Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: The Smashing Machine

Posted on May 13, 2026 by philipbrasor

Much has been made of Dwayne Johnson’s lead performance as real-life mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr. Critics have lauded his ability to move beyond his action movie appeal to portray a complex individual going through a difficult set of … Continue reading →

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Review: The Sheep Detectives and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t

Posted on May 8, 2026 by philipbrasor

Until Aladdin, big movie stars weren’t normally used as voice actors for animated features, and, in fact, Robin Williams’ Genie set a very high bar that few big names have been able to reach, mainly because of his brilliant ad … Continue reading →

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Review: It Was Just an Accident

Posted on May 7, 2026 by philipbrasor

After It Was Just an Accident won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes, its director, Jafar Panahi, accompanied it to many other film festivals, including Busan, where I first saw it in September and which honored Panahi with its … Continue reading →

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Review: The Last Dance and They Will Kill You

Posted on May 6, 2026 by philipbrasor

According to the South China Morning Post, Anselm Chan’s melodrama The Last Dance is the highest grossing Hong Kong film in history, at least domestically; which is amazing given the film’s setting and subject matter. Cantonese standup comic Dayo Wong … Continue reading →

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Review: The Life of Chuck

Posted on May 1, 2026 by philipbrasor

What Stephen King’s horror stories share with his non-horror stories are carefully constructed narratives based on humanist impulses. His characters, even the ones who are nominally evil, present with traits that everyone can easily identify and maybe even empathize with. … Continue reading →

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Review: Deaf

Posted on April 30, 2026 by philipbrasor

When it comes to movies about disabilities, people with hearing impairment comprised one of the first groups to receive dramatic treatments that were not only sympathetic but insightful into the peculiar challenges they faced in a hearing world. Coda, a … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Local government disappears elderly man for reasons it can’t credibly explain

Posted on April 29, 2026 by philipbrasor

Last month, the government adopted a bill in the Diet to overhaul the adult guardianship system, which allows family courts to appoint guardians for elderly people whose cognitive functions have diminished to the point that they cannot be expected to … Continue reading →

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Review: Where to Land

Posted on April 25, 2026 by philipbrasor

Though Long Island indie filmmaker Hal Hartley has worked fairly steadily since his heyday in the 90s, the movies he made in the 00s and 10s didn’t seem to gain as much traction, even among the kind of cinephiles who … Continue reading →

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Review: Arco

Posted on April 24, 2026 by philipbrasor

This French animated film, which was nominated for an Oscar, is set in two time periods, 2075 and 900 years later. The world of 2075 is carefully extrapolated from the world we live in now, a place of deadly downpours … Continue reading →

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Review: Twiggy and This Is Sparklehorse

Posted on April 23, 2026 by philipbrasor

The moral of the story that comes through in Sadie Frost’s fawning documentary about 60s fashion icon Twiggy—born Lesley Hornby to working class parents in Cockney London in 1949—is that good character will always hold sway even during the most … Continue reading →

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