movies

0111 – Season of the Witch (2011)

spacetime coordinates:  Villach in the year 1235 // 14th-century Holy Roman Empire// Styria // Wormwood forest

season_of_the_witch__2011__poster_by_a_jaded_smithy-d9w35mfSeason of the Witch is a 2011 American fantasy adventure film directed by Dominic Sena. starring Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman and Claire Foy. The film draws inspiration from the 1957 film The Seventh Seal.

In the 14th century, Teutonic Knights Behmen von Bleibruck (Cage) and Felson (Perlman) are engaged on a crusade, taking part in several different battles throughout the 1330’s (1332 Gulf of Edremit, 1334 Siege of Tripoli, 1337 Imbros & 1339 Artah) and eventually in the Smyrniote crusades. After witnessing the massacre of civilians during the 1344 capture of Smyrna, the two knights desert the Order and the crusade and return to Austria.

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Wormwood, the name of the forest where blood is shed, is also the name of a destructive entity in the Bible. This entity, a star whose name also translates as Bitterness, appears to cause widespread illness. According to Revelation 8:10-11, “The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water–the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”


‘Season of the Witch’ Trailer HD


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movies

0095 – Valhalla Rising (2009)

spacetime coordinates: Scottish Highlands around the year 1096

valhalla-rising-poster

Valhalla Rising is a 2009 English-language Danish adventure drama film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and starring Mads Mikkelsen. in writing the script Nicolas Winding Refn was responsible for the spiritual, metaphysical and plot related part while Roy Jacobsen was responsible for all the Norse mythological, viking and historical themes due to his extensive knowledge about vikings and Norse paganism.

The film follows a Norse warrior named One-Eye and a boy as they travel with a band of Christian Crusaders by ship in the hopes of finding the Holy Land.

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animation, documentary, quotes

0091 – In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)

spacetime coordinates: 1892–1973 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. 

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In the Realms of the Unreal is a 2004 documentary film directed by Jessica Yu about American outsider artist Henry Darger.

An obscure janitor during his life, Darger is known for the posthumous discovery of his elaborate 15,145-page fantasy manuscript entitled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, along with several hundred watercolor paintings and other drawings illustrating the story.

The film’s style is atypical of a documentary. Because there are only three known photographs of Darger, and because of his reclusive lifestyle, the film is mostly a narrated biographical account, accompanied by animated versions of events from his magnum opus, which is also surveyed in detail. Interviews with his few neighbors and other acquaintances are included.

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In the last entry in his diary, he wrote: “January 1, 1971. I had a very poor nothing like Christmas. Never had a good Christmas all my life, nor a good new year, and now… I am very bitter but fortunately not revengeful, though I feel should be how I am…”


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series

0082 – Stranger Things TV Series (2016–)

spacetime coordinates: Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s

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Stranger Things is an American science fiction-horror web television series created, written, directed and co-executive produced by the Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers developed the series as a mix of investigative drama alongside supernatural elements with childlike sensibilities, establishing its time frame in the 1980s and creating a homage to pop culture of that decade. Several themes and directorial aspects were inspired and aesthetically informed by the works of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, and Stephen King, among others.

stranger things

The official poster for the series was created by Kyle Lambert. It was done in an art style inspired by acclaimed poster/album artwork artist Drew Struzan, who has created official posters for Star Wars (1977), “Indiana Jones,” Back to the Future (1985), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and several others.

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Commentary

imdb   /  wiki

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demogorgon (phantom demon)

movies

074 – Liza, the Fox-Fairy (2015)

spacetime coordinates: 1970s capitalist Hungary (Csudapest)

MV5BZmQyYTdkNzMtYWVjMS00MWRmLTgzYjktZGY2NmY4OTZmMGExXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxODk2OTU@._V1_Liza, the Fox-Fairy (Hungarian: Liza, a rókatündér) is a 2015 Hungarian black comedy film directed by Károly Ujj Mészáros, starring Mónika Balsai, Szabolcs Bede-Fazekas and David Sakurai.

The film is based on the play Liselotte és a május by Zsolt Pozsgai. The Japanese theme was added by Mészáros, who was fascinated by Japanese culture, especially pop music from the 1960s and 1970s. He was also attracted by similarities between Japanese and Hungarian traditions.

fox-fairy, demon from Japanese mythology


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animation, quotes

0071 – Wonderful Days (2003)

spacetime coordinates: AD 2142, Ecoban / Thera / The island of Gibraltar

Wonderful Days (also known as Sky Blue) is a South Korean animated science fiction film, released in 2003, written and directed by Kim Moon-saeng. The film deals with environmental destruction, pollution and class struggle.

wonderful-days

Wonderful Days is set in 2142. Environmental pollution has led to a breakdown of human civilisation. A technologically advanced city named Ecoban was built and it harvests energy from the DELOS System, which uses pollution in a carbonite catalysed reaction to generate power. Carbonite extraction is carried out by people who live outside the city in the surrounding wasteland.

“I know that I shall meet my fate / Somewhere among the clouds above; / Those that I fight I do not hate, / Those that I guard I do not love; / Nor law, nor duty bade me fight, / Nor public men, nor cheering crowds, / A lonely impulse of delight / Drove to this tumult in the clouds; / I balanced all, brought all to mind, / The years to come seemed waste of breath, / A waste of breath the years behind / In balance with this life, this death.” (W B Yeats from the DVD cover)

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movies

0062 – Krabat / Krabat and the Legend of the Satanic Mill (2008)

spacetime coordinates: Europe after the Thirty Years’ War

krabat_poster

Krabat is a 2008 German fantasy film directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner from a screenplay by Michael Gutmann and Kreuzpaintner, based on Otfried Preußler‘s novel of the same name. The plot is about a boy, Krabat (played by David Kross), who learns black magic from a sorcerer (played by Christian Redl).

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