Mark Schilling - The Japan Times

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Mark Schilling

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 19, 2017

Romance takes an unusual turn in 'Love and Goodbye and Hawaii'

"Breaking up is hard to do," goes the old song, and for some, it's so hard that they never quite manage it. A typical example is the partner (or, worst-case scenario, the spouse) who one day tells you they're back with an ex.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 12, 2017

The young comics of 'Laughing Lucky Cats' learn that in comedy, timing is everything

The struggles of comics, be they up-and-coming or down-and-out, is a popular theme in Japanese film and television. A recent example of this was "Hibana," a 10-part original Netflix drama about the decade-long career arc of a manzai (comic duo) act.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 5, 2017

Acting is a fighting sport in 'Matsumoto Tribe'

The feature mockumentary doesn't have many practitioners in Japan. Two who do come to mind are TV comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto ("Big Man Japan," 2007) and Nobuhiro Yamashita ("Girls in the Psychic Club," 2014). Both have a dry sense of humor and a bit of a cruel streak.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 29, 2017

'Nekoatsume House': The cat's meow of Japanese comedy

Japanese audiences never seem to tire of movies about dogs and cats. The millions of devoted pet owners here are certainly one reason, though the Brits, also known for their animal worship, do not express it as often in films.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 22, 2017

Shinobu Yaguchi can make sparks fly, even off the grid

When I met Shinobu Yaguchi at a Chicago sushi restaurant on March 1, I made my usual mistake with well-known directors: mention that I had interviewed him before. He, understandably, blanked, since the interview was 20 years ago for his 1997 indie comedy "My Secret Cache" ("Himitsu no Hanazono")

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 22, 2017

'Policeman and Me': Love that needs a little law and order

A 26-year-old cop becomes engaged to a 16-year-old high school girl, and her mom and dad more or less go along with it (dad a lot less than mom). Sound like a pervy fantasy?

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Mar 22, 2017

Marty Gross and 'The Lovers' Exile'

At various times and places in his four-decade career, Canadian native Marty Gross has been a potter, art teacher, film director and a producer, with most of his personal and professional roads leading back to Japan.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 15, 2017

'Slavemen': Men enslaved by juvenile fantasies

Noboru Iguchi would seem to be in the enviable position, at least to his mostly male fan base, of doing exactly what he likes and never having to grow up. A veteran director of low-budget exploitation films, Iguchi has an unabashedly adolescent obsession with short-skirted schoolgirls, spandex-clad superheroes,...

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Mar 10, 2017

Fukada's filmmaking a breath of fresh air

Koji Fukada's black comedy "Hospitalite" ("Kantai") won best film in the Tokyo International Film Festival's Japanese Eyes section in 2010 and since then he has become accustomed to stepping up on stages to receive prizes for his work.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 8, 2017

'Bring on the Melody': The heroic way to strike up the band

Zero-to-hero movies, usually about athletes or musicians or other folks engaged in something competitive and cinematic (baseball, yes; darts, no), are a staple of the film business in Japan. One reason: Audiences here admire gaman — the perseverance the protagonists display in pursuit of their group...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 1, 2017

'Snow Woman': chillingly modern

The Japanese folklore story of the "Snow Woman" has been told in many places, in many ways, and in many versions, but best-known is that of Lafcadio Hearn, the Greek-Irish writer who published it in his 1904 collection, "Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 22, 2017

Kanji Furutachi: Reacting to Japan's film industry

Over the years I've heard many complaints about the bad acting in Japanese films, from the hammy emoting of over-indulged veterans to the amateurish turns of "idols" cast more for their agency connections than any perceptible talent. I've added to this chorus of negativity, but I've also noticed that...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Feb 22, 2017

Asian Film Festival unspools in Osaka

Why go to Osaka to see films? I may sound like an insufferable Tokyo snob asking this, but given all the hundreds of movies on offer in the nation's capital, it's worth answering to justify the shinkansen ticket.

CULTURE / Film

Feb 22, 2017

'Close-Knit': The pride that breaks the prejudice

Japan would seem to be a paradise for LGBT people. Transgender "talents" have been appearing regularly on Japanese TV for decades and LGBT folks can walk the streets here with little fear.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 15, 2017

'One Week Friends': Groundhog day in the 'friend zone'

Someday soon someone is going to come up with an algorithm for commercial seishun eiga (youth films). Plug in the variables — teenaged love in its more innocuous variations being first and foremost — and pop out a script for another hit.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 8, 2017

'Survival Family': Soft-pedaling through dystopia

To Hollywood, "dystopian future" usually means invading aliens, exotic technology and gigantic explosions. Shinobu Yaguchi's "Survival Family" posits an alternative, more mundane cause of civilizational collapse: Japan's electric grid suddenly freezes up, like a laptop that's been doused with hot coffee....

CULTURE / Film

Feb 1, 2017

'The 100th Love With You': Happily stuck in a time-travel groove

Time travel is and will forever be a fantasy, physicists say. But fantasies can tell us more about human longings and dreams than dull facts, can they not? Despite doubting science types, time-travel-themed films have long constituted a thriving, sub-genre in Japan, as they do elsewhere.

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Feb 1, 2017

Hiroki Matsukata: a gangster farewell

Hiroki Matsukata, who died at age 74 on Jan. 21, may have been born into an acting family — his father was jidaigeki (historical drama) actor Jushiro Konoe — but in his yakuza films for the Toei studio in the 1960s and '70s, Matsukata's portrayals of feral-but-charming hoods seemed to boil up off...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jan 28, 2017

Publishing pioneer Kikuko Ireton introduced the world to Japanese film

Kikuko Ireton, who co-founded "Movie/TV Marketing," a pioneering English-language trade journal about the domestic film industry, died in Tokyo on Thursday from complications of pneumonia.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jan 25, 2017

'Honnouji Hotel': Drama on the wrong side of history

Is Haruka Ayase the Japanese version of Anne Hathaway? In everything from their perky public personas and sterling work ethic to their toothy smiles and flawless complexions, the two stars symbolize a type of good-girl perfection. And yet they also rub some imperfect types the wrong way, though Hathaway...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

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By Tomoko Otake

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