Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: My Dearest Fu Bao

Posted on April 17, 2025 by philipbrasor

You have to hand it to China for its so-called panda diplomacy. Because everything about the animal is “rare and difficult,” according to a zookeeper quoted in this sentimental South Korean documentary, a certain delicacy is built into its process … Continue reading →

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Review: Sing Sing

Posted on April 11, 2025 by philipbrasor

Certainly the most daring thing that director Greg Kwedar did in adapting an old magazine article about the titular prison’s Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, which allows inmates to stage plays, is the way he disregards the crimes of … Continue reading →

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Review: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Posted on April 10, 2025 by philipbrasor

Though not my cup of tea, the first three installments of the Bridget Jones series made for pleasantly unforced entertainment, probably because the British have developed a better understanding than Hollywood has of what’s charming about romantic comedies, namely a … Continue reading →

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Review: I, the Executioner and In the Land of Saints and Sinners

Posted on April 9, 2025 by philipbrasor

Though I see a lot of Korean movies, I don’t know much about the situation surrounding Korean cinema outside of South Korea or Japan, but I think I understand why this successful sequel to the 2015 cop-action comedy Veteran did … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Inmate testimony describes execution day horror show

Posted on April 7, 2025 by philipbrasor

Given the air of secrecy that has always surrounded Japan’s system of capital punishment, it’s still likely that many Japanese people are not aware of the methodology used to carry out an execution, even though it’s been revealed time and … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Nobody takes the evacuation plans for Sakishima seriously

Posted on April 4, 2025 by philipbrasor

Last week, the government released a plan to evacuate the residents of the Sakishima archipelago, which comprises the outlying islands of Okinawa Prefecture, in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Since the U.S. has pledged to defend Taiwan … Continue reading →

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Review: Tuesday

Posted on April 3, 2025 by philipbrasor

The debut feature by Croatian director Daina O. Pusić seems purposely designed to throw the viewer off-guard. A ratty CG parrot with wolf-like attributes encounters humans in various states of distress, after which the action cuts to an American woman … Continue reading →

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Review: Here

Posted on April 2, 2025 by philipbrasor

Robert Zemeckis’s career has been built on gimmicks, usually of the technical kind but also conceptual ones. Though most of the attention focused on his latest has to do with the extensive use of de-ageing/ageing AI software and the curious … Continue reading →

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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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