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Nov 4, 2016

Inferno / Apollo Cinema 8 / 2016-11-05 to 2016-11-11

Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 28, 2016

The faces of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2016

The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival, which opened on Tuesday, is screening a variety of cinema from all over the world at various venues in Tokyo. The festival runs until Nov. 3, when the jury will announce the winning films from the competition.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 26, 2016

Stars sparkle on the red carpet of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2016

The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival marked its opening Tuesday afternoon with a traditional red carpet ceremony that was heavy on Asian stars and filmmakers.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2016

Bollywood jingoism rebounds against India

In its long-running battle with neighboring Pakistan, India's in danger once again of shooting itself in the foot.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2016

Japan's eclectic collection of choice

The Tokyo International Film Festival offers a great once-in-a-year opportunity to see new and classic Japanese films with English subtitles. The sheer quantity on offer — more than 50 titles in the main sections alone — can be overwhelming, though. Here are samples from my own must-see list.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2016

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's cinematic apparitions

Directors who become known as horror specialists often end up making little else, whether by choice or not. Labeled a "horrormeister" for such supremely creepy films as "Cure" (1997) and "Pulse" (Kairo, 2001), Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one director who has successfully expanded beyond the genre with his dark...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2016

'Jason Bourne': The invincible franchise

It's the Bourne revival: Matt Damon is Bourne again. After an unsuccessful attempt to transfer the franchise to Jeremy Renner in 2012's "The Bourne Legacy," Damon has returned to his most iconic role as the brainwashed CIA super-soldier. He's the real deal, the Sean Connery to Renner's George Lazenby,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Oct 12, 2016

Feel the Latin film beat

The Latin Beat Film Festival enters its 13th year, offering cinephiles in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama a chance to check out the latest in Spanish-language cinema with a dozen new films.
Sep 23, 2016

Ikari / Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro / 2016-09-24 to 2016-09-30

until Sept. 29 8:30, 11:20, 14:10, 17:00, 20:00
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 14, 2016

Love beyond the laws of physics and nature

"Correspondence" (also known as "La Corrispondenza") is the kind of romance the Japanese have traditionally loved to love — two people locked in a relationship that barely exists.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 10, 2016

Godzilla hits middle age but is still fueled by Japan's anxieties

Within one month of its July release, Toho's "Shin Gojira" ("Godzilla Resurgence") attracted more than 3.6 million viewers. Box-office takings are already estimated to have surpassed ¥5.3 billion, putting the film more than halfway toward the seldom-attained figure of ¥10 billion. Toho has great expectations...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 7, 2016

'Bittersweet': A Henry Higgins of vegetarianism

The idea of "love" in Japan used to be defined by literature until manga came along and changed the scenery. Now, almost everyone dips into manga to learn the ropes, and often that process starts as early as the first grade. My niece was just 6 years old when she was poring through "Detective Conan"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 6, 2016

It's the end of the world as we know it, and we still feel fine

Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Lost Human Genetic Archive," the inaugural exhibition for the reopening of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (now the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum), is an erudite and elaborate exercise in gallows humor. The theme is the end of civilization and human life, but possibly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2016

'Gods of Egypt': What an ungodly mess

In the latest issue of Kinema Junpo, Japan's most venerable film magazine, you can read a lengthy tribute to Gaga, the dogged independent movie distributor that's marking its 30th anniversary this year. The occasion is certainly worth commemorating: This is the company that released "Seven," "Talk to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 31, 2016

'Breath of the Gods': Deep breathing for a stressful life

Yoga takes up a huge chunk of Japan's fitness market. Some IT companies in the Tokyo area have even incorporated yoga and meditation into their daily schedules, just to show how much they care about their employees' health and mental state. But some employees need no prompts. According to healthcare...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 30, 2016

Subtle messages lie hidden in a corporate collection

Tokyo Station Gallery is showing a pick 'n' mix exhibition, "12 Rooms 12 Artists," comprising a variety of modern and contemporary art acquisitions from the UBS art collection. There is no explicit curatorial imperative to connect or compare the works, so you're free to enjoy the visual confections in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 27, 2016

Japan's super-rich: fun to envy, difficult to emulate

Japanese multimillionaires are the object of intense study by members of the country's middle class, especially those who entertain probably unrealistic hopes of emulating them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016

'Yell For the Blue Sky': High school drama never really changes

The seishun eiga or "youth film" is one Japanese genre that doesn't travel well abroad. With only a few exceptions, these films assume a familiarity with the insular world of the Japanese high school (or, once in a while, junior high school) that outlanders are unlikely to possess. They also follow certain...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016

'The Trust': Cage makes a creepy comeback

These days, two things practically never happen with a movie starring Nicolas Cage: 1) we see his real hairline; 2) it's actually a good film. Online movie gossip claims Cage is knee-deep in financial trouble, which is why he's been working like a slave, apparently on anything, for the past decade or...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016

'Song of the Sea': Seals, fairies and ancient folk songs

When Isao Takahata's "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" lost out to "Big Hero 6" in the competition for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards last year, it was a reminder of how thoroughly 3-D computer animation has eclipsed more traditional techniques. In the 15 years since the award was introduced,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 16, 2016

Salvador Dali: a life less ordinary

The early literary surrealists of the mid-1920s were skeptical of any visual possibility. Their aim — to fuse art with life, reality and dreams — was to be realized through the immediacy of writing. Painting, by contrast, was a laborious, indirect expression mediated by style and technique. Andre...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2016

'The Jungle Book': Darker yet infinitely more beautiful

After decades spent wrestling with the logistics of international shoots, Hollywood seems to be coming full circle. It's like the early days of cinema again, when exotic locales were evoked within the confines of a movie studio, though today's filmmakers aren't so reliant on hand-painted scenery any...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 27, 2016

Crowdfunding offers freedom to filmmakers

It's not easy making indie movies in Japan. The big studios only want commercial projects with proven fan appeal, usually based on hit manga, novels or TV dramas. Given the need, government funding schemes are paltry, with much of the money going to films about safe, uncontroversial subjects.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jul 27, 2016

Haruki Kadokawa: The man who helped save Japan's film industry

When publisher, producer, director and showman Haruki Kadokawa was at his controversial peak in the 1970s and '80s, the idea of a festival dedicated to his films — commercial fare typically based on the pop fiction his publishing house churned out — would have struck higher-minded critics as utter...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2016

'Ken and Kazu': The yakuza isn't all guns and glamour

Most films about the yakuza depict its members as fully formed and distinctly different from the general run of humanity, somewhat like action figures just out of the box. The reality, as Hiroshi Shoji's "Ken and Kazu" shows us with a gritty directness and power, is more quotidian. For Shoji's title...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2016

Korean films take on the thorny topic of Japan

Last year, one of the biggest films in South Korea was a swashbuckling tale of freedom fighters battling against a cruel oppressor: Japan.
Japan Times
SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jul 12, 2016

Time for the analytics crowd to take a chill pill and get a grip on reality

TSSSSSSSUP!
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 7, 2016

Goldblum on cinema's next big villain

Jeff Goldblum, an actor whose quirky comedic delivery has earned him a sizeable cult following, seems to have a thing for science fiction flicks. His latest, "Independence Day: Resurgence," sees the 63-year-old reprise the role of alien-battling scientist David Levinson, who audiences first met in the...

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A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake