By Wally DuChateau
Well, friends, I hope you can bear one more column on the movies. Most assuredly, this will be the last one until TinselTown Oscars roll around again next year.
Have you noticed how the number of flicks with an apocalyptic theme have grown during the past 10 or 15 years or more? To name only a very few: “I Am Legend, “Resident Evil,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Waterworld,” “Armageddon,” “2012,” End of Days,” “Mad Max” I and II (was there also a third?), “The Road” and, most recently “The Book of Eli,” which I haven’t seen.
The nature of the apocalyptic events that destroy civilization in these films are, more or less in descending order: a nuclear war, an epidemic, rapid climate change (currently the most popular), an escaped man-made virus, a natural virus, a comet colliding with Earth, Mayan calendar predictions, fulfilled Biblical prophesies and various combinations of these that usually leave no more than a handful of relatively-human survivors. “The Road” never specifies what the catastrophe is, but all that’s left in the world are a bunch of insane cannibals, a father and his son, and a few cockroaches.
There are massive earthquakes, floods, wars, rumors of wars, famines, tsunamis, plagues, polluted air, fire raining down from the sky and zombie-like, hideous creatures wandering and scampering around in burned, parched landscape – and, in general, any number of truly remarkable, awesome special effects.
It seems like Hollywood is telling us to stockpile several years of nonperishable food and staples and make camp at the bottom of a mineshaft, where we’ll be prepared for one catastrophic, doomsday event after another. Such movies feed the rampant paranoia of some people, who rush out and buy a cache of AK-47s and grenade-launchers, which will make the National Rifle Association quite happy.
The apocalyptic signs are everywhere. The earth and mankind are going through some pretty tough times and perhaps some horrible, hellborne catastrophy is about to befall us all.
But in the meantime, I think I’ll go down to the martini bar and have a beer. (Ironically, that’s just what Biblical prophacy says we’ll be doing when the end arrives.)
As for the Oscars this Sunday, I can make a few predictions. “Avatar” will win for best picture and Jeff Bridges for best actor. James Cameron will probably win for best director, though Quentin Tarantino may have an outside shot. Best actress honors should go to Meryl Streep, the finest actress of our generation, but the Oscar will probably go to Sandra Bullock because she’s such a sweet little thing and she’s never won the big trophy.
