Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache

Posted on July 21, 2022 by philipbrasor

Because of its function as a recording medium, cinema’s entire history is fairly well represented. Pamela B. Green’s documentary purports to bring to the public’s attention a woman filmmaker whose pioneering accomplishments, because she was a woman, have mostly been … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Politicians’ association with the Unification Church shouldn’t be surprising

Posted on July 20, 2022 by philipbrasor

A week or so before the recent Upper House election, my partner, M, received a call from a neighbor who asked her to vote for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. M said she had already voted by pre-election ballot for … Continue reading →

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Rage Against the Machine, July 2000, Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan

Posted on July 16, 2022 by philipbrasor

Rage Against the Machine is now in the midst of their long-delayed comeback tour in the U.S., so I’m taking the opportunity to post a review I wrote for the Japan Times in 2000 of one of their shows. For … Continue reading →

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Review: Boiling Point

Posted on July 14, 2022 by philipbrasor

For those of us who never go out to indulge in haute cuisine, the desperation that director Philip Barantini brings to this study of a particularly bad night-in-the-life of a restaurant owner-chef isn’t going to make as much of an … Continue reading →

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Review: Wanda

Posted on July 9, 2022 by philipbrasor

American actress Barbara Loden’s directoral feature debut was released in 1970 to a handful of theaters and disappeared quickly, but over the years it has retained an odd notoriety for its frank depiction of a poor woman’s lot in middle … Continue reading →

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Review: The Alpinist/The Summit of the Gods

Posted on July 8, 2022 by philipbrasor

The appeal of mountain climbing, even to those who have absolutely no interest in partaking themselves, is special. The old colloquy of why one would want to scale a peak and then the intended interlocutor coming back with “because it’s … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Former idol candidates face the music

Posted on July 7, 2022 by philipbrasor

It’s common for show biz celebrities to run for public office in many countries, and in Japan they usually run under the ruling Liberal Democratic Party banner, for whatever reason. In this weekend’s Upper House race there are two candidates … Continue reading →

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Review: X

Posted on July 7, 2022 by philipbrasor

The idea of blending porn and slasher pic has surely been thought of before, but as far as I know it hadn’t been realized as a feature film, and director Ti West deserves credit for thinking through the concept with … Continue reading →

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Media watch: How do Japan’s and Korea’s economies compare?

Posted on July 5, 2022 by philipbrasor

Japan’s diplomatic relations with South Korea are probably the worst they’ve ever been, a situation that invariably affects press coverage of what goes on between the two countries. For the most part, these difficulties are grounded in different perspectives on … Continue reading →

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Media watch: “Education and Nationalism”

Posted on July 4, 2022 by philipbrasor

Here is the link to our column for the July issue of the Number 1 Shimbun, which is about how the government’s textbook approval system has affected education in general.

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