1384 – Freaks (2018)

Freaks is a 2018 American-Canadian science fiction thriller film directed, written and produced by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein. It stars Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Grace Park, Amanda Crew, and Lexy Kolker, who was seven years old at the time of filming.

The film tells the story of a 7-year-old girl named Chloe (Kolker) who is locked in an abandoned house by her disturbed father (Hirsch). The mysterious Mr. Snowcone (Dern) convinces her to escape for his own suspicious reasons. (wiki)

A promotional poster for the film features a street sign with a one eye logo and a phone number to call to report “abnormal activity”. The number is 1-800-517-5890 and when called, a recorded message with a woman’s voice would say, “Thank you for calling the abnormal defense hotline, provided by the Department of Homeland Security.” The recorded message at first urged others to be on the lookout for “freaks” and it said that you can leave a message to report any abnormal activity from freaks. A few days later, the recorded message was changed to warn others to stay away from an upcoming San Diego Comic Con “free underground prescreening of Freaks” on July 18, 2019.

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1377 – Indie Game: The Movie (2012)

Indie Game: The Movie is a 2012 documentary film made by Canadian filmmakers Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky. The film is about the struggles of independent game developers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes during the development of Super Meat Boy, Phil Fish during the development of Fez, and also Jonathan Blow, who reflects on the success of Braid.

After two successful Kickstarter funds, interviews were conducted with prominent indie developers within the community. After recording over 300 hours of footage, Swirsky and Pajot decided to cut the movie down to follow the four developers selected. Their reasoning behind this was to show game development in the “past, present and future” tenses through each individual’s story. (wiki)

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1372 – Society (1989)

timespace coordinates: 1980’s Beverly Hills, California

Society is a 1989 American body horror film directed by Brian Yuzna, and starring Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Evan Richards, and Ben Meyerson. Its plot follows a Beverly Hills teenager who finds his wealthy parents are part of a gruesome cult for the social elite.

Though the film was completed in 1989, it was not released until 1992. It was Yuzna’s directorial debut and was written by Rick Fry and Woody Keith. Screaming Mad George was responsible for the special effects.

Scottish comic book company Rough Cut Comics acquired the comic book rights to Society in 2002, producing an official sequel. The comic book series returned in 2003 with Society: Party Animal by writer Colin Barr and artists Shelby Robertson (issue 1) and Neill Cameron (issue 2). (wiki)

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1369 – Ready or Not (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Massachusetts

Ready or Not is a 2019 American black comedy supernatural horror thriller film film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The film stars Samara Weaving as a newlywed who becomes hunted by her spouse’s family as part of their wedding night ritual. Mark O’Brien portrays her husband, with Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, and Andie MacDowell as members of his family. (wiki)

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1360 -Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made (2017 Book by Jason Schreier)

Developing video games—hero’s journey or fool’s errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today’s hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it’s nothing short of miraculous.

Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it’s RPG studio Bioware‘s challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone‘s single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man’s vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart.

Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable. (goodreads)

1358 – The Fighting Preacher (2019)

timespace coordinates: Palmyra, New York 1915 – 1939

The Fighting Preacher is a 2019 drama film written and directed by T. C. Christensen. The film focuses on Willard Bean (David McConnell) and his wife, Rebecca (Cassidy Hubert), who are in involved in a 25-year missionary service in Palmyra, New York. The story of a boxer who became a Mormon preacher. He is posted to a town in New York, which had previously driven out the last Mormon preacher 80 years ago. (wiki)

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1356 -Batman & Bill (2017 documentary)

Batman & Bill is an American documentary film that premiered on Hulu on May 6, 2017. Directed, written and produced by Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce, explores the creation of the Batman, how Bob Kane was accepted as the sole creator, and how Bill Finger was never credited for his work despite creating the Batman mythos. (wiki)

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