Monthly Archives: March 2025

Media watch: Tokyo ward reminds citizens that they aren’t members of the royal family

Posted on March 30, 2025 by philipbrasor

One of the peculiarites of Japan’s family registration (koseki) system is that a citizen can designate any address in the country as their main domicile, or honseki, regardless of where they actually live. A person’s residential address must be registered … Continue reading →

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Review: Better Man and Piece by Piece

Posted on March 29, 2025 by philipbrasor

The biopic, especially those about musicians, was rendered a cliche when John C. Reilly cosplayed as a Johnny Cash-like character in Walk Hard, but that movie did nothing to slow the continuing onslaught of “based on true” recreations of the … Continue reading →

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Review: Mickey 17

Posted on March 28, 2025 by philipbrasor

Slapstick wasn’t always a feature of Bong Joon-ho’s cinematic style. It was first noticeable in a minor way in his sci-fi thriller, The Host (2006), and then central to his two English language fantasies, Snowpiercer and Okja. However, his comic … Continue reading →

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Review: Emilia Pérez and Femme

Posted on March 27, 2025 by philipbrasor

At this late date, whatever interesting things Jacques Audiard’s unusual musical has to offer as entertainment have been subsumed by its attendant controversies. But even those interesting things are open to debate, mainly because they rely so heavily on idiosyncrasy … Continue reading →

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Review: Babygirl

Posted on March 26, 2025 by philipbrasor

It occurred to me while watching Halina Reijn’s extramarital transgression melodrama that it might not have worked as effectively as it does if an actor other than Nicole Kidman weren’t playing the main transgressor. With her reputation as a Hollywood … Continue reading →

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Review: Three films by Alain Guiraudie

Posted on March 22, 2025 by philipbrasor

French novelist and filmmaker Alain Guiraudie has been active since the early 90s but didn’t really make an impression on the wider world until after the turn of the century, and even then his films were mainly categorized as Queer … Continue reading →

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Review: Starring Jerry as Himself

Posted on March 21, 2025 by philipbrasor

While watching this self-styled docudrama, one has to take into consideration that it is being directed by a professional filmmaker even if the protagonist-narrator, Jerry Hsu—playing himself, as the title so usefully points out—seems to be making all the decisions. … Continue reading →

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Review: Conclave

Posted on March 20, 2025 by philipbrasor

Though it only, and deservedly, received an Oscar for best adapted screenplay at the most recent Academy Awards ceremony, Edward Berger’s film version of Robert Harris’s bestseller, scripted by Peter Straughan, would have likely walked away with the lion’s share … Continue reading →

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Media watch: The roots of Nihon Hidankyo are not just in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but in Tokyo too

Posted on March 16, 2025 by philipbrasor

When the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, better known as Nihon Hidankyo in Japan, won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, there were probably quite a few Japanese who were unfamiliar with the group, which represents survivors—hibakusha—of … Continue reading →

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Review: Longlegs and The Sweet East

Posted on March 14, 2025 by philipbrasor

It says something about Oz Perkins’ distinctive contribution to the horror genre that his latest features Nicolas Cage in a supporting role as a serial killer who looks, sounds, and acts nothing like the Nicolas Cage we know and love. … Continue reading →

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