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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
Sep 22, 2004
Stop usif you'veheard thisone before
The Quiet American Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Philip Noyce Running time: 101 minutes Language: English Now showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When Graham Greene penned his novel "The Quiet American" in 1954, he was set on capturing a particular point in time in late,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004
Some secrets of success
There were many things I wanted to ask Andrey Zvyagintsev about the unspoken secrets his film "The Return" is full of. But then again, if he wanted us to know all the answers, he would have put them in there in the first place. So rather than ruin it for you, I got the 40-year-old actor-turned-director...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004
Here's to a classic 'comeback'
The Return Rating: * * * * 1/2(out of 5) Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev Running time: 111 minutes Language: Russian with Japanese subtitles Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Perhaps the most dispiriting aspect of the global corporate culture that's spread like mold over...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 8, 2004
What are you trying to do? Scare us?
The Village Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: M. Night Shyamalan Running time: 108 minutes Language: English Opens Sept. 11 [See Japan Times movie listings] Van Helsing Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Stephen Sommers Running time: 133 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 8, 2004
Catching up with the 24-hour filmmaker
I sat down with English director Michael Winterbottom at the tail end of what was obviously a long, hard day of back-to-back interviews. Rather than my trying to get him discuss the same points of "Code 46" one more time, we instead kicked back with some beers and had a wide-ranging discussion covering...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 1, 2004
Dancing with two strangers
House of Flying Daggers Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Japanese title: Lovers Director: Zhang Yimou Running time: 120 minutes Language: Mandarin Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] There's a scene right at the beginning of Zhang Yimou's latest, "House of Flying Daggers," where...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 1, 2004
Lovers' bites
Promoting "House of Flying Daggers," director Zhang Yimou was in Tokyo for the fourth time in as many years recently, after visiting with "The Road Home," "Happy Times" and "Hero."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2004
Keeping up to speed with a tabla master
New York-based bassist and producer Bill Laswell has always been a man with his ear to the ground, quick to sense any coming seismic shifts in the musical landscape. In the late 1990s, he had been noting the proliferation of Indian tabla-infused drum 'n' bass music from people such as Talvin Singh, Joi...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 25, 2004
Lord, we got those tortured artist blues
Investigating Sex Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Alan Rudolph Running time: 105 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The Soul of a Man Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Wim Wenders Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Opens...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 18, 2004
Questions of balance
Fahrenheit 9/11 Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Michael Moore Running time: 122 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The Fog of War Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Errol Morris Running time: 107 minutes Language: English Opens...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 11, 2004
Walking on the wild side
Walkabout Rating: * * * * * (out of 5) Director: Nicholas Roeg Running time: 100 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The Story of the Weeping Camel Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni Running time:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 4, 2004
Telling some truth in black & white
Dirty Pretty Things Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Stephen Frears Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] I'm not one of those cranky post-Marxist social critics who believe that the movies, particularly the American brand, subtly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 28, 2004
Giving thanks on a day of cinema
The Dreamers Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Bernardo Bertolucci Running time: 117 minutes Language: English/some French Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] As a child, I was raised as a Catholic, and went to church on Sunday, um, religiously. I can still remember...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2004
Arthurian legend lacks a little magic
King Arthur Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Antoine Fuqua Running time: 130 minutes Language: English Opens July 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] Just as Homer's "Illiad" wasn't good enough for the makers of "Troy," director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") has made his blockbuster...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 14, 2004
Slices of life don't quite hit the spot
At Five in the Afternoon Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Samira Makhmalbaf Running time: 105 minutes Language: Persian Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Take Care of My Cat Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Jeong Jae Eun Running time: 112 minutes Language:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 7, 2004
When life gives you lemons, make an underground comic
American Splendor Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini Running time: 101 minutes Language: English Opens July 10 [See Japan Times movie listings] Religion may be the opiate of the masses, but surely comic books are the opiate of the misfits. Walk...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 7, 2004
Darkness in teenage wizardland
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Alfonso Cuaron Running time: 136 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy has come and gone, but its fantasy film rival, the "Harry Potter"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 30, 2004
Shootin' up the box office
Open Range Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Japanese title: Wild Range Director: Kevin Costner Running time: 140 minutes Language: English Opens July 3 [See Japan Times movie listings] There was a point -- probably somewhere between "Bad Girls" and "The Quick And The Dead" -- where I felt...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 23, 2004
Secrets lodged underneath the skin
The Human Stain Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Japanese title: Shiroi Karasu Director: Robert Benton Running time: 108 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When David Howard, a white aide to the black mayor of Washington, D.C., spoke of a "niggardly"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 16, 2004
Give 'em enough dope
The Tesseract Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Oxide Pang Running time: 96 minutes Language: English Opens June 19 [See Japan Times movie listings] Spun Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Jonas Akerlund Running time: 102 minutes Language: English Opens June 19 [See Japan...
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.
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.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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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