Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: Motherless Brooklyn

Posted on January 11, 2020 by philipbrasor

Edward Norton is arguably Hollywood’s most idiosyncratic movie star, a description that will find pushback in some circles for two reasons: Norton doesn’t present as a “star” and his idiosyncrasies aren’t apparent in all the work he’s done. Motherless Brooklyn, … Continue reading →

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Review: Ford vs Ferrari

Posted on January 9, 2020 by philipbrasor

The initial reflexive response to James Mangold’s wannabe epic about the Ford Motor Company’s ambitious entry into the world of auto racing is that it’s late to the 60s nostalgia orgy. As could be predicted with such a high budget … Continue reading →

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Review: Extreme Job

Posted on January 4, 2020 by philipbrasor

After it opened last January, this crime-comedy became South Korea’s second biggest box office success in history, prompting all sorts of speculation as to what exactly it represented to the country’s very large movie-adoring population. Though a few of the … Continue reading →

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Best albums 2019

Posted on January 3, 2020 by philipbrasor

Whether due to the ravages of age or encroaching apathy (itself a ravage of age), I found it more difficult this year to retain much familiarity with music I listened to. When I started reviewing the year in mid-November in … Continue reading →

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Best Movies 2019

Posted on December 29, 2019 by philipbrasor

As it’s that time of year again, here are the movies I liked the most these past 12 months. As usual, in order to qualify a film has to have opened in at least one Japanese theater during the calendar … Continue reading →

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Review: Heavy Trip

Posted on December 28, 2019 by philipbrasor

Though This Is Spinal Tap effectively made it difficult to make fun of rock musicians, particularly those of the heavy metal variety, in movies for eternity, there’s enough native ridiculousness in the genre for extraneous exercises in parody, a dispensation … Continue reading →

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Review: Parasite

Posted on December 27, 2019 by philipbrasor

The class dynamics exploited in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, certainly the movie of the year regardless of what you think about it, gives rise at first to comedy of the most uncomfortable kind. This has always been Bong’s strong point, though … Continue reading →

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Review: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Posted on December 20, 2019 by philipbrasor

As the most notorious serial killer in American history—quite an accomplishment, if you think about it—Ted Bundy has been the focus of volumes of journalism and analysis and scads of films, mainly documentaries. Director Joe Berlinger, who made this circumspect … Continue reading →

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Review: 3 Faces

Posted on December 16, 2019 by philipbrasor

In his last samizdat production, Taxi, Jafar Panahi spent almost the entire running time behind the wheel. He spends a good portion of his latest movie also in a car, thus in a way extending a cinematic style perfected to … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Dec. 15, 2019

Posted on December 15, 2019 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the so-called shock of moving the 2020 Olympic marathon and walking race from Tokyo to Sapporo. As pointed out in the column, the International Olympic Committee has every right to unilaterally move events outside … Continue reading →

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