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July 16, 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
Nov 14, 2013
The Hangover Part III
Director: Todd Phillips
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
Money, censorship and the future of Asian cinema
Flitting around Roppongi Hills during the week of the Tokyo International Film Festival, you get to meet and chat with any number of interesting people, but one of the better conversations I had was sitting down for coffee with Jacob Wong, curator of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, held each...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'Seven Psychopaths'
If you think the post-Tarantino hardboiled gangster movie has been done to death, well, wait till you see "Seven Psychopaths." This does to the gangster flick what Dali did to clocks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'Carrie'
When Brian De Palma dropped the original "Carrie" back in 1976, it was a groundbreaking movie for many reasons: De Palma cannily wed the high school bully flick with the horror genre, pretty much invented the heart-stopping shock ending (which "Paranormal Activity" has taken to the bank) and mixed in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'Gambit (Monet Game)'
Director: Michael Hoffman Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'Venuto al Mondo'
So many films these days seem to be trying their hardest to be the same, their connect-the-dots three-act narratives all carved from the same stone. Then there's "Venuto al Mondo" (released in English as "Twice Born"), which features a story that flows like a river: shallow here, deep there, a gentle...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'Behind the Candelabra'
When Steven Soderbergh shopped around his Liberace biopic project, practically every studio in Hollywood took a pass on it, causing the director to publicly renounce the movie biz and say he was moving to TV, where he made the film for cable network HBO. It's easy to see why the studios passed: 1960s-'70s...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'Lawless (Yokubo no Virginia)'
Director: John Hillcoat
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'Now You See Me'
So many directors these days seem to want to be Christopher Nolan: There's Zack Snyder aiming for "Dark Knight" portentousness with "Man of Steel" and Danny Boyle aping the false-reality trickiness of "Inception" with "Trance" to name but two. The latest wannabe is French director-gone-Hollywood Louis...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'Hannah Arendt'
Hannah Arendt was the Jewish-German emigre philosopher and theorist who would become most famous for coining the term "the banality of evil" to refer to Nazi figures such as Adolf Eichmann, who could take a conscience-free, bureaucratic view of sending Jews to the gas chambers. This biopic by German...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'Spark: A Burning Man Story'
Directors: Steve Brown, Jessie Deeter
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'Trance'
The central premise of Danny Boyle's latest, "Trance," is a guy involved in an art heist who gets struck on the head and then can't remember what he did with the purloined painting. This is clearly some sort of advanced conceptual prank, a cheeky allegory for the amnesia the film itself will produce...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'Broken City'
Mark Wahlberg plays a down-on-his-luck private detective — is there any other kind in the movies? — whose pretty young assistant (Alona Tal) is calling in unpaid debts to keep their business afloat. He's an ex-NYPD cop and ex-alcoholic who was retired after a fatal shooting of a perp, and...
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'House of Cards'
Director: Various
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013
'Cairo Time'
When you're young, flirting is an activity that dangles real promise, the possibility that with the right chemistry, a hook-up may happen shortly thereafter. But when you're older — married with kids, say, or just burned often enough to be sensible — the flirt becomes more its own reward....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013
'Passion'
How does one describe the melange that is Brian De Palma's "Passion"? "The Devil Wears Prada" reimagined as a film noir and shot in the style of 1980s French cinema du look? "Basic Instinct" with iPhones and Rachel McAdams ("Mean Girls") as femme fatale? Or just another attempt by De Palma to recapture...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013
'Oblivion'
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013
'Red Dawn'
One day we'll wake up and the sky will be green, the grass will be blue and dogs will walk humans on leashes as gleeful gnomes burble in frothy rivers of chocolate. If all that seems like a reasonable proposition, then maybe you're ready for "Red Dawn," which asks us to believe that one morning we'll...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013
'The Company You Keep'
Robert Redford's career as a director continues its "good liberal" phase, and he's three for three now in films that feature a great cast, political relevance and a distinct inability to take off and soar. After Afghan War intrigue in "Lions for Lambs" and Lincoln assassination courtroom drama in "The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013
'Killing Them Softly (Jackie Cogan)'
Director: Andrew Dominik
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
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.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
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.
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

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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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