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November 23, 2024
 

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Kaori Shoji
Kaori Shoji writes about movies and movie-makers for the Film Page, plus takes a turn at the Bilingual Column. Biggest mistake of her career: taking the very dignified Nagisa Oshima to McDonald's for an iced coffee.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2014
'2 Guns'
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2014
'Dallas Buyers Club'
Who would have thought Matthew McConaughey was capable of being despicable? The actor formerly mostly noted for turning in performances of unreliable but easy-on-the-eyes boyfriend material ("Contact," "Wedding Planner," "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," etc) could be about to bag his first Oscar with his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2014
'The Trials of Cate McCall'
"The Trials of Cate McCall" takes you back to the days of courtroom dramas when cool female legal eagles were played by the likes of Glenn Close and Greta Scacchi, not to mention the original Legal Eagle herself, Debra Winger. Edgy and suggestive, the film throws mostly fast, straight balls that land...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2014
'Odd Thomas'
Director: Stephen Sommers
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2014
A butler who brought color to the White House
"The Butler" director Lee Daniels didn't start out as a filmmaker but as an owner of a nursing agency in Los Angeles. "So I know how to gather funds, get the people, and treat filmmaking like a business," he tells The Japan Times. "At the same time, once the filming starts, I can't be just a businessman...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2014
'The Butler'
Back in 1997, when Steven Spielberg released "Amistad," it was a pretty huge deal for a big-name Hollywood filmmaker to tackle slavery. Now the deal is a lot bigger for Lee Daniels, the second African-American filmmaker in United States history to be nominated for an Oscar (for "Precious" in 2009), who...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2014
'The Immigrant'
Inspired by his research of white slavery in the early 20th century, James Gray's film focuses on destitute Polish woman Ewa (wrenchingly portrayed by Marion Cotillard), who migrates to the United States in 1921 and is forcibly separated from her sick sister upon arrival. Preyed upon by men, the only...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2014
'Upside Down'
Director: Juan Solanas
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 9, 2014
Chocolates and funerals, when Japanese lack for love
They say February is the month of love but take it from one who knows — the Japanese have become increasingly suspicious of the whole Barentain (バレンタイン, Valentine's) thing as just another marketing ploy to open womens' purses. And what with the consumption tax kicking in, chances are we'll...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014
Could 'Snowpiercer' be Bong's ticket out of Korea?
There's a scene in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic sci-fi fable "Snowpiercer" that turns the tables on how Western audiences perceive non-English-speaking Asian characters in what is — for all intents and purposes — a Hollywood production.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014
'Rush (Rush: Pride to Yujo)'
Race-car drivers and astronauts share many things in common: Both drivers and cosmonauts battle gravity, speed and air pressure. Death or heavy injuries are always a risk. But race-car drivers are of course much sexier, which is probably why bikini-clad girls and race queens hang out at the race track...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014
'The Following: The First Season'
Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014
'Snowpiercer'
Snowpiercer" is the film that takes a hammer to climate-change denial. A sometimes whimsical but mostly horrible sci-fi simulation of what could happen in the event of a global-warming catastrophe, the story of "Snowpiercer" kicks off in 2014. And now that the U.N. is reportedly preparing a warning that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2014
Crushing drama through the eyes of little Maisie
Filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel aren't known for blockbusters, but their films, including the duo's 1994 debut feature "Suture," have a reputation for artful framing and pensive little spaces of silence in the dialogue. McGehee and Siegel attribute this trick to their deep admiration for Japanese...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2014
'What Maisie Knew (Maisie no Hitomi)'
What Maisie Knew" is based on the 1897 novel by Henry James. Then and now, "What Maisie Knew" deals with child-neglect, abandonment and just general, sharper-than-a-serpent's-tooth bad behavior on the part of the parents. You want to think that such parents will look back in their old age and writhe...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2014
'A Five Star Life'
Unless one has a lot of wealth at handy disposal, one goes through a fair share of less than luxury hotels. Though in my case, "less" tends to lean toward "vastly less." Anyway, here's the story of a woman whose job is to stay at the best hotels in the world. Nice, huh? "A Five Star Life" traces a few...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2014
'The Lone Ranger'
Director: Gore Verbinski
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
'American Hustle'
Being an American is an art form and the path is long and arduous, as we see all too plainly in "American Hustle," a huge, sloppy American Dream saga set in 1978. Based loosely on the famed "Abscam" scandal that put several congressmen behind bars ("Some of this actually happened," the movie informs...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
'Thor: The Dark World"
Another year, another Marvel movie. The story begins several thousand years ago, when the warriors of Asgard stop the Dark Elves from using their mega-weapon, the Aether, to destroy the universe. Elf leader Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) escapes and lies low for a few millenniums.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
Star Trek Into Darkness
Director: J.J. Abrams
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'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.

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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