Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: A Different Man

Posted on July 10, 2025 by philipbrasor

Though Aaron Schimberg’s 70s-styled black comedy seems to be about how we address disability as a society, it’s really about casting, and not just its own choice of actors. The main plot line has to do with a small Off-Broadway … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Candidates won’t be talking about caregiving

Posted on July 8, 2025 by philipbrasor

Right now the issue gaining the most media attention leading up to the Upper House election later this month is the status of foreigners in Japan, owing mainly to controversial remarks made by the new opposition party Sanseito. It’s hard … Continue reading →

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Review: Harbin

Posted on July 4, 2025 by philipbrasor

So far I haven’t seen any reports about Japanese right-wing action against this South Korean film about the 1909 assassination of former Japan prime minister Hirobumi Ito by Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun in the titular Russian-controlled Chinese city. Officially, … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Court lets government discriminate against sex workers because of feelings

Posted on June 28, 2025 by philipbrasor

On June 16 the first petty bench of the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit brought by a business in the Kansai region against the government for denying it COVID-19 cash grants, which were distributed to companies during the pandemic so … Continue reading →

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Review: Memoir of a Snail

Posted on June 27, 2025 by philipbrasor

If Britain’s Aardman has become the studio that has done the most to preserve the art of stop-motion animation, Australia’s Adam Elliot has been the artist who’s advanced it further in terms of visual inventiveness and narrative rigor. Like Jan … Continue reading →

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Review: Ghostlight

Posted on June 26, 2025 by philipbrasor

It goes without saying that movies don’t have to be perfect to be emotionally effective, and sometimes filmmakers who trust their instincts make better moves that those who strive for something sublime. This small drama about a middle aged blue … Continue reading →

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Review: Fremont

Posted on June 25, 2025 by philipbrasor

Sometimes the context of a movie is more interesting than the movie itself. Watching this well-made Jarmusch pastiche I kept asking myself about the Afghan diaspora and its immediate impact on the titular central California city. Quite a few obviously … Continue reading →

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Review: 28 Years Later and Sinners

Posted on June 21, 2025 by philipbrasor

Danny Boyle’s 2002 feature 28 Days Later is considered a watershed movie, since it reinvigorated the zombie genre with new ideas, the most potent of which was that the monsters moved fast and struck fast. Technically speaking, it wasn’t a … Continue reading →

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Review: Novocaine and Hidden Face

Posted on June 20, 2025 by philipbrasor

Nepo baby Jack Quaid has carved out a nice pop culture niche with his Hughie Campbell character on the hit Prime series The Boyz: milquetoasty on the outside but with the soul of a tiger when push comes to shove. … Continue reading →

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Review: When the Light Breaks and Renoir

Posted on June 19, 2025 by philipbrasor

Often when tragedy strikes we are unprepared for it. The work of addressing it thus becomes fraught with circumstance and time seems to press in like a great weight. There’s no time to stand back and collect your faculties. The … Continue reading →

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