Author Archives: philipbrasor

Media Mix, May 2, 2021

Posted on May 2, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about bigoted comments made by Yoshiaki Yoshida, the chairman and founder of the cosmetics/health supplement company DHC, and the media reaction. Some marginal matters that didn’t make it into the column but are nevertheless relevant: … Continue reading →

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Review: Along the Sea

Posted on May 1, 2021 by philipbrasor

Akio Fujimoto’s Along the Sea does a good job of describing Japan’s arcane technical intern training program without actually explicating its rules and procedures. As such, it also goes a considerable distance in providing an idea of Japan’s attitude toward … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, April 24, 2021

Posted on April 25, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about coverage related to the Olympics that doesn’t sit right with the organizers, whether they be local officials or the IOC. I should say more about the Tokyo Shimbun article and video that covered the … Continue reading →

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Review: Caught in the Net

Posted on April 24, 2021 by philipbrasor

The clever, almost flippant title of this Czech documentary betrays its slightly self-congratulatory tone. Though the topic is a very serious one—pederasts stalking children online—the focus on superior production values and the game-like execution counteracts the seriousness to a certain … Continue reading →

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Review: The Booksellers

Posted on April 23, 2021 by philipbrasor

D.W. Young’s engrossing documentary attempts to make a case for the physically printed word as the most viable means of extending culture into the future, but  because it focuses on rare booksellers it invariably makes that case as a construct … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, April 17, 2021

Posted on April 17, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about the latest development in the coverage of Princess Mako’s and Kei Komuro’s bumpy road to everlasting happiness. “Coverage” is the operative word here since it’s not clear how much of what the … Continue reading →

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Review: Cheerful Wind

Posted on April 16, 2021 by philipbrasor

K’s Cinema in Shinjuku is presenting a two-month retrospective of Taiwan cinema centered mainly on the work of Hou Hsiao-hsien that includes a lot of films from the 1980s which rarely get shown here any more, despite Hou’s close relationship … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, April 10, 2021

Posted on April 11, 2021 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix, which is about various theories on why former justice minister Katsuyuki Kawai changed his plea in the middle of his trial for buying votes for his wife, Anri, during the 2019 Upper House election. The … Continue reading →

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Review: Ammonite

Posted on April 10, 2021 by philipbrasor

It’s difficult to imagine Francis Lee’s romanticized reimagining of 19th century paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) being produced without the precedent of Mike Leigh. Though Leigh is best known for his modernist take on working class British everypersons, in more … Continue reading →

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Review: House in the Fields

Posted on April 9, 2021 by philipbrasor

There’s probably no more momentous development in the practice of filmmaking since the dawn of the millennium than the expansion of the documentary genre beyond its classic parameters. At one time the idea that the documentary filmmaker is a kind … Continue reading →

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