It’s time to pull out the old iPod, blow the dust off the touch screen, and plug in those headphones for a walk down memory lane. This month’s album anniversaries will take you back to a time when CD players were still the dominant medium for listening to music on the go and rather than…
Taking my own good advice from the November issue, I took myself off to Osaka to indulge in some European culture at the 20th anniversary of the Osaka European Film Festival. Over the festival’s final weekend I enjoyed two films at the Hotel Elséreine. Although on very different topics, both were well-executed examples of Europe’s…
A few weeks ago, in one single day I got to experience the thrill of being pointed at and hearing, in an almost accusatory tone, the word “Gaijin!†no less than six times. Three times walking in southern Nishinomiya by senior high school students, and three more times at the onsen that evening by guys…
Unagi (The Eel) Shohei Imamura, 1997 Coverage of the last Cannes Film Festival with all its Cote d’Azur glamour and boulevards teeming with cinematic talent left me pining for films, diamonds and a red carpet gown. The yen is not currently particularly conducive to the latter two, so I had to sate my hunger with…
It is hard to believe that in the great history of Japanese cinema only one film has ever won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was not one Kurosawa’s epic masterpieces like Ran or Seven Samurai, or other Japanese favorites like Tokyo Story or Tanpopo (the Academy Award for Best Foreign…
February was cold and depressing, even more so for the Valentine’s haters amongst us. Fortunately heading into March we can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, spring is stirring its sleepy head, soon to be followed by summer, and what do the warmer months mean? Why, putting away the kotatsu and…
It seems that we survived the end of the world. Screenwriters everywhere let out a collective sigh of relief; not only do they keep their audiences, but one of their favourite plot lines too. So what can we expect from the film industry in 2013? A fair bit of nostalgia by the looks of things;…
You probably recognize the face of Dante Basco from his role as Rufio in the 1991 Spielberg movie, Hook, and those who love Avatar: The Last Airbender will recognize his voice as that of Prince Zuko. But while Dante’s had a successful career in Hollywood spanning several decades, his story is more the exception than…
What is your “go-to†band? Thinking about living in rural Japan during the winter months, with washi thin walls and windows, how do you find ways to get a sense of what is happening? For me, it was through music. It seems that everyone’s favorite band has the press kit – the promo photos, demo…