0412 – Loving Vincent (2017)

spacetime coordinates: Arles 1891

Loving Vincent is a 2017 animated biographical drama film about the life of painter Vincent van Gogh, and in particular, the circumstances of his death. It is the first fully painted animated feature film. The film, written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, was an international co-production between Poland and the United Kingdom. The development was funded by the Polish Film Institute, and partially through a Kickstarter campaign.

Each of the film’s 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 125 painters.

Rotten Tomatoes‘ consensus states: “Loving Vincent‘s dazzling visual achievements make this Van Gogh biopic well worth seeking out – even if its narrative is far less effectively composed.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3262342/

0409 – First They Killed My Father (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 1975 – 1979  Cambodia

First They Killed My Father (Khmer: មុនដំបូងខ្មែរក្រហមសម្លាប់ប៉ារបស់ខ្ញុំ Moun dambaung Khmer Krahm samleab ba robsa khnhom) is a 2017 biographical historical thriller film directed by Angelina Jolie and written by Jolie and Loung Ung, based on Ung’s memoir of the same name. Set in 1975, the film depicts 7-year-old Ung who is forced to be trained as a child soldier while her siblings are sent to labor camps during the Socialist Khmer Rouge regime.

Cambodian genocide   //   Khmer Rouge Killing Fields

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4882376/

0400 – Blade Runner

spacetime coordinates:  Los Angeles 2019 // 2049

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner   imdb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_2049   imdb

cityscapes:

Blade Runner (1982) Directed by Ridley Scott Shown: Futuristic Los Angeles

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

0388 – Troy (2004)

spacetime coordinates:  late 12th Century BC –  ancient Greece

Troy is a 2004 epic period war film written by David Benioff and directed by Wolfgang Petersen.  The film features an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom. It is loosely based on Homer‘s Iliad in its narration of the entire story of the decade-long Trojan War—condensed into little more than a couple of weeks, rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year. Achilles leads his Myrmidons along with the rest of the Greek army invading the historical city of Troy, defended by Hector’s Trojan army. The end of the film (the sack of Troy) is not taken from the Iliad, but rather from Homer‘s Odyssey as the Iliad concludes with Hector’s death and funeral.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332452/

387 – I Served the King of England (2006)

spacetime coordinates: Czechoslovakia, 1963 >> 1930’s – 1940’s  Prague

I Served the King of England (Czech: Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále) is a 2006 comedy film written and directed by Czech New Wave master Jiří Menzel, based on the novel I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal. It is Menzel’s sixth adaptation of the works of Hrabal for film.

“A look at the glamorous life at an old-world Prague hotel.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284363/