Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: Mariupolis 2

Posted on April 15, 2023 by philipbrasor

Because of their nature as recordings of real events, documentaries often come with their own dramatic context, and in the case of Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravicius’s sequel to his 2016 film about the titular Ukrainian port city, much has been … Continue reading →

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Review: Lost Illusions

Posted on April 14, 2023 by philipbrasor

That Balzac guy sure was prescient. His 1843 novel Illusions perdues depicted a media world centered on fake news, in which the profits to be had by printing what the highest bidder had to offer for specific journalistic favors was … Continue reading →

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Review: Moneyboys

Posted on April 13, 2023 by philipbrasor

The title of Chinese filmmaker C.B. Yi’s debut feature refers to male hustlers in the industrial south of China who cater to male customers. From the first scene when we’re introduced to the protagonist, Fei (Kai Ko), going to his … Continue reading →

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Review: Holy Spider

Posted on April 12, 2023 by philipbrasor

More serendipitous timing: This film about a man who murders female prostitutes in Iran’s holy city of Mashhad is being released internationally as Iranian women ramp up their resistance to the fundamentalist regime that has long kept them down. Not … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Adoptive parents still worry how society views their children, and them

Posted on April 10, 2023 by philipbrasor

Last week, Asahi Shimbun reported on a survey conducted by Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto of parents who had adopted children deposited in the hospital’s famous “stork cradle,” the euphemistically named box where parents can anonymously leave newborn babies they won’t … Continue reading →

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Brendan Fraser saves The Whale

Posted on April 8, 2023 by philipbrasor

During his Tokyo press conference on April 6 at the Ritz-Carlton to promote his Oscar-winning performance in Darren Aronofsky’s film, The Whale, Brendan Fraser, making his first trip to Japan in 15 years, used the words “courage” and “empathy” multiple … Continue reading →

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Review: Air

Posted on April 7, 2023 by philipbrasor

I’m a sucker for movies set in the business world, be they about finance (The Big Short) or sales (The Founder), as long as they center the drama on the transactional nature of commercial enterprise. This isn’t to say I’m … Continue reading →

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Review: Knock at the Cabin

Posted on April 6, 2023 by philipbrasor

Faith is difficult to convey in a movie if the viewers themselves have to be persuaded of its power. Normally, the apocalypse is depicted as having a grounding in natural phenomenon—climate change, asteroids, shifting tectonic plates—but when the source is … Continue reading →

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Review: Girl Picture

Posted on April 5, 2023 by philipbrasor

Though high school coming-of-age stories all adhere to a kind of universal vibe built on notions of sexual awakening and the burgeoning responsibilities of adulthood, each one is delineated by a specific socioeconomic milieu that must be carefully navigated to … Continue reading →

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Number 1 Shimbun April

Posted on April 4, 2023 by philipbrasor

Here is our column for the April 2023 issue of Number 1 Shimbun, which is about NHK’s future as a public broadcaster.

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