0392 – Dead Leaves (デッド リーブス Deddo Rībusu) – 2004

Dead Leaves (デッド リーブス Deddo Rībusu) is a 2004 Japanese anime science fiction film produced by animation studio Production I.G.  It is directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi. It is notable for its fast pace and energetic visual style. :p

Retro and Pandy, two unlikely renegades, awaken naked on Earth with no recollection of their past, but with superior physical abilities. After embarking on a brief but devastating crime spree for food, clothing and transportation in downtown Tokyo, they are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous prison called Dead Leaves, on the half destroyed moon…

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439533/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Leaves

0391 – Bright (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 2010’s Los Angeles

Bright is a 2017 American urban fantasy action crime film directed by David Ayer and written by Max Landis. The film stars Will Smith as a Los Angeles Police Department police officer who teams up with an Orc rookie police officer (Joel Edgerton) in a world of both human and mythical creatures. The film also stars Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, Édgar Ramírez and Ike Barinholtz, and was released worldwide on Netflix on December 22, 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_(film)#Sequel

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5519340/

390 – The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily

read “The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe HERE

read Two lectures given by Rudolf Steiner at Berlin and Cologne on Goethe’s Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily HERE

 

(…)  “Now in this chasm lay the fair green Snake, who was roused from her sleep by the gold coming chinking down. No sooner did she fix her eye on the glittering coins, than she ate them all up, with the greatest relish, on the spot; and carefully picked out such pieces as were scattered in the chinks of the rock.

Scarcely had she swallowed them, when, with extreme delight, she began to feel the metal melting in her inwards, and spreading all over her body; and soon, to her lively joy, she observed that she was grown transparent and luminous. Long ago she had been told that this was possible; but now being doubtful whether such a light could last, her curiosity and her desire to be secure against her future, drove her from her cell, that she might see who it was that had shaken in this precious metal. She found no one. The more delightful was it to admire her own appearance, and her graceful brightness, as she crawled along through roots and bushes, and spread out her light among her grass. Every leaf seemed of emerald, every flower was dyed with new glory. It was in vain that she crossed her solitary thickets; but her hopes rose high, when, on reaching her open country, she perceived from afar a brilliancy resembling her own. “Shall I find my like at last, then?” cried she, and hastened to the spot. The toil of crawling through bog and reeds gave her little thought; for though she liked best to live in dry grassy spots of the mountains, among the clefts of rocks, and for most part fed on spicy herbs, and slaked her thirst with mild dew and fresh spring water, yet for the sake of this dear gold, and in the hope of this glorious light, she would have undertaken anything you could propose to her.” (…)

0389 – Clash of the Titans (2010)

Clash of the Titans is a 2010 British-American fantasy adventure film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name produced by MGM (the rights to which had been acquired by Warner Bros. in 1996). The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes,

A sequel, Wrath of the Titans, was released in March 2012. A third film titled Revenge of the Titans was in development but later cancelled due to Wrath of the Titans’ disappointing box office performance.

Perseus and Andromeda *oil on canvas *180 x 150 cm *1611 *signed: JOACHIM WTEWAEL FECIT ANNO 1611 (S.D.MI.H.B.G.)

imdb: clash // wrath

0388 – Troy (2004)

spacetime coordinates:  late 12th Century BC –  ancient Greece

Troy is a 2004 epic period war film written by David Benioff and directed by Wolfgang Petersen.  The film features an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom. It is loosely based on Homer‘s Iliad in its narration of the entire story of the decade-long Trojan War—condensed into little more than a couple of weeks, rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year. Achilles leads his Myrmidons along with the rest of the Greek army invading the historical city of Troy, defended by Hector’s Trojan army. The end of the film (the sack of Troy) is not taken from the Iliad, but rather from Homer‘s Odyssey as the Iliad concludes with Hector’s death and funeral.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332452/

387 – I Served the King of England (2006)

spacetime coordinates: Czechoslovakia, 1963 >> 1930’s – 1940’s  Prague

I Served the King of England (Czech: Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále) is a 2006 comedy film written and directed by Czech New Wave master Jiří Menzel, based on the novel I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal. It is Menzel’s sixth adaptation of the works of Hrabal for film.

“A look at the glamorous life at an old-world Prague hotel.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284363/

0386 – Nightwatching (2007)

spacetime coordinates: 1640s Amsterdam

Nightwatching is a 2007 film about the artist Rembrandt and the creation of his painting The Night Watch. The film is directed by Peter Greenaway and stars Martin Freeman as Rembrandt, with Eva Birthistle as his wife Saskia van Uylenburg, Jodhi May as his lover Geertje Dircx, and Emily Holmes as his other lover Hendrickje Stoffels. Reinier van Brummelen is the director of photography. James Willcock, known for his esoteric sets, is the art director. The film features Greenaway’s trademark neoclassical compositions and graphic sexuality. The music is by Włodek Pawlik.

Nightwatching is the first feature in Greenaway’s film series “Dutch Masters”. The following film in the series is Goltzius and the Pelican Company.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446750