0445 – The Promise (2016)

spacetime coordinates:  1915  small Armenian village of Sirun in the southeast part of the Ottoman Empire >  Constantinople / Istanbul,  Taurus mountains

The Promise is a 2016 American historical drama film directed by Terry George and starring Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale, set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. The entire budget  for the film was donated by American businessman of Armenian origin Kirk Kerkorian.

Ara Sarafian, director of the Gomidas Institute in London and a leading historian of the Armenian Genocide, praised the film for its historical accuracy. “The key themes were historically accurate,” he said. “The producers did not take license to go beyond the historical material at hand yet they managed to capture much of the enormity of the Armenian genocide.” Sarafian also commended director Terry George for his “well balanced and creditworthy” sense of history.

IMDb pre-release voting controversy

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4776998/

438 – garbage planet Sakaar

Marvel Studios Thor: Ragnarok BTS on set Photo: Jasin Boland ©Marvel Studios 2017

Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe Gallery of Modern Art Level 1 galleries installation view

423 – Phoenix (2015)

“Phoenix” is a no-budget short film production from Germany. It´s an homage to classic science fiction like “Brave New World” and “Fahrenheit 451” Directed by Florian Frerichs filmed in April 2014 in Berlin with mostly family and friends.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3654580/

417

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6857848/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1634897/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5315074/

0402 – Drowning by Numbers (1988)

Drowning by Numbers is a 1988 British-Dutch film directed by Peter Greenaway.

The film’s plot centres on three married women — a grandmother, her daughter, and her niece — each named Cissie Colpitts. As the story progresses, each woman successively drowns her husband. The three Cissie Colpittses are played by Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson, while Bernard Hill plays the coroner, Madgett, who is cajoled into covering up the three crimes.

The structure, with similar stories repeated three times, is reminiscent of a fairy tale, most specifically ‘The Billy Goats Gruff‘, because Madgett is constantly promised greater rewards as he tries his luck with each of the Cissies in turn. The link to folklore is further established by Madgett’s son Smut, who recites the rules of various unusual games played by the characters as if they were ancient traditions. Many of these games are invented for the film, including:

• Bees in the Trees
• Dawn Card Castles
• Deadman’s Catch
• Flights of Fancy (or Reverse Strip Jump)
• The Great Death Game
• Hangman’s Cricket
• The Hare and Hounds
• Sheep and Tides

In Drowning by Numbers, number-counting, the rules of games and the repetitions of the plot are all devices which emphasise structure and symmetry. Through the course of the film each of the numbers 1 to 100 appear, the large majority in sequence, often seen in the background, sometimes spoken by the characters. 

The film is set and was shot in and around Southwold, Suffolk, England, with key landmarks such as the Victorian water tower, Southwold Lighthouse, and the estuary of the River Blyth clearly identifiable.

Music

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092929/

0395 – Angel’s Egg (1985)

Angel’s Egg (天使のたまご Tenshi no Tamago) is a Japanese OVA film released by Tokuma Shoten on 15 December 1985. It was a collaboration between popular artist Yoshitaka Amano and director Mamoru Oshii. It features very little spoken dialogue. Its sparse plot and visual style have led to it being described as “animated art rather than a story”.

Prior to the production on Angel’s Egg, Mamoru Oshii lost his faith in Christianity. Senses of Cinema opined that the film “seems informed by the existential desperation caused by the collapse of one’s belief system”; Oshii himself has stated he does not know what the film is about.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208502/

Is Angel’s Egg an Overlooked Masterpiece? – Analyzed and Explained

0392 – Dead Leaves (デッド リーブス Deddo Rībusu) – 2004

Dead Leaves (デッド リーブス Deddo Rībusu) is a 2004 Japanese anime science fiction film produced by animation studio Production I.G.  It is directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi. It is notable for its fast pace and energetic visual style. :p

Retro and Pandy, two unlikely renegades, awaken naked on Earth with no recollection of their past, but with superior physical abilities. After embarking on a brief but devastating crime spree for food, clothing and transportation in downtown Tokyo, they are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous prison called Dead Leaves, on the half destroyed moon…

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439533/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Leaves