1089 – Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden (2018 video game)

timespace coordinates: set near Göteborg, Sweden, after the outbreak of the deadly “Red Plague” and  a global nuclear war

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a turn-based tactical role-playing video game (that combines the turn-based combat of XCOM with real-time stealth and exploration) developed by Swedish studio The Bearded Ladies and published by Funcom. Based on the tabletop role-playing game Mutant Year Zero, the game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in December 2018. A Nintendo Switch version of the game will be releasing on June 25, 2019. (wiki)

steam

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM): Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system / OS: Windows 7 64 Bit/ Windows 8 64 Bit/ Windows 10 64 Bit / Processor: Intel Core i5-760 / AMD Phenom II X4 965 / Memory: 6 GB RAM / Graphics: NVidia GTX 580 / AMD Radeon HD 7870 / DirectX: Version 11 / Storage: 8 GB available space

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1088 – Mega Time Squad (2018)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s New Zealand

“This is Parawai Terry, not America, we’re not made-a guns.”

A low-level criminal steals an ancient Chinese time-travel device, but he may not survive the demonic consequences of tampering with time.

MEGA TIME SQUAD is a wildly entertaining time travel/sci-fi comedy out of New Zealand. A fan favorite on the festival circuit, the film stars Jonny Brugh (What We Do In The Shadows) and was praised by Variety as “fast-paced, determinedly silly, with sharp slangy dialogue,”the film blasted out of the gate at this year’s Fantasia and is destined to become a cult favorite. (rottentomatoes) Directed by Tim van Dammen

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1071 – Unbreakable (2000 – 2019 film series)

The Unbreakable trilogy, also known as the Eastrail 177 Trilogy, is an American superhero thriller and psychological horror film series. The films were written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The trilogy consists of Unbreakable (2000), Split (2016), and Glass (2019).

All of the films feature the character David Dunn. The series has been noted for its differences to more traditional superhero movies, with Shyamalan’s work referred to as “the first auteur shared superhero universe”. It is the first superhero franchise that is written and directed by one person, in comparison to other popular films in the genre.  Shyamalan has noted that while it is based on comic book superheroes, and refers to comic books, it is not actually derived from comic book material itself. In contrast to most superhero films, the series is also generally grounded in reality, and is seen as a deconstruction of the superhero genre. The series is thus considered to be a unique take on the superhero genre. 

The filmmaker has stated that the films are origin stories, of people with unique gifts, with the intent being to acknowledge that every person has something special about them. Unbreakable has been labeled the first grounded superhero film, while Split has been called the first solo supervillain origin story, and Hollywood’s first stealth sequel. Although the series is slated as a trilogy, Shyamalan mentioned that he would be open to a continuation if the inspiration came to him. (wiki)

imdb:  Unbreakable, Split, Glass

1062 – Lifeforce (1985)

timespace coordinates: 1986 London / Halley’s Comet 

Lifeforce is a 1985 British science fiction horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, written by Dan O’Bannon and Don Jakoby, and starring Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, and Patrick Stewart. Based on Colin Wilson‘s 1976 novel The Space Vampires, the film portrays the events that unfold after a trio of humanoids in a state of suspended animation are brought to Earth after being discovered in the hold of an alien space ship by the crew of a European space shuttle.

Horror and comic book writer C. J. Henderson praised the film: “Lifeforce is an incredible film, and may by be the most intelligent vampire movie ever made … [The ideas presented in Lifeforce] are beyond [others vampire movies] beyond all of them, light-years beyond … the story is what makes this movie hum…. Lifeforce is a true, thinking sci-fi fan’s film”. Andrew Migliore and John Strysik in their Lurker in the Lobby explain that Colin Wilson wrote The Space Vampires as a consequence of H.P. Lovecraft‘s publisher August Derleth challenging Wilson (who was critical of Lovecraft’s writing) to write a Lovecraftian novel himself (a challenge that resulted in three such novels, The Mind Parasites, The Space Vampires, and The Philosopher’s Stone), and they continue, “[Lifeforce] is big, splashy, and … the scenes of an apocalyptic London are not to be missed. And the film, an obvious tribute to Nigel Kneale‘s Quatermass, has deep roots in Lovecraft’s mythos”. (wiki)

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1059 – Mutafukaz (2017)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Dark Meat City / New California

Mutafukaz (Japanese: ムタフカズ －MUTAFUKAZ－ Hepburn: Mutafukazu, released as MFKZ in some markets)  is a 2017 adult animated science fiction film based on the comic series of the same name.

The film is a French-Japanese co-production between Ankama Animations and Studio 4°C  and is directed by Shōjirō Nishimi and Guillaume “Run” Renard.

The comic was published in English as Mutafukaz by Titan Comics with only one volume released on October 27, 2015.  Mutafukaz was released in France on May 23, 2018 and in Japan on October 12, 2018. (wiki)

Angelino is just one of thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City. But an otherwise unremarkable scooter accident caused by a beautiful, mysterious stranger is about to transform his life… into a waking nightmare! He starts seeing monstrous forms prowling around all over the city… Is Angelino losing his mind, or could an alien invasion really be happening this quietly…? (imdb)

THE ART OF MUTAFUKAZ – THE MOVIE

1049 – The Double (2013)

The Double is a 2013 British black comedy thriller film written and directed by Richard Ayoade and starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska. The film is based on the novella The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is about a man driven to breakdown when he is usurped by a doppelgänger. (wiki)

imdb   /   rt   /   analysis

1045 – The Mist (2007)

timespace coordinates: 2000’s small town of Bridgton, Maine

The Mist (also known as Stephen King’s The Mist) is a 2007 American science-fiction horror film based on the 1980 book The Mist by Stephen King. The film was written and directed by Frank Darabont. Darabont had been interested in adapting The Mist for the big screen since the 1980s. The film features an ensemble cast including Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Samuel Witwer, Toby Jones, and future The Walking Dead actors Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden, Melissa McBride, and Juan Gabriel Pareja. Darabont has since revealed that he had “always had it in mind to shoot The Mist in black and white”, a decision inspired by such iconic films as Night of the Living Dead (1968) and the “pre-color” work of Ray Harryhausen. While the film’s cinematic release was in color, the director has described the black and white print (released on Blu-ray in 2008) as his “preferred version.”

The director revised the ending of the film to be darker than the novella’s ending, a change to which King was amenable. Darabont also sought unique creature designs to differentiate them from his creatures in past films.

Although a monster movie, the central theme explores what ordinary people will be driven to do under extraordinary circumstances. The plot revolves around members of the small town of Bridgton, Maine who, after a severe thunderstorm causes the power to go out the night before, meet in a supermarket to pick up supplies. While they struggle to survive, an unnatural mist envelops the town and conceals vicious, Lovecraftian monsters as extreme tensions rise among the survivors.

A meta-reference to this film appears in one of Stephen King’s later novels, Under the Dome. (wiki)   /   [The Mist (TV series) imdb]

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