The blurred line between what is real, and what is not. A theme explored in movies such as: Repulsion, Belle de Jour, Triangle and Black Swan. A film aspect that's never been a favorite of mine. However, I found the outlier. Perfect Blue hooked me from the opening, and I was on the edge of my seat until the final credits rolled. 

Perfect Blue is batshit crazy in an eat your heart out Darren Aronofsky type of way. It's the movie Black Swan only wished it could be. It's simply a badass flick with a lot of social commentary on the media, fame and internet usage for dummies circa 1997. At least in my mind it is.

Part Giallo. (Fun…

Film #100 of Make me watch your favourite.
Recommended by James Haves.

After having seen most of Kon's filmography now, I can only conclude he was one of the most gifted storytellers to ever work in film.

Perfect Blue is yet another intriguing and powerful exploration of the human psyche, this time in the guise of a complex thriller. Kon weaves a tale around a superbly written female protagonist that not only serves as a vessel for some social commentary about Japanese teen pop culture but also as our eyes and ears into a young girl's faltering mind as pressure, expectations and self doubt take over her world.

The layered and complex narrative bobs and weaves through reality and fantasy…

Where is my mind ?
Is this a movie?
Is this real?

A disturbing nosedive into a never-ending phantasmic nightmare is how you describe this movie. The barrier between fantasy and reality is cruelly bent and distorted in a way that will leave you continuously questioning your bemusing existence... The great Satoshi Kon nudges us into a dreadful place full of false perception and obscene voyeurism as a cost of stardom. Perfect Blue is another startling look at the sacrifice one has to make for a performance - Its pressure has lead our protagonist into a downward spiral of psychological damnation. It's the bitter examination of vanity and unrelenting obsessions that still strongly resonate with us in terms of our…

There has been a fair amount of talk on my activity stream recently about the work of the late Satoshi Kon, so ahead of watching some of his films I decided to revisit the one film of his that I have seen, albeit about 12 years ago now.

In fact, my first viewing of Perfect Blue was done towards the end of a major anime craze of mine, when I was just starting to tire of the genre as a whole. I was pretty taken aback by this film. No giant tentacle cocks. No stupid big tears appearing besides characters' faces when they're perplexed by something. No ridiculously overdone ultra-violence. This can't be right?

To me, it seemed like a…

Satoshi Kon truly is a genius that was so ahead of his time. I’d say it’s amazing that Perfect Blue continues to hold up to contemporary and industry standards, and while it is so upsetting that violent fan culture and people’s twisted perceptions/fantasies of idols and themselves are still extremely prevalent, this film is such an intense look and direct response to such awful things that I couldn’t look away. 
Like so many others watching, I actually felt like Mima while watching the events and illusions of Perfect Blue play out. The suffocating feeling of being unable to trust myself, just for an hour and a half, just through the scope of an animated film, was an experience that I…