I'm saddened by the passing of genius Japanese director Satoshi Kon.

This introduction to my review of Paprika should give some hint as to what I thought of his work:

I hope the trajectory of Satoshi Kon's career continues on this upward swing, because my enjoyment of this work has been trending up with each of his projects, culminating with my unabashed admiration for the last two. Paprika, a full-length feature from 2006 and Paranoia Agent, a television series from 2004 both possess a unique, hallucinogenic vision and a fascinating examination of the nature of reality.

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A true legend, pioneer and visionary.

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I'm pretty sure this list is from 1998. The original list was hand written by me in an old notebook I kept. There are plenty of films from 1997 and 1998 and no films from 1999 on the list, so my deduction is it's from 1998.

This was a period of serious film-geekitude for me, so the list clearly reflects my interests at the time.

So, here's one sentence (or fragment) on each of those films. I'm trying to do this without much editing or research so expect to see some weirdness follow I linked to full reviews of the films where applicable if you want to follow up and see how my original appraisal and my later recollections match up.

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After watching this, I'm not sure if we've won or lost.

I mean, by most measures the careers of just Banksy and Shepard Fairey alone are enough to signal that street art has "made it," so at some level we've definitely won. Anyone who was searching for legitimacy from the art world has found it. The question then becomes, what do we lose to gain legitimacy? That's what I walked away wrestling with after seeing Exit Through the Gift Shop.
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I find it hard to believe I've never written about Rashomon, but I've been through my archives and I've never fully written it up for public consumption.

Again, hard to believe.

I better put my serious hat on for this one.

I saw this at a member's appreciation event at the Brattle theater. I love that place. You should love it too.

Anyway. KUROSAWA.

Then again, maybe it's MIFUNE.

Both? Both.

This is a nearly perfect film.
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