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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 12, 2005

It keeps coming back to haunt us

JAPANESE HORROR CINEMA, edited by Jay McRoy, preface by Christopher Sharrett. Edinburgh University Press, 2005, Traditions in World Cinema Series, 220 pp., £16.99. (paper). Latest among the packaged movie trends is the Japanese horror film. Every month more samples appear, all of them scrutinized for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 1, 2005

A voyeur for today

The photographer Richard Kern grew up in a small town in North Carolina, the son of a newspaperman. As a teenager, Kern had a part-time job changing the marquee at the local cinema, and one of the perks was free films. It was during a screening of Roger Vadim's camped up 1968 sci-fi flick "Barbarella"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 20, 2005

'S wonderful: Wiling away the time with Caetano Veloso

Caetano is here. Caetano Veloso. The man who has been hailed for decades in his native Brazil as a singer, composer, poet and revolutionary, and commonly celebrated abroad as the 'Bob Dylan of Brazil,' despite his dislike for such labels.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 29, 2004

Get 'em fresh

This seemed like an off year for cinema. How bad was it? Well, I write a column for a women's monthly, and some months I couldn't even find one movie to recommend wholeheartedly. As usual, there were plenty of in-your-face junk flicks to wade through, but things like "Van Helsing" or "Catwoman" were...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 22, 2004

Can't hold down a good stereotype

Kiss of Life Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Emily Young Running time: 86 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Nathalie ... Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Anne Fontaine Running time: 105 minutes Language: French Currently...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 11, 2004

Walking on the wild side

Walkabout Rating: * * * * * (out of 5) Director: Nicholas Roeg Running time: 100 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The Story of the Weeping Camel Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni Running time:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 28, 2004

Women on the verge of adoption

Casa de los babys Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: John Sayles Running time: 95 minutes Language: English/Spanish Opens July 31 [See Japan Times movie listings] Gender roles are becoming increasingly fuzzy, even in Hollywood. As women go all out for traditionally male stuff (murderous...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 12, 2004

Where everybody can be a jury member

Who are film festivals for, really? The biggest of all, Cannes, is strictly for industry professionals (or rather, anyone with enough connections to wangle accreditation). But many other festivals have turned in a more populist direction, as indicated by the ubiquity of audience awards, which make anyone...
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2004

'Our Town' put through the wringer

Dogville Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Lars von Trier Running time: 179 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] There are directors I love, directors I hate, and then there's Lars von Trier, the guy who's going to give me bipolar disorder. Go...
Japan Times
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...
Japan Times
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...
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Feb 25, 2003

Shipping news, foreign movies and medical bills

Shipping On the subject of shipping goods from the U.S.A. to Japan as unaccompanied baggage, reader Carol says that if you fly on United Airlines, they can provide you with the unaccompanied baggage forms.
COMMUNITY / NOTES FROM THE SMOKE
Nov 22, 2002

Iidabashi offers cheap passport to movie heaven

Going to the movies is one of life's great simple pleasures.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2002

Tibet: a bridge between India and China

MADRAS, India -- The issue of Tibet has plagued relations between India and China for well over four decades. When China annexed the small Himalayan nation in the 1950s, New Delhi found itself in a difficult position, given its special ties with the Tibetan people: India had an open border with Tibet,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 16, 2002

Kanako Hayashi

To launch its upcoming lecture series, the College Women's Association of Japan invited Kanako Hayashi to give an introductory talk. A persuasive speaker, she has a background of 16 years of inside association with the world of film. As it often happens, chance, good timing and luck played major parts...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 10, 2002

Can you take the Payne?

"Max Payne" falls somewhere between "Pulp Fiction" and "The Matrix." Well, OK, "Max Payne" is a video and computer game, so maybe it only falls virtually between those two Hollywood blockbusters.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2001

Fun and family bonding

Spy KidsRating: * * * 1/2 Director: Robert Rodriguez Running time: 88 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2001

Not fade away

Ka-chan Rating: * * * Director: Kon Ichikawa Running time: 96 minutes Language: Japaneese
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 25, 2001

When film told it like it was

THE BENSHI -- Japanese Silent Film Narrators, edited by the Friends of Silent Films Association, with essays by Tadao Sato and Larry Greenberg, and an interview with Midori Sawato. Tokyo: Urban Connections, 2001, 172 pp. with photographs, 1,500 yen (paper) Despite its name, no silent film was, of course,...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2001

All under the sun

The Japanese, my barber once told me, "don't really think of Hawaii as America -- for us, it's more like part of Japan." But after Sept. 11, many Japanese who might have otherwise booked a wedding in Honolulu or a golf holiday in Maui suddenly realized that Hawaii really was part of the United States...
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2001

No remembrance of things past

Memento Rating: * * * * * Director: Christopher Nolan Running time: 113 minutes Language: English Now showing
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 21, 2001

Like father, like son

My elder son sits across from me during supper and clubs me with the following questions: "Why can't Japanese die, Dad? How come it's so hard for them?" Not your usual dinnertime poser, perhaps, but we dads have to be ready for anything. I pause only briefly before delivering what I consider to be a...
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2001

And, now, a return to the classics

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Rating: * * * * 1/2 Director: Joel Coen Running time: 107 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Books
Oct 7, 2001

Failure on a grandiose scale

DOGS AND DEMONS: Tales From the Dark Side of Japan, by Alex Kerr. Hill and Wang, New York, 2001, 432 pp., $27.00 (cloth) Staff writer What has happened to Japan? Coming on the heels of the "lost decade," the January government reshuffle and a series of reforms that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2001

What's age got to do with it?

27 Missing Kisses Rating: * * * 1/2 Japanese title: Sybill no Itazura Director: Nana Djordjadze Running time: 96 minutes Language: Georgian Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2001

I've got to have you under my skin

The Isle Rating: * * * Japanese title: Sakana to Neru Onna Director: Kim Ki Deok Running time: 90 minutes Language: Korean Now showing Looking at the alluring and mysterious poster for "The Isle," it's hard not to think David Lynch. A nude young woman stands gazing straight ahead with an intensity...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Just please don't ask 'why?'

The first questions John Williams is always asked about "Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu (Firefly Dreams)" are the "whys": Why are you in Japan? Why did you shoot a film using only Japanese actors? The answers, Williams says, don't come easy, "because I never imagined I would end up making a film here."
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2001

A love affair with languor

a la verticale de l'ete Japanese title: Geshi Rating: * * * * Director: Tran Anh Hung Running time: 112 minutes Language: VietnameseNow showing Tran Anh Hung is a director who effortlessly defies categorization. While his films -- "The Scent of Green Papaya" and "Cyclo" -- are invariably described...
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2001

Playing close to home

As in so many other films, Zhu Xu's role in "Shower" is that of a devoted father. He laughs that directors tend to see him in this light and though he would like to "branch out" sometimes, he feels quite comfortable with this role. "Shower" turned out to be one of his favorite projects -- he himself...
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2001

Now you see her, but know you don't

Malena Rating: * * * * Director: Giuseppe Tornatore Running time: 92 minutes Language: Italian/EnglishOpens June 9 These days, we've become used to women in cinema meeting certain standards. They should be visually stunning, but they must also be brave, self-assertive, sometimes violent, smart and...

Longform

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