author

 
Menu
Search
 
July 16, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Giovanni Fazio

Meta

Giovanni Fazio
Giovanni Fazio has been The Japan Times' resident film crank since 1993. When not at the movies, he is busy recording and playing live with his band Makyo and running the independent electronica label Dakini Records.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 4, 2017
'Wiener-Dog': Todd Solondz is always painfully funny
Trigger warning: I am about to discuss a Todd Solondz film.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2016
The bad year that pervaded the screens
The past year has been a cursed one. It began with the death of David Bowie and proceeded to get worse on every level: political hysteria, impending ecological doom, the creeping encroach of net-connected tech into every corner of our lives, and a blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality now...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Dec 14, 2016
'Beep' tracks down 8-bit maestros
Here's one for the gamers: "Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound" interviews more than 80 composers, sound designers and voice actors in a comprehensive look at its topic. Starting with mechanical pinball bells, "Beep" moves through the bleepy 8-bit sounds of 1980s arcade games to the present, where...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2016
'Smoke': the movie that blazed a trail for indies
Just in time for Christmas, Yebisu Garden Cinema is reviving a film that was one of the cinema's biggest hits in the 1990s, director Wayne Wang's "Smoke," in a crisp new digital remastered version. Watching it again after all these years, it's hard not to feel a little pang, for in many ways it recalls...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2016
'Tale of Tales': Do we need fables for adults?
The current ideological system that governs our lives — call it late capitalism, the spectacle, or just Babylon — is most devious in its ability to take any and all resistance, any deviance from the hamster wheel of consumerism, and repackage it as just another product, whether that's Che...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 30, 2016
The diversity of religion captured on film
Reflecting on the rise of a generation of Japanese that has grown up suspicious of organized religion — particularly those who came of age in the shadow of 1995's terror attacks by the Aum Shinrikyo cult — Nihon University's College of Art has put together a Religion Film Festival, which...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2016
'Born to be Blue': Biopic goes free-form on Chet Baker's story
For casual fans or people who have yet to encounter Baker, 'Born To Be Blue' is a good place to start, perfectly encapsulating the fragility and self-destructive urges that underlined his uniquely beautiful and melancholic music.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 23, 2016
The gritty side of Polish film
European cinema lost one of its greats in October, when Polish director Andrzej Wajda passed away at the age of 90. Wajda, perhaps best known for his 1981 Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Man of Iron," had a long association with Japan, being awarded both the Kyoto Prize in 1987 and the Order of The Rising...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2016
Linklater swaps tension for jock jokes in 'Everybody Wants Some!!'
With his 1993 major studio debut, "Dazed & Confused," director Richard Linklater tried to go mainstream with the style he'd explored in his Gen-X defining indie hit "Slacker." Set on the last day of school in the summer of 1976, "Dazed" felt like it was happening in real time, with a huge cast of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 26, 2016
'Heart of a Dog': Living with the heartbreak of loss
I wake up on a Sunday and my friend is gone. Cancer. I had known, but it was sudden. Memories of her come in a rush, accompanied by old photos re-shared, emails lingering deep in the inbox, a handwritten note. Her absence — the knowledge that I'd never get any more of her stream-of-consciousness...
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Oct 26, 2016
Staring into the 'Black Mirror'
After two short seasons on British broadcaster Channel 4, the near-future techno-dystopian sci-fi series "Black Mirror" moves to Netflix, with a bigger budget and more episodes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2016
A cinematic view from overseas
The 29th edition of the TIFF, like every other festival, has suffered from content bloat over the years, but scanning the schedule carefully is worth the effort. A good place to start is usually the World Focus section; this category doesn't require that films be exclusive to TIFF, so it can draw from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Oct 12, 2016
Feel the Latin film beat
The Latin Beat Film Festival enters its 13th year, offering cinephiles in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama a chance to check out the latest in Spanish-language cinema with a dozen new films.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 28, 2016
When it comes to the Beatles, we'll never let it be
The Beatles' career as a live band came to a — literally — screeching halt in August 1966, when on their final American tour, the howling of frenzied female fans became so deafening they could no longer hear themselves play. Author Tom Wolfe, describing a San Francisco stadium gig, wrote of "great...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 28, 2016
'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies': The undead can't liven up a classic
Arriving just in time to miss peak steampunk by a year or two is "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," a one-joke movie that is itself based on a one-joke book, Seth Grahame-Smith's 2009 mash-up of the 1813 Jane Austen novel with B-movie zombie horror.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 28, 2016
Shep Gordon lives life like a movie
Behind every star, you can be sure there's a schmoozing, shouting manager who got them where they are. It's not a profession noted for its integrity; managers most often make news when being sued by a former client. Yet comedian Mike Myers ("Austin Powers") likes his manager so much, he made a film about...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 21, 2016
'The Pervert's Guide to Ideology': Philosophy outside the ivory tower
Love him or hate him, you have to at least credit Slovenian philosopher and critical theorist Slavoj Zizek for trying.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 21, 2016
'Stranger Things' happened in the 1980s
The streaming wars continue, and one advantage Netflix has over its rivals is that it releases its original content in Japan without much annoying time lag. That's true of their new paranormal series "Stranger Things," which came out in the dog days of summer but is still building buzz.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 7, 2016
'Janis: Little Girl Blue': Basking in the limelight of the blues
Hollywood loves its messed-up, tragic rock stars, and a biopic of hippie icon and "white blues" singer Janis Joplin has been in the works for longer than anyone can remember, with everyone from Pink to Amy Adams slated for the lead role.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2016
'The Myth of the American Sleepover': Missing some identifying teen spirit
It's one hot night near the end of summer somewhere in leafy suburban America, and a bunch of high school kids — from baby-faced freshmen to confident seniors — ride bikes out to their favorite swimming holes, cruise around in cars blaring tunes, wander from house to house thinking that the next...
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality
Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER