In 1968, the Popular Swiss Bank asked to three directors to give their vision about the future of Switzerland. This is their answer.Read More »
Sci-Fi
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Various – Swissmade (1968)
1961-1970CultSci-FiSwitzerlandVarious -
Jean-Luc Godard – Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution AKA Alphaville, a Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution (1965)
1961-1970FranceJean-Luc GodardMysterySci-FiQuote:
Jean-Luc Godard, the unabashed enfant terrible of French cinema, creates a lighthearted, bizarre and atmospheric utopia in Alphaville. Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine), an Outland agent, checks into an Alphaville hotel as Ivan Johnson, a reporter from Figaro-Pravda (the first of many unusual alliances). The hotel manager assigns him a room, a Seductress and a bottle of tranquilizers for the evening. A disembodied voice, the synthetic voice of the ubiquitous Alpha 60 supercomputer, announces room availability and incoming telephone calls, and monitors every inhabitant’s behavior. Refusing the services of the ever-obliging Seductress, he briefly struggles with an unknown assailant, but is eventually left alone to study his mission: to locate a missing agent named Henry Dickson (Akim Tamiroff), and the elusive Professor Vonbraun (Howard Vernon), creator of Alpha 60. He arranges a meeting with Natascha Vonbraun (Anna Karina), who knows nothing of her father, and enlists her as his guide through the logically crafted nightmare of Alphaville.Read More » -
Konstantin Lopushansky – Pisma myortvogo cheloveka AKA Letters from a Dead Man (1986)
1981-1990ArthouseKonstantin LopushanskySci-FiUSSRQuote:
Letters from a Dead Man is another film that deals with the theme of the nuclear nightmare. It falls into a mini-genre of nuclear holocaust film along with others such as On the Beach (1959), Dr Strangelove or, How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Fail-Safe (1964), The War Game (1965) et al. But what makes Letters from a Dead Man unique in this case is that the treatment is one that comes from the opposite side of the Iron Curtain. Every single other treatment of the nuclear holocaust theme was made in the West and comes based on the speculation (or at least implication) of what would happen if the bombs falling were coming from the Soviet side; this is one which shows everything from the other perspective. In both cases though, the films are almost identical in their treatment of the subject matter and are certainly agreed upon what an horrific experience the nuclear holocaust would be.Read More » -
Ana Lily Amirpour – The Bad Batch (2016)
2011-2020Ana Lily AmirpourDramaSci-FiUSAQuote:
“The Bad Batch” turns a completely ridiculous premise — dystopian warfare in a sun-bleached desert filled with cannibals, a raving cult leader, desperate thieves and LSD — into a warm, at times even elegant salute to the transformative power of companionship. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour’s sleek debut “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” another creepy premise given fresh life. With “The Bad Batch,” Amirpour pairs elements of “Mad Max” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” with western flavor for another beguiling ride. The scale has expanded and there are a few more recognizable faces this time around, but nothing about the movie’s inspired wackiness bears the whiff of compromise.Read More » -
Henrik Bjerregaard Clausen – Arene (2016)
2011-2020DenmarkHenrik Bjerregaard ClausenSci-FiShort FilmA young woman finds herself captured on board a military aircraft. The soldiers don’t think much of her until their commander confirms her identity and all hell breaks loose. Read More »
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Magali Barbe – Strange Beasts (2017)
2011-2020Magali BarbeSci-FiShort FilmUnited KingdomStrange Beasts” is an augmented reality game. It allows you to create and grow your own virtual pet.Read More »
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Brent Bonacorso – The Narrow World (2017)
2011-2020Brent BonacorsoSci-FiShort FilmUSAA giant alien creature comes to Earth. The reasons for its arrival, however, remain unknown as mankind fails to make contact with the visitor.
Review:
The Narrow World follows a group of scientists as they try to unravel the enigma of the alien’s purpose. That setup may have the sound of a schlocky ‘alien invasion’ film – the sort where evil E.T.s are out to destroy Earth and an all out battle for the future of humanity must ensue – but surfaces can be deceiving. Bonacorso subverts the film’s familiar setup by positing his invader as a passive observer. His alien doesn’t attack Earth. Nor does it communicate in any way, shape or form. In fact, it doesn’t do much of anything but walk and watch.Read More » -
Andrei Tarkovsky – Stalker [The Criterion Collection] (1979)
1971-1980Andrei TarkovskyDramaSci-FiUSSRQuote:
Andrei Tarkovsky’s final Soviet feature is a metaphysical journey through an enigmatic postapocalyptic landscape, and a rarefied cinematic experience like no other. A hired guide—the Stalker—leads a writer and a professor into the heart of the Zone, the restricted site of a long-ago disaster, where the three men eventually zero in on the Room, a place rumored to fulfill one’s most deeply held desires. Adapting a science-fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Tarkovsky created an immersive world with a wealth of material detail and a sense of organic atmosphere. A religious allegory, a reflection of contemporaneous political anxieties, a meditation on film itself—Stalker envelops the viewer by opening up a multitude of possible meanings.Read More » -
Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi – Shin Gojira AKA Godzilla Resurgance (2016)
2011-2020Hideaki Anno and Shinji HiguchiHorrorJapanSci-FiSynopsis:
It’s a peaceful day in Japan when a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first, they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different; something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.Read More »