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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.

CULTURE / Film

Jan 19, 2001

Pleasure, pain and Arizona

January is an absolutely dire month for films, and this year's lingering holiday blockbuster constipation is even worse than usual. The pickings are slim, but you could try "Phatman: Theory of the Leisure Class," which is a rare film indeed -- an American indie flick that is opening in Japan but not...

CULTURE / Film

Jan 12, 2001

Curry on my wayward sons

Culture clash comedy is a shtick often brought to the big screen, but its success depends heavily on the details. For "East Is East," the particulars lie in the U.K.-Asian community of Manchester,circa 1971. Focusing on first-generation Pakistani immigrant George Khan, his British wife Ella and their...

CULTURE / Film

Jan 5, 2001

A film genius in his own mind

Harmony Korine -- screenwriter of "Kids," director of "Gummo" -- fancies himself the enfant terrible of contemporary cinema. Well, he is . . . terrible. Certain critics have been calling him "the new Godard," and I'd agreewith that too. But when was the last time Godard made anything that played better...

CULTURE / Film

Nov 19, 1999

Should auld new wavers be forgot

A film that zeroes in on the forced enthusiasm of New Year's Eve celebrations, "200 Cigarettes" will certainly appeal to those who are already tiring of this year's millennial madness. As one cynic in the film puts it, "Every year it's the same desperate scrambling around, pretending to be happy."

CULTURE / Film

Jul 6, 1999

Going for more than two dimensions

While most films out there these days prostrate themselves before the altar of entertainment, there are still a few that dare to set different goals. "Under the Skin," the debut feature by U.K. director Carine Adler, is one such work, a cathartic rhapsody of sex and grief that is based in messy reality,...

CULTURE / Film

Jun 25, 1999

Lost opportunity of the disco daze

If there were ever a high-water mark of hedonism, it would have to have been located at some New York or L.A. disco in the late '70s. In this pre-AIDS, post-Pill era of guilt-free sex, drug use was widespread and largely tolerated, gay culture was coming out of the closet and sexual mores were loosening...

CULTURE / Film

Jun 4, 1999

Somewhere over the airwaves

Once upon a time, back in the '50s, there existed a "better" America, a wholesome utopia of crew cuts, unquestioning white-bread conformity and mom in the kitchen baking apple pies.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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