LOOKING BACK ON TOKYO INTL FILM FESTIVAL, 2011 ~THE YEAR OF THE QUAKE ~    by Alex Deleon Not to forget that this was the year of the Great March 11 Earthquake cum nuclear disaster and "Tsunami" Tidal Wave that washed away whole cities up north, the 24th Tokyo Intl Film festival was a somewhat restrained affair with the lingering effect of the disaster in evidence in various forms, toning down the overall climate of festivity. Right outside the entrance to the main towe...

~THE YEAR OF THE QUAKE ~by Alex DeleonNot to forget that this was the year of the Great March 11 Earthquake cum nuclear disaster and "Tsunami" Tidal Wave that washed away whole cities up north, the 24th Tokyo Intl Film festival was a somewhat restrained affair with the lingering effect of the disaster in evidence in various forms, toning down the overall climate of festivity. Right outside the entrance to the main tower housing the festival offices was a green collection booth where passers by w...

The winner of the third Finnkino Prize, Japanese anime film Summer Wars, will get its theatrical release in Helsinki on Friday the 25th of February."Besides being family-friendly entertainment, Summer Wars is an incisive commentary on the ongoing transition from the grandmother's analog world of handwritten cards and letters to her heirs realm of digital devices, in which the human touch is attenuated ? or nonexistent. Will we succumb to our gadgets and machines? The film's "wars" are no fiction...