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Masaaki Yuasa is a nearly unparalleled stylistic storyteller whose work you can spot from a mile away, and Mind Game was an early masterpiece of his that I return to every year – there’s really nothing else like it that I’m aware of. Whereas other Yuasa projects explore issues like having sex with monsters to jazz music (Kemonozume), selling your memories to upper-class space-Frenchmen (Kaiba), or how delightful it is to be drunk in the summer (The Night is Short, Walk on Girl), Mind Game is a crazy beautiful smash-up of mediums that follows 20-yr old incel and artist Nishi as he tries to take ownership over his own life.
Jul 19, 2023
Related Recs
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not sure if it’s indie but this movie blew my mind
May 18, 2024
I saw my first film directed by Kore-eda yesterday and it was a masterpiece! I absolutely loved this film. This is also the first film I have seen that has Ryuichi Sakamoto as the composer! I really love the emotion and character shown in this film. The actors and actresses did a great job acting. It definitely struck a chord with me and I felt like I could definitely relate to what was shown in the film. I heavily recommend this film and will be excited to check out more films made by this director.
Mar 27, 2025
the song is fine too but the visuals are stunning. directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, this thing looks like a trailer for what could have been a very solid movie. it's got cyberpunk, it's got angels, it's got chase scenes, I watch this as a standalone work tbh
Mar 12, 2024
Top Recs from @sam-rolfes
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There’s a kind of artist I revere who is so deeply committed to expressing the singular nature of their work that it becomes almost self-destructive. For me, Wesley Kimler and Sharkula come to mind – I think of them almost every day. Kimler, in addition to being my mentor for over a decade, is a painter infamous for his cavernous warehouse studios and the theatrical ragers periodically thrown inside, alongside pet foxes and parrots, massive contorted paintings of figures blasted into abstract glowing kites and seascapes, and for publicly calling out the (shake your fist with me) corruption and nepotism of the Chicago art world. Sharkula, (aka Caviar Brian, Thigamahjigee, Sherlock Homeboy, Dirty Gilligan, among others), is a goofball genius rapper who is recognizable to anyone that frequents Chicago’s Blue Line for selling CDs of his over 40 different albums and mixtapes, named things like Martin Luther King Whopper With Cheese, and delivered wrapped in Xeroxed paper with his tags and scribbles all over them.Both of them are devoted, in the religious sense, to their work in a way that I find deeply inspiring, while being a foil to every capitulation that I give into daily.
Jul 19, 2023
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I already adore Saunders’ short stories, but his recent book that delicately outlines the mechanics and flow-states of both storytelling and story-reading often leaves me in a state of deep, sublime appreciation of life itself – melodramatic, I know, but I’m serious. It’s one of those books where I’ve basically transcribed the entire thing into my notes because every page is such a crystal clear revelation.
Jul 19, 2023
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The idea of being able to fly with like 25 huge oversized bags at ~$50/bag is so wild to me. I was clued into this by a lighting designer for a number of big music acts, and while I haven’t tried it personally yet, there are enough Reddit posts about it for me to feel confident. It would be absolutely clutch if you’re touring or traveling with a lot of heavy gear. Basically you just mock up a badge in Word or MS Paint or whatever that says Media, (it’s remarkable how truly shitty it can look from what I hear), laminate it, and then go directly to the ticket counter and say you need media rates for luggage. I also just love that this kind of esoteric industry trick still exists.
Jul 19, 2023