Random Movie Haul

A fancy coffee date followed by hunting for gems at the thrift shop. Say no more.

Streaming is convenient, but titles disappear without warning. I have added films to my watchlist only to find them gone the next week. A rather frustrating experience. And sometimes what I want to watch just is not available on any platform I subscribe to.
I keep Crunchyroll for anime. It works. Most streaming services handle my entertainment needs just fine. But I still like owning a few discs.
You never know. If the internet goes down or a service pulls a film, I still have it. Physical media does not depend on server uptime or corporate decisions.

So here is what I grabbed today:

Paprika. Alexander. A Stanley Kubrick collection with Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut, Lolita, The Shining, Barry Lyndon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange.
At the time of writing this article, I have seen Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut, Lolita, The Shining, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. These films are grinding my brain and keeping my boyfriend and me up at night.

The anime film The Red Turtle.
Tropic Thunder.

Not bad for an afternoon.

By now I have watched Paprika and loved it. I was genuinely excited when I found it in the store. It had been sitting on my watchlist for ages.
While watching it, I kept thinking of Inception. Not in a vague, general way, but in very specific moments: layered dreams, unstable logic, spaces reshaped by the subconscious.

The resemblance was strong enough that I paused the film and looked it up. I wanted to know if anyone involved in Inception had ever mentioned Paprika as an influence.
Officially, they haven’t. Christopher Nolan has said the idea for Inception predates Kon’s film and has never cited it as a source.
Still, critics and viewers have been making the comparison for years.
Coincidence or parallel thinking, Paprika by Satoshi Kon feels uncannily close in spirit.