1289 – Akira (1988)

timespace coordinates: AD 2019 Neo-Tokyo (31 years after ww3)

Akira (Japanese: アキラ Hepburn: Akira) is a 1988 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic cyberpunk film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, based on Otomo’s 1982 manga of the same name. The film had a production budget of ¥1.1 billion ($9 million), making it the most expensive anime film of its time.

Set in a dystopian 2019, Akira tells the story of Shōtarō Kaneda, a leader of a local biker gang whose childhood friend, Tetsuo Shima, acquires incredible telekinetic abilities after a motorcycle accident, eventually threatening an entire military complex amidst chaos and rebellion in the sprawling futuristic metropolis of Neo-Tokyo. While most of the character designs and settings were adapted from the manga, the plot differs considerably, and does not include much of the last half of the manga. The soundtrack, which draws heavily from traditional Indonesian gamelan as well as Japanese noh music, was composed by Shōji Yamashiro and performed by Geinoh Yamashirogumi.

Akira premiered in Japan on July 16, 1988 by Toho, but was initially unable to recoup its budget. It was released the following year in the United States by pioneering animation distributor Streamline Pictures. It garnered an international cult following after various theatrical and VHS releases, eventually earning over $80 million worldwide from home video sales. It is widely regarded by critics as one of the greatest animated and science fiction films ever made, as well as a landmark in Japanese animation. It is also a landmark film in the cyberpunk genre, particularly the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre, as well as adult animation. The film had a significant impact on popular culture worldwide, paving the way for the growth of anime and Japanese popular culture in the Western world as well as influencing numerous works in animation, comics, film, music, television and video games. (wiki)

imdb   /  live-action adaptation

1286 – Idiocracy (2006)

timespace coordinates: 2505 Washington, D.C.

Idiocracy is a 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge and starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, and Dax Shepard.

The film tells the story of Joe Bauers (Wilson), an American soldier who takes part in a classified military human hibernation experiment, only to accidentally awaken 500 years later in a dystopian society where mankind has embraced anti-intellectualism and commercialism has run rampant, and which is devoid of intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, and coherent notions of justice and human rights.

The film was not screened for critics, and distributor 20th Century Fox was accused of abandoning the film. Despite its lack of a major theatrical release, which resulted in a mere $495,303 box office, the film received positive reviews from critics and has become a cult film. (wiki)

imdb   /  Themes   /   Commentary   /   Spin-offs

1285 – Source Code (2011)

timespace coordinates: 2010, Metra commuter train headed to Chicago

Source Code is a 2011 action/ mystery & suspense/ science fiction thriller film directed by Duncan Jones and written by Ben Ripley. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a U.S. Army captain who is sent into a computed reality to find a bomber. Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright play supporting roles. (wiki)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

1280

The Avengers (2012)

wiki   /   imdb

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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

wiki   /   imdb

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Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

wiki   /   imdb

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Avengers: Endgame (2019)

 

wiki   /   imdb

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1278 – Forza Horizon 4 (2018 video game)

timespace coordinates: environment based in a fictional representation of the United Kingdom, in a region that includes condensed representations of Edinburgh, the Lake District (including Derwentwater), and the Cotswolds (including Broadway), among others, and features over 450 licensed cars.

Forza Horizon 4 is an open world racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on 2 October 2018 on Xbox One and Microsoft Windows after being announced at Xbox’s E3 2018 conference. It is the fourth Forza Horizon title and eleventh instalment in the Forza series. The game is noted for its introduction of changing seasons to the series. (wiki)

system requirements: OS: Windows 10 version 15063.0 or higher. / DirectX: DirectX 12 API. / Memory: 8GB. / VRAM: 2GB. / Processor: Intel i3-4170 @ 3.7Ghz or Intel i5 750 @ 2.67Ghz. / Graphics card: Nvidia GTX 650 Ti or Nvidia GT 740 or AMD R7 250x.

www.microsoft.com

1277 – Sacred Games S.2 (2019)

timespace coordinates: 1994 > early 2000’s > modern-day Mumbai, Mombasa, Kenya, Dubai, Croatia

A policeman, a criminal overlord, a Bollywood film star, politicians, cultists, spies, and terrorists — the lives of the privileged, the famous, the wretched, and the bloodthirsty interweave with cataclysmic consequences amid the chaos of modern-day Mumbai. The series is based on the critically-acclaimed best-selling novel Sacred Games by author Vikram Chandra. (rottentomatoes)

The title sequence, logo, and title designs were designed by graphic designer Aniruddh Mehta and Mumbai-based motion lab Plexus, who drew inspiration from the Hindu mythology for the designs. Mehta said that each emblem was a contemporary take on “stories from ancient Hindu scriptures, mandala‘s, mixing modern design elements with characters from the Indus Valley Civilization” that were derived from the episode titles. (wiki)

imdb   /   706

1276 – Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Detroit /  Tangier

Only Lovers Left Alive is a 2013 comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi and John Hurt. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and Germany, the film focuses on the romance between two vampires. (wiki)

imdb   /   Soul Dracula   /  cultural references