Monthly Archives: June 2021

Media Mix, June 26, 2021

Posted on June 27, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about the bill passed on June 16 in the Diet to monitor property sales to foreign entities. As pointed out in the column, over the last several months the bill’s wording was made … Continue reading →

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Review: The King’s Letters

Posted on June 25, 2021 by philipbrasor

The last we saw of King Sejong, he had completed a map of the stars with the help of former slave Jang Yeong-sil. Given that King Sejong is one of the most commonly portrayed historical figures in Korean cinema, I … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, June 19, 2021

Posted on June 20, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about the local press reaction to Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open tennis tournament. Though Osaka is still well regarded as both an athlete and a celebrity in Japan, the media seems … Continue reading →

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Review: Greed

Posted on June 19, 2021 by philipbrasor

At one point, Michael Winterbottom was perhaps the most irreducible major movie director working. Despite the fact that the guy’s output was regular as clockwork—at least one production a year, in addition to TV work—the range in style and genre … Continue reading →

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Review: Mortal Kombat

Posted on June 18, 2021 by philipbrasor

The benefit of reviewing a game-based movie without being a gamer is that there are no impossible expectations that need to be met; but, then again, not being a gamer usually means expectations are low to begin with when addressing … Continue reading →

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Review: The Clovehitch Killer

Posted on June 12, 2021 by philipbrasor

Probably the only narrative story device more hackneyed than the serial killer is the paid assassin. Neither are as tenth as ubiquitous as the movies would have us believe, and yet there’s obviously something about them that appeals to our … Continue reading →

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Review: The Woman Who Ran

Posted on June 11, 2021 by philipbrasor

The English titles of Hong Sang-soo’s stilted comedies are always interesting. Sometimes they simply describe a situation in the plainest terms: Hotel by the River or The Day He Arrives. Other times they seem to be taking the piss: Like … Continue reading →

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Review: The Comeback Trail

Posted on June 8, 2021 by philipbrasor

Boomer entitlement rears its ugly head once again with this overwrought comedy starring three aging A-listers—Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, and Morgan Freeman—who seem predisposed to ruining whatever recent memories we have of them keeping up their end of … Continue reading →

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Review: Hope Gap

Posted on June 7, 2021 by philipbrasor

Given the generic late-middle-aged divorce drama premise of the story, the various publicity campaigns for Hope Gap focus on casting. Annette Bening, apparently, seems to have some sort of dedicated fan base in Japan, since that’s what the local PR … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, June 5, 2021

Posted on June 6, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about a recent Supreme Court ruling that found in favor of construction workers who were suing the government over their exposure to asbestos. As pointed out by a reader, Christina Tsuchida, the UK and the … Continue reading →

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