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July 17, 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
Aug 22, 2013
British actress Eve makes her mark on 'Star Trek'
There must be a Union Jack stowed somewhere aboard the Starship Enterprise: The British influence on "Star Trek Into Darkness" is pretty thick. There is of course hot new man about town Benedict Cumberbatch (or "Batchi-san" to his Japanese fans) as genetically engineered evildoer John Harrison. Simon...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2013
'Star Trek Into Darkness'
Perhaps the biggest blockbuster this summer, "Star Trek Into Darkness" nonetheless throws more than a few curve balls: It is pensive, frosty and often curt, and comes elegantly and aptly dressed in several shades of black. Though there are many moments of humor and thrilling adventure, the story seems...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2013
'Trois Mondes'
"Trois Mondes" was the only film by a female directorshown at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Among the testosterone-fueled macho films that got all the attention ("Killing Them Softly," "Lawless") "Trois Mondes" was striking in its approach to death and bodies — the characters convene and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2013
'Transporter: The Series'
Director: Various
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 18, 2013
Japanese women and the summer chill — a love story
Meet Matt, a software engineer in Silicon Valley, California, who recently married his college girlfriend from the University of Southern California. Her name is Miho. The pair are both in their late 30s and there was a 10-year period after university when he didn't lay eyes on Miho or feel any interest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2013
'Populaire'
It's "My Fair Lady" meets "Flashdance" meets the sweet, earnest rom-coms of the 1950s. "Populaire" is the feature debut by French filmmaker Régis Roinsard (most famed for Jane Birkin's promotional videos) but the film has the look and feel of a veteran artisan: "Some Like it Hot" director Billy Wilder,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2013
'Playing For Keeps'
Gerard Butler, most famed for his muscled marauder performance in "300," always seems on the verge of burning rage or spontaneous combustion — which is why he was a disaster in rom-coms such as "The Bounty Hunter" and "The Ugly Truth." For all his handsome-guy demeanor, he just doesn't seem nice...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2013
'Flight'
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2013
'To the Wonder'
An intensely personal film by Terrence Malick ("The Tree of Life," "The Thin Red Line"), "To the Wonder" explores the lives and loves of four people, to the near complete exclusion of everyone else. The films revels in solitude and celebrates seclusion with what seems like voluptuous ardor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2013
'In the Land of Blood and Honey'
When you think about Angelina Jolie in 2013, the term "preventive double mastectomy" may leap to mind. Which is probably why now is a good time to release her 2011 directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey." Jolie, who visited Bosnia and Herzegovina as a U.N. goodwill ambassador, has made a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2013
'First Position'
Director: Bess Kargman
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2013
It's never too late to go in search of forgotten love
Filmmaker David Frankel has an ear for what women say — to each other, to their men and to themselves, though the last is not necessarily made audible to others.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2013
'Hope Springs'
Feminism is redefined in "Hope Springs," a tale of two 60-somethings locked in a marriage gone stale and opting for a week of intensive marriage counselling in a picturesque Maine town.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2013
'The Lone Ranger'
All the ingredients for a mega summer blockbuster are here, but somehow "The Lone Ranger" has failed to captivate U.S. moviegoers. Some estimate it may be the highest-grossing western in history, but it's still falling far short of recouping its $225 million budget.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2013
'Your Sister's Sister (Love Triangle)'
Director: Lynn Shelton
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2013
Spirits linger in the trinkets of Hiroshima's dead
They say most people have one or more defining childhood incidents — something that sets the course of their adult life and molds their personality. Filmmaker Linda Hoaglund had one, and it was so striking that to this day she can still remember the flush on her face, the tingling of her skin and the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2013
'Things Left Behind'
When the Japanese refer to "the war," they mean World War II. When they talk about "the bomb," they mean the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945. The event is so familiar, the contours of its tragedy are painfully etched into our collective memory.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2013
'The Moth Diaries'
"The Moth Diaries" can be described as the female-fronted equivalent of "Another Country" minus the political angst and overt sexuality. Otherwise, the intense narcissism and overwrought peer pressure that characterized what is now a classic elitist adolescent movie is duplicated here in "American Psycho"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2013
'Wreck-it Ralph (Sugar Rush)'
Director: Rich Moore
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2013
'The Paperboy'
Swamp trash melodrama unfolds with stylish 1960s grittiness in "The Paperboy" and demonstrates Nicole Kidman's ability to fashion herself into an angel fallen to Earth in the guise of a hooker. She plays Charlotte Bless, a peroxide blonde who makes no bones about having just one interest in life: men....
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.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
China’s economic growth comes in worse than expected
Pedestrians in the Wangfujing shopping area in Beijing on July 11, 2024. China's economic growth in the second quarter was lower than forecast, adding pressure on Chinese leaders to lift confidence at the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum this week.
Kansai airports to increase takeoff and landing slots ahead of Osaka Expo
Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. The upper limit on the number of takeoff and landing slots at the airport as well as Kobe Airport in Hyogo Prefecture will be raised in spring next year ahead of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
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.
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

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

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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