0615 – I Am Legend (2007)

spacetime coordinates: 2009 – 2012 New York City

I Am Legend is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film based on the novel of the same name, directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith, who plays US Army virologist Robert Neville. The story is set in New York City after a virus, which was originally created to cure cancer, has wiped out most of mankind, leaving Neville as the last human in New York, other than nocturnal mutants.

“The film’s producers and sound people wanted the creatures in the movie to sound somewhat human, but not the standard”, so Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More, was engaged to provide the screams and howls of the infected.

In his vision of an empty New York, Lawrence cited John Ford as his influence: “We didn’t want to make an apocalyptic movie where the landscape felt apocalyptic. A lot of the movie takes place on a beautiful day. There’s something magical about the empty city as opposed to dark and scary that was the ideal that the cast and crew wanted.”

Director’s Cut ending

future   imdb

0614 – The Great Gatsby (2013)

spacetime coordinates: 1922 New York City

The Great Gatsby is a 2013 romance drama film based on F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s 1925 novel of the same name. The film was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the eponymous Jay Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Elizabeth Debicki.  The film follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbor Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), who recounts his encounter with Gatsby at the height of the Roaring Twenties in New York state.

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613 – Red Sparrow (2018)

spacetime coordinates: modern-day Moscow / Budapest

Red Sparrow is a 2018 American spy thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Irons. It tells the story of a Russian intelligence officer who is sent to make contact with a CIA agent in the hope of discovering the identity of a mole. Matthews, a former member of the CIA, advised the production on the depiction of spying. Based on historic Soviet “sexpionage” and contemporary Russian use of kompromat.

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612 – Davi Kopenawa, Bruce Albert, Alison Dundy – The falling sky – words of a Yanomami shaman

The Falling Sky is a remarkable first-person account of the life story and cosmo-ecological thought of Davi Kopenawa, shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon. Representing a people whose very existence is in jeopardy, Davi Kopenawa paints an unforgettable picture of Yanomami culture, past and present, in the heart of the rainforest–a world where ancient indigenous knowledge and shamanic traditions cope with the global geopolitics of an insatiable natural resources extraction industry.

In richly evocative language, Kopenawa recounts his initiation and experience as a shaman, as well as his first encounters with outsiders: government officials, missionaries, road workers, cattle ranchers, and gold prospectors. He vividly describes the ensuing cultural repression, environmental devastation, and deaths resulting from epidemics and violence. To counter these threats, Davi Kopenawa became a global ambassador for his endangered people. The Falling Sky follows him from his native village in the Northern Amazon to Brazilian cities and finally on transatlantic flights bound for European and American capitals. These travels constitute a shamanic critique of Western industrial society, whose endless material greed, mass violence, and ecological blindness contrast sharply with Yanomami cultural values.

Bruce Albert, a close friend since the 1970s, superbly captures Kopenawa’s intense, poetic voice. This collaborative work provides a unique reading experience that is at the same time a coming-of-age story, a historical account, and a shamanic philosophy, but most of all an impassioned plea to respect native rights and preserve the Amazon rainforest. (amazon)

“When I come back from a trip among the white people, the dizziness leaves my eyes after a while and my thought be-comes clear again. I no longer hear cars, machines, or airplanes. I only lend an ear to the tooro toads and krouma frogs that call the rain in the forest. I only hear the rustling of the leaves in the wind and the rumbling of the thunders in the sky. The ignorant words of the city politicians gradually vanish in the quiet of my sleep. I become calm again by going to hunt and making my spirits dance.

The forest is very beautiful to see. It is cool and aromatic. When you move through it to hunt or travel, you feel joyful and your mind is slow-paced. You listen to the chirping of the cicadas in the distance, or the cries of the curassows and the agami herons, and the clamor of the spider monkeys in the trees. Your worries are eased. Your thoughts can then follow one another without getting obscured.”

0611 – Danton (1983)

spacetime coordinates: 1793 – 1794 Paris

Danton (French pronunciation: ​[dɑ̃tɔ̃]) is a 1983 French language film depicting the last weeks of Georges Danton, one of the leaders of the French Revolution. It is an adaptation of the Polish play The Danton Case by Stanisława Przybyszewska.

The film stars Gérard Depardieu in the title role, with Wojciech Pszoniak as Maximilien Robespierre, and Patrice Chéreau as Camille Desmoulins. It was directed by the Polish director Andrzej Wajda and was an international co-production between companies in France, Poland and West Germany. All supporters of Danton (with the exception of Bourdon, who would later betray him) are played by French actors, while Robespierre’s allies are played by Poles.

Not always rigidly historical, the film draws continual parallels between the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution and the situation in contemporary Poland, in which the Solidarity movement was struggling against the oppression of the Soviet-backed Polish government.

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0610 – Cargo (2017)

spacetime coordinates: post-apocalyptic Australia

Cargo is a 2018 Australian post-apocalyptic thriller film written by Yolanda Ramke and directed by Ramke and Ben Howling. The film stars Martin Freeman, Anthony Hayes, and Caren Pistorius. The film is based on Ramke and Howling’s short film Cargo (youtube). It was released on May 18, 2018, by Netflix.

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609 – The Book Thief (2013)

spacetime coordinates: 1938 – 1945 Germany

The Book Thief is a 2013 World War II war drama film directed by Brian Percival and starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and Sophie Nélisse. The film is based on the 2005 novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and adapted by Michael Petroni. The film is about a young girl living with her adoptive German family during the Nazi era. Taught to read by her kind-hearted foster father, the girl begins “borrowing” books and sharing them with the Jewish refugee being sheltered by her foster parents in their home. The film features a musical score by Oscar-winning composer John Williams. (wiki)

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