365 – Magnolia (1999)

spacetime coordinates: 1999 San Fernando Valley

Magnolia is a 1999 American ensemble drama film written, co-produced and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.  The film is a mosaic of interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Themes

The film has an underlying theme of unexplained events, taken from the 1920s and 1930s works of Charles Fort. Fortean author Loren Coleman‘s 2001 book “Mysterious America: The Revised Edition” includes a chapter entitled “The Teleporting Animals and Magnolia“, addressing the film. The chapter discusses how one of Fort’s books is visible on the table in the library and the film’s end credit thanking Charles Fort.

Further information: Raining animals

wiki       imdb

0364 – Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

spacetime coordinates: 2000’s Tokyo

Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ Tōkyō Goddofāzāzu) is a 2003 Japanese anime comedy-drama film directed by Satoshi Kon loosely based on Peter B. Kyne‘s novel Three Godfathers.

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo find a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Themes

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388473/

0354 – Thelma (2017)

spacetime coordinates:  2010’s Norway

Thelma is a Norwegian supernatural thriller film directed by Joachim Trier and starring Eili Harboe.

Thelma, a Norwegian student with a religious background,  moves to Oslo, where she falls in love with another girl, and soon discovers that her feelings trigger inexplicable powers.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6304046/

0347 – mother! (2017)

Mother! (stylized as mother!) is a 2017 American psychological horror film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer.  Lawrence said that the film is an allegory: “It depicts the rape and torment of Mother Earth … I represent Mother Earth; Javier, whose character is a poet, represents a form of God, a creator; Michelle Pfeiffer is an Eve to Ed Harris’s Adam, there’s Cain and Abel and the setting sometimes resembles the Garden of Eden.

The film uses a dream-logic narrative, of which Aronofsky has noted, “if you try to unscrew it, it kind of falls apart,” and that “it’s a psychological freak-out. You shouldn’t over-explain it.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5109784/

0344 – Monsters (2010)

Monsters (IMDB) is a 2010 British science fiction monster film written and directed by Gareth Edwards in his feature film directorial debut. Edwards also served as the cinematographer, production designer, and visual effects artist. Monsters takes place years after a NASA probe crash in Mexico which led to the sudden appearance of giant tentacled monsters. It follows Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy), an American photojournalist tasked with escorting his employer’s daughter Samantha Wynden (Whitney Able) back to the US by crossing through Mexico’s “Infected Zone” where the creatures reside.

 Monsters: Dark Continent, a sequel, was released in the UK on 1 May 2015.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935302/

343 – The Handmaid’s Tale (TV Series 2017– )

spacetime coordinates:  near future. Gilead (former United States)

(DISTURBING CONTENT)

The Handmaid’s Tale is an American television series created by Bruce Miller based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834204/

0330 – Arrival (2016)

spacetime coordinates: 2010s  Montana

Arrival is a 2016 American science fiction drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Eric Heisserer, based on the 1998 short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang. It stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker, and follows linguist Louise Banks, who is enlisted by the U.S. Army to help translate communications from one of several extraterrestrial craft that have appeared across the world. She must find out why they have arrived on Earth before tensions lead into war.

The film received widespread critical acclaim, including praise for Adams’s performance, Villeneuve’s direction, and its exploration of communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/