0817 – Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds

timespace coordinates: 2010’s South Korea

Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (Hangul: 신과함께-죄와 벌; RR: Sin gwa Hamkke – Joe wa Beol; lit. “Together with God – Sin and Punishment”) is a 2017 South Korean action fantasy drama film directed by Kim Yong-hwa and based on a webtoon by Joo Ho-min, Along With the Gods. It stars Ha Jung-woo, Cha Tae-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon and Kim Hyang-gi.

The film was shot as one but presented in two parts. The first part, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (imdb) , was released on 20 December 2017.  The sequel, titled Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days (imdb), was released on August 1, 2018. 

In June 2018, it was announced that another two sequels are scheduled to be filmed in 2019. As of February 2018, Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds is the second most viewed film in South Korean film history.

0815 – Errementari (2017)

timespace coordinates: 1843, Basque Country

Based on a Basque folk tale, ”Patxi herrementaria,” collected by priest, archaeologist and anthropologist José Migel de Barandiarán, the story is set in the Basque region, in a universe inhabited by mythological diabolic creatures, battling to capture the souls of the unwitting.

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

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First Carlist War

0814 – Apostle (2018)

timespace coordinates: remote Welsh island, 1905

Apostle is a 2018 British-American period horror film written and directed by Gareth Evans and starring Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Milner, Kristine Froseth and Michael Sheen. (wiki)

“A drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.” (imdb)

0808 – Gravity (2013)

timespace coordinates: Earth orbit, mission STS-157 to service the Hubble Space Telescope in the not too distant past

Gravity is a 2013 science fiction thriller film directed, co-written, co-edited, and produced by Alfonso Cuarón. It stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as American astronauts who are stranded in space after the mid-orbit destruction of their space shuttle, and their subsequent attempt to return to Earth.

Visual effects company Framestore spent more than three years creating most of the film’s visual effects, which make up over 80 of its 91 minutes. (wiki)

Although Gravity is often referred to in the media as a science fiction film, Cuarón told BBC that he sees the film rather as “a drama of a woman in space”. According to him, the main theme of the film was “adversity” and he uses the debris as a metaphor for this. Despite being set in space, the film uses motifs from shipwreck and wilderness survival stories about psychological change and resilience in the aftermath of a catastrophe. (read more: Themes)

scientific accuracy

imdb

0784 – Mandy (2018)

timespace coordinates:  the primal wilderness of 1983

Mandy is a 2018 American action horror film directed by Panos Cosmatos and co-written by Cosmatos and Aaron Stewart-Ahn. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough. It is one of the last films scored by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. (wiki)

Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire. (rt)

 Mandy OST

imdb

0781 – Ignacio de Loyola (2016)

timespace coordinates: 1496 Azpeitia, Basque Country / 1521 Pamplona  / 1522, monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat, town of Manresa (Catalonia) / 1527 Salamanca

Ignacio de Loyola is a 2016 English-language Philippine historical biographical religious drama film directed by Paolo Dy & Cathy Azanza. It is based on the memoirs of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order who was canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church. The film stars Andreas Muñoz, a Spanish actor who portrays the titular character in the film.

‘If you could hear the voice of God, would you want to keep it secret?’ This is the story of a soldier, a man of vice and violence who, in his attempt to turn to the light, was forced to wrestle with his inner demons to the very brink of death. The film chronicles his valiant but futile defense at the Battle of Pamplona, his struggles with depression and near-suicide, his trial before the Inquisition, and his ultimate vindication.

imdb

0780 – First Reformed (2017)

timespace coordinates: 2017 Snowbridge, New York

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“how often we ask for genuine experience when all we really want is emotion.”

First Reformed is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, and Cedric the Entertainer, and follows a Protestant minister faced with questions of faith and morality while serving as pastor of a dwindling historical church. (wiki)

imdb / rt