0728 – HHhH / The Man with the Iron Heart (2017)

timespace coordinates: 1930 Germany – 1942  Prague

The Man with the Iron Heart (released as HHhH in France and Killing Heydrich in Canada) is an English-language French-Belgian biographical war drama-thriller film directed by Cédric Jimenez and written by David Farr, Audrey Diwan, and Jimenez. It is based on French writer Laurent Binet‘s novel HHhH, and focuses on Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague during World War II. The film stars Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O’Connell, Jack Reynor, and Mia Wasikowska.  (wiki)

The original working title of this film, “HHhH”, is a war-time Gestapo acronym for Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich (“Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich”),

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“When I was a little girl, I would imagine that each of these trees was a sentry watching
over me as I passed by. I wish you could have seen it in those days. We had a party every weekend. There were vast buffets, flowers everywhere. There would be an orchestra
who would play all night. And when it was time to go to bed I would hide under the piano so my mother couldn’t find me. I wish you could have seen it in those times…”

727 – The Dead Texan – The Dead Texan (2004)

“I like to think that my time toiling under buzzing fluorescent lighting in a giant sporting goods warehouse superstore during my teenage years helped me to understand pain and boredom a little better. I spent about a year at that particular pit stop, but it’s the summer days I remember most vividly—standing at my perch in the back in that gigantic refrigerated warehouse full of sneakers, exercise machines and spandex athletic wear, just able to make out the intense light from the sun reflecting off the cars in the parking lot through the automatic glass doors as it scattered in the front of the store, those echoes of light the only hint that it was in fact summer at all (not counting the occasional sweaty jock looking for Nike dry-fit jogging pants).

Anyway, the point of that protracted ramble into my scarred adolescence is that though angry punk rock songs sound tracked my discontent in those days, I can’t help but think that Adam Wiltzie’s ethereal solo debut under the moniker the Dead Texan fits my memories of that monotonous summer far better. The lush, slow chord progressions that cycle and cycle and build and build seem like the perfect expression of a lost summer afternoon, just out of reach. The warm, near-death, barely conscious songs like “La Ballade D’Alain Georgee” lend a sad weight to anything, though for some reason the connection to that empty warehouse, a cold box in the hot summer sun keeps coming to mind…(read more here)“

0725 – Låt den rätte komma in / Let the Right One In (2008)

timespace coordinates:  western Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1981

Let the Right One In (Swedish: Låt den rätte komma in) is a 2008 Swedish romantic horror film directed by Tomas Alfredson, based on the 2004 novel of the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay.

The film tells the story of a bullied 12-year-old boy who develops a friendship with a vampire child in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, in the early 1980s. Alfredson, unconcerned with the horror and vampire conventions, decided to tone down many elements of the novel and focus primarily on the relationship between the two main characters. Selecting the lead actors involved a year-long process with open castings held all over Sweden. In the end, the 11-year-olds Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson were chosen for the leading roles. They were subsequently commended by both Alfredson and film reviewers for their performances.

(Spoilers) The novel presents Eli as an androgynous boy, castrated centuries before by a sadistic vampire nobleman. The film handles the issue of Eli’s gender more ambiguously: a brief scene in which Eli changes into a dress offers a glimpse of a suggestive scar but no explicit elaboration.  When Oskar asks Eli to become his girlfriend, Eli tries to tell Oskar “I’m not a girl”. An actress plays Eli’s character, but her voice was considered to be too high pitched, so it was dubbed by voice actress Elif Ceylan. According to an interview with the director, as the film was originally conceived, flashbacks explained this aspect in more detail, but these scenes were eventually cut. (wiki)

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Let Me In (2010 american version)

timespace coordinates: Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1983

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0717

Video Game Architecture

714 – Westworld – season 2 (2018)

timespace coordinates: 2022 – 2052 (unknown location/planet?)

https://discoverwestworld.com/#

258 – Westworld (TV Series 2016– )

0713 – The City Dark (2011 documentary)

THE CITY DARK is a feature documentary about the loss of night. After moving to NYC from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question – do we need the stars? – taking him from Brooklyn to Mauna Kea, Paris, and beyond. Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights – including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars. (imdb)

The City Dark is a documentary film by filmmaker Ian Cheney about light pollution. It won the Best Score/Music Award at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival and was nominated for at the 34th News & Documentary Emmy Awards. (wiki)

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 “It looks like the stars have been scattered across the ground. Have you ever … Have you ever seen anything so full of splendor?” Dolores Abernathy

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https://tomavagner.com/   via wepresent