1114 – Cube (1997)

Cube is a 1997 Canadian science-fiction horror film directed and co-written by Vincenzo Natali. A product of the Canadian Film Centre’s First Feature Project, the film follows a group of people as they cross industrialized cube-shaped rooms, some rigged with various traps designed to kill.

Cube has gained notoriety and a cult following, for its surreal atmosphere and Kafkaesque setting and concept of industrial, cube-shaped rooms. The film received generally positive reviews, and was followed by two sequels. A remake is in development at Lionsgate. (wiki)

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1113 – Cyborg (1989)

timespace coordinates: 21st Century (2010’s ?) New York City >  Atlanta, Georgia

Cyborg also known as Slinger is a 1989 American martial-arts cyberpunk film directed by Albert Pyun. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Gibson Rickenbacker, a mercenary who battles a group of murderous marauders led by Fender Tremolo (Vincent Klyn) along the East coast of the United States in a post-apocalyptic future. The film is the first in Pyun’s Cyborg Trilogy. It was followed by 1993’s Knights (originally entitled The Kingdom of Metal: Cyborg Killer) and Omega Doom in 1997.  Cyborg was followed by sequels Cyborg 2 and Cyborg 3: The Recycler. (wiki)

The film was shot for less than $500,000 and was filmed in 23 days. Jean-Claude Van Damme re-edited the film, much as he did with Bloodsport (1988), to make the fight scenes more exciting and trim down the drama. Van Damme spent two months editing the film. He would do the same on Hard Target (1993) (imdb)

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Cyborg Nemesis: The Dark Rift

1112 – Near Dark (1987)

timespace coordinates: 1980’s. the American Midwest

Near Dark is a 1987 American neo-western horror film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by her and Eric Red.

The story follows a young man in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires. Starring the little-known actors Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright, the film was part of a revival of serious vampire movies in the late 1980s. It received positive reviews for its mix of the Western, biker and vampire movie genres. Over the years, the film has gained a cult following. (wiki)

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1094 – Yellow Submarine (1968)

Yellow Submarine (also known as The Beatles: Yellow Submarine) is a 1968 British animated musical Fantasy film inspired by the music of the Beatles, directed by animation producer George Dunning, and produced by United Artists and King Features Syndicate.

The film received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, in contrast to some of the Beatles’ previous film ventures. Pixar co-founder and former chief creative officer John Lasseter has credited the film with bringing more interest in animation as a serious art form. Time commented that it “turned into a smash hit, delighting adolescents and aesthetes alike”. Half a century after its release, it is still regarded as a landmark of animation. (wiki)

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Yellow Submarine US Theatrical Trailer

Yellow Submarine – The Design

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1087 – Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

timespace coordinates: 1980’s California > TexasPee-wee’s Big Adventure is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his full-length film directing debut and starring Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman with supporting roles provided by Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, and Judd Omen. Described as a “parody” or “farce version” of the 1948 Italian classic Bicycle Thieves, it is the tale of Pee-wee Herman’s nationwide search for his stolen bicycle. (wiki)

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www.worksofmattryan.com

1062 – Lifeforce (1985)

timespace coordinates: 1986 London / Halley’s Comet 

Lifeforce is a 1985 British science fiction horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, written by Dan O’Bannon and Don Jakoby, and starring Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, and Patrick Stewart. Based on Colin Wilson‘s 1976 novel The Space Vampires, the film portrays the events that unfold after a trio of humanoids in a state of suspended animation are brought to Earth after being discovered in the hold of an alien space ship by the crew of a European space shuttle.

Horror and comic book writer C. J. Henderson praised the film: “Lifeforce is an incredible film, and may by be the most intelligent vampire movie ever made … [The ideas presented in Lifeforce] are beyond [others vampire movies] beyond all of them, light-years beyond … the story is what makes this movie hum…. Lifeforce is a true, thinking sci-fi fan’s film”. Andrew Migliore and John Strysik in their Lurker in the Lobby explain that Colin Wilson wrote The Space Vampires as a consequence of H.P. Lovecraft‘s publisher August Derleth challenging Wilson (who was critical of Lovecraft’s writing) to write a Lovecraftian novel himself (a challenge that resulted in three such novels, The Mind Parasites, The Space Vampires, and The Philosopher’s Stone), and they continue, “[Lifeforce] is big, splashy, and … the scenes of an apocalyptic London are not to be missed. And the film, an obvious tribute to Nigel Kneale‘s Quatermass, has deep roots in Lovecraft’s mythos”. (wiki)

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1057 – The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

timespace coordinates: South Africa / Botswana 1980 –  the Kalahari Desert

The Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980 South African comedy film written and directed by Jamie Uys. Financed only from local sources, it is the most commercially successful release in the history of South Africa’s film industry. Originally released in 1980, the film is the first in The Gods Must Be Crazy series. It is followed by one official sequel, The Gods Must Be Crazy II, released by Columbia Pictures.

Set in Botswana, it follows the story of Xi, a San of the Kalahari Desert (played by Namibian San farmer Nǃxau ǂToma) whose tribe has no knowledge of the world beyond, Andrew Steyn (Marius Weyers), a biologist who analyzes manure samples for his PhD dissertation, and Kate Thompson (Sandra Prinsloo), a newly hired village school teacher.

The final scene was filmed at God’s Window, a site located at the edge of the escarpment between the Highveld and Lowveld, in the province of Mpumalanga, South Africa.

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