Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2014

The buzz around former rom-com mainstay Matthew McConaughey turning his career around has given rise to the new term “McConaissance.” Shin-Bungeiza in Ikebukuro (3F, 1-43-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro Toshima-ku; www.shin-bungeiza.com) is celebrating with an all-night screening of his recent work on March 8, including Bernie (pictured) in which he plays a small town Texas sheriff…The biggest star in the history of Japanese cinema turns the big six-oh this year and to mark the occasion, Jimbocho Theater (1-23 Kanda Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku; www.shogakukan.co.jp/jinbocho-theater) is screening 28 films from Godzilla’s long career, March 8-April 11. There will be a number of Q&As, including one on March 8 with actor Akira Takarada, who co-starred with the G-man numerous times, starting with the original in 1954…Laputa in Asagaya  (2-12-21 Asagaya Kita, Suginami-ku; www.laputa-jp.com/laputa/) revists Japanese New Wave cinema with a selection of works from the Art Theatre Group, March 9-April 26. The subversive production company made Diary Of A Shinjuku Thief (1968) and Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) before folding in the ’80s.