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November 22, 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
Jan 23, 2014
Searching for hidden meaning in a Kubrick classic
I'm old enough — barely — to have seen Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece "The Shining" when it opened in the theaters back in 1980. My strongest memory of this tale of writer's block meets cabin-fever insanity is that my girlfriend's drink wound up in my lap the first time the twins appeared....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
'Before Midnight'
Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise" was the most deliciously romantic film of the 1990s. A young, devilishly handsome Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets bohemian beauty Celine (Julie Delpy) while both are on a train bumming around Europe; he talks her into spending a day with him in Vienna, and the next 90 minutes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
'Meanwhile'
If you were into American indie cinema in the 1990s, you were into Hal Hartley, the New York City auteur (Long Island, actually) whose deadpan cool rivaled Jim Jarmusch, but with a more quizzical style of dialogue and impeccable alt-rock soundtracks. Yet after 1997's "Henry Fool," Hartley seemed to drop...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
2 Days in New York
Director: Julie Delpy
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014
Why Winding Refn doesn't care if you hate his movie
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn was a film-school dropout who gained sudden acclaim at the tender age of 24 with his ultraviolent 1996 film "Pusher," which was eventually developed into a trilogy. He reached wider audiences with "Fear X" (starring John Turturro) and British crime flick "Bronson,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014
'Only God Forgives'
On paper, "Only God Forgives" is a film I should love: Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas, both personal faves, star in a surrealist film noir set in the seedy brothel side of Bangkok, a milieu just waiting for some movies to be shot there. Its director is Nicolas Winding Refn, who hit his peak with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014
'Mud'
Indie director Jeff Nichols grew up in Arkansas, and he has milked that state's ambience in his films: feuding brothers in "Shotgun Stories," survivalist paranoia in "Take Shelter" and now life on a Mississippi delta houseboat in "Mud." Nichols aims for that "Stand by Me" vibe of boyhood friends getting...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014
'Inside the Fifty Shades: Real Women Confess'
Director: Tatiana Bascope
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2014
'Escape Plan'
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Well, anyone who's seen a Sylvester Stallone movie lately. Stallone, even as he enters retirement age, is determined to hang onto his action-movie star status, and to his credit, he still comes equipped with biceps capable of busting someone's spine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2014
'Tricked'
Crowd-funding a film has been tried before, but crowd-sourcing? That's what director Paul Verhoeven ("Basic Instinct") tried to do with "Tricked," a Dutch film that looks at a philandering businessman, his disgruntled family and his pregnant former mistress on the occasion of his 50th birthday party....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2014
'Clip'
Director: Maja Milos Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 2, 2014
'Penthouse North'
"What a curious tea party," thought Alice, as the March Hare poured a torrent of Darjeeling into her saucer. The Mad Hatter stood on his chair and posed a riddle: "When is a remake not a remake?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 2, 2014
Our movie highlights of the coming year
Another year, another raft of unmissable movies. Here are the most hotly anticipated releases for JT film critics Mark Schilling, Kaori Shoji and Giovanni Fazio — get them in your diary now.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 2, 2014
'Insidious: Chapter 2'
"Insidious" is what happens when you take the director of one horror-movie franchise — "Saw" helmsman James Wan — and team him up with the producers of another — Jason Blum and Oren Peli of "Paranormal Activity." If that sounds about as promising as curry-mayonnaise pizza, well, it's not that bad:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
Giovanni Fazio's 2013 Top 10: films to remember into the next lifetime
This year saw me watching a lot more films than usual, which, if anything, made me appreciate the cream even more. As per our age, there's a lot of "content" out there begging for our attention, but precious little of it that feels like it was made with passion. Here are 10 that, love 'em or hate 'em,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
'Planes'
If it looks like a Pixar, and barks like a Pixar, it must be a Pixar, right? Well, no: "Planes," which looks exactly like "Cars 3" with wings, is actually produced by DisneyToon Studios, working off a concept created by Pixar honcho (and "Cars" director) John Lasseter. "Cars" was certainly not Pixar's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
'Feu: Crazy Horse Paris'
Frederick Wiseman's documentary "Crazy Horse," looking at the Parisian burlesque cabaret of the same name, was a surprise fave last year, showing the racy stage shows to be surprisingly creative in their use of staging and lighting.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
'Everybody Street'
Director: Cheryl Dunn
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2013
'Only Lovers Left Alive'
Most people define Jim Jarmusch by the impeccably cool hipster portraits of his early films in the 1980s, such as "Down by Law" or "Mystery Train." But if you think about it, he's really been moving through a series of genre flicks for the past two decades: a Western ("Dead Man"), a gangster movie ("Ghost...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2013
'Love and Bruises'
Why do we fall for people who are clearly wrong for us? Why does sex blind us to the fatal flaws in a relationship? How can you choose a lover if you don't really know what you want?
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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