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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 20, 2011

'Freakonomics'/'The Red Baron'

Darren Aronofsky, whose "Black Swan" is now showing here, debuted with the cult flick "Pi" (1997), about a slightly mad math whiz who was convinced there was a pattern in stock market fluctuations that could reveal the markets' movements. As the film's hero put it, "Mathematics is the language of nature;...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 29, 2011

Wright, Cera get 1-up in 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World'

"Scott in the comics almost reminds me of Homer Simpson; you get to see what's going on in his head, and there's not much going on," says Hollywood indie poster-boy Michael Cera when asked about his role as the title character in the adrenaline-soaked action comedy "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 15, 2011

'Dancing Chaplin'

Comic W.C. Fields once said of Charlie Chaplin: "He's the best ballet dancer that ever lived, and if I get a good chance I'll kill him with my bare hands." Fields, who started his career as a vaudeville juggler, knew something about movement. He was also, perhaps only half-jokingly, envious of Chaplin's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 5, 2011

The comic life of expats in Japan

Tales of expat life in Japan all too often get blown out of proportion and quickly become picaresque adventures that little resemble real life.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 14, 2011

Tokyo photography museum takes a look into the future

The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography has entered a new dimension. The museum's special exhibition this year concentrates on 3-D photography.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 13, 2010

Man Ray: The bright ideas of an original

"Unconcerned but Not Indifferent" reads the gravestone epitaph of American-born artist Man Ray, who was buried in his adopted hometown, Montparnasse, Paris. The same phrase is used for the title of an exhibition of the enigmatic artist now showing at the National Art Center, Tokyo. It can be applied...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 29, 2010

'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee'

What exactly does a woman want? Even a genius like Freud couldn't answer that one, but that doesn't stop Hollywood from gleefully pitching their own answers, time and time again. Sadly, they're almost always something routine and familiar, dribbling with prosaic food-court banality: a man, a family,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 18, 2009

'The Limits of Control'

Anyone who's ever seen a film by New York indie auteur Jim Jarmusch knows that the director's work is an acquired taste. With his minimalist, deadpan sense of humor, his fixation on crossed signals and miscommunication, and that curious blend of existentialist angst and laconic cool intercut with moments...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2008

'The Orphanage'/'The Edge of Heaven'

It's hard to say you're a fan of horror movies these days without people looking at you like you're some drooling feeb in need of institutional help. The genre is so degraded and depraved, it's hard to say what's worse: the numbing repetition of the slasher franchises, or the sick sadism of "Saw" et...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2008

Sarah Palin doesn't deserve women's votes

NEW YORK — The selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate hit the United States like an electric storm. To her legions of lipstick-waving fans on the right, Palin is a down-to-earth, God-fearing "hockey mom" whose moose hunting, evangelical faith and even chaotic family life are all evidence...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2008

Annette Messager: one humble messenger

Around the 1960s, French artist Annette Messager began to move away from the idea of "great art." Using materials readily available around the house, her works acquired an air of familiarity and allowed her to use these often effeminated — and thus undervalued — materials to make social critiques....
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 10, 2008

China remembers John Rabe, its own local Schindler

John Rabe (1882-1950), known as the Oscar Schindler of China, was an employee of Siemens and a Nazi party member when he helped establish the International Safety Zone (ISZ) toward the end of 1937 to provide a refuge for Nanjing's noncombatants.
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Jun 15, 2008

Space modules for the space-challenged

According to the latest Japanese government statistics (from 2003), the average Tokyo apartment that is home to a four-person family allows them a measly 36.5 sq. meters to live in. That's just a bit more than a large shipping container.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 4, 2008

A director's defense

Francois Girard, the Canadian filmmaker who brought to the screen such quirky masterpieces as "Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould" and "The Red Violin," changes his style and goes all out in the grandiose "Silk." His first feature project in 10 years, "Silk" is based on an Italian novel that explores...
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2007

Nintendo scores with brain-training, etiquette games

Since March, Natsumi Takita has spent 10 minutes daily on a Nintendo DS hand-held game machine, undergoing daily quizzes using "Otona-no Joshikiryoku Training DS" ("Common Sense Training for Adults").
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2007

"Gregory Colbert: Animal Totems -- A Prelude to Ashes and Snow"

Mori Arts Gallery Center Closes in 17 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 14, 2006

Artists go global in Sendai

The 2006 Australia-Japan Year of Exchange has featured more than 800 events in the two countries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 11, 2006

Japan grads go apolitical

With its current exhibition, "Index #2 -- Life Styles," Tokyo Wonder Site in Ochanomizu has mounted a worthwhile survey of recent Japanese art-school graduates. Prolific critic Kentaro Ichihara, in association with Kyoto University of Art and Design, selected five Kanto- and five Kansai-region artists...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 22, 2004

Stop usif you'veheard thisone before

The Quiet American Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Philip Noyce Running time: 101 minutes Language: English Now showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When Graham Greene penned his novel "The Quiet American" in 1954, he was set on capturing a particular point in time in late,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 11, 2004

This charming man hits wrong note

Kikansha Sensei Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Ryuichi Hiroki Running time: 123 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When I taught at a boys high school in the early 1980s, I would, without fail, catch a bad chest cold in the winter and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 11, 2004

Walking on the wild side

Walkabout Rating: * * * * * (out of 5) Director: Nicholas Roeg Running time: 100 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The Story of the Weeping Camel Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni Running time:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 16, 2004

A sea monkey and a gentleman

Umizaru Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Eiichiro Hazumi Running time: 120 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Japanese studios used to grind out contemporary action movies by the dozen, with one company, Nikkatsu, specializing in them from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2004

It's a wonderful dog's life

Quill Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Yoichi Sai Running time: 100 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Now Yoichi Sai directs a dog movie for kids? This is the guy who made "Tsuki wa Docchi ni Deteiru (All Under the Moon)," a picaresque...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2004

Provider hopes Webcasts are catching on

At a house in Tokyo, musicians, fashion models, entertainers and even animals gather to create live Webcasts for their fans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2004

Ah, that's Dogma amore

Italian for Beginners Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Japanese title: Shiawase ni naru tame Itariagokoza Director: Lone Scherfig Running time: 97 minutes Language: Danish, Italian Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "Italian for Beginners" is a sweet, unpretentious love story...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 26, 2003

Life: the home movie, Japan: the video game

Two very different female video artists have brought pleasantly complementary exhibitions of their recent work to the Tokyo Opera City Gallery. Elija-Liisa Ahtila, 43, from Finland, and Japanese artist Tabaimo, 27, both opened with impressive solo efforts at the spacious Shinjuku gallery Friday.
COMMUNITY / NOTES FROM THE SMOKE
Nov 22, 2002

Iidabashi offers cheap passport to movie heaven

Going to the movies is one of life's great simple pleasures.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

The empire strikes back

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rating: * * * * Director: Chris Columbus Running time: 152 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2001

Tinseltown, meet Chinatown

Rush Hour 2 Rating: * * * Director: Brett Ratner Running time: 90 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2001

I've got to have you under my skin

The Isle Rating: * * * Japanese title: Sakana to Neru Onna Director: Kim Ki Deok Running time: 90 minutes Language: Korean Now showing Looking at the alluring and mysterious poster for "The Isle," it's hard not to think David Lynch. A nude young woman stands gazing straight ahead with an intensity...

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