Lights Camera Action All About the Movies
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ESTABLISHED 1970 BY CORKY ALEXANDER VOL. 39 NO. 01 FREE JAN. 04 – 17 2008 LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION ALL ABOUT THE MOVIES THE PAST AND FUTURE OF JAPANESE CINEMA CATCHING A MOVIE WITH THE KIDS Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers Photo courtesy of Warner NEW MOVIE SPREAD: REVIEWS & RECOMMENDATIONS ALSO ONLINE AT WWW.WEEKENDERJAPAN.COM THINGS TO DO 04 Feature Saturday, Jan 5 Saturday, Jan 12 Japanese Cinema: History, Fun Facts and Trivia Learn about Italian art Learn about Design in Scan- 06 NEW! Movie Plus icon Bruno Munari at ret- dinavia and the climate I Am Legend, Bee Movie, Reign Over Me, The Assasination of Jesse rospective Work People Not that influences it through James by The Coward Robert Ford; Theaters to Visit; Upcoming DVD Releases; Star Gossip Allowed through Jan. 27, Jan.14 at the Tokyo Opera www.shiodomeitalia.com. City Art Gallery. www. 08 Dining operacity.jp/ag/exh88/e. Six Great Restaurants Near Movie Theaters 09 Travel Sunday, Jan 6 Sunday, Jan 13 ‘Live in Asia’ Guest Apartments Have an eclectic night out with poetry from Rock out with legendary act 4–7pm followed by musician Tom Holliday and Bon Jovi at the Tokyo Dome 10 Investments / IT Investing in the Movies, Watching TV/Movies on the Train topped off with some delicious pub grub at What tonight and tomorrow at the Dickens in Ebisu. www.whatthedickens.jp 5pm. ¥9,000–¥10,000, tel. 11 Business 03-3402-5999. Business Profile: Neil Day of Paddy Foley’s 12 School’s In Video in the Classroom Monday, Jan 7 Monday, Jan 14 13 School’s Out Take the children to the Celebrate today’s holiday—seijin no hi—by go- Cinemas with Babysitting Services Birmingham Royal Ballet’s ing to Meiji Shrine where you will see hundreds production of Beauty and the of girls dressed up in decadent silk kimono to 14 Sports Beast at Tokyo Bunka Kai- celebrate turning 20 in the upcoming year. A-Z Guide of Watching Live Sumo kan, ¥4,000–¥18,000, www. 15 Partyline brb.org.uk Photo credit: Bill Cooper 18 Arts & Crossword Tuesday, Jan 8 Tuesday, Jan 15 ••• See 89-year-old jazz piano Cheer for your favorite o kick off 2008 we are pleased to introduce legend Hank Jones at the rikishi at the New Year Tour new double-page Movie feature, includ- Blue Note Tokyo at 7 and Grand Sumo Tournament ing news of upcoming cinema and DVD releases, 9pm tonight for ¥8,400. at the Ryogoku Kokugikan our favourite theatres, and the latest celebrity visits www.bluenote.co.jp through Jan. 21. www. to Japan. As we launch these new pages we theme sumo.or.jp/eng. Photo credit: heschong this issue all about movies! Our feature story covers news about the Japanese film industry and some Wednesday, Jan 9 Wednesday, Jan 16 fun film facts. Our Dining section highlights some Enjoy the ten dynamic (and Enjoy the haunting melo- of the best places to grab something to eat before free!) Open! zones at ICC dies of Icelandic seven- running off to catch the latest new release. We’ve Open Space before it chang- piece electronic band got some great places that cater to you and any lit- es theme in early March. Múm. At Shibuya Duo tle ones that fancy a film. The IT section informs http://tinyurl.com/ynmzg5 Music Exchange, tel. 03- you of the latest gadgets to help you watch movies 3462-6969. on the go. And of course there’s Johnny Depp on the cover—enjoy! Thursday, Jan 10 Thursday, Jan 17 As we change the volume of this issue to in- Introduce yourself to kabuki with Izo, a “modern” Take a date to UK jazz, Lat- corporate the long history of the Weekender, I re- performance starring V6’s Go Morita, through Feb in, and soul fusion group alise that this magazine will be entering its 39th 3. ¥9,500–¥11,000, tel. 057-000-3337. Matt Bianco as they groove year in February! It still feels like quite a privilege to at the Blue Note in Aoya- be publishing a magazine with such a history, and ma. www.bluenote.co.jp that is older than I am! Caroline Pover, Publisher Friday, Jan 11 Friday, Jan 18 ••• Take the family car buff to see the world’s larg- Head to Paddy Foley’s for a pint and while you’re est exhibition of cars with aftermarket parts at there, pick up the new issue of Weekender, due out WEEKENDER—JAPAN’S QUALITY ENGLISH MAGAZINE the Tokyo Auto Salon, Makuhari Messe. ¥1,200– today. PUBLISHER