1747 – Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

timespace coordinates: August 1943 Auckland, New Zealand > Samoa

Shadow in the Cloud is a 2020 American-New Zealand fantasy adventure action film directed by Roseanne Liang, from a screenplay by Liang and Max Landis. It stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Taylor John Smith, Nick Robinson, Beulah Koale and Callan Mulvey. Its plot deals with a World War II air force service woman who is on a mysterious mission, only to have a gremlin attack the bomber she is riding on. (wiki)

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The animated segment at the beginning of the film is based on Private Snafu, a series of adult-oriented instructional shorts meant to educate enlisted personnel on army discretion, hygiene, combat readiness and daily life. They were produced between 1943 and 1945, and given they were not meant to be public, were free from censorship restrictions. The title character, parodied in the film, come from the military acronym “Situation Normal All Fucked Up”.

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1746 – Mission to Mars (2000)

timespace coordinates: 2020 – ’21. Texas / first manned mission to Mars / the Cydonia region / Earth-orbiting World Space Station / Mars II rescue mission / REMO (“Resupply Module”) orbiting Mars

Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise, left), Terri Fisher (Connie Nielsen, center) and Mars One Commander Luke Graham (Don Cheadle, right) watch an extraordinary living diorama of planetary history in Touchstone Pictures” adventure/drama, “Mission To Mars.” Photo credit: ILM Touchstone Pictures

Mission to Mars is a 2000 American science fiction adventure film directed by Brian De Palma, inspired by Disney‘s theme park attraction of the same name. The film depicts the first manned Mars exploration mission going awry; American astronaut Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise) helps to coordinate a rescue mission for a colleague. Principal support actors were Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O’Connell, and Kim Delaney. This movie came out the same year as another Mars-themed film, Red Planet (2000). Both were unsuccessful, critically and commercially. 

All the ships were based on actual NASA aircraft and used materials from real aerospace companies. The filmmakers received NASA’s most up-to-date plans for a Mars mission when making the movie. Effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman says this is a “hardware film.” Almost every location in the movie had to be created from scratch because it didn’t exist in the real world. The crew used over 14,000 gallons of paint to spray the soil “Mars red.” That dust is blown by 10 massive 350-horsepower wind machines. The crew reflected copper light onto the actors to mimic the orange atmosphere of the Martian sky. 

The appearance of the “Face on Mars”, as well as the alien hologram, were modeled after the work of the famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncusi, especially his “Sleeping Muse”(1910).

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1745 – One Hour Photo (2002)

timespace coordinates: early 2000s Los Angeles

One Hour Photo is a 2002 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Mark Romanek and starring Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan, Erin Daniels, Gary Cole, and Eriq La Salle.

In an interview, Romanek said that he was inspired to create this movie by films from the 1970s about “lonely men”, notably Taxi Driver (1976). (wiki)

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1742 – WW84 (2020)

timespace coordinates: Washington, D.C. 1984 (during the Cold War)

Wonder Woman 1984 (stylized as WW84) is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Wonder Woman. It is the sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman and the ninth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

The film is directed by Patty Jenkins from a script she wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. Gal Gadot stars as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, alongside Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen and Lilly Aspell.

The film follows Diana and her past love Steve Trevor as they face off against Max Lord and Cheetah. (wiki)

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In Greek mythology, the Amazon Asteria was one of those slain by Hercules when he came to Themyscira to take Hippolyta’s girdle as one of his famous Labors.   Asteria is also the name of the Greek goddess of stars.

1738 – The Midnight Sky (2020)

timespace coordinates: 2049, The Arctic / space craft Æther returning from Jupiter after having explored a habitable moon, K-23

The Midnight Sky is a 2020 American science fiction film directed by George Clooney, based on the novel Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton.

The film stars Clooney, and follows a scientist who must venture through the Arctic Circle with a young girl to warn off a returning spaceship following a global catastrophe. (wiki)

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516 – Annihilation (2018)

1732 – Max Cloud (2020)

timespace coordinates: Brooklyn, 1990 /  intergalactic prison on planet Heinous

When a teenage gamer accidentally opens a portal into her favorite side-scroller, she becomes trapped in a notorious intergalactic prison, home to the galaxy’s most dangerous villains. To escape, she must finish the game with a little help from her not-so-savvy friend on the outside — or remain a 16-bit character forever. (rottentomatoes)

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