Monthly Archives: July 2018

Lauryn Hill, Budokan, Jan. 21, 1999

Posted on July 23, 2018 by philipbrasor

I just watched Lauryn Hill’s performance at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago online and marveled at how little her live show had changed in 20 years. Here’s my take on her first tour, which was published in the Japan Times … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, July 22, 2018

Posted on July 22, 2018 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about news coverage of the rain disaster that hit western Japan two weeks ago. The column uses the “drinking party” attended by various high level LDP lawmakers as a framing device to show how the … Continue reading →

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Review: Machines

Posted on July 21, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though more photographically distinctive than the Go Pro-recorded factory ship documentary, Leviathan, Rahul Jain’s meticulous study of a huge textile factory in Gujarat, India, is similarly obsessed with the process of labor and how mechanization complements human actions rather than … Continue reading →

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Review: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Posted on July 20, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though it wasn’t necessarily inevitable that the Jurassic Park franchise would get this far 25 years after it began, it was inevitable that if it did get this far the animals themselves would be portrayed as victims rather than whatever … Continue reading →

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Review: Godard Mon Amour

Posted on July 17, 2018 by philipbrasor

On the surface, Michel Hazanavicius’s decision to adapt a chapter in Jean-Luc Godard’s love life as a romantic comedy makes a certain amount of sense given the early New Wave crowd’s love of classic Hollywood screwball comedies, but Hazanavicius invariably … Continue reading →

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Review: Liberation Day

Posted on July 15, 2018 by philipbrasor

There are actually too many intriguing premises for this spiky documentary directed by two Scandinavians. The overall premise is compelling enough: a Slovenian art-rock band becomes the first foreign pop outfit to play a concert in Pyongyang that’s approved by … Continue reading →

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Review: Battle of the Sexes

Posted on July 7, 2018 by philipbrasor

Movies that realistically depict the 1970s force those of us who remember the decade as firsthand observers to slog through several layers of subtext. Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton’s film covers one of the seminal “progressive” events of that time, … Continue reading →

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Review: Right Now, Wrong Then

Posted on July 2, 2018 by philipbrasor

Hong Sang-soo’s Right Now, Wrong Then, released in South Korea in 2015, is finally opening in Japan, though it should be mentioned that Hong’s films are not temporally fixed. Current events or even trends have absolutely no purchase on his … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, July 1, 2018

Posted on July 1, 2018 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the ongoing Kake Gakuen veterinary school scandal. The focus of the column is on the “lie” that a Kake official admitted to, and the subsequent press conference held by the school to point out … Continue reading →

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