Director: Masaaki Yuasa Run Time: 104 min. Format: DCP Rating: NR Release Year: 2004 Language: Japanese with English subtitles

Starring: Koji Imada, Sayaka Maeda, Takashi Fujii

Director Masaaki Yuasa’s masterful mash of visual styles, Mind Game is a psychedelic trip into the grave and beyond, following a down-on-his-luck loser named Nishi nursing a lifelong crush on his childhood girlfriend. On a particularly bad day, Nishi finds out that his dream girl’s engaged… and then he’s murdered by the Yakuza. Nishi’s death sets him off on a twist-turny, loop-dee-loop journey where he meets God, winds up in the belly of a whale and beyond. Told using an innovative blend of animation techniques, Mind Game hops from experimental photography to slapdash storyboards to beautifully rendered CG and back again.