Monthly Archives: February 2021

Media Mix, Feb. 28, 2021

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the Japanese government’s plan to digitize more public services. Japan remains relatively behind in this regard, despite its reputation for technological savvy, and it seems mainly due to the vertical organizational structures described in … Continue reading

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Review: Moving On

One of the more compelling aspects of the worldwide success of Parasite is that it wasn’t designed to be a worldwide success; or, at least, not in the same way that Bong Joon-ho’s previous movies, Snowpiercer and Okja, were meant … Continue reading

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Review: Stage Mother

Ever since her turn as the sadistically practical head of a ruthless crime family in the Australian movie Animal Kingdom, Jacki Weaver has cultivated an enviable career as the mother-for-any-occasion-and-accent. In a sense, she’s the easiest casting choice for the … Continue reading

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Review: Capone

Often filmmakers try to cut historical monsters down to size by making fun of them and their ideas. In Capone, director Josh Trank looks at the last year in the life of the famed gangster, when he was reduced by … Continue reading

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Media Mix, Feb. 21, 2021

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the disastrous news conference of Yoshiro Mori that presaged his resignation as the president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizing committee. The column may give the impression that it was the intrepid group of … Continue reading

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Review: Babyteeth

First-time director Shannon Murphy is obviously the type of storyteller who, when confronted with a decision that proffers two extremes, will go with the cheekier option. Though this tale of a teenage cancer patient who has mostly given up on … Continue reading

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Media Mix, Feb. 14, 2021

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about comments made by Keidanren chief Hiroaki Nakanishi and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga about the current economic situation that were picked up by the media. Though the two men were talking about two … Continue reading

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Media Mix, Feb. 7, 2021

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about the government’s push to enact penalties for consuming marijuana. As pointed out in the BuzzFeed interview with Toshihiko Matsumoto, an addiction therapist who is the media go-to guy whenever they need someone … Continue reading

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Review: Diego Maradona

Asif Kapadia, who has already given us rather depressing documentaries about racer Ayrton Senna and singer Amy Winehouse (Oscar winner), titles his latest celebrity profile Diego Maradona, which sounds unnecessary. Considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of … Continue reading

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