Go Away With … Masaharu Morimoto

Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Masaharu Morimoto is recognizable to “Iron Chef” fans as the serious chef who consistently creates artistic and delicious Asian fusion dishes. A star of the Japanese cooking competition that spawned “Iron Chef America,” Morimoto has been a dominant presence on both shows. The 56-year-old chef and restaurateur opened his first restaurant in Japan in 1980, before moving to the United States five years later. He owns restaurants in New York, Tokyo and Mumbai, has a line of sake and beer and is the author of “Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking.”

Go Away With … Torry Castellano

After almost 16 years together, the Donnas are still going strong with their hard-rocking live shows. Their latest album, “Bitchin’,” proves that this group hasn’t lost its punk roots or its feverish love of rock. The band, which owes more to the Ramones than it does to the Runaways, includes lead singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Allison Robertson, bassist Maya Ford and drummer Torry Castellano, who says that thanks to years of touring, the band has gotten to see a good chunk of the world — a perk of their job.

‘Returner’ delivers compelling sci-fi action

The year is 2084 and the human race has been isolated to the Tibetan mountains. Threatened by extraterrestrials who are taking over what’s left of Earth, the commanders send a young girl named Milly back in time to stop the aliens and thwart the threat. In Takashi Yamazaki’s stylish “Returner,” we see elements of films we’ve seen before. The slo-mo bullet-dodging shots are dead-on “Matrix.” The baby alien captured and tortured looks like it could be a first cousin to “E.T.” Throw in a little “Terminator” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” and you’ve got the makings of what could have been a lame ripoff.

‘Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade’ a war movie without any heroes

What if Japan had been occupied by Nazi Germany after World War II? “Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade” explores this possibility by presenting an alternative nation. In this Japanese animated film, Tokyo is dark, bleak and industrial. The city is a war zone, with the police and military battling a small but well-trained group of elite terrorists who negotiate their way through the city’s sewer system. They employ women and children to act as decoys. They have all been trained to believe there is honor in dying for their cause.

Greek Classic Gets Japanese Twist in `Kabuki Medea’

With “Kabuki Medea,” Wisdom Bridge Theatre uses traditional Japanese Kabuki-style theater to tackle Euripides’ Greek classic “Medea.” The result is a splendidly clever tale that is familiar, enacted in a way that is not. Almost 400 years old, Kabuki theater is based on highly stylized and exaggerated moves. In Shozo Sato’s production, which opened Monday night, the actors speak English, but with exaggerated Asian inflections. The rich costumes and demure movements are decidedly Japanese, but the thoughts behind them are Western. The Greek locales in Euripides’ play are substituted by medieval Japanese islands. This adaptation keeps the Western names that Euripides gave his heroes. By the end of the first act, the audience doesn’t find it at all surprising that a Japanese nobleman would be named Jason.

Patrick Francis Bishop wants recognition

A lot of people are fooled by his name. Patrick Francis Bishop sounds about as American as you can get. But the Eurasian star of “General Hospital” considers himself more Asian than Caucasian. “I think it’s the same for most kids of mixed marriages,” Bishop said. “If a person’s half black and half white, society tends to think of him or her as black.”