We liked Darren Aronofsky when he was the scrappy young filmmaker from Brooklyn (via Harvard) who financed his debut, "Pi," in 1998 with $100-loans from friends and relatives, and relied on promotion that consisted of tagging Tokyo's streets with the film's logo.

We liked him when he cited photos by Nobuyoshi Araki and Hiromix as an influence on the look of his downbeat junkie flick "Requiem For A Dream" (2000), and also the sheer insanity of making a film with something like 3,000 cuts.

We loved him when he declined to direct "Batman Begins" and throw his talent down the creative toilet of superhero flicks. We even admired him for the over-reaching metaphysical mess that was "The Fountain" (2006).