2307 – Battle Los Angeles (2011)

timespace coordinates:  August 2011  Los Angeles /  Santa Monica area / Camp Pendleton

Battle: Los Angeles (also known as Battle: LA, stylised as Battle Los Angeles in the opening sequence and internationally as World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles) is a 2011 American military science-fiction action film directed by Jonathan Liebesman. The story follows a Marine Staff Sergeant played by Aaron Eckhart who leads a platoon of U.S. Marines, joined by other stranded military personnel, defending Los Angeles from alien invasion. The ensemble cast includes Michelle RodriguezRamon RodriguezBridget MoynahanNe-Yo, and Michael Peña. (wiki)

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“Experts consider the prospects of an actual invasion of Earth by extraterrestrials to be extremely unlikely, due to the enormous cost in time and resources.” (wiki :))

2306

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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

timespace coordinates: 1970’s San Francisco

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1978 American science-fiction horror film directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Donald SutherlandBrooke AdamsVeronica CartwrightJeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy. It is based on the 1955 novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney.

The plot involves a San Francisco health inspector and his colleague who over the course of a few days discover that humans are being replaced by alien duplicates; each is a perfect biological clone of the person replaced, but devoid of empathy and humanity. It is hailed as one of the greatest remakes ever, as well as one of the best science-fiction horror films of all time. (wiki)

analysis   //   imdb

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

timespace coordinates: 1950’s Santa Mira, California

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 American science-fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in 2.00:1 Superscope and in the film noir style. (wiki)

pod people   //    themes   //   imdb

Body Snatchers (1993)

timespace coordinates: 1990’s military base in Alabama

Body Snatchers is a 1993 American science fiction horror film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Gabrielle AnwarBilly WirthTerry KinneyMeg TillyChristine EliseR. Lee Ermey, and Forest WhitakerBody Snatchers is the third film adaptation of Finney’s novel. (wiki)

Body Snatchers poster

analysis   //   imdb

The Invasion (2007)

timespace coordinates: 2000’s Washington, D.C.

The Invasion is a 2007 American science fiction horror film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, with additional scenes written by The Wachowskis and directed by James McTeigue, and starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

analysis: Writer David Kajganich described the story to reflect contemporary times, saying, “You just have to look around our world today to see that power inspires nothing more than the desire to retain it and to eliminate anything that threatens it.” (wiki)

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imdb


2296 – Evolution (2001)

spacetime coordinates: 2001 Page Arizona

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Evolution is a 2001 American comic science fiction film directed by Ivan Reitman. It stars David DuchovnyOrlando JonesSeann William ScottTed Levine and Julianne Moore.

The plot of the film follows college professor Ira Kane (Duchovny) and geologist Harry Block (Jones), who investigate a large meteor crash in Arizona. They discover that the meteor harbours extra-terrestrial lifeforms, which are evolving very quickly into large, diverse and outlandish creatures. (wiki)

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imdb

2286 – The Flash (2023)

The Flash is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC character of the same name. it is the 13th installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film was directed by Andy Muschietti and stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash.

Development of a film based on the Flash began in the late 1980s, with multiple writers and directors attached to the project through 2014. (development)

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The film is influenced by the comic book storyline Flashpoint (2011), featuring other DC characters, such as Sasha Calle‘s Supergirl and both Ben Affleck‘s and  Michael Keaton‘s versions of Batman. (wiki)

imdb

2271 – Planet of Lana (2023 Video game)

Planet of Lana is a 2023 puzzle-platform game developed by Wishfully Studios and published by Thunderful Publishing for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

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In the game, the player assumes control of teenage girl Lana and her companion Mui, as they explore a fictional planet invaded by hostile alien machines. The game was inspired by cinematic platformers such as Inside, while its visuals were inspired by films from Studio Ghibli. (wiki)

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM): OS: Windows 10 / Processor: Intel Core i5 / Memory: 4 GB RAM / Graphics: GTX 660 / Storage: 10 GB available space

steam

2267 – yesterday evening

Recently declassified television ad from the Department of Lost Media for “Pizza Nuggets”. Along with the ad, various forms and docs filed to never attempt mixture of Chicken Nuggets and Pizza again, as the chemical properties lead to quickly disintegrating half life that causes mutations in all physical things.

Inspired by @pizza_later “Pepperoni Hug Spot” video:    • Pepperoni Hug Spo…  

Video Created entirely with text to video prompts with @RunwayML Gen-2

Music: Instrumental: “Exploring all Possibilities” by Marc Torch  //  Vocals by AI Lost Media  //  Chat GPT wrote most of the vocals with slight changes here and there

2226 – NENIS alienism (music videos 2021-2023)

I have just discovered the Nenis phenomenon. I would have missed it completely if it wasn’t for Cristian Dragan – an inveterate online digger, Tik Toker, and Romanian urban weird studies collector supreme. I am a nuub whenever the Romanian scene is concerned. I feel all that is mostly because I am missing Tik Tok and may only plunge in that cyber dungeon when I will get a new phone that will allow me to change apps. Anyway Cristian shared this minimalist reptilian-themed video by Nenis – as a novel Lorin Fortuna urban metamorphosis. It is basically an animation with the head of some US state department during some conferences morphing on some bleak trap lyrics into a reptilian leader of the world. Nenis’s videos are full with alien and UFO references. Somehow this has to do with him embracing his outcast position (that he sings about in another video).

Being the weird one out, the “alien”, the only “extraterrestrial” in the hood means embracing the atypical, non-standard celeb status. This is an important part of the Nenis online persona even if I base my conclusions on some very general lines. Of course, there is heaps of post-irony, LULZ and also a lot of parody and sarcasm about the “normie” macho standards as well as the online universe being something else – having more to do with dime shows and the origins of entertainment as a questionable activity. Tik tok has maybe more to to with a modern-day online freakshow for me, a bizarre talent show where everyone can display a huge range of behaviours, bodies and attitudes. Displaying disabilities and the act of having biological being the main attraction at the midway, “an organized for-profit exhibition of people with physical, mental or behavioral rarities during the 18th, 19th and 20th century.”

At the same time as Robin James has pointed out in numerous articles social platforms work now by extracting value out of these behaviors and alignments. In many ways Nenis stands in the tradition of the vaudeville or amusement parks, and I do not mean this in a derogatory way, but as someone interested in the history of wonder shows, of the role in making leisure an important part of life and combining science and technology with amazement and wonder.

Of course that pseudo-sciences and racist fads were part of this tradition- and at the same time great institutions, natural history museums and human oddity collections can never extricate themselves from it completely since ‘specimens’ were often collected from these very shows. It was also work, and a tough and very exploitative way to earn a living for the performers themselves. At the same time since late 1960s pop stars have been using the UFO vernacular culture and pop idiom to pimp up their act and to use the otherworldliness of the alien to make “difference” and “the alternative” as a central part of the cultural mainstream. In this sense, the Romanian trap musician Nenis is in a tradition that stretches back to Space Oddity David Bowie. The underbelly of global culture is full of conspiracies, Area 51, Cold War memories and even a sort of supernaturalism or rather sub-naturalism that has to deal with the fact that we are all alone in an indifferent universe and on a planet that is teetering under multiple crisis.

In a strange way, I also link this with the fact that standards of beauty have been questioned on all platforms and body shaming has been successfully criticized online. This also works the other way around.