Author Archives: philipbrasor

Number 1 Shimbun column for June

Posted on June 8, 2023 by philipbrasor

Here is a link to our Number 1 Shimbun column for June, which is about the so-called 2024 Problem related to a shortage of delivery drivers and truckers.

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Review: Peter von Kant

Posted on June 2, 2023 by philipbrasor

Though it’s not surprising that François Ozon would admire the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, you’d have to stretch to find points of thematic intersection. The most obvious thing the two directors have in common is that Fassbinder was and … Continue reading →

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Review: Women Talking

Posted on June 1, 2023 by philipbrasor

There’s a lot of context, not to mention subtext, to Sarah Polley’s latest film, for which she won an adapted screenplay Oscar. Polley based her script on a novel by Miriam Toews, who was inspired by the true story of … Continue reading →

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Media watch: How Johnny’s exploits the pin-up factor to keep publishers in line

Posted on May 31, 2023 by philipbrasor

Now that the cat is way out of the bag, Japanese mainstream media are finally covering the Johnny Kitagawa sexual abuse story in all its lurid detail, even though it has been an open secret for decades. I talked about … Continue reading →

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Media watch: History shortchanged several times over at Hiroshima summit

Posted on May 28, 2023 by philipbrasor

On May 24, South Korea’s Hankyoreh news agency posted an editorial about the “joint tribute” paid by Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Korean victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial … Continue reading →

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Review: Young Plato

Posted on May 27, 2023 by philipbrasor

Pedagogical films, whether documentary or dramatic, always focus on the teacher-student dynamic; specifically, the way educational professionals address the personal foibles of their charges in order to impart knowledge that the charges have difficulty accessing because of those foibles. The … Continue reading →

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Review: Aftersun

Posted on May 26, 2023 by philipbrasor

Charlotte Wells’ debut feature uses nostalgia to interrogate the fraught relationship between a 31-year-old father, Calum (Paul Mescal), and his 11-year-old daughter, Sophie (Frankie Corio). The bulk of the film takes place in the late 90s during a vacation in … Continue reading →

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Review: Creed III

Posted on May 25, 2023 by philipbrasor

Though I enjoyed Creed II, I blamed the fall-off in visceral and dramatic involvement on the absence of Ryan Coogler at the helm, though it may have had more to do with the usual expectations. Coogler rebooted the Rocky franchise … Continue reading →

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Review: The Apartment With Two Women

Posted on May 13, 2023 by philipbrasor

Kim Se-in’s debut feature won the New Currents and Audience awards at the 2021 Busan International Film Festival, as well as the festival’s Actress of the Year prize for Im Jee-ho’s performance. The Apartment With Two Women also won the … Continue reading →

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Review: The Desperate Hour

Posted on May 12, 2023 by philipbrasor

It’s because I’ve lived away from the U.S. for so long, but whenever I watch an American middle-brow thriller or even a romantic comedy I get overly distracted by the production design; specifically, the degree of near-luxury in which purportedly … Continue reading →

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