series, Uncategorized

1815 – Tribes of Europa (TV Series 2021–)

timespace coordinates: 2074, Europe (after a global catastrophe that causes the continent to fracture into dystopian warring tribal microstates)

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Tribes of Europa is a German sci-fi television series created by Philip Koch that premiered on Netflix on 19 February 2021. Cast: Henriette Confurius as Liv, Emilio Sakraya as Kiano, David Ali Rashed as Elja, Melika Foroutan as Varvara, Oliver Masucci as Moses, Robert Finster as David, Benjamin Sadler as Jakob, Ana Ularu as Grieta. (wiki)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes   /   leifheanzo

animation, manga

1803 – Children of the Sea (2019)

Children of the Sea (Japanese: 海獣の子供, Hepburn: Kaijū no Kodomo) is a 2019 Japanese animated film directed by Ayumu Watanabe and produced by Eiko Tanaka, with animation production by Studio 4°C. It is based on the manga of the same title by Daisuke Igarashi, who also wrote the film’s screenplay.

It is Watanabe’s first theatrically released film since Space Brothers #0 (2014), and the first animated film adaptation of an Igarashi manga. The film stars the voices of Mana Ashida, Hiiro Ishibashi and Seishū Uragami. Set by and in the ocean and themed on the mysteries of life, it depicts the connections between humanity and nature. (wiki)


The “kaiju” in the Japanese title is the Japanese term for a marine mammal (“sea beast”), but is written with Japanese characters that mean literally “strange beast” (referring to monsters like Gojira (1954) and/or Mosura (1961)).

imdb

games, movies

1795 – Monster Hunter (2020)

timespace coordinates: the New World (where humans co-exist with a wide variety of large and savage monsters)

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Monster Hunter is a 2020 science fantasy action film produced, written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, based on the video game series of the same name by Capcom. The film stars Anderson’s wife Milla Jovovich in their fifth time working together as director and lead actor. The other cast members include Tony JaaTip “T. I.” HarrisMeagan GoodDiego BonetaJosh HelmanJin Au-Yeung, and Ron Perlman.

Anderson said that part of the film’s inspiration was based on a crossover event in the game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite in 2010, in which a military squad briefly faced monsters from the Monster Hunter series. (wiki)

Pre-production   /   imdb

books

1793 – The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2 – 2019)

timespace coordinates: – journey across Europe and the East The setting is a world dominated by the Magisterium, an international theocracy which actively suppresses heresy. In this world, humans’ souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of sapient “dæmons” in animal form which accompany, aid, and comfort their humans.

The Secret Commonwealth is a 2019 fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, the second volume of his planned trilogy The Book of Dust. The story is set twenty years or so after the events of La Belle Sauvage and ten years after the conclusion of the His Dark Materials trilogy.

Pullman took his title The Secret Commonwealth from a 17th century book of the same name by the Scottish clergyman Robert Kirk, about encounters of country folk with supernatural creatures. (wiki)

goodreads   /   jesussotes

animation

1792 – Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (2015)

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Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (Spanish: Psiconautas, los niños olvidados; festival title: Psychonauts, the Forgotten Children) is a 2015 Spanish animated drama-horror coming-of-age film written and directed by Alberto Vázquez and Pedro Rivero, based on the comic Psiconautas by Vázquez. It is the follow-up to the pair’s short film Birdboy, following the titular character, a shy outcast in a post-apocalyptic society, and Dinky, a teenage mouse runaway fleeing her desolate island home. (wiki)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes   /  albertovazquez.net/ 

movies

1780 – Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s remote Hayesville, Nevada

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Willy’s Wonderland is a 2021 American action comedy horror film directed by Kevin Lewis from a screenplay written by G. O. Parsons. The film stars Nicolas Cage, who also serves as producer, along with Emily TostaRic Reitz, Chris Warner, Kai Kadlec, Christian Del Grosso, Caylee Cowan, Terayle Hill, Jonathan Mercedes, David Sheftell, and Beth Grant. It follows a quiet drifter who is tricked into cleaning up an abandoned family entertainment center haunted by eight murderous animatronic characters. (wiki)

“At this point, Cage’s movies don’t have to be reviewed, but rather stamped with official certificates of weirdness.” Frank Scheck

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imdb   /   rottentomatoes   /   Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)   /   The Banana Splits Movie (2019)