1451 – Wonderstruck (2017)

timespace coordinates: 1927 New Jersey / 1977 Minnesota > New York City

Wonderstruck is a 2017 American mystery drama film directed by Todd Haynes and based on the 2011 novel Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, who also adapted the novel into a screenplay. The film stars Oakes Fegley, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Millicent Simmonds.

The film interlaces two stories set fifty years apart, switching frequently between them, with the older storyline filmed in black and white. Each tells the story of a child’s quest. In 1927, young deaf girl Rose runs away from her father’s New Jersey home to find her mother/idol, the actress Lillian Mayhew. In 1977, recently orphaned Ben, made deaf by a freakish accident, runs away from his Minnesota home in search of his father. (wiki)

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“A curator’s job is an important one, for it is the curator who decides what belongs in the museum. In a way, anyone who collects things in the privacy of his own home is a curator. But how did the very first curators store their collections? They were kept
in pieces of furniture called Cabinets of Wonder. Eventually, some collections grew beyond the confines of a single cabinet and took over entire rooms. See figure nine.”

1422 – 6 Underground (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Turgistan, Middle East (fictional) + Florence, Italy  Las Vegas  Hong Kong etc

6 Underground is a 2019 American action thriller film directed by Michael Bay.

wiki   /   imdb   /   rt

1367 – Gemini Man (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s U.S. / Colombia / Hungary

Gemini Man is a 2019 American action thriller film directed by Ang Lee. Starring Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, and Benedict Wong, the film follows a hitman who is targeted by a younger clone of himself while on the run from the government. (wiki)

imdb

1366 – Les triplettes de Belleville (2003)

timespace coordinates: 1930’s – 1950’s France > Belleville (an amalgam of New York City, Montreal and Quebec City

The Triplets of Belleville (French: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. The film is Chomet’s first feature film and was a France | Belgium | Canada | UK | Latvia | USA co-production.

There is little dialogue; much of the narrative is conveyed through song and pantomime. It tells the story of Madame Souza, an elderly woman who goes on a quest to rescue her grandson Champion, a Tour de France cyclist, who has been kidnapped by the French mafia for gambling purposes and taken to the city of Belleville. She is accompanied by Champion’s loyal but obese hound, Bruno, and joined by the Triplets of Belleville, music hall singers from the 1930s, whom she meets in the city.

The film was highly praised by audiences and critics for its unique style of animation. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards—Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Belleville Rendez-vous”. It was also screened out of competition (hors concours) at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. (wiki)

imdb / Art of the Triplets of Belleville / The Triplets of Belleville / Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003) – Background Layouts

1324 – Strange Days (1995)

timespace coordinates: 1999, turn of the century (near-future) Los Angeles (racial war zone / New Year’s Eve party) 

Strange Days is a 1995 American science fiction thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow, written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, and produced by Cameron and Steven-Charles Jaffe. It stars Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, and Tom Sizemore. Set in the last two days of 1999, the film follows the story of a black marketeer of SQUID discs, recordings that allow a user to experience the recorder’s memories and physical sensations, as he attempts to uncover the truth behind the murder of a prostitute.

Blending science fiction with film noir conventions, Strange Days explores themes such as racism, abuse of power, rape, and voyeurism. Although the story was conceived by Cameron around 1986, Bigelow found inspiration after incidents such as the Lorena Bobbitt trial and the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the Rodney King verdict.

Strange Days was a commercial failure and almost derailed Bigelow’s career (…) Nevertheless, the film’s critical standing has improved over the years, with many fans feeling that the film has been overlooked by a casual mass audience and misguided critics.

The scene where the crowd celebrates the turn of the new century at the end of the film was shot at the corner of the 5th and Flower streets, between the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and the Los Angeles Public Library. Over 50 off-duty police officers were hired to control an assembled crowd of 10,000 people, who had to pay $10 in advance to attend the event. The film-makers also hired rave promoters Moss Jacobs and Philip Blaine to produce performances featuring Aphex Twin, Deee-Lite, as well as “all the cyber-techno bands they could garner”.

In 2015, The Washington Post editor Sonny Bunch felt that Strange Days was still relevant, comparing the imagery captured by the SQUID units to that of first-person shooters or cellphone videos on YouTube. He added that events such as Jeriko One’s murder and the subsequent coverup of the crime contribute to activist movements like Black Lives Matter, and that their media documentation amplifies their reception and consequences. (read more: Themes)

wiki   /   imdb

1309 – Stuber (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s  Los Angeles (Koreatown, Long Beach etc)

Stuber is a 2019 American buddy action comedy film directed by Michael Dowse and written by Tripper Clancy. It stars Kumail Nanjiani, Dave Bautista, Iko Uwais, Natalie Morales, Betty Gilpin, Jimmy Tatro, Mira Sorvino, and Karen Gillan. The film follows a “detective who commandeers an unsuspecting Uber driver named Stu”. (wiki)

imdb

1303 – In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

timespace coordinates: Philadelphia 2024 / 1988 / 1997 / 2006 / 2015 

In the Shadow of the Moon is a 2019 American science fiction (genre-blending) thriller film directed by Jim Mickle and written by Gregory Weidman and Geoff Tock. It stars Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, and Michael C. Hall. The film had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 21, 2019. It was later released on September 27, 2019, by Netflix. (wiki)

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