678 – Blood Tea and Red String (2006)

Blood Tea and Red String is a stop-motion-animated feature film, directed by Christiane Cegavske. It was released on February 2, 2006 after a production time of 13 years, having been filmed in various places in the West Coast and in two studios. The musical score was composed and performed by Mark Growden. Cegavske says in the audio commentary to the DVD for this film that it is to be the first in a trilogy.

“A handmade stop-motion fairy tale for adults that tells the tale of the struggle between the aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Oak Dwellers over the doll of their heart’s desire.” imdb

664 – The Kingdom: How Fungi Made Our World (2018 Documentary)

Hidden from sight is a kingdom that rules life on land. It’s an alien world with the largest and oldest organisms alive today. It is the 5th Kingdom of fungi.   (cbc)

“When we think about the evolution of life on earth, what allowed plants to move out of the sea and to have roots for the first time is fungi. And it’s fungi that services those roots as plants crept from that edge into what we now think of as that normal place that we all live.” Rob Dunn

imdb   intro (youtube)

---

mushrooms-can-create-their-own-air-currents

forestfloornarrative

ome scientists believe that fungi might provide the answers to surviving climate change.

fungus hyphe web growing that stays mostly hidden (we only see the fruiting bodies) and live unlike plants consuming tissues

mushroom grow on every continent including Anatarctica

Dr. Anne Madden’s research has led to patent pending brewing technology, a newly discovered species, novel antibiotics, and a better understanding of the microorganisms in our world.

Helicon fungus growing on a twig

0663 – November (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 19th century Estonia

November is a 2017 Estonian fantasy drama film directed by Rainer Sarnet, based on Andrus Kivirähk‘s novel Rehepapp ehk November (Old Barny aka November).

“Sarnet’s earthbound fairy tale occupies a dreamscape somewhere between the teeming canvases of Brueghel and the existential agonies of Bela Tarr‘s films.” Sheri Linden

November – Official Trailer

imdb

0662 – Blueberry (2004)

spacetime coordinates: Wild West in the 1870s

Blueberry (French: Blueberry: L’expérience secrète) is a 2004 French acid western directed by Jan Kounen. It is an adaptation of the Franco-Belgian comic book series Blueberry, illustrated by Jean Giraud (better known as Moebius) and scripted by Jean-Michel Charlier. However, the film has little in common with the source material. The film starred Vincent Cassel as the title character along with Michael Madsen and Juliette Lewis. Although the film is a French production, the film is in English to match the story’s setting in America’s Wild West in the 1870s.

Jean Giraud, the illustrator of the original Blueberry comics, appears in a cameo role in the film, while Geoffrey Lewis, who had appeared in several spaghetti Westerns and his daughter Juliette Lewis play a father and daughter in the movie.

The movie features several elaborate psychedelic 3D computer graphics sequences as a means of portraying Blueberry’s shamanic experiences from his point of view. Jan Kounen, the director of the film, drew upon his extensive first hand knowledge of ayahuasca rituals in order to design the visuals for these sequences, Kounen having undergone the ceremony at least a hundred times  with Shipibo language speakers in Peru. An authentic Shipibo ayahuasca guide appears in the film and performs a sacred chant.

The film has managed to build a reputation as a cult success and as a trip film. Tetsuo Nagata‘s cinematography is also referred to as ‘sublime’. Tripzine noted the film has “the best, most accurate, most lovingly crafted shamanic rituals and psychedelic visuals ever created for home viewing”, and praised Blueberry’s uniqueness among westerns for having a climax that revolved around shamanic ritual rather than a gun battle. (wiki)

imdb

0660 – Rampage (2018)

spacetime coordinates: 2017 San Diego / Wyoming / Everglades > Chicago

Rampage is a 2018 American science fiction monster film directed by Brad Peyton, and loosely based on the video game series of the same name by Midway Games. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It follows a primatologist named Davis Okoye who must team up with George, an albino gorilla who turns into a raging creature of enormous size as a result of a rogue experiment, to stop two other mutated animals from destroying Chicago. It is the third collaboration between Peyton and Johnson, following Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) and San Andreas (2015). (wiki)

It is the all-time best reviewed film based on a video game, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

imdb

0645 – Here Alone (2016)

spacetime coordinates: New York’s upstate wilderness, one year after an airborne infection decimates the world’s population

Here Alone is a post-apocalyptic film directed by Rod Blackhurst. The film stars Lucy Walters, Gina Piersanti, Adam David Thompson and Shane West.

imdb

0644 – A Walk in the Woods (2015)

spacetime coordinates:  the Appalachian Trail (1990’s  ?)

A Walk in the Woods is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Ken Kwapis, based on the 1998 book/memoir of the same name by Bill Bryson. The film stars Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson. (wiki)

imdb