1058 – Tropic Thunder (2008)

timespace coordinates: 2000’s Vietnam / Golden Triangle

Tropic Thunder is a 2008 action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors who are making a Vietnam War film. When their frustrated director (played by Steve Coogan) drops them in the middle of a jungle, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive the real action and danger.

The film had an extensive marketing promotion, including faux websites for the three main characters and their fictional films, airing a fictional television special, and selling the energy drink advertised in the film, “Booty Sweat”.

The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the film’s characters, story, faux trailers, and the performances of Stiller, Downey, Black and Tom Cruise, though the depiction of the mentally handicapped and usage of blackface makeup were seen as controversial. (wiki)

kinopoisk.ru

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Tropic Thunder: Rain of Madness (2008) – A behind-the-scenes mockumentary of Tropic Thunder.

Tugg Speedman, Action Hero

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1055

“As in the 16th century Tupinambá bellico­sociological cannibalism as well as in  the Araweté funerary cannibalism, the crucial question is “What is it that is eaten?”. Because it is neither the objectified body nor the subject of the enemy that is being eaten, but the enemy’s  point of view.”

The Second Body and the Multiple Outside (PDF)

 Alina Popa   /   @alinap0pa 

1041 – Atonement (2007)

timespace coordinates: 1935 England /  1940  Battle of France –  Dunkirk

Atonement is a 2007 romantic war drama film directed by Joe Wright and based on Ian McEwan‘s 2001 novel of the same name. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Vanessa Redgrave, and chronicles a crime and its consequences over the course of six decades, beginning in the 1930s. (wiki)

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1039 – Bumblebee (2018)

timespace coordinates: 1987 California Bumblebee is a 2018 American science fiction action film centered on the Transformers character of the same name. It is the sixth installment of the live-action Transformers film series. It was developed as a spin-off and prequel, and later declared a reboot of the franchise. (wiki)

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Transformers

1033 – Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

timespace coordinates: 1300 BC – ancient Egypt

Exodus: Gods and Kings is a 2014 epic biblical film directed and produced by Ridley Scott. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain.

It is inspired by the biblical episode of the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt led by Moses and related in the Book of Exodus.

The film stars Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Ben Mendelsohn, María Valverde, Sigourney Weaver, Ghassan Massoud, Indira Varma, Golshifteh Farahani, and Ben Kingsley.

In an interview for Access Hollywood, Scott claimed there was a “final” cut of the film that was 4 hours, implying that the version released in theaters was reduced by 90 minutes. (wiki)

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1032 – The Last Samurai (2003)

timespace coordinates: 1876 – 1877 California > JapanThe Last Samurai is a 2003 American period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz. The film stars Tom Cruise, who also co-produced, with Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada, Koyuki, and Shin Koyamada in supporting roles.

SONY DSC

Tom Cruise portrays a United States Captain of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into contact with samurai warriors in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in 19th Century Japan.

1877 — In 1877, nine years after the Meiji Restoratin, a major rebellion in Kyushu concentrated the opposition of conservative elements to the westernization of Japan. The traditional forces, including for example samurai infuriated at no longer being allowed to carry swords, were defeated by the new conscript army. Thousands were executed. Here the brave new officers in their western-style uniforms accept the surrender of un-uniformed rebels. — Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS

The film’s plot was inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, and the westernization of Japan by foreign powers, though in the film the United States is portrayed as the primary force behind the push for westernization. To a lesser extent it is also influenced by the stories of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War and Frederick Townsend Ward, an American mercenary who helped Westernize the Chinese army by forming the Ever Victorious Army. (wiki)

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1029 – Vice (2018)

timespace coordinates: 1963 – 2012 Wyoming > The White House, Washington, D.C

Vice is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam McKay. The film stars Christian Bale as former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, with Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Tyler Perry, Alison Pill, Lily Rabe, and Jesse Plemons in supporting roles. The film follows Cheney on his path to become the most powerful Vice President in American history. (wiki)

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