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July 17, 2024
 

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Giovanni Fazio

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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
Aug 22, 2008
'Day of the Dead'
You often hear critics talk about "heartwarming" films. Sometimes, you'll hear them mention "heart-wrenching" flicks. With "Day Of The Dead," we're breaking new ground: This is a "heart-stopping" movie.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2008
'Les Paul: Chasing Sound'
Any devotee of the electric guitar soon comes to learn the names of those pioneering musicians who realized the instrument's potential: people like Charlie Christian, who first started overdriving his amps and incorporating distortion into his playing, or Jimi Hendrix, who took that concept to the nth...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2008
'The Dark Knight'
Like a plague of locusts, the superhero movies descend on us this summer. August brings us "Hancock," with Will Smith as an alcoholic, irresponsible and quite unfunny superhero; "The Incredible Hulk," which is practically a remake of 2003's "Hulk (presumably Ang Lee's version wasn't stupid enough); and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2008
Batman hits Tokyo
"Welcome to a world without rules" is the tag-line for "The Dark Knight," but, as usual these days, the press conference for the movie held at Roppongi Hills sure had a few. Rule No. 1, of course, was: Do not ask the stars questions about anything except the movie.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2008
'City of Men'
"City Of God," from 2003, still stands up as one of the best films of the decade. Its story of two decades of gang history in a Rio de Janeiro favela (slum) was compelling enough, taking viewers into an underworld rarely glimpsed by outsiders. But as much as the story itself, the way in which it was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2008
'Summer Palace'
Director Lou Ye's third film, "Summer Palace," breaks not one but two serious taboos in Chinese cinema. Not only does he include passionate sex scenes and nudity — a first in mainland Chinese cinema — he also dares to set his story of star-crossed lovers amid the democracy protests of 1989,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2008
Fab Four flick offers a taste of revolution
It's easy to be skeptical about the idea of a movie-musical based on the music of The Beatles. After all, we've been there before with 1978's "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the Robert Stigwood-produced travesty that took the most twee aspects of The Beatles' oeuvre, cast The Bee Gees and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2008
'Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'
The "Starship Troopers" franchise keeps scrabbling on, less due to public acclaim than the immutable logic that any science-fiction movie worth doing once is worth doing three times. There's something about trilogies — from Asimov or Tolkien perhaps — that just makes nerds feel complete....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2008
'Horton Hears A Who'
I'm sorry, but when it comes to Dr. Seuss, I'm definitely a purist. It couldn't be any other way having grown up with so many great childhood memories of reading his books — or having them read to me — over and over.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2008
'Speed Racer'
Here at The Japan Times, my job is officially that of "reviewer," but some days I feel more like the guy whose job it is to taste the king's food for poison. If the taster doesn't drop dead, the king digs in. Similarly, if I emerge from the latest Hollywood popcorn flick without having suffered severe...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2008
'In the Valley of Elah'
Iraq War movies are dying at the box office one after another. It doesn't matter if they're brutal expose ("Redacted"), touching family story ("Grace Is Gone"), or high-firepower entertainment ("The Kingdom") — nobody's buying.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 20, 2008
Indiana (and Obama) get OK'd in press fest
At Harrison Ford press conferences in the 1990s, fantastic-looking women would gush into the microphone about how much they loved the actor and his, um, body of work. Nowadays, ol' Harrison is looking pretty good for his years, but alas, his press conferences now attract the fanboys. At least half the...
CULTURE / Film
Jun 20, 2008
'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'
Every now and then I'll hear a rant from some friend who just doesn't get dance music. "It's the same doof-doof-doof kick-drum over and over," they'll say — and they're right. But above, behind, around the kick-drum is where the variation is happening. You won't hear it if you can't get past the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 13, 2008
'Juno'
For a long time I was of the opinion I'd see anything with French actress Beatrice Dalle in it. My obsession dated back to 1986's "Betty Blue," which featured a performance by Dalle of such typhoon-like passion and intensity that nothing she's done since even comes close. Still, I indulged her, out of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2008
'Revolver'
Defying the laws of nature is rarely a good idea. Just look at genetically-modified food. Learned people assure us that it's perfectly safe, but consumers all around the globe refuse to buy. This is no mystery. On some deep, instinctive level, the idea of splicing, say, a fish gene into a plant, just...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2008
'Black Gold'
Some two decades of involvement in the music industry has done little to dull my amazement at how the person who creates the actual product for sale — the musician — is the lowest person on the food chain. Musicians get paid last and least, their cut far less than that of the retailer or...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2008
'Rambo'
At the time, it seemed like the "Rambo" series epitomized everything that was wrong about the '80s. Star Sylvester Stallone, with his oiled-up, inhumanly pumped-up physique, was the poster-boy for the first generation to embrace steroid abuse. The revenge fantasies he was peddling — re-fighting...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2008
Winding up in bondage
Consider, for a moment, tattoos. Removable and temporary tattoos are gaining in popularity. But there goes the whole cachet of tattoos, really. The very reason they're worth having is, in fact, the ordeal you go through to get them and the finality of the decision. Therein lies the line that separates...
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2008
It is easy to find lashings of rope on show in Japan
The Tokyo kinbaku (bondage) scene can seem all but invisible to the uninitiated, but, like with all subcultures, if you poke around a bit, you'll be amazed at just how deep this rabbit-hole goes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2008
'Selling women's nakedness'
Asagi Ageha meets me on a back street in Kabukicho in dramatic fashion, sirens blaring from two arriving ambulances just as she steps out of the shadows.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Japan pharma startup developing world-first drug to grow new teeth
A new tooth is seen in a ferret's mouth after it was administered a drug to stimulate the growth of tooth buds.
Don’t worry about global population collapse
Most projections show the world will hit peak humanity in the 21st century as people choose to have smaller families and women gain power over their own reproduction.
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.
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.

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

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