1167 – Equilibrium (2002)

timespace coordinates: 2072, Libria, a totalitarian city-state, was established by the survivors of World War III / the “Nether” – regions outside the city

Equilibrium is a 2002 American dystopian science fiction action film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, and starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, and Taye Diggs.

The film follows John Preston (Bale), an enforcement officer in a future in which both feelings and artistic expression are outlawed and citizens take daily injections of drugs to suppress their emotions. After accidentally missing a dose, Preston begins to experience emotions, which makes him question his own morality and moderate his actions while attempting to remain undetected by the suspicious society in which he lives. Ultimately, he aids a resistance movement using advanced martial arts (gun kata), which he was taught by the regime he is helping to overthrow. (wiki)

imdb

1162 – Abendland (2011)

timespace coordinates: Europe at night (2008 – 2010)

Abendland is a 2011 observational documentary film by Nikolaus Geyrhalter. The documentary, which has only scenes at night, explores European obsession with technology and security. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called Abendland a “visually precise and politically amorphous” portrait of an imagined community: “The overall impression is a vision of Europe as a mosaic, as an artful amalgam of perfectly framed, seemingly disconnected moments during a long shared night, give or take a time zone change or two.” (wiki)

ABENDLAND Trailer

---

imdb   /   review

1154 – The Mask (1994)

timespace coordinates: 1990’s Edge City

The Mask is a 1994 American superhero / screwball comedy directed by Charles Russell, produced by Bob Engelman, and written by Mike Werb, loosely based on the comic series of the same name published by Dark Horse Comics. The film stars Jim Carrey, Peter Greene, Amy Yasbeck, Peter Riegert, Richard Jeni, Ben Stein, Joely Fisher, and Cameron Diaz in her film debut.

It revolves around Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey), an unfortunate bank clerk who finds a magical mask that transforms him into a mischievous zoot-suited gangster.

The film was released on July 29, 1994, by New Line Cinema, becoming a critical and commercial success, grossing over $351 million over a $23 million budget. It cemented Carrey’s reputation as a dominant actor of the 1990s, and established Diaz long-term as a leading lady. (wiki)

imdb

1152 – Samsara (2011 documentary)

Samsara is a 2011 American non-narrative documentary film of international imagery directed by Ron Fricke and produced by Mark Magidson. Samsara was filmed over a period of five years in 25 different countries around the world.

The official website describes the film, “Expanding on the themes they developed in Baraka (1992) and Chronos (1985), Samsara explores the wonders of our world from the mundane to the miraculous, looking into the unfathomable reaches of humanity’s spirituality and the human experience. Neither a traditional documentary nor a travelogue, Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation.” (wiki)

imdb   /   fantasy_coffins   /   819 – Olivier de Sagazan

1151 – Captive State (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2019 / 2028 Chicago

Captive State is a 2019 American science fiction thriller film directed by Rupert Wyatt and co-written by Wyatt and Erica Beeney. The film stars John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors, Machine Gun Kelly, and Vera Farmiga, and follows a young man who participates in a conspiracy to rebel against an alien race that has invaded Earth, and enforced strict martial law on all humans. (wiki)

imdb

---

Chicago is the real star of the surprisingly powerful Captive State  – For those of us who love the city, more than just the plot is familiar in this sly takedown of gentrification and authoritarianism.  review by Dmitry Samarov

---

(Trivia) In one of the early shots of the Chicago skyline the Ryugyong Hotel was added. The Ryugyong Hotel isn’t in Chicago, it’s in Pyongyang, North Korea. It was started in 1987 and still sits unfinished. It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest unused building.

1149 – LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS (TV series 2019– )

Love, Death & Robots (stylized as LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS) is an American adult animated anthology web television series on Netflix.  The 18-episode first season was released on March 15, 2019. The series is produced by Joshua Donen, David Fincher, Jennifer Miller, and Tim Miller. Each episode was animated by different crews from a range of countries. The series is a re-imagining of Fincher and Miller’s long in-development reboot of the 1981 animated science fiction film Heavy Metal. 

The cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Topher Grace, Gary Cole, Samira Wiley and Stefan Kapičić, with Grace and Winstead appearing in live-action roles, rather than animated.

In March 2019, Netflix revealed that it was experimenting with a new approach by including a different order of episodes to different users.  (*four unique episode orders, released to users at random.) (wiki)

imdb

1147 – Captain Fantastic (2016)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Washington wildernes / New Mexico

Captain Fantastic is a 2016 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Matt Ross and starring Viggo Mortensen. The story centers on a family that is forced by circumstances to reintegrate into society after living in isolation for a decade.

[plot] Ben Cash and his wife Leslie and their six children live in the Washington wilderness. Ben and Leslie are former anarchist activists disillusioned with capitalism and American life, and chose to instill survivalist skills, left wing politics, and philosophy in their children – educating them to think critically, training them to be self-reliant, physically fit and athletic, guiding them without technology, demonstrating the beauty of coexisting with nature and celebrating Noam Chomsky‘s birthday instead of Christmas… (read more – wiki)

imdb