb, all of whom take Italian lessons to put a little spark in their lives. This, however, is a deceptively innocent description, since "Italian For Beginners" bears the heavy stamp of the scowling Dogma brand -- the genre spearheaded by Lars Von Trier ("Dancing in the Dark"). Dogma is a set of commandments that now practically dominate the entire Scandinavian filmmaking scene: Thou shalt use hand-held digital cameras, and mix amateurs with professional actors; thou shalt not use special effects, artificial lighting, etc. Self-imposed technical restrictions aside, what really distinguishes Dogma films is the relentless emotional turmoil inflicted on the characters (by implication, it must be pure torture on the actors) and the eerie, near-masochism with which they respond to their trials.

CULTURE / Film

Feb 4, 2004

My unlikely valentine

Love Actually Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Richard Curtis Running time: 135 minutes Language: English Opens Feb. 7 [See Japan Times movie listings] Love, love, love. Given how movies are pretty indiscriminating when it comes to strewing that word around, there's a positive recklessness in how "Love Actually" takes huge fistfuls of this love stuff and scatters it all over the screen like, like . . . chicken feed? The characters in the film are so full of sighs, so enraptured and so moony, that one fears for the state of their hearts. They must have had a cardiologist ready on the set, standing by with a stretcher team.

CULTURE / Film

Jan 28, 2004

A lesson on how to waste one's life

Pinero Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Leon Ichaso Running time: 103 minutes Language: English Opens Jan. 31 [See Japan Times movie listings] One pitfall of artist biopics is the genre's tendency to select those artists whose lives were of the wrecked and splashy variety. It's extremely rare to find films about stable, even-tempered, family-loving citizens who also happened to be artists. The norm is that artists are talented but self-destructive and arrogant problem-people, hell on friends and family but deserving of adoration for exactly those traits that set them apart from the humdrum bourgeois.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Jan 22, 2004

The 'shitagidorobo': from criminal to fashion critic

It's not something that's widely advertised, but Japan is home to a massive shitagi-bunka (underwear culture). The most demure and modest of women will often be the owners of a collection that would put Frederick's of Hollywood to abject shame. And it's no secret that lan-pabu ("lingerie pubs," in which women strut around in underwear) charge more than sutorippu (strip bars). Women scantily clad are more expensive than women unclad -- that's how much lingerie is valued here. So valued in fact, that we have a unique, lingerie-related criminal: the shitagidorobo (underwear thief).

CULTURE / Film

Jan 21, 2004

Hong Kong action ends up on the wrong flight

Bulletproof Monk Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Paul Hunter Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Hollywood takes a shot at B-grade Hong Kong action in "Bulletproof Monk." The difference between this picture and the hundreds of kung-fu action flicks made in Hong Kong is that the latter were examples of expertly packaged, so-bad-that-it's-good, cinematic junk food. "Bulletproof Monk," on the other hand, dribbles out of the box and makes a mess, which director Paul Hunter shows little interest in cleaning up. Half-spoken sentences trail off, action sequences get haphazardly chopped off and no scene lasts for more than a few seconds.

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Jan 20, 2004

Don't mention the L-word

There you go again. That trick of saying "I love you!" just before hanging up the phone.

CULTURE / Film

Jan 14, 2004

A fail-safe genre that rarely misfires

Hollywood Homicide Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Ron Shelton Running time: 111 minutes Language: English Opens Jan. 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] It's interesting to see the different fates allotted to those stars who've entered what used to be termed their "twilight years." In the 1960s, action stars actually had twilight years and spent them in some plush Malibu bungalow, avoiding the press but emerging now and then to grant exclusive interviews when they deemed the time right. These days, of course, stars are obliged to go on working more or less forever. There is no twilight, just a loooong stretch of white daylight that, as time moves on, can be mercilessly harsh and unflattering. But no matter. It's gratifying (and so reassuring) to see the screen heroes of one's teenhood still doing the same kind of things in the same kind of way. By proxy, it makes one feel young, sort of (see Demi Moore for more options). In this case, the star who's triggered that rejuvenating feeling is Harrison Ford.

CULTURE / Film

Jan 7, 2004

Enrolled in the Pacino Academy

The Recruit Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Roger Ronaldson Running time: 105 minutes Language: English Opens Jan. 17 [See Japan Times movie listings] The Next Big Thing meets with the Last Big Thing in "The Recruit." The former is Colin Farrell, Hollywood's hottest wonder-boy and the latter is Al Pacino. At this point in his career, Pacino is allowed to do pretty much anything he wants, yet he rarely strays from his forte: yelling and looking tired. No one in his league comes close to combining red-veined bug eyes, a whitish three-day stubble and a mouth that always seems ready to dispense embittered bons mots -- and still have sizzling charisma. In another 40 or so years, though, Farrell may be that kind of guy. He already has the stubble and those penetrating dark eyes. Start that boy on a steady diet of bourbon, cigars and tragic relationships.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Dec 25, 2003

Be good to your rice and your rice will be good

"Aaaaah. Nihonjin dana . . . (Ahh, isn't this what being Japanese is all about?)"

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Dec 23, 2003

At home in japan without the kinks

So is this what they mean by globalization?

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Dec 4, 2003

Learning the finer points of this, that and 'nani'

Like the Japanese economy, the Japanese conversation has dwindled. Our words have lost their luxurious sheen, our sentences have been reduced to short strings of blah. We no longer need the metaphors of Osamu Dazai to convey our emotions, since a handful of familiar phrases have been encoded to cover most situations with ease.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Nov 13, 2003

The indispensable vagueness of 'domo-domo'

It's when I'm away from Japan and forced to speak in another language (in this case English) that I realize just how vague Japanese can get. At home, it's possible to go through a whole day without uttering one coherent sentence built on spontaneous thought and logic.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Oct 23, 2003

Forget Starbucks, we're doing the ocha thing

Do you have a little time? If so, then "ocha shimasho (Let's do tea, or take a break over something to drink)." This is one of Japan's most favored phrases and oldest customs. A breaking of the ice and shortening of the distance between people, the little ritual of ocha is to the Japanese what mealtimes are to the Chinese.

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