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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
Oct 31, 2013
The blessing and the curse of being Steve Jobs
Filmmaker Joshua Michael Stern has the distinction of directing "Jobs," the first big-budget movie biopic on one of the world's most important entrepreneurs: Steve Jobs. The film was bound to come under extreme scrutiny from avid Apple fans, of whom there are many, and so Stern takes a cautious approach,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'Jobs'
The centerpiece of "Jobs" isn't really Steve Jobs but the portrayal of Steve Jobs by Ashton Kutcher — whose fame heretofore had rested largely on the fact that he was married to Demi Moore. Who would have thought the guy who oozes Hollywood charm and toy-boy insincerity from every invisible pore had...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'42'
In America today, black players can be found in every sport. But back in 1946 there were no black athletes, especially not in baseball, the "white man's sport." Director Brian Helgeland ("A Knight's Tale") zeroes in on the African-American player who kicked down the door of segregation to sign up for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'The Big Bang Theory Season 1'
Director: Various
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
Trading identity for compassion in the Middle East
Filmmaker Lorraine Lévy likes to tread lightly wherever she goes. Her aversion to intrusiveness affects the way she looks at the world, and defines her approach to filmmaking. It's certainly a significant part of "Le Fils de l'Autre (The Other Son)," Lévy's latest film (and arguably her most successful),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'Le Fils de l'Autre'
You'd think it would be impossible to make a movie about Israeli-Palestinian issues that was not mired in political arguments. But filmmaker Lorraine Levy ("London Mon Amour") has done just that. In a simple, lovingly shot film about two families, Levy gently takes the bull by the horns and has it sit...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'Safe Haven'
You know that when you get sweeping-romance novelist Nicholas Sparks ("The Notebook") teaming up with sweeping-romance filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom ("Cider House Rules") you're in for some major sweeping, on par with the Sunday morning cleanup volunteers in Roppongi. The poster for "Safe Haven" promises...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'The Great Gatsby (Karei Naru Gatsby)'
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 22, 2013
Mike Mills looks at depression in Japan
Among all the many trips American film director Mike Mills has made to Japan since he first started coming here in the mid 1990s, one incident in particular has remained with him.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
Terajima brings legacy to TIFF
The 40-year-old is a dramatic force, with undiluted acting DNA coursing through her veins. Her father is kabuki actor Onoe Kikugoro VII, whose family lineage can be traced back seven centuries. Her mother is treasured actress Sumiko Fuji, whose own father was a famed producer for Toei Films.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'Does Your Soul Have a Cold?'
Getting the Japanese to talk about their emotions is said to be like pulling teeth, but getting depressed Japanese to bare their souls is like unlocking the mysteries of quantum physics. And yet in the documentary "Does Your Soul Have a Cold?," "Thumbsucker" director Mike Mills does just that. A cinematic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'Diana'
Among the crimes committed against Britain's Princess Diana by her husband Charles was his letting slip in the royal circle that she was boring. Unfortunately, the movie "Diana" confirms his accusation. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (best known for his Hitler movie "Downfall"), "Diana" is the portrayal...
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'Bullet to the Head'
Director: Walter Hill
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 13, 2013
What we talk about when we talk about the Olympics
If you're lamenting the number of kōji (工事, construction works) clogging Tokyo streets and coating your lungs with toxic fumes, you can lump at least part of the blame on the Olympics, slated to happen in the summer of 2020. And take comfort in the fact that in the years leading up to the last time...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013
'Violet & Daisy'
Roses are red, but violets are crimson. As for daisies, well they're caked with dark blood. That pretty much describes "Violet & Daisy," a tale of two teenage girls in the contract-killing business. Elegant, imaginative and effortlessly stylish, the film comes off like a little black dress splattered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013
'Day is Done'
"I hope you're alive when I see you again. Ciao." That's one of the messages left on the home answering machine of filmmaker Thomas Imbach ("Mary Queen of Scots") who made a little autobiographical detour in an auspicious film career with "Day is Done."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013
'The Possession'
Director: Ole Bornedal
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013
Double the trouble, twice the joy for Japan's hafu
Until about 10 years ago, the standard Japanese image of kids of mixed blood was that they were 1) gorgeous, 2) rich and 3) able to live in Japan with none of the kinks and hang out at Azabu clubs when they were 13. In high school, my girlfriends scorned their own Japanese heritage. The common reply...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013
'Hafu'
Around one in 49 babies born in Japan today are of mixed heritage. That's a surprising figure considering that the country was closed off to foreigners for close to three centuries, way back when.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013
'L'Ecume des Jours'
Lovingly crafted by Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), modern cinema's DIY auteur, "L'Ecume des Jours" is a celebration of the nicely weird. Gondry has always loved and nurtured society's attractive misfits, wonderful people who happen to be allergic to office cubicles or one-night...
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.
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
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.
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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