Paprika

We’re big fans of Satoshi Kon’s animated film Paprika and today we have found reason to rejoice! The 1993 novel that this animated wonder was based on by author Yasutaka Tsutsui has been translated into English and will be available through Alma Books in the UK this April.
When prototype models of a device for entering into patients dreams go missing at the Institute for Psychiatric Research, it transpires that someone is using them to manipulate people s dreams and send them insane. Threatened both personally and professionally, brilliant psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba has to journey into the world of fantasy to fight her mysterious opponents. As she delves ever deeper into the imagination, the borderline between dream and reality becomes increasingly blurred, and nightmares begin to leak into the everyday realm. The scene is set for a final showdown between the dream detective and her enemies, with the subconscious as their battleground, »
- Mack

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There is a lot of love around here for last years (rather ignored at the Japanese Box Office) animated feature (Damn you Ponyo!):  The Sky Crawlers.  Mamoru Oshii‘s high-flying social science fiction melodrama is certainly one of the most handsome films I have seen in ages, and features the best sound design ever.  Period.  (The aerial dog-fight footage pounded the cinema I was in, yet even the lighting of a cigarette or a character walking down the hall had aural resonance.)  It is also a swanky mixture between the directors predisposition for the ‘heady stuff’ and a mainstream accessibility.  The balance is quite nice actually, and the narrative story telling is complicated, rich, and satisfying.  Am I being hyperbolic on this film?  Well, the darn thing deserves some love.  And for those who missed the really thin theatrical release in North America, the DVD and Blu-Ray is going to drop on May 26th. »
- Kurt Halfyard

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Wolfgang Peterson, who directed The NeverEnding Story in 1984, is revisiting the fantasy genre. However, the results might be a little spicier this time.
Moviehole reports the German filmmaker, who has also helmed action-dramas like Das Boot and Air Force One, is developing a live-action adaptation of Paprika, based on a 1993 novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Originally serialized in Marie Claire, Paprika concerns an experimental machine that allows therapists to enter the dreams of their patients. When several prototypes are stolen, it’s up to a young therapist, Paprika, to stop a series of murders by entering the dream world herself.
If the title sounds familiar, you might have picked up one of several manga adaptations, or seen the animated film of the same name, which was released by Sony in 2006. The movie, directed by Satoshi Kon, has been praised for its visual style and integration of 2-D and 3-D animation.
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Read the full article on cinemaspy.ca