movies

1514 – Fantasy Island (2020)

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Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island (or simply Fantasy Island) is a 2020 American  adventure / fantasy / supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Jeff Wadlow.  A horror re-imagination and prequel to ABC‘s 1977 television series of the same name, it stars Michael PeñaMaggie QLucy HaleAustin StowellPortia DoubledayJimmy O. YangRyan Hansen, and Michael Rooker. The plot follows five people who visit the eponymous island, discovering that their dream fantasies brought to life begin to turn into horrific living nightmares they must try to survive. (wiki)

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movies

1508 – Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

spacetime coordinates: 2019 New Hampshire / Jumanji

Jumanji: The Next Level is a 2019 American fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan. It is a sequel to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, is the second follow-up to 1995’s Jumanji, and is the fourth installment in the Jumanji franchise. It stars Dwayne JohnsonJack BlackKevin HartKaren GillanNick JonasAlex WolffMorgan TurnerSer’Darius Blain, and Madison Iseman reprising their roles from the previous film, while AwkwafinaRory McCannDanny Glover, and Danny DeVito also join the cast. (wiki)

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series

1507 – The Witcher (TV Series 2019– )

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The Witcher is a Polish-American fantasy drama series produced by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. It is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski.

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Set on a fictional, medieval-inspired landmass known as “the Continent”, The Witcher explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia and princess Ciri, who are linked by destiny to each other. It stars Henry CavillFreya Allan and Anya Chalotra. The show initially follows the three main protagonists at different points of time, exploring formative events that shaped their characters, before eventually merging into a single timeline.

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The first season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on Netflix in its entirety on December 20, 2019. It is based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, which are collections of short stories that precede the main Witcher saga. Before the first season had been released, Netflix announced a second eight-episode season, to be released in 2021; production was scheduled to commence in London in early 2020.

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In January 2020, Netflix announced an animated spin-off film titled The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, focusing on the origin story of Geralt’s mentor and fellow witcher Vesemir. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and Beau DeMayo are working on the film, with production by Studio Mir.[ (wiki)

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series

1497 – Ragnarok (TV Series 2020–)

timespace coordinates: 2020’s fictional Norwegian town of Edda in Western Norway

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Ragnarok is a Norwegian-language fantasy drama from Netflix that premiered on 31 January 2020. The series is produced by the Danish production company SAM Productions. The show has been renewed for a second season. 

The show takes place in the fictional town of Edda which is plagued by climate change and the industrial pollution caused by the factories owned by the local Jutul family, the fifth-richest family in Norway. The Jutuls are actually four Jötunn, frost giants and giantesses posing as a family in Edda. They are challenged by Magne, a teenage boy who is surprised to learn that he is the embodiment of Thor and begins the fight against those that are destroying the planet.

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The story draws inspiration from Norse mythology. (wiki)

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animation, documentary

1491 – Worlds of Ursula K. LeGuin (2018)

a documentary by Arwen Curry

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin is a feature documentary exploring the remarkable life and legacy of the late feminist author Ursula K. Le Guin. Best known for groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy works such as A Wizard of Earthsea, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Dispossessed, Le Guin defiantly held her ground on the margin of “respectable” literature until the sheer excellence of her work, at long last, forced the mainstream to embrace fantastic literature. Her fascinating story has never before been captured on film.

Produced with Le Guin’s participation over the course of a decade, Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin is a journey through the writer’s career and her worlds, both real and fantastic. Viewers will join the writer on an intimate journey of self-discovery as she comes into her own as a major feminist author, opening new doors for the imagination and inspiring generations of women and other marginalized writers along the way. The film features stunning animation and reflections by literary luminaries including Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Michael Chabon, and more.

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, California Humanities, the Berkeley Film Foundation etc (description taken from the original website of the documentary)

The documentary is truly one of the best I have seen dedicated to an author, the more to such an incredible and inspiring one such as Ursula K LeGuin. Take some time to explore her website https://www.ursulakleguin.com/

One of the best documentaries about Sci-Fi indeed and one to carefully and attentively thread along and listen to one of its most cherished authors. It wanders elegantly from personal life, the landscapes that shaped her novels, the childhood memories, her rise and response in Sci-fi fandom and canon, her relation, acknowledgment and understanding of the first nation people genocide in the Americas and in particular her knowledge of indigenous peoples of California.

It also combines some really great animation work that blends in very well with her world building. There are in fact very few movies based on her actual work.

To her previous mentioned works I would like to add The Lathe of Heaven about dreaming and the universe (also a movie) and the wonderful short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Also mentioned in the documentary is her 1985 experimental work Always Returning Home written and situated in the Napa Valley, a speculative anthropology works and tapes made by a future ethnographer and anthropologist Pandora with the rituals, the musical instruments, chants and language of a post-apocalyptic people named the Kesh, a sort of anarcho-primitivist tribe that combines elements of hunterer-gatherers, agricultural and industrial civilization while rejecting city building.

games

1463 – Grim Dawn (2016 video game)

timespace coordinates: Cairn, a dark, war-torn world (loosely based on the Victorian era) where a once proud empire has been brought to ruin and the human race driven to the edge of extinction. Cairn has become ground zero of an eternal war between two otherworldly powers, the Aetherials and Chthonians, one seeking to use human bodies as a resource, the other intent upon destroying the human race before that can happen.

Enter an apocalyptic fantasy world where humanity is on the brink of extinction, iron is valued above gold and trust is hard earned. This Isometric Hack and slash ARPG features complex character development, hundreds of unique items, crafting and quests with choice & consequence. (steam)

Crate Entertainment is a small indie studio founded by the lead gameplay designer of Titan Quest and includes veterans from such companies as Blizzard North, Irrational and Harmonix.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM): OS: Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10 / Processor: x86 compatible 2.3GHz or faster processor (Intel 2nd generation core i-series or equivalent) / Memory: 2 GB RAM / Graphics: 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series or ATI Radeon X800 series or better / DirectX: Version 9.0c / Storage: 5 GB available space / Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card / Additional Notes: 4GB of memory is required to host multiplayer games

movies

1453 – Doctor Sleep (2019)

timespace coordinates: 1980 > 2011 > 2019  Florida > New Hampshire > Colorado

img_20191102_085705Doctor Sleep (sometimes referred to as Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep) is a 2019 American horror film based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Stephen King, a sequel to King’s 1977 novel The Shining. The film, which also serves as a sequel to the film adaptation of The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is set several decades after the events of the original and combines elements of the 1977 novel as well.

Doctor Sleep is written, directed, and edited by Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House). It stars Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance, a man with psychic abilities who struggles with childhood trauma. Rebecca FergusonKyliegh Curran, and Cliff Curtis have supporting roles.

Stephen King felt that the elements of Kubrick’s film that he disliked were “redeemed” for him in Doctor Sleep.

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Connections to The Shining novel and film

Themes

Possible future

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