1255 – Brightburn (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2006 – 2018 Brightburn, Kansas

Brightburn is a 2019 American superhero horror film directed by David Yarovesky and produced by James Gunn and Kenneth Huang. It stars Elizabeth Banks, David Denman and Jackson A. Dunn. The film is a horror take on the Superman origin/mythos.

(Superman traditionally stands for “truth, justice and the American way”. The essay Caitlyn is writing when she’s visited by Brandon is “The Decline of Truth and Justice in the Modern World”, identifying Brandon as a twisted, dark version of Superman born from the death of the values that the original one embodied.)

imdb   /   wiki   /  Possible sequels

1195 – Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974 / 1980 / 1983 (2009)

timespace coordinates:  Yorkshire 1974 / 1980 / 1983

Red Riding (2009) is a three-part television adaptation of English author David Peace‘s Red Riding Quartet (1999–2002). The quartet comprises the novels Nineteen Seventy-Four (1999), Nineteen Seventy-Seven (2000), Nineteen Eighty (2001) and Nineteen Eighty-Three (2002) and the first, third, and fourth of these books became three feature-length television episodes: Red Riding 1974, Red Riding 1980, and Red Riding 1983. They aired in the UK on Channel 4 beginning on 5 March 2009 and were produced by Revolution Films. The three films were released theatrically in the US in February 2010.

Set against a backdrop of serial murders from 1974 to 1983, including the Yorkshire Ripper killings, the books and films follow several recurring fictional characters through a bleak and violent world of multi-layered police corruption and organised crime. Although there are allusions to real-life crimes, the plot is fictional rather than a documentary or factual account of events. Both the books and films mix elements of fact, fiction, and conspiracy theory – a confection dubbed “Yorkshire Noir” by some critics – and are notable for a chronologically fractured narrative and for defying neat or trite endings and resolutions. The name of the series is a reference to the murders and to their location, the historic county of Yorkshire being traditionally divided into three areas known as ridings.

imdb – 74 80 83 /   Historical basis   /  Theatrical film adaptation

1047 – Out of Blue (2018)

timespace coordinates: (?) new orleans, louisiana

Out of Blue is a 2018 mystery thriller from writer-director Carol Morley with Patricia Clarkson playing the lead role. The film is loosely based on the Martin Amis novel Night Train.

imdb

1011 – The House That Jack Built (2018)

timespace coordinates:  1970s and 1980s  Washington.

!extreme violence!

The House That Jack Built is a 2018 psychological horror art film written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Matt Dillon in the title role of Jack. The story follows Jack, a serial killer, over the course of 12 years in the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S. state of Washington. The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, marking von Trier’s return to the festival after more than six years. (wiki)

The shot of Jack and Verge standing in a boat strongly resembles the painting “La Barque de Dante” by Eugène Delacroix, which was in itself influenced by “The Raft of the Medusa” (Le Radeau de La Méduse) by Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault. (read more: trivia)

von Trier described the film as celebrating “the idea that life is evil and soulless”.

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

998 – Se7en (1995)

timespace coordinates: 1990’s Los Angeles, CaliforniaSeven (stylized as SE7EN) is a 1995 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. McGinley, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey. It tells the story of David Mills (Pitt), a detective who partners with the retiring William Somerset (Freeman) to track down a serial killer (Spacey) who uses the seven deadly sins as a motif in his murders. (wiki)

imdb

995 – Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

timespace coordinates: 18th century France (1730s – 1760s)

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a 2006 German period psychological crime thriller film directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood, and Dustin Hoffman. Tykwer, with Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, also composed the music. The screenplay by Tykwer, Andrew Birkin, and Bernd Eichinger is based on Patrick Süskind‘s 1985 novel Perfume. Set in 18th century France, the film tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Whishaw), an olfactory genius, and his homicidal quest for the perfect scent. (wiki)

During pre-production, Tom Tykwer, Director of Photography Frank Griebe, Production Designer Uli Hanisch, and Costume Designer Pierre-Yves Gayraud studied the complete works of Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Joseph Wright, in order to ensure the film’s aesthetic correctly captured eighteenth century France.

imdb

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Nirvana Scentless Apprentice

905 – Under the Silver Lake (2018)

timespace coordinates: 2011 Los AngelesUnder the Silver Lake is a 2018 American neo-noir mystery film written, produced and directed by David Robert Mitchell. Set in Los Angeles, it stars Andrew Garfield as a young man who sets out on a quest to investigate the sudden disappearance of his neighbour (Riley Keough), only to stumble upon an elusive and dangerous large-scale conspiracy.

Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out gave the film a perfect five rating, calling it “Hypnotic, spiraling and deliriously high” and stating “the ambition of Under the Silver Lake is worth cherishing. It will either evaporate into nothingness or cohere into something you’ll want to hug for being so wonderfully weird.” Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave a positive review, calling it “a bizarre and outrageous drama grounded in the consistency of Garfield’s astonishment at every turn. […] Aided by cinematographer Mike Gioloukas’ sunny visuals and a searching Disasterpiece score, the movie becomes a bittersweet ode to wanting answers from an indifferent world overwhelmed by superficial distractions. The homage can be irritating and some of the transitions work better than others across an unwieldy running time — but even the flaws speak to the movie’s beguiling raison d’être. It’s fascinating to watch Mitchell grasp for a bigger picture with the wild ambition of his scruffy protagonist.” 

Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave a positive review, calling it “a down-the-rabbit-hole movie, at once gripping and baffling, fueled by erotic passion and dread but also by the code-fixated opacity of conspiracy theory. The movie is impeccably shot and staged, with an insanely lush soundtrack that’s like Bernard Herrmann-meets-Angelo-Badalamenti-on-opioids. When it’s over, though, you feel like you’ve seen a meta-mystery made by someone who spent too much time scrawling notes in the margins of his frayed copy of Infinite Jest. (wiki)

imdb

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