270 – Die Päpstin (2009)

spacetime coordinates:  9th century
Ingelheim am Rhein – the cathedral school in Dorestad – the Fulda monastery of Benedictines – Rome 

Pope Joan (German: Die Päpstin) is an international epic film produced by Bernd Eichinger, based on American novelist Donna Woolfolk Cross‘ novel of the same name about the legendary Pope Joan. Directed by Sönke Wortmann, it stars Johanna Wokalek as Joan, David Wenham as Gerold, her lover, and John Goodman as Pope Sergius II.

The popular story of the ‘female Pope’ that has become widespread since the Middle Ages and thereafter. Pope Joan has been mentioned in works that were released several centuries after her supposed reign. Most modern scholars have dismissed the stories as fictional, due to lack of contemporary documentation, and the debunking of indirect evidence. Many theories abound that the lack of evidence is the result of successful attempts by the Catholic Church to erase Joan’s existence from history. The matter therefore remains controversial.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458455/

0269 – A Taxi Driver // Taeksi Woonjunsa (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 1980  Gwangju / Seoul

A Taxi Driver (Hangul: 택시운전사; Hanja: 택시運轉士; RR: Taeksi Unjeonsa) is a 2017 South Korean historical action drama film directed by Jang Hoon, with Song Kang-ho starring in the title role, alongside Thomas Kretschmann.

A taxi driver from Seoul, accidentally gets involved in a German journalist’s reporting of the events of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, also called the Gwangju Uprising, in 1980.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6878038/

0265 – American Pastoral (2016)

spacetime coordinates: 1960s  New Jersey

American Pastoral is a 2016 Hong Kong | USA crime-drama film directed by Ewan McGregor and written by John Romano, based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Philip Roth.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376479/

261 – The Keeping Room (2014)

spacetime coordinates: the american south, 1865

The Keeping Room is a 2014 American  western | thriller film directed by Daniel Barber and written by Julia Hart. The film stars Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Muna Otaru, Sam Worthington, Amy Nuttall, and Ned Dennehy.

Left without men in the dying days of the American Civil War, three Southern women—two white sisters and one African-American slave—must fight to defend their home and themselves from two rogue soldiers who have broken off from the fast-approaching Union Army.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2488778/

260 – Public Enemies (2009)

spacetime coordinates:  1930s Chicago, Indiana, Wisconsin,  Arizona

Public Enemies is a 2009 American biographical mob drama film directed by Michael Mann and written by Mann, Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman. It is an adaptation of Bryan Burrough‘s non-fiction book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. Set during the Great Depression, the film chronicles the final years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) as he is pursued by FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), Dillinger’s relationship with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), as well as Purvis’ pursuit of Dillinger’s associates and fellow criminals Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham).

Burrough originally intended to make a television miniseries about the Depression-era crime wave in the United States, but decided to write a book on the subject instead. Mann developed the project, and some scenes were filmed on location where certain events depicted in the film occurred, though the film is not entirely historically accurate.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152836/

0259 – Zodiac (2007)

spacetime coordinates: 1969 > 1978 San Francisco

Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by James Vanderbilt is based on the 1986 non-fiction book of the same name by Robert Graysmith. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr.. _______ Zodiac tells the story of the manhunt for a notorious serial killer who called himself the “Zodiac” and killed in and around the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, leaving several victims in his wake and taunting police with letters, blood stained clothing, and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The cases remain one of the United States’ most infamous unsolved crimes.

Fincher, Vanderbilt and producer Bradley J. Fischer spent 18 months conducting their own investigation and research into the Zodiac murders. Fincher employed the digital Thomson Viper Filmstream camera to photograph most of the film with traditional high-speed film cameras used for slow-motion murder sequences.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706/

258 – Westworld (TV Series 2016– )

Westworld is an American science fiction western thriller television series created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy for HBO. It is based on the 1973 film of the same name, which was written and directed by American novelist Michael Crichton, and to a lesser extent on the 1976 sequel Futureworld. It is the second TV series based on the two films, the first being the short-lived 1980 series Beyond Westworld. Nolan and Joy serve as executive producers along with J. J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk, with Nolan directing the pilot. The first season premiered on October 2, 2016, concluded on December 4, 2016, and consisted of ten episodes.  In November 2016, HBO renewed the show for a ten-episode second season, planned for a debut in early 2018.

The story takes place in the fictional Westworld, a technologically advanced Wild West-themed amusement park populated by android hosts. Westworld caters to high-paying guests, who may indulge in whatever they wish within the park, without fear of retaliation from the hosts.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475784/