movies, Uncategorized

1024 – The Golden Compass (2007)

timespace coordinates:  parallel universe – Victorian Jordan College in Oxford >  retrofuturistic London > experimental station Bolvanga – far North

The Golden Compass is a 2007 fantasy adventure film based on Northern Lights, the first novel in Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. Written and directed by Chris Weitz, it stars Nicole KidmanDakota Blue RichardsDaniel CraigSam ElliottEva Green, and Ian McKellen.

9781841593425The film depicts the adventures of Lyra Belacqua, an orphan living in a parallel universe where a dogmatic ruling power called the Magisterium opposes free inquiry. Children in that universe are being kidnapped by an unknown group called the Gobblers who are supported by the Magisterium. Lyra joins a tribe of sea-farers on a trip to the far North, the land of the armoured polar bears, in search of the missing children.

Before its release, the film received criticism from secularist organisations and fans of the His Dark Materials trilogy for the dilution of elements of the story which were critical of religion, as well as from some religious organisations for the source material’s anti-religious themes. The studio ordered significant changes late in post-production, which Weitz later called a “terrible” experience. Although the film’s visual effects won both a BAFTA and an Academy Award, critical reception was mixed and revenue lower than anticipated.  The film trilogy has not been continued, prompting actor Sam Elliott to blame censorship and the Catholic Church. (wiki)

Video game  The game was released prior to the film and features a slightly different sequence of events towards the end of the story, as well as additional footage at the end of the game not seen in the film. (playthrough)


Controversies   /  Cancelled sequels 

imdb   /   His Dark Materials (TV Series 2019– )


1754 – La Belle Sauvage (2017 novel)

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


animation, movies, Uncategorized

1011 – The House That Jack Built (2018)

timespace coordinates:  1970s and 1980s  Washington.

!extreme violence!

THTJB-AlternatePosterThe-House-That-Jack-Built-Movie-Poster-LarsThe House That Jack Built is a 2018 psychological horror art film written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Matt Dillon in the title role of Jack. The story follows Jack, a serial killer, over the course of 12 years in the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S. state of Washington. The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, marking von Trier’s return to the festival after more than six years. (wiki)

The shot of Jack and Verge standing in a boat strongly resembles the painting “La Barque de Dante” by Eugène Delacroix, which was in itself influenced by “The Raft of the Medusa” (Le Radeau de La Méduse) by Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault. (read more: trivia)

von Trier described the film as celebrating “the idea that life is evil and soulless”.

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

movies

1001 – T-34 (2018)

timespace coordinates: 1944 GermanyRussia

T-34 is a 2019 Russian war film directed by Aleksey Sidorov.  It stars Alexander Petrov as Nikolay Ivushkin, with Irina Starshenbaum, Viktor Dobronravov and Vinzenz Kiefer. The T-34 is a World War II-era Soviet medium tank used during the invasion of the Soviet Union.

imdb   /   165

animation, series

0996 – Fargo (TV Series 2014– )

Fargo is an American black comedy–crime drama anthology television series created and primarily written by Noah Hawley. The show is inspired by the eponymous 1996 film written and directed by the Coen brothers, who serve as executive producers on the series alongside Hawley. The series premiered on April 15, 2014, on FX, and follows an anthology format, with each season set in a different era, and with a different story and mostly new characters and cast, although there is minor overlap. Each season shares a common chronology with the original film. (wiki)

(season 1)

timespace coordinates:  2006 –  Bemidji, Minnesota /  Duluth

e55d57d57f68fa06a7b6947b722fcdca


(season 2)

timespace coordinates: Upper Midwest in March 1979 (Dakota Territory / Luverne,_Minnesota)

fargo_ver3_xlg


(season 3)

timespace coordinates: December 2010 and March 2011, in three Minnesota towns: St. CloudEden Valley, and Eden Prairie,

75509c185cef92f20131c18c087fa24d


(season 4)


imdb   /   fandom

movies

0983 – The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot (2019)

The year is 1987. Calvin Barr (a too-great-for-words Sam Elliott) is not a violent man. But he is more than capable of violence if sufficiently provoked. What many don’t realize about the thoughtful, elderly bloke regularly seen at the neighbourhood tavern is that he’s a legendary WW2 veteran who many years ago assassinated Adolf Hitler, an incredible secret that he’s frustratingly unable to share. One day, just as he’s coming to terms with rounding out his life, Calvin gets a visit from the FBI and the RCMP. They know what he’s done, and what he can be capable of. They have a mission for him. After discovering that it harbours a disease capable of eradicating humanity… they need him to take out Bigfoot.

MV5BMTg2NzI4NjY1Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjUxOTc3NTM@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,679,1000_AL_

A wondrous feature debut from writer/director Robert D. Krzykowski, featuring visual effects by celebrated two-time Academy Award Winner Douglas Trumbull (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEYBLADE RUNNER), who also co-produced alongside the great John Sayles and Lucky McKee, and a supporting cast that includes Aidan Turner (THE HOBBIT trilogy), Caitlin FitzGerald (ALWAYS SHINE), Ron Livingston (THE CONJURING), Sean Bridgers (ROOM) and Rizwan Manji (PATERSON), this is one special film. A fantastical discourse on the melancholia of old age and a singular blast of entertaining wit, THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT bubbles with imagination and poignancy. It’s a work that stands as staunchly alone as the weather-beaten hero at its core. It will bowl you over like a forgotten beast deep in the Northern wilderness. Mitch Davis //fantasiafestival

81-+UBBOP4L._SL1500_

imdb

movies

0981 – Defiance (2008)

timespace coordinates: the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany

MV5BZjEyYjk4ZDQtZDhjMi00NGFkLWExM2UtZjgyMDMxODgwNjgyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTA4NzY1MzY@._V1_

Defiance is a 2008 American war film directed by Edward Zwick set during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The screenplay by Clayton Frohman and Zwick was based on Nechama Tec‘s 1993 book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, an account of the Bielski partisans, a group led by Belarusian Jewish brothers who saved and recruited Jews in Belarus during the Second World War. The film stars Daniel Craig as Tuvia BielskiLiev Schreiber as Zus BielskiJamie Bell as Asael Bielski, and George MacKay as Aron Bielski. (wiki)

imdb