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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

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...

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

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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