animation

1145 – ParaNorman (2012)

timespace coordinates: 1710s – 2012 small town of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts

ParaNorman is a 2012 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy comedy horror film, produced by Laika and distributed by Focus Features. Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler, from a screenplay by Butler, it stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPheeTucker AlbrizziAnna KendrickCasey AffleckChristopher Mintz-PlasseLeslie MannJeff GarlinElaine StritchBernard HillJodelle FerlandTempestt BledsoeAlex Borstein and John Goodman.

It is the first stop-motion film to use a 3D color printer to create character faces, and only the second to be shot in 3D. In the film, Norman, a young boy who can communicate with ghosts, is given the task of ending a 300 year-old witch’s curse on his Massachusetts town, despite being grounded by his father. (wiki)

imdb

movies

1130

Cold Pursuit (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s  Colorado ski resort of Kehoe

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Cold Pursuit (imdb) is a 2019 American black comedy action film directed by Hans Petter Moland (in his Hollywood debut) from a screenplay by Frank Baldwin. The film stars Liam NeesonLaura DernEmmy RossumWilliam Forsythe, and Tom Bateman. It is a remake of the 2014 Norwegian film In Order of Disappearance (Kraftidioten), also directed by Moland, and follows a snowplow driver who sets out for revenge on a local drug lord following the murder of his son. (wiki)

Kraftidioten (2014)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Tyos, Norway

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In Order of Disappearance (imdb) (Norwegian: Kraftidioten) is a 2014 Norwegian black comedy action film directed by Hans Petter Moland and starring Stellan Skarsgård.

The Battle of Kosovo (1389) was a battle between the combined army of Serbians and Bosnians against invading Turks of the Ottoman Empire. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, both being basically annihilated. The eventual outcome was the annexation of the Serbian provinces by the Ottomans. The Battle of Kosovo is significant in Serbian history and integral to Serbian national identity.

The symbol shown after Greve’s death is Humanist.

movies

1112 – Near Dark (1987)

timespace coordinates: 1980’s. the American Midwest

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Near Dark is a 1987 American neo-western horror film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by her and Eric Red.

The story follows a young man in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires. Starring the little-known actors Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright, the film was part of a revival of serious vampire movies in the late 1980s. It received positive reviews for its mix of the Westernbiker and vampire movie genres. Over the years, the film has gained a cult following. (wiki)

imdb

movies

1045 – The Mist (2007)

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

Mtime.com

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 JaneMarcia Gay HardenSamuel WitwerToby Jones, and future The Walking Dead actors Jeffrey DeMunnLaurie HoldenMelissa 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.

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

imdb

animation, games, Uncategorized

1022 – Dead Cells (2017 video game)

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Dead Cells is a roguelikemetroidvania video game developed and published by Motion Twin. Following about a year in early accessDead Cells was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on August 7, 2018.

In the game, the player takes the role of a slime-like creature that takes control of a corpse in a dungeon, through which they must fight their way out. The player gains various weapons, treasure and other tools through exploration of the procedurally-generated levels to fight undead creatures within it. At times, the player may gain “cells”, a type of in-game currency that can be used to purchase permanent upgrades or unlock new items for the player if they reach the vendor between each level. Dead Cells uses a permadeath system, causing the player to lose all cells and other currencies or items upon each instance of death.

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The plot of Dead Cells is minimalistic, only giving bits of information to the player. Taking place on an unnamed island, the player character is referred to as the Prisoner, a humanoid with a pile of gelee or plantmatter in place of a head. The Prisoner is immortal, as every time he dies his “head” manages to lurch its way back to the starting prison. According to a guard, the Prisoner is said to have been executed for some crime, but the nature of the crime is never specified.

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Every time the Prisoner dies, the island reconfigures itself, which serves as an explanation for the rogue-like mechanics. In the game, the reason for this is specified as the island being a living organism that evolves over time. In the end, he kills the Hand of the King and stabs the real king only to explode and wind up back at the start like nothing happened. (wiki)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM): OS: Windows 7+ / Processor: Intel i5+ / Memory: 2 GB RAM / Graphics: Nvidia 450 GTS / Radeon HD 5750 or better / Storage: 500 MB available space / Additional Notes: DirectX 9.1+ or OpenGL 3.2+


Easter Eggs and References 

steam   /   dead-cells.com

movies, music

1005 – Mysterious Skin (2004)

timespace coordinates: summer of 1981 > Christmas Eve 1991 Hutchinson, Kansas / New York City

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Mysterious Skin is a 2004 Dutch-American drama film directed by American filmmaker Gregg Araki, who also wrote the screenplay based on Scott Heim‘s 1995 novel of the same name.

Mysterious Skin tells the story of two pre-adolescent boys who are sexually abused by their baseball coach, and how it affects their lives in different ways into their young adulthood. One boy becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous male prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction. (wiki)

The film score was composed by Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie.

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