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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walkthrough

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

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

0964 – Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

timespace coordinates: 1945  Kobe, Japan

Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓 Hotaru no Haka) is a 1988 Japanese animated war film based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, and animated by Studio Ghibli for the story’s publisher Shinchosha Publishing. The film stars Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara and Akemi Yamaguchi. The film tells the story of two siblings, Seita and Setsuko, and their desperate struggle to survive during the final months of the Second World War.

The Grave of the Fireflies is commonly described as an anti-war film, but this interpretation has been denied by the director. (wiki)

imdb

0947 – Ashes in the Snow (2018)

timespace coordinates: 1941  Kaunas, Lithuania amid Stalin’s reign of terror in the Baltic region > Soviet labor camp (Siberia) > the Arctic Circle

Ashes in the Snow is a World War II drama film directed by Marius A. Markevicius based on The New York Times best selling novel Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. It stars Bel Powley, Martin Wallström, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Jonah Hauer-King, Peter Franzén and Sophie Cookson. (wiki)

imdb   /   Eastern_Bloc

0944 – Ghosts of Mars (2001)

timespace coordinates: (84% terraformed) MARS, 2176 A.D.

Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film written, directed and scored by John Carpenter. The film stars Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall, and Joanna Cassidy.

Responding to the criticism towards the film in his autobiography, Carpenter stated he was intentionally trying to make Ghosts Of Mars as over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek as possible. He claimed he was trying to make a mindless and silly, yet highly entertaining and thrilling, action flick where “the universe allows its characters and plot points to be silly without becoming full-fledged comedies”, akin to 80’s movies like Commando, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, and Predator. Looking back on the film and its criticism, he stated he was frustrated that most people thought the film was meant to be a serious horror movie, and feels that he should’ve made the film more openly comedic and “in on the joke”, saying “I have no power over what critics say, but when people complained about the movie being campy and not scary…the name of the movie is Ghosts Of Mars, I figured the campiness would be self-explanatory.” (wiki)

imdb

932 – Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (2018)

(adaptation of the German kids classic book by Michael Ende)       –imdb–