In the distant sky, twirling flowers form a clamorous circle
Satoshi Kon passed away on August 24th, 2010. (ANN link, there's stuff from his personal website)
He was a critically-acclaimed director and story-teller. He used the medium of animation to tell brilliant, enigmatic, yet people-driven stories.
The first movie of his I saw was "Perfect Blue" - at an anime-con. It was creepy and suspenseful, and totally unlike any anime I'd ever seen.
I watched "Tokyo Godfathers" expecting the same thing, yet it was completely different. A beautiful Christmas story of love and hope and Japan's homeless. Cried like a bitch, was also really surprised to learn about Japan's homeless, since in my limited otaku brain - Japan equalled Valhalla.
Then I saw "Millennium Actress" (actually own the DVD of that one ^^) and it's a movie that changed my life. It's a movie for people who love movies, who have lived numerous lives vicariously. In a word; EPIC.
I learned about "Paprika" when I saw this beautiful header on someone's LJ, a girl falling, and asked about it. Immediately sought out the movie. Dreams and wonder, and the corners of the human heart. Since I was stealing from the internet, I watched "Paranoia Agent" as well. =D
Paranoia Agent" was hysterical. Inter-connected tales told during a summer when people had gone a little bonkers. The phenomena where a small incident gets retold and inflated a dozen times until its no longer even remotely the same story, and become an urban myth. Kon had a movie in production, I hope there's enough left for it to be completed without his vision suffering.
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