documentary, manga, movies, Uncategorized

1201 – Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

timespace coordinates: equatorial South America – Iron City – 2563, 300 years after Earth is devastated by a catastrophic interplanetary war known as “The Fall”

Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk science fiction action film based on the 1990s Japanese manga series Gunnm (known as Battle Angel Alita in the English translation) by Yukito Kishiro. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film is co-produced by James Cameron and written by Cameron and Laeta KalogridisRosa Salazar stars as the titular heroine Alita, an amnesiac cyborg girl who sets out to learn about her destiny after she awakens in a new body with no past memory of who she is. Christoph WaltzJennifer ConnellyMahershala AliEd SkreinJackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson also star in supporting roles. \scored by Junkie XL\ (wiki)



The post-apocalyptic architecture in sci-fi blockbuster Alita: Battle Angel is a diverse fusion of Panama’s vibrant ruins and Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City, say its creators. (dezeen)

City of Imagination: Kowloon Walled City 20 Years Later

games, Uncategorized

1199 – What Remains of Edith Finch (2017 video game)

Winner of Best Game at the 2018 BAFTA Game Awards, as well as Best Narrative awards at the GDC 2018 Choice Awards, 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards, and The Game Awards 2017, What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of strange tales about a family in Washington state.

As Edith, you’ll explore the colossal Finch house, searching for stories as she explores her family history and tries to figure out why she’s the last one in her family left alive. Each story you find lets you experience the life of a new family member on the day of their death, with stories ranging from the distant past to the present day.

The gameplay and tone of the stories are as varied as the Finches themselves. The only constants are that each is played from a first-person perspective and that each story ends with that family member’s death.
Ultimately, it’s a game about what it feels like to be humbled and astonished by the vast and unknowable world around us.

Created by Giant Sparrow, the team behind the first-person painting game The Unfinished Swan.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSRequires a 64-bit processor and operating systemOS: Windows Vista SP2 64-bit or later / Processor: Intel i3 2125 3.30 GHz or later / Memory: 2 GB RAM / Graphics: GeForce GTX 750/AMD Radeon 7790 or later / Storage: 5 GB available space


http://edithfinch.com/   /   steam

books, quotes, Uncategorized

1171 – The Electronic Doppelganger: The Mystery of the Double in the Age of the Internet (Book by Rudolf Steiner / Andreas Neider 1917 – 2016)

“Large temptations will emanate from these machine-animals, produced by people themselves, and it will be the task of a spiritual science that explores the cosmos to ensure all these temptations do not exert any damaging influence on human beings.” —Rudolf Steiner 
In an increasingly digitized world, where both work and play are more and more taking place online and via screens, Rudolf Steiner’s dramatic statements from 1917 appear prophetic. Speaking of “intelligent machines” that would appear in the future, Steiner presents a broad context that illustrates the multitude of challenges human beings will face. If humanity and the Earth are to continue to evolve together with the cosmos, and not be cut off from it entirely, we will need to work consciously and spiritually to create a counterweight to such phenomena.
In the lectures gathered here, edited with commentary and notes by Andreas Neider, Rudolf Steiner addresses a topic that he was never to speak of again–the secret of the geographical, or ahrimanic, Doppelganger. The human nervous system houses an entity that does not belong to its constitution, he states. This is an ahrimanic being that enters the body shortly before birth and leaves at death, providing the basis for all electrical currents needed to process and coordinate sensory perceptions and react to them.
Based on his spiritual research, Steiner discusses this Doppelganger, or double, in the wider context of historic occult events relating to spirits of darkness. Specific brotherhoods seek to keep such knowledge to themselves to exert power and spread materialism. But this knowledge is critical, says Steiner, if the geographical Doppelganger and its challenges are to be understood.

the-electronic-doppelganger-1

goodreads   /   amazon


+

The Computer and the Incarnation of Ahriman

By David B. Black (online)

animation, movies, series, Uncategorized

1161 – Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)

timespace coordinates: the Pokémon universe,  Ryme City – a metropolis where humans and Pokémon live together as equals

Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a 2019 urban fantasy mystery film directed by Rob Letterman. Based on the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri and the 2016 video game Detective Pikachu, it was written by Letterman, Dan HernandezBenji Samit and Derek Connolly, from a story by Hernandez, Samit and Nicole Perlman. The film was produced by Legendary Pictures in association with Toho. It is the first live-action Pokemon film. Ryan Reynolds stars as the voice and facial motion capture of Pikachu, with Justice SmithKathryn NewtonSuki WaterhouseOmar ChaparroChris GeereKen Watanabe and Bill Nighy in live-action roles. (wiki)

imdb


The Pokémon universe is a fictional continuity construct that exists within the Pokémon media franchise, including stories and fictional works produced by The Pokémon CompanyNintendoGame Freak and Creatures, Inc. The concept of the Pokémon universe, in both the fictional works and the general nonfictional world of Pokémon, stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime which Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri enjoyed as a child.  Players of the video games are designated as Pokémon Trainers, and the two general goals (in most Pokémon games) for such Trainers are: to complete the Pokédex by collecting all of the available Pokémon species found in the fictional region where that game takes place; and to train a team of powerful Pokémon to compete against teams owned by other Trainers, and eventually become the strongest Trainer: the Pokémon Master. These themes of collecting, training, and battling are present in almost every version of the Pokémon franchise, including the video game series, the anime series, the manga series, the film series, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. (wiki)

movies

1155 – Hancock (2008)

timespace coordinates: 2000’s Los AngelesMV5BOTUyMTU4NTk4MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMjIwMDYyMjI@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,673,1000_AL_Hancock is a 2008 American superhero comedy film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will SmithCharlize Theron, and Jason Bateman. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock (Smith) from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars. Eventually one person he saves, Ray Embrey (Bateman), makes it his mission to change Hancock’s public image for the better. (wiki)

imdb

movies

1153 – Signs (2002)

timespace coordinates: 2001 isolated farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania

signs_2002_original_film_art_2000xSigns is a 2002 American science fiction horror film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Its story focuses on a former Episcopal priest named Graham Hess, played by Mel Gibson, who discovers a series of crop circles in his cornfield. Hess slowly discovers that the phenomenon is a result of extraterrestrial life. It also stars Joaquin PhoenixRory Culkin, and Abigail BreslinSigns explores the themes of faith, kinship, and extraterrestrials. (wiki)

imdb

movies

1147 – Captain Fantastic (2016)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Washington wildernes / New Mexico

Captain Fantastic is a 2016 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Matt Ross and starring Viggo Mortensen. The story centers on a family that is forced by circumstances to reintegrate into society after living in isolation for a decade.

[plotBen Cash and his wife Leslie and their six children live in the Washington wilderness. Ben and Leslie are former anarchist activists disillusioned with capitalism and American life, and chose to instill survivalist skills, left wing politics, and philosophy in their children – educating them to think critically, training them to be self-reliant, physically fit and athletic, guiding them without technology, demonstrating the beauty of coexisting with nature and celebrating Noam Chomsky‘s birthday instead of Christmas… (read morewiki)

imdb