Category Archives: Movies

Review: Only the Brave

Posted on June 23, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though stuffed to the gills with macho signifiers and the sentimentalized homoerotic comradeship of men in peril, this action film about the job of forest firefighting is notable for the way it incorporates the minutiae of the job into a … Continue reading →

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Review: April’s Daughter

Posted on June 17, 2018 by philipbrasor

Mexican director Michel Franco’s signature is a sensationalistic storyline told in a dry manner. The basic idea of April’s Daughter is made for tabloid TV—teen pregnancy as the natural outcome of a broken home. However, Franco doesn’t present this scenario … Continue reading →

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Review: The Big House

Posted on June 14, 2018 by philipbrasor

As a documentary filmmaker, Kazuhiro Soda goes with what he knows, or, more precisely, who he knows. In most cases his subjects are people he’s close to, and while the relationship makes the filmmaking process easier and more open it … Continue reading →

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Review: The Day After

Posted on June 11, 2018 by philipbrasor

Hong Sang-soo’s antiromantic comedies differ little in terms of narrative themes, and tend to distinguish themselves through formal construction. The Day After is almost unique among his films in that its form is conventional—no “what if” digressions or POV mischief—and … Continue reading →

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Review: Last Flag Flying

Posted on June 8, 2018 by philipbrasor

It would be difficult to make a better military-themed movie than The Last Detail, the 1973 Hal Ashby adaptation of Darryl Ponicsan’s debut novel about two fun-loving sailors escorting a third to the brig for the ignominiuos crime of pilfering … Continue reading →

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Review: Shoplifters

Posted on June 7, 2018 by philipbrasor

It will be interesting to see the reaction in Japan to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last month. Though Kore-eda has tackled socially relevant topics in the past, most notably in his 2004 shocker … Continue reading →

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Review: Lady Bird

Posted on June 4, 2018 by philipbrasor

Authenticity is fleeting in American teen comedies, even when they shade over into coming-of-age tales. In her autobiographical directing debut, Greta Gerwig is obviously after authenticity above everything else—it’s mainly there in the subversive dialogue—but she’s too experienced as an … Continue reading →

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Review: You Were Never Really Here

Posted on June 2, 2018 by philipbrasor

It’s difficult to grasp what director Lynne Ramsay is trying to accomplish with her new movie. Ostensibly a genre exercise, You Were Never Really Here sketchily outlines the daily grind of a hit man, Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), who specializes in … Continue reading →

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Review: The Death of Louis XIV

Posted on May 30, 2018 by philipbrasor

Recently, Christopher Nolan hailed Stanley Kubrick as the greatest director of all time, mainly for his ability to make nitrate film stock mimic the most sublime visual attributes of great paintings. Though he was thinking of 2001, Barry Lyndon is … Continue reading →

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Review: Isle of Dogs

Posted on May 29, 2018 by philipbrasor

As a long-time resident of Japan whose interaction with the local culture is circumstantial, I don’t believe I have much to add to the conversation that has surrounded Wes Anderson’s latest entertainment and which mostly has to do with whether … Continue reading →

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