It has been 10 years since Yui Aragaki made her debut as an actress — first as a teen in the sci-fi TV series “Sh15uya” (“Shibuya 15″), and then in a breakthrough role as high school student Yoshino in the dramatic series “Dragon Zakura.” Now the 26-year-old actress is headed ...
Japanese movies about school clubs gunning for regional or national glory in everything from synchronized swimming to shodō (calligraphy) now ...
Comedian, actor and director Takeshi Kitano had some scathing things to say about the Japanese film industry at last year’s ...
Thomas Wolfe’s posthumous novel “You Can’t Go Home Again” was published in 1940, and critics and readers have been debating the truth of its title ever since. Wolfe himself had no doubt: His autobiographical writings, with their biting, thinly disguised portraits, made him persona ...
Heads up to “Iron Man” fans, “Chef” is director Jon Favreau’s fabulous stress-vanquishing vehicle after all his superhero ventures, and it lets off more steam than all the potholes in New York City. There is not one superhero sighting here. Although “Iron Man” himself, ...
In the Sahara — spread across the countries of Mali, Niger, and Algeria — live a traditionally nomadic tribe known as the Tuareg. Maybe the easiest way to describe them is as desert Gypsies, because like Gypsies (also known as Roma), the Tuareg make ...
Now that “Ted” has made it OK for stuffed animals to have a life and hang out with Mark Wahlberg, you’d think cinema would open that door to dolls as well. No such luck: Annabelle, a creepy girl doll resembling Chucky from “Child’s Play,” ...
James Franco and Kate Hudson star as Tom and Anna Wright, an American couple trying to start their lives over in London by renovating an old house they inherited. Funds are short, and when their dodgy basement-dwelling tenant dies of an overdose and they ...
Director: Isao Takahata Language: Japanese (subtitled in English) Isao Takahata’s 2013 animation, based on a 10th-century folk tale about the tragic earthly life of a princess from the moon, may not have won the best animated feature Oscar, but it is a masterpiece of ...
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura Language: Japanese and English Originally a manga series penned by Monkey Punch, “Lupin III” has made it to the big screen. Shun Oguri plays Lupin III, who alongside on-off girlfriend Fujiko Mine (Meisa Kuroki) and buddies Jigen (Tetsuji Tamayama) and Goemon ...
Director: Eric Power Language: Japanese (subtitles in English) “South Park” meets “Yojimbo” as directed by “Kill Bill”-era Quentin Tarantino? If that all sounds a bit mad, well, rest assured — it is. “Path of Blood” is an animated film made entirely by director Eric ...
The 1985 Holocaust documentary “Shoah,” directed by Claude Lanzmann — screening until Mar. 6 at Tokyo’s Theatre Image Forum — feels more like evidence than cinema. At 9½ hours, and filled with straight-to-the-camera testimony from concentration camp survivors, Nazi guards and many other eyewitnesses, ...
Love never was and never will be logical. Your 20-year-old daughter rolls her eyes at May-December romances in the movies — until she gets engaged to a 50-year-old guy. And you will declaim loud and long against her choice, until you start dating a ...
The lyrics to the Gang of Four song “Contract” (from their seminal post-punk album “Entertainment!”), set to brittle guitar chords and thrashing drums, explored the distance between the bedroom and the boardroom. Singer Jon King addressed a lover who “dreamed of scenes / like ...
William H. Macy — long noted as one of the most respected actors of our age (for those who missed him, watch “Fargo” for starters) — has now emerged as a filmmaker. Macy’s feature debut, “Rudderless,” auspiciously and aptly bears the hallmarks of an ...
