Tag - film

 
 

FILM

Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Feb 8, 2013
Diary 2.0 work among pieces at art festival
Keeping a diary no longer needs to be a solitary activity. The popularity of social networking services, for example, has allowed people to post their thoughts for the world to see — which could be anything from gossip to fomenting revolution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2013
The unexpected awaits at Media Arts Festival
When asked to describe his latest film in one word, director Shunichiro Miki repeated what most cinema critics worldwide had said after their own somewhat botched attempts to describe it: 'Indescribable.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2013
'Kiiroi Zo'
Ryuichi Hiroki has become the go-to director for romantic dramas that quality-wise are a cut above the local formula weepers whose starred-crossed lovers are parted by a slow, beautiful death (though Hiroki's couples are hardly immune to life's vicissitudes). At the same time, his films in this genre...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
'R-18 Bungakusho Vol. 1: Jijojibaku no Watashi'
Sex is universal, but kinks can be local. Japanese S&M, at least the varieties I've seen in films over the years, is less about black leather and fishnet stockings, more about candle wax and artfully elaborate knots designed to display the flesh of the (inevitably female) subject in enticing ways.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson is one of those directors who, love him or hate him, has been remarkably consistent. Each film, from "Rushmore" right on down, is an artfully constructed and totally hermetic world unto itself, with flawed or absent father-figures, a closet's worth of funky-yet-chic pop-culture knickknacks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
'Jack Reacher'
Every time I witness the presence of Tom Cruise in Tokyo, I imagine the possibilities of him moving here as a permanent resident. He loves sushi (apparently a frequent customer at Sukiyabashi Jiro). He knows the streets of Ginza. He's clearly work addicted. Unlike in the U.S. no one here will ever direct...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
Dedication on a plate in 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'
To be a shokunin (artisan) in Japan means, among other things, rising in the morning to do the exact same thing as yesterday and the day before and the day before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'
To describe "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" as a foodie film is akin to picking an English rose and calling it a flower. This documentary by New York-based David Gelb is at once a celebration of one of the world's most popular and coveted meals, and a firsthand observation of Japan's most famous sushi chef at...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2013
'Life of Pi'
Director Ang Lee's adaptation of author Yann Martel's Man Booker Prize-winning "Life of Pi" feels almost like two films sandwiched into one. In the core, you have the succulent special-effects-driven story of a young Indian survivor of a shipwreck who's adrift in a lifeboat with a man-eating Bengal tiger....
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2013
Rebel filmmaker will be missed
Mr. Nagisa Oshima, the filmmaker who, perhaps more than any other, challenged the conventional morality and sober certainties of Japan, died of pneumonia Tuesday at the age of 80. His films earned respect around the world and broke restraints on what could be shown and told within cinematic art. Japan...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 25, 2012
Benshi Midori Sawato
Midori Sawato is a benshi, a unique kind of performer who provides live narration to silent films at the movie theater. The benshi brings the characters in films alive using different voices and vocal expressions. They sit to the side of the screen, watching the movie with the audience and using their...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 1, 2012
Lesley Downer: Love, war and geisha
Lesley Downer's seven books range widely in genre and subject. Here she reflects on their inspiration and her experiences writing them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 6, 2011
Tadao Sato: 'Japan's single finest film critic'
Tadao Sato laughed an embarrassed laugh as he recalled that three years ago, in London, he had been referred to as a "legend." Though adding to his discomfort, I had to admit that in my university days I had thought of him in the same way. And I still do.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Feb 1, 2011
Going choo choo for Japanese railways
All aboard the trainspotter special!
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jul 22, 2010
3D bunnies kick butt on Youtube
Fans of 3D CG are being treated to a free 20-minute episode of military action drama “Cat Shit One” before it hits Japan’s cinemas. The episode, which details the exploits of a pair of commando bunnies who attempt to spring hostages from a Middle Eastern jail, can be viewed on YouTube until Sept....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
May 18, 2010
The merch of May
Read the comic? Saw the the movie? Ready to buy some one-of-a-kind merchandise to show your loyalty?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Sep 16, 2009
Will Japan drink old wine in a new bottle?
A Japanese version of 'Sideways' is yet another example of the symbiotic relationship between Hollywood and Japan.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’