Exploring The Crow City of Angels
Tag: cult film
1750
The Thing (1982)
timespace coordinates: Antarctica 1982
The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous “Thing”, a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any one of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team’s helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and features A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites in supporting roles.
The Thing was released in 1982 to very negative reviews. It was described as “instant junk”, “a wretched excess”, and proposed as the most-hated film of all time by film magazine Cinefantastique. Reviews both praised the special effects achievements and criticized their visual repulsiveness, while others found the characterization poorly realised.
The film found an audience when released on home video and television. In the subsequent years it has been reappraised as one of the best science fiction and horror films ever made, and has gained a cult following.
Dark Horse Comics published four comic book sequels starring MacReady, beginning in December 1991 with the two-part The Thing from Another World by Chuck Pfarrer, which is set 24 hours after the film. This was followed by the four-part The Thing from Another World: Climate of Fear in July 1992, the four-part The Thing from Another World: Eternal Vows in December 1993, and The Thing from Another World: Questionable Research. In 1999, Carpenter said that no serious discussions had taken place for a sequel, but he would be interested in basing one on Pfarrer’s adaptation, calling the story a worthy sequel. A 2002 video game of the same name was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox to generally favorable reviews. The game’s plot follows a team of U.S. soldiers investigating the aftermath of the film’s events.
The Thing (2011)
A prequel film, The Thing, was released in October 2011, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., written by Eric Heisserer, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Eric Christian Olsen The story follows the events after the Norwegian team discovers the Thing.
In 2020, Universal Studios and Blumhouse Productions announced the development of a remake of Carpenter’s The Thing. The remake was described as incorporating elements of The Thing from Another World and The Thing, as well as the novella Who Goes There?, and its expanded version, Frozen Hell that features several additional chapters.
Although released years apart, and unrelated in terms of plot, characters, crew, or even production studios, Carpenter considers The Thing to be the first installment in his “Apocalypse Trilogy”, a series of films based around cosmic horror, entities unknown to man, that are threats to both human life and the sense of self. The Thing was followed by Prince of Darkness in 1987, and In the Mouth of Madness in 1994. All three films are heavily influenced by Carpenter’s appreciation for the works of Lovecraft. (wiki)
1714 – Explorers (1985)
timespace coordinates: suburbs of San Francisco, 1985
Explorers is a 1985 American science fiction fantasy film written by Eric Luke and directed by Joe Dante. The film stars Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, both in their film debuts, and Jason Presson as teenage boys who build a spacecraft to explore outer space. (wiki)
1699 – Groundhog Day (1993)
timespace coordinates: February 2, 1992 Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy comedy film directed by Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott. Murray portrays Phil Connors, a cynical TV weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes trapped in a time loop forcing him to relive February 2 repeatedly.
In the years since its release, the film has grown in esteem and is often considered to be among the greatest films of the 1990s and one of the greatest comedy films of all time. The film has been analyzed as a religious allegory by Buddhists, Christians, and Jews, who each see a deeper philosophical meaning in the film’s story. (wiki)
An exquisite bas-relief of Bodhisattva (probably Padmapani or Avalokiteshvara) adorning the outer wall of Candi Plaosan Lor southern main temple. A fine example of the 9th century classical Javanese Buddhist Sailendran art, Plaosan, Klaten Regency, Central Java.
imdb / rt / time loop duration
1647 – The Fountain (2006)
timespace coordinates: 16th century. conquistador Tomás Verde in New Spain, neuroscientist Tom Creo working on a cure in 2005, 26th century space traveler Tommy in a self-contained biosphere bubble. flying in outer space toward the golden nebula of Xibalba
The Fountain is a 2006 American epic romantic drama film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Blending elements of fantasy, history, spirituality and science fiction, the film consists of three storylines involving mortality and the resulting loves lost, and one man’s pursuit of avoiding this fate in this life or beyond it.
Production mainly took place on a sound stage in Montreal, Quebec, and the director used macro photography to create key visual effects for The Fountain at a low cost.
HUGH JACKMAN and RACHEL WEISZ star in Warner Bros. PicturesÕ and Regency EnterprisesÕ sci-fi fantasy ÒThe Fountain.Ó Photo: Intelligent Creatures Inc. PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION.
The design of the space traveler’s ship was inspired in part by Biosphere 2 near Tucson, Arizona.
Critics’ reactions to the film were divided, but it has gained a cult following since its release. In December 2008, Aronofsky expressed interest in reassembling The Fountain, not as a director’s cut, but as an alternate story that combined theatrical footage and unused footage. (wiki)
1598
Les visiteurs (1993)
timespace coordinates: 1123 > 1992 northern France
Les Visiteurs (French pronunciation: [le vizitœʁ]; English: The Visitors) is a French fantasy comedy film directed by Jean-Marie Poiré and released in 1993. In this comedy, a 12th-century knight (Jean Reno) and his squire (Christian Clavier) travel in time to the end of the 20th century and find themselves adrift in modern society.
Les couloirs du temps: Les visiteurs II (1998)
timespace coordinates: 1123 / 1998 northern France
Les Couloirs du temps : Les Visiteurs II (French pronunciation: [lɛ vizitœːʁ kulwaːʁ dy tɑ̃]; English: The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time) is a sequel to the original French film, Les Visiteurs.
Les visiteurs: La révolution (2016)
timespace coordinates: time-traveling medieval knight Godefroy de Montmirail and his servant Jacquouille la Fripouille arrive in 1793, in the middle of the French revolution, and find themselves caught up in the Reign of Terror.
The Visitors: Bastille Day (original title: Les Visiteurs: La Révolution) is a 2016 French-Belgian-Czech comedy film directed by Jean-Marie Poiré.
1578 – The Goonies (1985)
spacetime coordinates: 1980’s “Goon Docks” neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon
The Goonies is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner based on a story by executive producer Steven Spielberg.
In the film, a band of kids who live in the “Goon Docks” neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon, attempt to save their homes from foreclosure and in doing so, they discover an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willy, a legendary 17th-century pirate. During the adventure, they are chased by a family of criminals who want the treasure for themselves.
In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
A Goonies level pack for Lego Dimensions was released on May 9, 2017. The pack includes a Sloth minifigure and constructable Pirate Ship and Skeleton Organ, and unlocks a bonus level that adapts the plot of the film. (wiki)
Proposed sequels and adaptations
TimeSpace Warps 