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.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 12, 2007

Neither heroes nor villains

The director and producer of a new film on Japan's WWII suicide pilots tell The Japan Times that the doomed warriors of myth were actually teenagers made to die for a lie.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 12, 2007

Speaking up for the 'divine' but undiscussed

Summer is the time of year when the Japanese remember the dead, most notably during the Bon festival, and the end of World War II, though the collective memory of the latter fades with each passing year. The Japanese are probably better at forgetting than other people in the world (indeed, the culture...

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Jul 10, 2007

Allure of cakes too much for housewives to resist

Twenty years ago, Japanese girls were told that marriage should be the last item on the list of to-dos after college, that hankering after a wedding ring was idiotic and that the first and foremost concern should be work and a career.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 6, 2007

'Confession of Pain'

There are some things at which the Asian male excels and that includes looking exceptionally fatigued. Not attractively or glamorously so but plain, I-just-got-off-a-16-hour-shift fatigue enhanced by the discomfort of public transportation and too much nicotine.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 29, 2007

'Live Free or Die Hard'

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 22, 2007

Filmmaker Pedro Almodovar loves women and he's not afraid to announce it either. Probably one of the most fearless and creative directors working today, Almodovar has consistently explored what it is to be a woman and it seems like his level of enthrallment increases with every film.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 15, 2007

'Le prix du desir'

It's a familiar story: The man seems to have everything; a bulging bank balance, a successful career, a house in the country, and a beautiful wife — but he's still bored.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Jun 12, 2007

It's a dog's life when you wear a cat on your head

Animals have always been prevalent in the Japanese language, perhaps more so than in other parts of the world, because Japanese people were for so long vegetarian, Buddhist or Shintoist.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 8, 2007

If "Apocalypto" were a meal, it would be a very red, very rare, incredibly tough steak. No garnishings. This isn't something for the faint of digestion, not to mention the heart; it pummels and kicks the senses awake to thrust them not into higher gear necessarily but another dimension altogether. "Apocalypto"...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 1, 2007

'Sketches of Frank Gehry'

In "Sketches of Frank Gehry," director Sydney Pollack films buildings with the same sensuality he brings to on-screen lovers — tracing the surfaces and contours as if they were cheekbones or eyelids, noting the way walls interlock like arms in ecstatic embrace. During his 40-year career, the creator...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 25, 2007

'Notes on a Scandal'

By turns thrilling and obnoxious, "Notes on a Scandal" (based on a novel by Zoe Heller) is an addictive but nauseous potion of female obsessions and tempestuous hormonal urges. Like some snacks that are so toxic you can't stop eating them, the film rivets until the very end — occasionally skidding...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 18, 2007

In the Chinese epic "The Banquet," released in Japan as "Jyotei," scarlet is Empress Wan's favorite color, and it seems the entire film takes its cue from her color preference. There are no gray zones or monotone subtleties. Throughout, the story splashes and spatters red — blood, passion, sex,...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 11, 2007

'Invisible Waves'

Emotionless-ness reaches new heights in "Invisible Waves," the long awaited second feature from Thailand's Pen-Ek Ratanaruang in which he teams up once again with our own, homegrown Tadanobu Asano.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

May 8, 2007

Children of yesterday had more rags than riches

I saw a young girl and her sister with their parents the other day in Isetan, the department store of choice for young, hip families in the Tokyo area, probably shopping for Children's Day (Kodomo no Hi), which was last Saturday.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 4, 2007

"Sometimes people just need to believe in miracles," goes a line in "The Reaping," but by the time you hear it, you've pretty much ditched that effort at least as far as this film is concerned. Starring two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank, "The Reaping" pretty much wastes her talents and those...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 27, 2007

In "Flandres," the region referred to in the film's title (located in northern France) is breathtaking in its untarnished beauty. The light -- golden and buttery -- drenches the landscape in an intricately magical, Vermeer-like way. There is, however, nothing remotely idyllic about the film itself; the...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 27, 2007

He hits below the belt

Winning the Grand Prix at Cannes last year for "Flandres" has not altered filmmaker Bruno Dumont's particular stance. "Yes, the award is nice, but I know that my films are not for everyone. Some people have rejected it in a very strong way," said the director last month when he was in Tokyo for the French...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 26, 2007

Art imitates life, waking or otherwise

Wildly creative film director Michel Gondry unveils the delightful oddity of his inner selfin his latest movie, 'The Science of Sleep'

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 26, 2007

'The Science of Sleep'

There's something tread-mill repetitive about conventional on-screen romance. It seems as if we've seen phone-call/e-mail angst, candlelit dinners, fights, reconciliations and sex ad nauseum (and engaged in by the same beautiful people again and again). But Stephane (played by the always amazing Gael...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 19, 2007

What surfaces in "Babel" is a feverish, desperate desire for communication. Comprised of four segments spanning three continents in locations as disparate as Morocco and Tokyo, the characters make phone calls, text message, weep, kiss and clutch at each other's arms. The need to reach out is so palpable...

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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