animation, documentary, movies, Uncategorized

677 – My Winnipeg (2007)

timespace coordinates: 20th century SnowySleep-Walking Winnipeg

My Winnipeg is a 2007 film directed and written by Guy Maddin with dialogue by George Toles. Described by Maddin as a “docu-fantasia,” that melds “personal history, civic tragedy, and mystical hypothesizing,” the film is a surrealist mockumentary about Winnipeg, Maddin’s home town. A New York Times article described the film’s unconventional take on the documentary style by noting that it “skates along an icy edge between dreams and lucidity, fact and fiction, cinema and psychotherapy.”

Maddin also released a book titled My Winnipeg (Coach House Books, 2009). Maddin’s book contains the film’s narration as a main text surrounded by annotations, including outtakes, marginal notes and digressions, production stills, family photos, and miscellaneous material. The book contains a “Winnipeg Map” by artist Marcel Dzama featuring such fictional attractions as “The Giant Squid of the Red [River],” various poster designs for the film, and short articles about working with Maddin by Andy Smetanka, Darcy Fehr, and Caelum Vatnsdal. Maddin also includes an angry e-mail from an ex-girlfriend, collages and notebooks pages, and an X-ray of the dog Spanky from the film. The book also includes an interview with Maddin’s mother Herdis, conducted by Ann Savage, and an interview with Maddin conducted by Michael Ondaatje. Maddin’s publisher offers the book with or without a DVD of the film, distributed by Seville Pictures.

imdb

movies

669 – The Shining (US. version) (1980)

spacetime coordinates: 1921 – 1980  the isolated historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies.

The Shining is a 1980 horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. The film is based on Stephen King‘s 1977 novel of the same name.

Response_by_Stephen_King

Social_interpretations: Native_Americans

Ambiguities_in_the_film

Sequel      imdb

movies

0663 – November (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 19th century Estonia

November_Poster

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).

november 1

“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

games, Uncategorized

661 – West of Loathing (2017 video game)

spacetime coordinates: 1890’s   wild west

West of Loathing is a comedy adventure role-playing video game developed by Asymmetric Publications and released on 10 August 2017.

The game takes place in the universe of Asymmetric’s Kingdom of Loathing, in a Weird Western themed frontier setting. The player character leaves the family farm and heads west to seek their fortune on a trek to the city of Frisco. (wiki)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM) – OS: Windows XP SP2+ / Processor: 2.8 GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo or better / Memory: 2 GB RAM / Graphics: 512 MB / Storage: 4 GB available space

steam

animation

598 – Gatta Cenerentola / Cinderella the Cat (2017)

spacetime coordinates: future Naples

Cinderella the Cat (Italian: Gatta Cenerentola) is a 2017 Italian animated film directed by Alessandro Rak (who previously directed The Art of Happiness), Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri and Dario Sansone, loosely based on the Giambattista Basile‘s fable of the same name and Roberto De Simone’s musical La Gatta Cenerentola. The plot is set in a decaying future Naples and concerns a mysterious mute teenager called Mia, who struggles to escape from the Camorra boss Salvatore Lo Giusto and her vicious stepmother Angelica.

imdb

games

548 – The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014 video game)

spacetime coordinates: 1970s Red Creek Valley

Experience, in non/linear fashion, a story that combines the pleasures of pulp, private eye, and horror fiction, all of it inspired by writers such as Raymond Chandler, Algernon Blackwood, Stefan Grabinski, and H. P. Lovecraft.

maxresdefault1The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a 2014 horror adventure video game developed and published by The Astronauts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person story-driven mystery game that focuses entirely on exploration and discovery. Inspired by the weird fiction (and other tales of the macabre) from the early twentieth century, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter aims to significantly evolve immersive storytelling in games. While it features a private detective and quite a few mental challenges, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is not an especially puzzle-ridden game. Our focus is on atmosphere, mood, and the essential humanity of our characters.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM): OS: Windows 64-bit // Processor: Intel Core2 Duo or equivalent AMD // Memory: 6 GB RAM // Graphics: DirectX11 compliant card with 1GB of VRAM // DirectX: Version 11 // Storage: 9 GB available space // Sound Card: DirectX9c compliant

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Review

movies, quotes

0531 – The Awakening (2011)

spacetime coordinates: boys’ boarding school in Cumbria 1921

Maud Hill: There’s no place on earth people understand loneliness better than here.”

awakening_ver4

The Awakening is a 2011 British  supernatural thriller/ horror film directed and co-written by Nick Murphy, starring Rebecca HallDominic WestIsaac Hempstead-Wright and Imelda Staunton.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1687901/


Down a Dark Hall (2018)

spacetime coordinates: 2010’s  exclusive Blackwood Boarding School

imdb   /   rottentomatoes