documentary, movies

130 – Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)

jodorowskys_dune_1

Jodorowsky’s Dune is a 2013 American-French documentary film directed by Frank Pavich. The film explores cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s unsuccessful attempt to adapt and film Frank Herbert‘s 1965 science fiction novel Dune in the mid-1970s.

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave Jodorowsky’s Dune a 98% “Certified Fresh” rating based on reviews from 108 critics. The site’s consensus states: “Part thoughtful tribute, part bittersweet reminder of a missed opportunity, Jodorowsky’s Dune offers a fascinating look at a lost sci-fi legend.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935156/

 

movies

121 – A Field in England (2013)

spacetime coordinates: 1648 England

A FIELD IN ENGLAND POSTER 1

A Field in England is a 2013 British historical psychological horror film directed by Ben Wheatley. The film, shot in black-and-white, is set during the mid-17th century English Civil War.

A FIELD IN ENGLAND POSTER 2
Alex Monzó

Wheatley became interested in the film’s historical setting of the English Civil War when he filmed a documentary about the Sealed Knot, a historical reenactment society. In his research, Wheatley also learned about the use of hallucinogens during the 17th century.

Variety reported that the film was described as “a psychedelic trip into magic and madness”. Wheatley said A Field in England combines “the more psychedelic elements” from his previous films Kill List and Sightseers and “weaves in our take on historical drama”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375574/

movies

0058 – Alexander (2004)

spacetime coordinates: 4th century BC Macedonia // India // Babylon // Arabia // Persian Empire // Battle of Gaugamela // Battle of Hydaspes

Alexander is a 2004 epic historical drama film based on the life of Alexander the Great. It was directed by Oliver Stone, with Colin Farrell in the title role.

The film was an original screenplay based in part on the book Alexander the Great, written in the 1970s by the University of Oxford historian Robin Lane Fox.

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movies

0025 – Enter the Void (2009)

spacetime coordinates: 2000’s Tokyo

Enter the Void is a 2009 English-language French drama film written and directed by Gaspar Noé and starring Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta (*Noé found Paz de la Huerta after holding auditions in New York City.”She had the profile for the character because she likes screaming, crying, showing herself naked—all the qualities for it.” Due to a desire that Linda and Oscar should be believable as siblings, Nathaniel Brown, a non-professional, was cast because of his resemblance to Huerta.:) and Cyril Roy.

Set in the neon-lit nightclub environments of Tokyo, the story follows Oscar, a young American drug dealer who gets shot by the police, but continues to watch subsequent events during an out-of-body experience. The film is shot from a first-person viewpoint, which often floats above the city streets, and occasionally features Oscar staring over his own shoulder as he recalls moments from his past. Noé labels the film a “psychedelic melodrama”.

Noé had tried various hallucinogens in his youth, and used those experiences as inspiration for the visual style. Later, when the director was already planning the film, he tried the psychoactive brew ayahuasca, in which the active substance is DMT. This was done in the Peruvian jungle, where the brew is legal due to its traditional use as an entheogen. Noé described the experience as very intense, and said he regarded it “almost like professional research.” Since few on the design team had ever taken a hallucinogen, it was necessary for Noé to collect and provide visual references in the forms of paintings, photographs, music videos, and excerpts from films. One reference used was the works of biologist Ernst Haeckel, whose drawings influenced the organic patterns seen during Oscar’s visions. read more

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