Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: Deliver Us From Evil

Posted on December 23, 2021 by philipbrasor

Lee Jung-jae has recently achieved worldwide fame for his lead role in Squid Game, but he’s been a reliably popular leading man in South Korea for many years, and is certainly one of the more versatile actors in Korean cinema. … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Was the Utoro arson incident in August a hate crime?

Posted on December 20, 2021 by philipbrasor

The Utoro district of Uji city in Kyoto Prefecture holds a great deal of historical significance for Zainichi Koreans, meaning permanent residents of Japan with Korean background. During World War II, the area was home to workers who had been … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Dec. 18, 2021

Posted on December 19, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics. As pointed out in the column, the Japanese press doesn’t sense a lot of enthusiasm for the bid among Sapporo residents and thinks it may … Continue reading →

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Review: Belushi

Posted on December 18, 2021 by philipbrasor

Having not read Bob Woodward’s infamous biography of John Belushi nor seen the even more infamous narrative movie adaptation, I approached R.J. Cutler’s fairly conventional documentary about the legendary actor with few prejudices and left it with more questions than … Continue reading →

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Review: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

Posted on December 17, 2021 by philipbrasor

Directors Kristina Lindstrom and Kristian Petri position their assertions right up front—the late Luchino Visconti was a famous Communist homosexual—even before they say much about his reputation as one of the most revered filmmakers of all time. Most likely, they … Continue reading →

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Seshu special: Nobuteru Ishihara unemployed again

Posted on December 14, 2021 by philipbrasor

Last Friday, Nobuteru Ishihara, one of Japan’s most famous dynastic (seshu) politicians, announced he was resigning his post as special advisor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after the media dug up a story about his political support group receiving special … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Dec. 11, 2021

Posted on December 12, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about a proposed revision to existing immigration laws that would allow more foreign workers to stay in Japan indefinitely. If the revision passes, it would go into effect probably as early as the … Continue reading →

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Review: Gunda

Posted on December 10, 2021 by philipbrasor

One of the surprising things about Russian director Victor Kossakovsky’s wordless black-and-white documentary about the lives of some farm animals, at least in retrospect, is that it was shot on three farms in three different countries. While watching the film … Continue reading →

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Review: Last Night in Soho

Posted on December 8, 2021 by philipbrasor

Because Edgar Wright made his reputation poking fun at big budget genre movies, there’s always a feeling in whatever he does that he’s taking the piss, and from the first frame of his latest, in which it’s difficult to distinguish … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Dec. 4, 2021

Posted on December 5, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about Ishin no Kai’s (the Japan Innovation Party) attempt to regulate the distribution to Diet members of funds that cover expenses for mail, correspondence, and transportation, familiarly called buntsuhi. At the time the … Continue reading →

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