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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
Jul 18, 2013
'Une Estonienne a Paris'
Jeanne Moreau was a French superstar back in the day, but decades later, the now-octogenarian's on-screen presence continues to be defined by a haze of ennui and ambivalence that she wraps around herself like a delicate shawl. Moreau's appearance in "Une Estonienne a Paris" showcases her charms to full...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2013
'Pleasantville (Color of Heart)'
Director: Gary Ross
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013
Black comedy gets under the skin of a murderer
Jack Black, whose career was built on getting deep inside the skin of his characters, arguably reaches the pinnacle of his performances as Bernie Tiede in "Bernie" — based on actual events that happened in small-town Texas 17 years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013
'Bernie'
Based on real-life events in Carthage, Texas, "Bernie" showcases Jack Black's uncanny powers of observation, and director Richard Linklater's ability to lay on the cynicism so thick you hardly notice it. Black visited with the title character, Bernie Tiede, in prison to study his mannerisms, speech...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013
'The Berlin File'
When you think about the impact the Cold War had on spy films, it seems downright wrong that movies about North and South Korea are hardly ever made and when they are, they rarely reach multiplexes in the West. "The Berlin File" tackles the North/South monster and comes out tops — it's a sound, well-crafted...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013
'Les Uns des Les Autres (Ai to Kanashimi no Bolero)'
Director: Claude Lelouch
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 7, 2013
The aidoru industry seeks big bucks in numbers
They say that Japan is suffering from a major shōshika (少子化, plummeting birth rate) syndrome, but a cursory glance at the entertainment industry reveals a singular fact: The young people of this country are well and thriving, and huddled together in mass aidoru gurūpu (アイドルグループ,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2013
'Dark Skies'
The always charming Keri Russell ("Waitress") pairs up with mild-mannered Josh Hamilton ("The Bourne Identity") as a couple thrown head first into a swamp made up of various story components from the "The X-Files" — and left floundering in the muck.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2013
'A Good Day to Die Hard (Die Hard: Last Day)'
Director: John Moore
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 28, 2013
Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki adventure still inspires
In 1947, Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl was a 33-year-old anthropologist and marine biologist who had recently finished a stint fighting in World War II (he served in the Free Norwegian Forces).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 28, 2013
'Kon-Tiki'
It's hard to resist the retro charms of this old-fashioned adventure/thriller. Step aside, Indiana Jones — you got some fierce competition going on in "Kon-Tiki," the true-to-life tale of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his epic, 8,000-km sea voyage from the Peruvian Coast to Polynesia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 28, 2013
'Fringe: The Complete Fifth Season'
Director: Various
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2013
How top lowbrow U.S. humor translates in Japan
Somewhere in the history of American cinema, someone (maybe John Waters?) decided that gross and profane and funny could all sit on the same park bench and start up a friendship. That was way back in the 1970s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2013
'The Numbers Station'
The CIA needs a major public-image overhaul. Last year's "Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty" did much to salvage and then revamp what had essentially become Hollywood's go-to institution for portraying bad, bad stuff such as conspiracy, betrayal and government BS. Ultimately though, those two movies — though...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2013
'Parker'
Director: Taylor Hackford
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 17, 2013
Thoughts of rice and Japanese men
If you're like me or the men in my life, you probably broke down and wept for joy on June 4, when Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda scored the goal that bagged Japan's slot in the FIFA World Cup next year. At such sports events, one or another of my brothers turn up at my place, hauling their boozy,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 14, 2013
'The Great Gatsby'
Baz Luhrmann does justice to F. Scott Fitzgerald's most intriguing creation: Jay Gatsby, the man referred to in the book title as "The Great." As far as adaptations go, Luhrmann's version beats the 1974 version that starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow hands down. That was a sorrowful, soulful tale...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 14, 2013
'Homeland'
Director: Various
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 7, 2013
'To Rome With Love'
Woody Allen rarely laughs, least of all at his own jokes. But in his latest, "To Rome With Love," in which he acts as well as directs, he breaks down from time to time to suppress a giggle and the movie gets an almost imperceptible lift. If Allen is laughing (kind of) then it's surely OK for the audience...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 7, 2013
'Shui Hu Zhuan' (Japan title: Suikoden)
Director: Zhou Xiaolin
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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