Tag - eiji-uchida

 
 

EIJI UCHIDA

In “Matched,” a dating app makes a wedding planner’s (Tao Tsuchiya, center) love life all the more difficult when it turns up a string of murders and a stalker.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024
‘Matched’: Contrived thriller tries to make dating scarier
Clueless characters and a strained plot are hardly a perfect match in Eiji Uchida’s suspense film about murder and dating apps.
An aspiring pianist who was blinded in a traffic accident (Minami Hamabe, right) finds a devoted protector in a mute custodian (Ryosuke Yamada) at her music college in “Silent Love.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2024
‘Silent Love’: Formulaic romance strains credulity
Unlike “Midnight Swan,” Eiji Uchida’s previous film that raked in awards, the director’s new melodramatic romance lacks depth and nuance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 25, 2022
Eiji Uchida loses the rhythm with ‘Offbeat Cops’
Director Eiji Uchida's musical police procedural, starring Hiroshi Abe as a detective who is relegated to play the drums in the force's band, is corny and predictable pro-cop propaganda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 16, 2021
‘Shrieking in the Rain’: Frothy fun, good for a night in
Eiji Uchida's lighthearted ode to 1980s moviemaking treads similar territory as “The Naked Director,” but instead focuses on the film industry from a female perspective.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 3, 2021
Is change sweeping the sclerotic Japanese film industry?
The Japan Academy awarded top honors to the LGBTQ-themed drama “Midnight Swan” and its star, and Tokyo International Film Festival announced that its 34th edition would see more diversity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 17, 2020
'Midnight Swan' highlights transgender issues and self-expression through dance
Director Eiji Uchida hopes to raise awareness of transgender issues in Japan with his film, which stars SMAP's Tsuyoshi Kusanagi.
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 often the best things in otherwise forgettable movies are the supporting actors who bring a spark of originality, individuality and professionalism to even blink-and-you-miss-them roles.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2016
'Lowlife Love': The shady love of the film industry
According to Eiren (Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan), 581 Japanese films were released domestically last year, many of which were low-budget productions shown in small numbers of theaters. Beneath these films "officially" recognized by Eiren is a substratum of straight-to-DVD fare. And at the very bottom is shot-in-an-afternoon porn that will never even see the inside of a Tsutaya rental store.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 9, 2015
Domestic film industry focuses inwards at its own peril
The Japanese film industry released 615 films last year, according to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. That figure may include glorified student productions and dressed-up pornography, but is still substantial by any measure. Relatively few of those films, however, are sold abroad.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on