Japanese filmmaker Satoshi Kon directs his third anime feature with the holiday film Tokyo Godfathers. The story takes place in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on Christmas Eve. Middle-aged has-been Gin, aging transvestite Hana, and teenage runaway Miyuki are three homeless friends who have formed a kind of makeshift family structure. Their bond is tested when they find an abandoned baby while searching for food in a garbage dump. They have no choice but to care for the infant themselves. The group travels throughout the city, searching for the baby's parents and coping with their personal reactions to the situation. Tokyo Godfathers premiered at the Big Apple Anime Fest in 2003. - Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide watch
Groundbreaking animator Satoshi Kon (whose credits include Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, and Perfect Blue) directed this visually spectacular adaptation of a science fiction novel by Yatsutaka Tsutsui. Atsuko is a psychiatrist who uses advanced technology to study the human mind. Atsuko has developed a machine that will allow her to enter the dreams of her patients and study their psyches from the inside. Atsuko also does double duty as Paprika, a high-tech detective who uses this new innovation to find out the truth about what the people she's trailing really think. However, Atsuko falls victim to a thief who steals the one-of-a-kind machine, and Paprika sets out to find it as a wave of psychological instability tears through the city. Paprika received its world premiere at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. - Mark Deming, All Movie Guide watch
Following up on his highly acclaimed animated psychological thriller Perfect Blue, Satoshi Kon spins this mystery about a documentary filmmaker and a legendary actress. In honor of Gin Ei studios 70th anniversary, a small production house run by Genya Tachibana is selected to make a commemorative documentary. Genya decides to focus his film on actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, a massive star who at the height of her popularity retreated from public life. Accompanied an eager young cameraman, Genya doggedly tracks her down to discover her living a hermit-like life of charmed isolation. He also learns that in spite of her advanced age, she has lost little of her famed charm or elegance. As he interviews her, Genya learns of Chiyoko's troubled past and eventually the reasons for her sudden retirement. - Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide watch
