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Mark Schilling
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 30, 2020
‘Labyrinth of Cinema’: Nobuhiko Obayashi’s final film is a colorful antiwar fantasy
“Labyrinth of Cinema” bursts with energy, passion and dreamlike invention that immerses the audience in a world that is uniquely Obayashi's.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 22, 2020
‘#Handball Strive’: The team may be fake, but the film is a winner
Daigo Matsui's comedy about a sham high school handball team feels more like the real deal thanks to a younger cast.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2020
'#Handball Strive' digs into the pitfalls of performing for the 'likes'
Daigo Matsui's comedy is about a fake handball team that chases Instagram fame and falls victim to online perils.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2020
‘Just the Two of Us’: It’s two against the world in this downbeat drama
In “Just the Two of Us,” Shiori Doi holds her own as a sympathetic blind caretaker for Masatoshi Nagase's bitter and injured painter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 9, 2020
‘A Tale of the Riverside’: Inn love, with water sprites
Masaki Tsujino's “A Tale of the Riverside” may at times be more twee than charming, but water sprites are also a welcome addition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2020
‘Mother’: When parental bonds turn toxic
Director Tatsushi Ohmori takes a cue from Alfred Hitchcock in “Mother,” a drama about an abusive mother-child relationship that takes a psychological toll on the son.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2020
Skip the trip to Italy and binge Asian cinema online
As we head into summer, now is the time to crank up the air-conditioning, get comfortable and delve into Japanese cinema with these recommendations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2020
‘The Modern Lovers’: Tread lightly on this trip down memory lane
In “The Modern Lovers,” Nanami Kawakami lights up the screen as the former flame of a 30-year-old salaryman trying to relive his glory days in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 18, 2020
‘His Bad Blood’: Bad behavior bends but can’t break family bonds
Koichiro Oyama's film dabbles in Christian ideas of sin and forgiveness to explore a parent-child relationship strained by the father's tainted legacy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2020
‘The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8’: Little beasts battle COVID-19 online
Film production in Japan shut down in early April as part of the response to the outbreak of COVID-19, and as weeks passed with no signs of an immediate revival, filmmakers began to adapt to the situation by making “isolation” films.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 4, 2020
‘Forgiven Children’: No clear-cut truths to a child’s crimes
Bullying is an evergreen theme of Japanese films centered on teens, with the focus typically on the victims.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 28, 2020
Rebooting Japan's movie business, one theater at a time
As Tokyo moves forward with plans to reduce social distancing measures in stages, movie theaters look to draw audiences back to the silver screen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2020
Torel-produced films show just why Japanese indies need support
With theu00a0closures of small theaters threatening the survival of the indie scene, many in the industry have looked to online streaming to stay afloat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 14, 2020
Asia-themed film festivals migrate online amid COVID-19
Overseas film festivals that specialize in Japanese and other Asian fare are taking their programs online to survive the coronavirus.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 30, 2020
Independent cinema campaign meets donation goal
A crowdfunding campaign to save art houses reaches its donation goal as Japan's film industry grapples with the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 23, 2020
'Zero': Practicing kindness in life and in love
In Japan, people with mental illnesses have long been stigmatized, marginalized and isolated from broader society. In 2009, documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda released “Mental,” a film about Masatomo Yamamoto, an elderly psychiatrist in Okayama Prefecture who respected his patients as individuals...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 16, 2020
The race to save Japan's independent cinemas
As Japan's film industry feels the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, campaigners take to crowdfunding to help save smaller cinemas.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 14, 2020
For filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi, freedom was the most important thing of all
Director Nobuhiko Obayashi, who died on April 10 at the age of 82, was incredibly prolific during his six-decade career. A pioneering experimental filmmaker in the 1960s, he went on to direct 2,000 television commercials (by his own estimate; no exact count exists) and 43 theatrical features.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2020
Shochiku celebrates a century of Japanese cinema hits
Despite setbacks caused by COVID-19, film studio Shochiku is determined to go ahead with its program of anniversary events and releases where possible.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 9, 2020
Japan’s film and TV industries soldier on despite coronavirus
The death of comedian Ken Shimura on March 29 due to pneumonia caused by COVID-19 sent a shock wave throughout the country. A star on Japanese TV for decades, he was the first major celebrity here to pass away after contracting the virus.

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