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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1012 – Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014 video game)

timespace coordinates: alternate 1960s Nazi Europe

Wolfenstein: The New Order is an action-adventure first-person shooter video game developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released on 20 May 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game is the seventh main entry in the Wolfenstein series and the sequel to 2009’s Wolfenstein, set in an alternate history 1960s Europe where the Nazis won the Second World War. The story follows war veteran William “B.J.” Blazkowicz and his efforts to stop the Nazis from ruling over the world. (wiki)

Wolfenstein®: The New Order reignites the series that created the first-person shooter genre. Under development at MachineGames, a studio comprised of a seasoned group of developers recognized for their work creating story-driven games, Wolfenstein offers a deep game narrative packed with action, adventure and first-person combat.

Intense, cinematic and rendered in stunning detail with id® Software’s id Tech® 5 engine, Wolfenstein sends players across Europe on a personal mission to bring down the Nazi war machine. With the help of a small group of resistance fighters, infiltrate their most heavily guarded facilities, battle high-tech Nazi legions, and take control of super-weapons that have conquered the earth – and beyond.

Wolfenstein®: The New Order_20140518212252

Tour Of Resistance Hideout

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM): Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system / OS: 64-bit Windows 7/Windows 8 / Processor: Intel Core i7 or equivalent AMD / Memory: 4 GB RAM / Graphics: GeForce 460, ATI Radeon HD 6850 / Storage: 50 GB available space

Wolfenstein: The New Order – Full Walkthrough

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963

0999 – The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

timespace coordinates: late 1990s / 1937 / 2024 Los Angeles

The Thirteenth Floor is a 1999 neo-noir science fiction crime thriller film written and directed by Josef Rusnak, and produced by Roland Emmerich. It is loosely based upon Simulacron-3 (1964), a novel by Daniel F. Galouye (one of the first literary descriptions of virtual reality), and a remake of the German film World on a Wire (1973). The film stars Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Dennis Haysbert. (wiki)

imdb

0946 – Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

timespace coordinates: September 2001 – May 2011 Pakistan / USA / Afghanistan / Kuwait

Zero Dark Thirty is a 2012 American thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. The film dramatizes the nearly decade-long international manhunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks. This search leads to the discovery of his compound in Pakistan and the military raid that resulted in bin Laden’s death on May 2, 2011.

Jessica Chastain stars as Maya, a fictional CIA intelligence analyst, with Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Mark Strong, James Gandolfini, Kyle Chandler, Stephen Dillane, Chris Pratt, Édgar Ramírez, Fares Fares, Jennifer Ehle, John Barrowman, Mark Duplass, and Frank Grillo in supporting roles.

Prequel / Historical accuracy / Controversy

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882 – The Minds of Men (2018 Documentary)

“The Minds of Men” is a 3+ year investigation into the experimentation, art, and practice of social engineering and mind control during the Cold War – a mind-bending journey into the past that gives startling insight into the world we are living in today.

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(Directors: Aaron & Melissa Dykes Runtime: 3h 43min)  imdb

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Project MKUltra / The Human Use of Human Beings / Teleology / Cybernetics / Rockefeller Foundation / Bioelectronics / BSR / Sensory deprivation

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0848 – New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future by James Bridle (2018 book)

As the world around us increases in technological complexity, our understanding of it diminishes. Underlying this trend is a single idea: the belief that our existence is understandable through computation, and more data is enough to help us build a better world.
In reality, we are lost in a sea of information, increasingly divided by fundamentalism, simplistic narratives, conspiracy theories, and post-factual politics. Meanwhile, those in power use our lack of understanding to further their own interests. Despite the apparent accessibility of information, we’re living in a new Dark Age.

From rogue financial systems to shopping algorithms, from artificial intelligence to state secrecy, we no longer understand how our world is governed or presented to us. The media is filled with unverifiable speculation, much of it generated by anonymous software, while companies dominate their employees through surveillance and the threat of automation.
In his brilliant new work, leading artist and writer James Bridle surveys the history of art, technology, and information systems, and reveals the dark clouds that gather over our dreams of the digital sublime. (VERSO)

James Bridle on New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future

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man always makes it clear to himself: “You are using things which have the intention of not being penetrable.” 1180

0842 – Virtuosity (1995)

timespace coordinates:  1999 Los Angeles

Virtuosity is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Brett Leonard. Denzel Washington stars an imprisoned policeman whom is released to hunt down a virtual reality serial killer (Russell Crowe) whom escaped from cyberspace into the real world when he is uploaded into the body of a cyborg.

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As LAPD officers gather evidence at the grisly crime scene, you can only ask yourselves: what kind of lunatic would commit such unthinkable crimes? The three adjectives which best describe this killer are sadistic, intelligent, and dangerous. (Acid Killer – Infected Mushroom)