Monthly Archives: October 2022

Busan International Film Festival, Oct. 9, 2022

The weather has been perfect so far—sunny and cool, though a bit windy. Today it is supposed to rain, which means I have to carry an umbrella. I’m already carrying too much. Yesterday, I expanded a bit beyond Korean cinema. … Continue reading

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Busan International Film Festival, Oct. 8, 2022

The big news at this year’s BIFF is that, after 2 years of limited activities due to the pandemic, the festival is back to normal. I arrived Thursday evening, the day after the official opening, and had to make my … Continue reading

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Review: The Bad Guys

Dreamworks reportedly hopes to develop this animated feature into a franchise, but so much of it is pastiche that it might be difficult to pass off as original. The premise is that the heroes are not only “bad guys” in … Continue reading

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Review: Support the Girls

Movies, especially American movies, love characters who are ground down by the effort to just get by, and usually they are allowed some measure of triumph. Andrew Bujalski’s Support the Girls, which is set in a Hooters-type family restaurant in … Continue reading

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Number 1 Shimbun October

Here is our column for the October issue of the Number 1 Shimbun, which is about separate names for married couples in Japan.

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Media watch: Statues of limitations to honor not-dead political figures

Now that Shinzo Abe’s state funeral is history, we can get back to the business of mocking politicians, like former prime minister and sports honcho Yoshiro Mori, whose penchant for gaffes is even more fulfilling than Taro Aso’s. On Sept. … Continue reading

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