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CULTURE

Film

Entertainment news

Illustrious historical figures swoop in to save Japan amid the COVID-19 pandemic in “What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister.”

CULTURE / Film

Jul 18, 2024

‘What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister’: A historical dream team underperforms

By James Hadfield

Esteemed figures from Japan’s past are digitally reincarnated to lead the country through a time of crisis in Hideki Takeuchi’s flat-footed comedy.

Three sisters bicker over their resentments and frustrations during a weekend at a hot spring resort in Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s “To Mom, With Love.”

CULTURE / Film

Jul 18, 2024

'To Mom, With Love': Family drama cuts deep with stellar cast

By Mark Schilling

Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s heartfelt love letter to the "home drama" genre resembles a screwball comedy while also unleashing eruptions of real pain and anger.

Actor Kim Dae-gun won a Korean Fantastic Actor award for his performance in Yoon Eunkyoung’s “The Tenants,” which takes a dark satirical look at the scarcity of decent affordable housing in Seoul.

CULTURE / Film

Jul 18, 2024

Bucheon film festival contemplates a future with AI

By Mark Schilling

Dark comedy and surreal fantasy stood out at the genre film event that focused on the advent of generative AI.

When the effects of dementia cause Yohji (left, Tatsuya Fuji) to spiral out of control, it becomes clear to his son (Mirai Moriyama) that he has been absent from his life in more ways than one in Kei Chikaura’s “Great Absence.”

CULTURE / Film

Jul 11, 2024

‘Great Absence’: Poetic family drama follows downfall of dementia-plagued patriarch

By Mark Schilling

A retired professor’s mind is slipping away from him, but there is more to unravel in Kei Chikaura’s dark family drama.

Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One,” which won an Academy Award for best visual effects, was made for a reported $15 million — a small fraction of the budgets used by its Hollywood competitors.

CULTURE / Film

Jul 6, 2024

Japanese cinema is having a stand-out year. Here are some films to watch.

By Mark Schilling

The success of "Godzilla Minus One" gave Japan's film industry a confidence boost, but we haven't been short on must-see hits in 2024.

Leying (played by Jia Ling) hasn't been living up to her potential, but is pushed into a radical transformation by hitting rock bottom in the Chinese remake of a hit Japanese boxing drama in "YOLO."

CULTURE / Film

Jul 4, 2024

‘YOLO’: A classic zero-to-hero story with a real-life body transformation

By Mark Schilling

Actor and comedian Jia Ling dropped 50 kilograms for her role in a Chinese remake of a hit Japanese boxing drama.

Comedian Daisuke Muramoto has been shunned by the Japanese media for taking his act into political territory. Filmmaker Fumiari Hyuga traces his post-pandemic search for a place in show business in "I Am a Comedian."

CULTURE / Film

Jul 3, 2024

‘I Am a Comedian’: A documentary following Daisuke Muramoto’s rocky comedy journey

By James Hadfield

Documentarian Fumiari Hyuga captures the story of an uncouth Japanese comedian’s efforts to say what can’t be said.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.

As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals

By Alex K.T. Martin

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