John Powers

A writer offers up her guest house to a famous painter in hope that something transcendent will happen. But he's selfish, amoral and flagrantly misogynistic — and monstrously at ease with all this.

The first volume of Kaoru Takamura's 1997 eccentric crime thriller has just been translated into English. Inspired by a real-life case, Lady Joker reveals its world in rich, polyphonic detail.

John Powers reviews 'The Man Who Sold His Skin,' a funny, touching and pointed film that's been nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature.