Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Posted on March 20, 2020 by philipbrasor

Though I was initially interested in reading Thomas Piketty’s big bestseller about income inequality as a permanently expanding fixture of economic life, I eventually concluded that the book would probably teach me little. Anyone with a decent grounding in social … Continue reading →

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Review: Mishima, the Last Debate

Posted on March 19, 2020 by philipbrasor

Almost 50 years after he committed ritual suicide at the self-defense agency headquarters in Tokyo at the age of 45, Yukio Mishima wedges his way back into Japan’s consciousness in the form of a documentary based on “lost footage” of … Continue reading →

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Review: Columbus

Posted on March 13, 2020 by philipbrasor

The title city, a leafy Midwestern exurb that is located in Indiana, not Ohio, is an interesting choice for a place where the two main characters find themselves stuck. The town’s main attraction is its full line of modernist architecture, … Continue reading →

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Review: All Is True

Posted on March 11, 2020 by philipbrasor

It was only a matter of time before Kenneth Branagh, the still-living film actor most popularly identified with Shakespeare, portrayed the Bard himself on screen, and for what it’s worth and despite the stupid schnozz, there’s something heartening and even … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, March 8, 2020

Posted on March 8, 2020 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about Yoko Tajima. It’s perhaps appropriate that the column is being published on International Women’s Day, though the timing of Tajima’s renaissance is completely coincidental. In truth, she never went away, and her semi-regular appearances … Continue reading →

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Review: Judy

Posted on March 5, 2020 by philipbrasor

Usually, I don’t comment on acting when I review a film, mainly because I expect professionalism from everyone involved and good acting should be a given. Normally the acting is good, so there’s no point in talking about it unless … Continue reading →

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Review: Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Posted on March 2, 2020 by philipbrasor

Critics have at long last realized that the development of Chinese art house cinema over the last decade has been deeply influenced by American and European film noir. The influence probably goes back further, and, for what it’s worth, film … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, March 1, 2020

Posted on March 1, 2020 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about new flight paths in and out of Haneda International Airport, and the Japan-U.S. security alliance’s role in the matter. Given the amount of news that has gone on since I started writing this column … Continue reading →

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Review: Les Miserables

Posted on February 29, 2020 by philipbrasor

As has already been pointed out, the title of Ladj Ly’s debut feature is a kind of piss-take on the classic Victor Hugo opus, a move that both provokes curiosity and confounds expectations. It is about “poor people” in the … Continue reading →

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Review: For Sama

Posted on February 28, 2020 by philipbrasor

Though it’s not vital to appreciating her achievement, Waad al-Kateab was not a trained filmmaker when she started recording her day-to-day existence in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo in 2012. At the time she was studying for a business … Continue reading →

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