time machine // database // travel guide
timespace coordinates: 18th century in a remote South American colony
Zama is a 2017 Argentine period drama film starring Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lola Dueñas, and Matheus Nachtergaele & directed by Lucrecia Martel. It is based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Antonio di Benedetto, on Don Diego de Zama, a Spanish officer of the 18th century settled in Asunción, Paraguay, who awaits his transfer to Buenos Aires.
The Botany of Desire is a two-hour program broadcast by PBS based on The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World is a 2001 nonfiction book by journalist Michael Pollan. Pollan presents case studies that mirror four types of human desires that are reflected in the way that we selectively grow, breed, and genetically engineer our plants. The tulip, beauty; marijuana, intoxication; the apple, sweetness; and the potato, control.
The stories range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan’s first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam to the paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes. Pollan also discusses the limitations of monoculture agriculture: specifically, the adoption in Ireland of a single breed of potato (the Lumper) made the Irish vulnerable to a fungus to which it had no resistance, resulting in the Irish Potato Famine. The Peruvians from whom the Irish had gotten the potato grew hundreds of varieties, so their exposure to any given pest was slight.
spacetime coordinates: 1996, Algeria, Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas
“I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”
Of Gods and Men is a 2010 French drama film directed by Xavier Beauvois, starring Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale. Its original French language title is Des hommes et des dieux, which means “Of Men and of Gods” and refers to a verse from the Bible shown at the beginning of the film. It centers on the monastery of Tibhirine, where nine Trappist monks lived in harmony with the largely Muslim population of Algeria, until seven of them were kidnapped and assassinated in 1996 during the Algerian Civil War.
Largely a tale of a peaceful situation between local Christians and Muslims before becoming a lethal one due to external forces, the screenplay focuses on the preceding chain of events in decay of government, expansion of terrorism, and the monks’ confrontation with both the terrorists and the government authorities that led up to their deaths. Principal photography took place at an abandoned monastery in Azrou, Morocco. (wiki)
spacetime coordinates: 1650s – 1670s Dutch Empire – British Empire
Michiel de Ruyter (Dutch pronunciation: [miˈxil də ˈrœy̯tər]) is a 2015 epic Dutch film about the 17th-century admiral Michiel de Ruyter directed by Roel Reiné. Paintings from the 17th century served as an inspiration for the design. In the beginning of the movie, when Klaartje the family maid pours milk, it is almost an exact replica of the famous painting ‘The Milkmaid’ by Johannes Vermeer.
Prior to its release, several protest groups had accused the film of glorifying the colonial history of the Netherlands. References to colonialism in the film are however almost absent. The film makes a minor reference to the Dutch East India Company, which contributed highly to the welfare in the 17th century in the low countries, and to the trading vessels which were protected by the navy under Michiel de Ruyter. The film’s main subjects — apart from Michiel de Ruyter himself — are the internal politics of the country, including the brutal murder of Johan de Witt and the complicated relationship with England, up to the engagement of the Dutch prince of Orange with Mary II. (wiki)
spacetime coordinates: 2048 NATO operating base Atlantic Ocean
The Titan is a science fiction thriller film directed by Lennart Ruff. It stars Sam Worthington, Taylor Schilling & Tom Wilkinson and deals with ideas surrounding ethics in science.
In 2048, on an Earth overpopulated and ridden by violent conflicts, scientists are looking to Saturn’s moon Titan as a new home for humanity, spearheaded by Professor Martin.
Specular Spectacular: Here’s the sun glinting off of Titan’s north polar seas
spacetime coordinates: 2046 unknown planet
Lost in Space is an American science fiction web television series based on a re-imagining of the 1965 series of the same name, following the adventures of a family of pioneering space colonists whose spaceship veers off-course.
spacetime coordinates: 2058 Earth > Alpha Prime
Major West [Launching the Jupiter-1]: And the monkey flips the switch.
Lost in Space is a 1998 American science-fiction adventure / comedy film directed by Stephen Hopkins, and starring William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, and Gary Oldman. The plot is adapted from the 1965–1968 CBS television series Lost in Space. The film focuses on the Robinson family, who undertake a voyage to a nearby star system to begin large-scale emigration from a soon-to-be uninhabitable Earth (due to the irreversible effects of pollution and Ozone depletion), but are thrown off course by a saboteur and must try to find their way home.
Several of the actors from the original TV series had cameos in the film. The television series Lost in Space (1965) was set in the future of 1997 – the year the film began production.
Major West: OK, last one to kill a bad guy buys the beer!
TimeSpace Warps 