0324 – Gummo (1997)

spacetime coordinates:   summer of 1996  Xenia, Ohio

Gummo is a 1997 American dystopian art film written and directed by Harmony Korine, starring Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, and Chloë Sevigny. The film is set in Xenia, Ohio, a small, poor Midwestern American town that had been previously struck by a devastating tornado. The loose narrative follows several main characters who find odd and destructive ways to pass time, interrupted by vignettes depicting other inhabitants of the town. Instead of using standard movie lights, the production was lit with fluorescent lights to give the movie a haunting, yellowish look. “Gummo” is considered to be a cult film.

Trailer

Themes

The Diary of Anne Frank II

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119237/

282

0274 – It Follows (2014)

spacetime coordinates: 2010s Detroit

It Follows is a 2014 American supernatural teen horror film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. It stars Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe.  The plot follows a teenage girl, Jay, who is pursued by a supernatural entity after a sexual encounter.

The film’s monster, shot composition, and overall aesthetic were influenced by the work of contemporary photographer Gregory Crewdson. Director of photography Mike Gioulakis said: “We’re both big fans of the still photographer Gregory Crewdson and David had him in his look book from day one. [Crewdson’s] photographs have the same kind of surreal suburban imagery that we wanted for It Follows.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3235888/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Follows

0082 – Stranger Things TV Series (2016–)

spacetime coordinates: Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s

Stranger Things is an American science fiction-horror web television series created, written, directed and co-executive produced by the Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers developed the series as a mix of investigative drama alongside supernatural elements with childlike sensibilities, establishing its time frame in the 1980s and creating a homage to pop culture of that decade. Several themes and directorial aspects were inspired and aesthetically informed by the works of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, and Stephen King, among others.

The official poster for the series was created by Kyle Lambert. It was done in an art style inspired by acclaimed poster/album artwork artist Drew Struzan, who has created official posters for Star Wars (1977), “Indiana Jones,” Back to the Future (1985), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and several others.

Stranger Things Season 2 – Caleb McLaughlin CR: Netflix

Commentary

imdb   /  wiki

---

demogorgon (phantom demon)

0039 – [safe] 1995

spacetime coordinate: 1987 suburban California

Safe — sometimes written as [safe] or [SAFE] — is a 1995 British/American drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes, and starring Julianne Moore. The story is a character study of a suburban California housewife whose life deteriorates under the stress of “environmental illnesses” and seeks hope from “New Age” practitioners with whom she becomes involved. Safe was voted the best film of the 1990s in the 1999 Village Voice Film Poll.

Set in an affluent neighbourhood of the San Fernando Valley in 1987, the film recounts the life of a seemingly unremarkable homemaker, Carol White  who develops multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS, also known as “Twentieth-Century Disease”). MCS is a medically controversial diagnosis in which a person develops mild to severe non-specific symptoms and believes that these symptoms are triggered by chemicals found in everyday household and industrial products.

Safe Soundtrack

‘Safe’ | Critics’ Picks | The New York Times

imdb