Monthly Archives: November 2018

Review: Killing

Posted on November 29, 2018 by philipbrasor

Director Shinya Tsukamoto wants people to come to his latest feature prepared for something different, which may sound like quasi-spoiler fodder given that it’s Tsukamoto’s first genuine genre film, namely a jidaigeki or, more familiarly, a samurai flick. But anyone … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Nov. 25, 2018

Posted on November 25, 2018 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the Nippon TV variety show Itte Q, which has been accused of fabricating foreign “festivals” for one of its most popular regular segments. One of the points I wanted to make in the column … Continue reading →

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Review: Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars

Posted on November 24, 2018 by philipbrasor

Artist biodocs would seem to be easier to pull off than artist biopics, as long as there’s enough available footage. Eric Clapton has been more or less a star since he emerged in mid-60s England as a blues guitar prodigy … Continue reading →

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Review: It Comes at Night

Posted on November 22, 2018 by philipbrasor

At first blush, this fairly modest horror movie by upstart Trey Edward Shults feels like a pale reflection of A Quiet Place, which is probably this year’s most successful horror movie. Both films are about families hiding out in the … Continue reading →

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Review: A Ghost Story

Posted on November 17, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though not a Hollywood film in the least, David Lowery’s A Ghost Story plays with ideas about the paranormal that are fashionable among the bean counters of tinsel town, except that they’re in service to a story about loss and … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Nov. 11, 2018

Posted on November 11, 2018 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the flack that freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda has received since being released from captivity by a militant group in the Middle East. The column focuses on media criticism that mirrors public resentment towards Yasuda … Continue reading →

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Review: Mandy

Posted on November 10, 2018 by philipbrasor

Panos Cosmatos’s violent revenge thriller is like every other violent revenge thriller and yet unique, owing mainly to its stubborn insistence on describing a specific place and time that has no discernible purpose. Set somewhere in the California wilderness in … Continue reading →

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Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted on November 8, 2018 by philipbrasor

In it’s own limited way, the biopic of the British band Queen is as narratively compromised as the group’s creative output was musically compromised. Leader Freddie Mercury was always open about how his approach to rock was not doctrinnaire; that … Continue reading →

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Review: Ten Years Japan

Posted on November 4, 2018 by philipbrasor

The “Ten Years” series started in Hong Kong in 2015 with an omnibus of shorts depicting the former British territory ten years into the future, and was notably dystopian in tone, which is to be expected, and not just because … Continue reading →

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Tokyo International Film Festival 2018

Posted on November 3, 2018 by philipbrasor

Here are reports I filed for events at TIFF this year. –History Lessons press conference –Before the Frost press conference –The Bra press conference –Three Husbands press conference (ignore the title) –The Father’s Shadow press conference –Just Only Love press … Continue reading →

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