Yukihiko Tsutsumi's band drama "Beck" is being hyped as one of the big Japanese movies of the year for the usual reason: The manga on which it's based, by Harold Sakuishi, has sold 15 million copies. Distributor Shochiku justifiably expects monster box office numbers, no doubt thinking of "Nana," another movie adapted from a best-selling band comic that grossed ¥40.3 billion after it was released in 2005.
To further ensure packed houses, the producers have used two tunes by big-name foreign bands — Red Hot Chili Peppers and Oasis — as theme songs. They also enlisted the cooperation of the organizers of the Fuji Rock Festival for the film's crowd-of-thousands climax.

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
Closes Oct. 3

Nine years on from the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, doubts persist as to the true nature of what took place on that fateful day in September. While there's no shortage of conspiracy theories on just about anything these days — Colorado gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes sees even a municipal bike-sharing scheme as a communist plot that will "threaten our personal freedoms" — there's also no question that a close look at 9/11 reveals some strange inconsistencies with the official version of events.
"Zero: An Investigation of 9/11" is an Italian documentary that interviews any number of sober, noncrackpot experts who painstakingly detail the questions they feel are unanswered. The film seeks mostly to raise doubts — primarily about how the Twin Towers could have collapsed, and what exactly hit the Pentagon — rather than resolve them, though there is a finger pointed at the United States' own military and intelligence community.

Laforet Museum Harajuku
Closes Sept. 15

WASHINGTON, THE WASHINGTON POST — The European Union is dying — not a dramatic or sudden death, but one so slow and steady that we may look across the Atlantic one day soon and realize that the project of European integration that we've taken for granted over the past half-century is no more.
Europe's decline is partly economic. The financial crisis has taken a painful toll on many EU members, and high national debts and the uncertain health of the continent's banks may mean more trouble ahead. But these woes pale in comparison with a more serious malady: From London to Berlin to Warsaw, Europe is experiencing a renationalization of political life, with countries clawing back the sovereignty they once willingly sacrificed in pursuit of a collective ideal.

Does Julia Roberts hate Japan? The local media were obsessed with this question prior to the Hollywood star's first-ever trip here last month to promote her new film, "Eat Pray Love," based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir about her journeys to Italy, India and Indonesia.
The only evidence they had for this supposed enmity was that Roberts had never been here. Japan is one of the most important movie markets in the world, so the fact that the No. 1 female movie star in the world opted not to come for so many years can only mean she doesn't want to, went the rationale.