Housewives of Japan

Dry Cleaning Ray is a mini-album released by British Art rock band No-Man. It was intended to be a companion release to Wild Opera album, compiling reinterpretations and original songs stemming from the Wild Opera sessions. The album was released in UK and Europe in May 1997 and in the year 2000 in US. Another hypnotizing work by the dynamic duo!

Considered by some to be Akira Kurosawa’s greatest achievement, Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of a man’s death. Takashi Shimura portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. Told in two parts, Ikiru offers Watanabe’s quest in the present, and then through a series of flashbacks. The result is a multifaceted look at a life through a prism of perspectives, resulting in a full portrait of a man who lacked understanding from others in life.

Mikio Naruse was one of the most popular directors in Japan, a crafter of exquisite melodramas, mostly about women confined by their social and domestic circumstances. Though often compared with Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi for his style and treatment of characters, Naruse was a unique artist, making heartrending, brilliantly photographed and edited films about the impossible pursuit of happiness. From the outset of his career, with his silent films of the early thirties, Naruse zeroed in on the lives of the kinds of people - geisha, housewives, waitresses - who would continue to fascinate him for the next three decades. Though he made two dozen silent films, only five remain in existence; these works - poignant, dazzlingly made dramas all - are collected here, newly restored and on DVD for the first time, and featuring optional new scores by noted musicians Robin Holcomb and Wayne Horvitz.

Twin Peaks is a truly unique series, and one with a noteworthy rise and fall. It began as a huge, pop culture defining hit, that struck the zeitgeist hard, only to lose much of its audience and be off the air within 14 months of its debut. But before it was over, it had solidified its place as one of the most interesting and influential programs in…

19-year-old freeter (a Japanese expression for people between the ages of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding housewives and students.) Tsuyoshi Osanai enters a school for guide dog trainers. After 2 years of training, Tsuyoshi becomes an assistant trainer. His first dog to train is Chie. Chie was separated from his mother 2 months after birth and then lived with the Hasegawa family. Chie lived there for 10 months and then was sent to the dog training school….

From the New York Times bestselling author of Overwhelmed, a deeply reported exploration of why American work isn't working and how our lives can be made more meaningful