Kaori Shoji - The Japan Times

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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.

CULTURE / Film

Apr 24, 2009

'Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame'

H ollywood has the Coppola family as its iconic tribe of auteurs, bound together by blood and talent. The Middle East has the Makhmalbaf Family, helmed by Iran's Mohsen Makhmalbaf — the patriarchal founder of that country's first film school. His family are all graduates of the Makhmalbaf Film...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 17, 2009

'Rachel Getting Married'

In cinema, getting personal is generally considered a good thing — what would the whole indies/Sundance experience be without it? But some films are so intimate it hurts. "Rachel Getting Married" is like that.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 10, 2009

Rule book ditched in making 'Red Cliff' films

In Asia, Chang Chen is famed for his cool, gangtserish good looks and his irreverent manner.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 10, 2009

'Red Cliff: Part II'

Was it worth the six-month wait? The answer is a resounding affirmative. John Woo's second and final segment of the epic battle extravaganza "Red Cliff" picks up with a monstrous, 800,000-strong army led by invading warlord Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) about to close in on Jiangdong, the province of young...

CULTURE / Film

Apr 10, 2009

'Red Cliff: Part II'

Was it worth the six-month wait? The answer is a resounding affirmative. John Woo's second and final segment of the epic battle extravaganza "Red Cliff" picks up with a monstrous, 800,000-strong army led by invading warlord Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) about to close in on Jiangdong, the province of young...

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Apr 8, 2009

Language shows the resurgence of being kechi

"Nai sode wa furenai (無い袖は振れない)" was a phrase that an old man in my neighborhood used to say many, many years ago. Whenever anyone within hearing range complained about their lack of money, the cost of living or rising taxes, he pulled out this standby comment as a way of summing up the...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 3, 2009

"The Bank" is not only sleek and terrific to look at, it's an action film with a heart. It cares about things like the global economy, rages over the evil-doings of corrupt conglomerates and sheds tears over the collapse of Third World governments. No wonder the lead character, Interpol agent Louis Salinger...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 27, 2009

'Then She Found Me'

"Then She Found Me" wants to be a romantic comedy for older chicks (once a chick, always a chick!), but it's strangely dry and brittle and unfunny — a plate of al dente pasta that needed three more minutes on the stove and a dollop of olive oil or some kind of um, lubricant.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 20, 2009

Almost completely gripping. That would be an apt way to describe "Frost/Nixon," the sleeper hit that almost brought Academy Awards to director Ron Howard and actor Frank Langella.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 13, 2009

'The Secret Life of Bees'

"It's amazing how they hate us so much when so many of them are raised by black women." That's a line spoken by a black woman in "The Secret Life of Bees," circa 1964 in South Carolina.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Mar 11, 2009

An A-to-O guide to Japan's obsession with blood types

The Japanese have a passion for filing and categorization that reaches fever pitch when it comes to the always-popular system of classifying people by their A, B, AB or O blood group — "ketsuekigata" (血液型, blood type)." Women, especially, will ask about the blood type of anyone we feel friendly...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 6, 2009

You can take the boy out of Tokyo but you can't take Tokyo out of the boy. Jo^ Odagiri, currently described by the Japanese media as "the most Tokyo-like of actors" stars in "Plastic City," an ambitious, multicultural project by Nelson Yu Lik-Wai (best known as director Jia Zhang-Ke's cinematographer)...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 27, 2009

'The Life Before Her Eyes'

A woman's life isn't easy at 17 years old, and it doesn't get much better at 32, even when the woman is equipped with shimmering blonde hair and dazzling outfits that look they jumped straight out of a Ralph Lauren ad.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 20, 2009

It was a single pound of flesh that Shylock demanded from Antonio in "The Merchant of Venice," fully aware that if his demand was met, it would kill Antonio. But Ben Thomas in "Seven Pounds" is more than willing to part with seven whole pounds of his own flesh and give them to seven complete strangers...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 13, 2009

Clint Eastwood, at 79 (yes, you read that right), continues to create films that garner plaudits such as "gutsy and virile," "seething with power," and "frighteningly potent."

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Feb 11, 2009

Love not an option as the big chill settles in

A phrase heard often this winter is samusa ga mini shimiru (寒さが身に沁みる, the chill settles right into the bones), as everything — from the weather to office temperature to the predicted wintry fukeiki (不景気, bad economy, bad times) of Valentine’s Day chocolate sales —...

CULTURE / Film

Feb 6, 2009

'The Syrian Bride'

Strictly speaking, "The Syrian Bride" is a wedding movie, but its concerns are less with the wedding than about the effect of ethnic politics — subtle or not — on individual and family relationships. The Syrian Bride Rating: (4 out of 5) Ready for love: Hiam Abbass...

CULTURE / Film

Feb 6, 2009

Not dwelling on the politics

Jersusalem-born filmmaker Eran Riklis is one of the most prominent figures in the Israeli film industry, but his films ("On a Clear Day You Can See Damuscus" and "Cup Final" among others) have never been about straightforward Israeli politics.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jan 30, 2009

The phrase "somebody's gotta do it" applies with hammering aptness to what Tom (Samuel L. Jackson) does for a living in "Cleaner." His company, Steri-Clean, clears up after murder and death sites where, after the body has been taken away, various stains, marks and odors stubbornly remain. When Steri-Clean...

CULTURE / Film

Jan 23, 2009

'Le Silence de Lorna'

In the life-view of Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, hardship is a prerequisite; survival the main objective; love and beauty incidental — a freak extravagance that sometimes falls from the sky to land on the lap. Le Silence de Lorna Rating: (4.5 out of 5) Loveless:...

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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