Monthly Archives: June 2022

Review: Licorice Pizza

Posted on June 30, 2022 by philipbrasor

The best movies about Los Angeles—Chinatown, The Long Goodbye, Shampoo—were made in the 1970s, even if the times they depicted may have been those of another decade. (And while The Long Goodbye was set in the year it was made, … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Putting a lid on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Posted on June 29, 2022 by philipbrasor

I didn’t see Tokyo 2020 Olympics Side:A, the first half of Naomi Kawase’s official documentary of last year’s games. From talking to others who had seen it, I gathered it contained the athletic footage for which most official Olympic docs … Continue reading →

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Review: My Brothers and I

Posted on June 27, 2022 by philipbrasor

A coming-of-age story that feels cobbled together from countless other coming-of-age stories, Yohan Manca’s film nevertheless has an appealingly relentless momentum that keeps things fresh. Set in a second-rate resort seaside community in the south of France, the film’s titular … Continue reading →

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Review: Luzzu

Posted on June 26, 2022 by philipbrasor

The theme of Alex Camilleri’s debut feature is the loss of a traditional trade in the face of the inevitable domination of neoliberalism, not to mention time itself. As it takes place on the island of Malta, the movie offers … Continue reading →

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Review: The Lost City

Posted on June 25, 2022 by philipbrasor

Whether one loves or hates Brad Pitt, it’s impossible to deny that the simple fact that he has been cast in a movie means something for that movie, even if, as in this spotty comedy-adventure film, he’s a supporting actor … Continue reading →

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Review: Broker

Posted on June 24, 2022 by philipbrasor

It’s understandable why, following his biggest international hit, Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018, Hirokazu Kore-eda decided to make two movies outside of Japan. Shoplifters was, relatively speaking, a critical and commercial hit in his native … Continue reading →

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Review: Introduction/In Front of Your Face

Posted on June 22, 2022 by philipbrasor

Hong Sang-soo continues his relentless pace without seeming to break a sweat, and here we have two new features opening the same day in Japan, both manageably short enough to qualify as a succinct and stimulating double feature. Hong’s films … Continue reading →

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Review: 100 Years and Hope

Posted on June 19, 2022 by philipbrasor

The release of this documentary about the Japanese Communist Party, which, as the title indicates, has been around for a century, is meant to coincide with the Upper House election taking place July 15, and while it does a fair … Continue reading →

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Media watch: You’re not in Kuroda’s league. You’re not even on the same planet

Posted on June 18, 2022 by philipbrasor

Japan’s weekly magazines and tabloids may not be bastions of journalistic integrity, but you can definitely count on them to stick it to the elites, especially those who toil in the public sector. On June 6, Bank of Japan Governor … Continue reading →

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Review: Plan 75

Posted on June 17, 2022 by philipbrasor

Chie Hayakawa’s debut feature is a longer version of a short she directed for the 2018 omnibus movie Ten Years Japan, where her basic idea was explicated with the utmost economy. This idea imagines a Japanese system wherein people who … Continue reading →

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