Category: movies and books reviews

How Napoleon was defeated in 1812 (according to Leo Tolstoy). (July 21, 2025)  If you read War and Peace (1869) by Lev (or Leo) Tolstoy, you may find messages customized for you depending on your socio-economic-cultural states.  When I read War and Peace for the first time, I had expected a heroic period adventure like…

Momo! Where are You? (March 14, 2025) Thanks to the progress of internet technologies, we can access to the latest news instantly wherever we are on the earth. Every individual can watch and/or listen to the same news, yet each individual takes the news differently. Each one of major news companies has its own channel…

How These Movies Should Have Ended. (January 20, 2025)  Sometime in the last week of year 2024, I was organizing my cluttered room. I found books I read through years in cardboard boxes. In a box, I found Company of Heroes (1994) by Harry Carey Jr., thumbed through pages, and started reading. (Then, I forgot…

A Room for Negotiation (December 23, 2024)  When I was little, I thought “Maybe, I can read people’s mind”. Maybe, I was inspired by comic books, cartoons, and science fictions. Of course, it was impossible, but I tried anyway. When someone approached me, I tried to imagine what was in his/her mind. Soon, I started…

About Shogun and Jidaigeki (November 19, 2024) Shogun (TV drama series, 2024 – ) won the 76th Emmy Awards 2024 in 18 categories including the best drama series and the best lead actor. In the ensuing interview, the lead actor Sanada Hiroyuki said that he tried to add more Japanese eyes to James Clavell’s novel…

Yes, Virginia, there are bad movies. (September 21, 2024)  Years ago, near the college campus, there was a small movie theatre which played reruns, and the admissions were affordable for students. Oneday, I asked my friends if they wanted to go to the theatre with me. They asked me what was on, and I said…

YRWYS. (June 10, 2024);  On the last day of Spring Semester, my son came home with homework for recess; Choose one of SDGs and write a short essay what you can do to achieve the goal. We discussed and chose 16 “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions”. For the purpose, we watched the following movies. The…

I watched them three times (April 19 2024); In the opening week of Aliens (1986), I went to a local movie theatre and sat through to watch the film three times. Those were the days before multiplexes. Happy days for many young movie fans who were subject to financial constraints. There were fans who watched…

The Power of Imagination (March 28, 2024)  I enjoy drawing comic stories although I haven’t had any formal training for any form of graphic arts. None the less, I take it as a success if I can convince you that the following illustration is a sketch of a cat; Then, could you tell me what…

I was a depressed high school student, feeling misfit, bizarre, and good for nothing. That’s when I read Man’s Search for Meaning (1946) by V. E. Frankl for the first time. The part which left me the strong impression was author’s observation about incarcerated people’s chance to survive; At the end of days, the prisoners…