Caroline Pover ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Rajiv Trehan MANAGING EDITOR Helen Bottomley EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS ¥3,500. www.e-autosalon.net Danielle Tate-Stratton, Marie Teather, Michael Mahoney TRAVEL & SOCIETY EDITOR Bill Hersey ARTS EDITOR Owen Schaefer DESIGN and LAYOUT Elizabeth Briggs DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Stephen Young ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Kieron Cashell, Amy Dose, Sheree Hsu CONTRIBUTORS William Casper, Phil Gibb, Leigh Wellsview, Andrew Robinson, Emily Downey, Carolyn Todd, Lawrence Nylund, Maria Young. OFFICES at Caroline Pover, Inc., 5th floor, Chuo Iikura Building, 3-4-11 Azabudai, Minato- The Australia Society’s Gala Ball for Charity ku, Tokyo 106-0041 Tel. 03-5549-2038 Fax: 03-5549-2039 Email: [email protected] Opinions expressed by WEEKENDER 15 + 1 across, NY Dec 31st count dow n spot contributors are not necessarily those of the Publisher. by Danielle Tate-Stratton FOUNDED IN 1970 BY MILLARD H. “CORKY” ALEXANDER ith miles of white, warm beaches, some of the the evening, with the promise of midnight snacks Answers from Crossword #17 (Weekender Dec 21) Wbest surfing in the world, huge skies, and best of and goodie bags to take home. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 all, summer when we have winter, Australia would be This year, the event is themed “Outback” and S Q U A R E D E C E M B E R lovely towards the end of January. However, for those of celebrates the environment both in Australia and H N A V A U E 9 10 us who can’t pop on a plane and head down under, the Japan. Accordingly, the proceeds from the auction O R C H I D F E A S I B L E 11 Australian Society’s Gala Ball is the next best thing. go to two environmentally friendly charities—Eco- G O N T N T B V 12 13 14 The annual event celebrates Australia Day, the Future in Japan and Aussie Helpers in Australia. A N O N A W A I T G L E E 15 16 biggest holiday in the country. It takes place annually Eco-Future (www.eco-future.net) provides grants to T K T E N U Y S 17 to celebrate, according to the government, “what we NPOs and NGOs in Japan for the purpose of foster- S P E C I A L A G E N T 18 19 have achieved and what we can be proud of in our ing the Earth’s future forests and for research on for- U D M V D I P U 20 great nation,” including the land, people, freedom, est resources in Indonesia and Malaysia. Aussie Help- C E L E B R A T I O N S 21 22 and democracy. Help the Australians get a jump on ers (www.aussiehelpers.org.au) works to help fight U U S M E E S U 23 24 25 the celebrations—on January 25—at the Grand Hy- poverty and “lift the spirits of those severely affected S Y N E T O A S T S T A R 26 27 att Tokyo. The night promises “black ties, gorgeous by drought” in the Australian farming community. E C S N S Y C P 28 29 frocks, and a delicious meal and drinks, followed by Tickets are ¥28,000 for Australian Society F O O T N O T E S E N A T E energetic entertainment and a charity auction.” Auc- members or ¥30,000 for non-members and can U R O H A R R 30 31 tion items are set to include wine, travel, and other be reserved individually or in tables of ten at L I K E W I S E B R I D E S goods. Make sure you match your black ties and frocks www.australiasocietytokyo.com or by emailing with dancing shoes as the party is set to go late into [email protected]. FEATURE The History of the Cinema in Japan by Marie Teather The Last Samurai provided foreign audiences with Japan has received a boost in tourism since Lost In insight into Japan’s rich history Translation’s release Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers Photo courtesy of Warner Photo courtesy of Focus Features Co. or this, our movie issue, and with the launch of the ing box-office records is the best-known maker of ani- Fnew double spread movie pages, let’s take a look at mated movies, Hayao Miyazaki. His recent 2001 release the influences Japan has had on the world cinema and Spirited Away won him an Oscar, and became the first at notable films related to Japan. With the following animated film to win an Academy Award. blockbuster facts, there is something interesting for even the most ‘back seat’ of movie fans. ANIME Miyazaki’s thought-provoking movies have made him BEFORE ‘THE BUBBLE’ a household name in Japan since the 1960s.