It's the end of the world as we know it.

So this weekend, I did a Disaster Movie Marathon. I was in the mood for a little carnage and apocalyptic terror, so I dug up some old favourites, and one new film, and settled down on Saturday for some survival-of-the-fittest drama.

First up, was The Day After Tomorrow. Now, this film didn’t so much split the critics as simply send them running. I’ve not really ever heard more than mediocre things about this film. I watched it for the first time a few months ago and really enjoyed it. It’s like 2012 (considered, but dismissed, for this marathon) in that it’s not particularly good, but it’s not exactly bad either. The plot is pretty thin, the characters one dimensional and the outcome entirely predictable. Thing is, with these kind of movies, that’s exactly what you want. You want to know that the good guys sacrifice or survive and that life triumphs over everything, even a new Ice Age.

One of the reasons I like this film is, apart from the ridiculous out-of-nowhere-ness of the disaster, climate change is, in my opinion at least, probably what will snuff us out. I’m holding up a serious doubt card for aliens at this point and with the way we screw around with the world, it wouldn’t be surprising if the world decided to screw us back.

Even with my overwhelming doubt for the alien theory, my next film was Independence Day. I adore this film for many, many wonderful reasons. First off, Will Smith is a god and Jeff Goldblum, a comedy genius. Also, almost all versions of 90’s nostalgia are fine with me and this is one of those films I can remember watching as a child. It’s got more cheesy bits than a large pizza but it also has some awesome one liners (I could’ve been at a barbeque!) that more than make up for it.

I then moved onto my only new film (well, new to me) of the day with War of the Worlds, Spielberg version. Before watching it, I didn’t actually know it was a Spielberg film, just that it was a Tom Cruise film and that was enough to put me off. That’s before I even took into account all the reviews.

It’s got a bad rep this film. And I’m sorry to say, but it really deserves most of that bad rep. It’s not horrifying. I mean, I sat through it. I didn’t want to turn it off, never to darken my sight again, which I have done with some films (Ghost Rider *shudder*). But at the same time, I didn’t really find anything to like in this film. Cruise was bland (as always), and I don’t even remember any of the characters names, which is never a good sign. I watched it because War of the Worlds is such a classic story and I thought I should see it in full. I’m glad I saw the movie because I definitely got a better understanding of H.G. Wells epic tale, but if you’re already familiar with it I can’t see this being a necessary addition to your knowledge.

Last, but my no means least, was Deep Impact. This movie has an ongoing rivalry with Armageddon; both released in ’98, both ‘a meteor’s going to crash and kill us all’ movies, and both packing a few solid stars. Armageddon definitely won the box office race, but Deep Impact is, by far, the better of the two films.

Hailed as more scientifically credible, Deep Impact does seem more realistic in how the disaster is dealt with. The preparation and logistics of controlling the population and ensuring mankind’s survival are much better executed than in, for example, 2012, in which it only seems to matter if you have enough cash to buy your way to safety. The characters are genuine and though the same inaccuracies prevail as in every film of this genre, I think the audience are more inclined to overlook them due to the high quality of everything else. Out of my four marathon titles, it was the only one to make me cry and I think that’s due to caring more about the characters in Deep Impact than in any of the other films.

 

As for my favourite film out of the four, it’s a tough call between Independence Day and Deep Impact. I think it’s telling that the two films I like best out of the genre were both made in the 90’s. I genuinely think that, even with all the enhanced special effects and even greater dangers we actually face from real life disasters, the 1990’s produced better movies in the disaster/apocalypse genre than we do today. Maybe it’s because of that greater danger; we can’t make the movies too real or it’ll hit home, just how close we really are to destroying ourselves without Mother Nature’s help.

Well, you are a warlock magnet

So I’m definitely getting there with Charmed. I’m more than halfway through the series, still loving it, and getting to see episodes that either I’ve never seen before, or that I’ve only seen bits of. I really love watching shows like this in order; you get a real sense of the characters and their different struggles and opinions. I still find that I’m waiting for things to happen, but definitely not as much as before Prue died.

I liked Shannen Doherty as an actress but I just always enjoyed the dynamics with Piper as the older sister and Paige as the tearaway wild child. Also, the whole ‘Ask Phoebe’ column makes it feel like Phoebe has finally found her calling. Piper always knew what she wanted to be and although Prue changed jobs in season 3, the character generally seemed quite happy at Buckland’s Auction House. I suppose with the fourth season, a new sister and one sister married, the characters all felt more settled.

Many shows thrive on unsettling their characters, or forcing them through difficult and unfamiliar situations but I think some of the (excuse the pun) charm of Charmed is that the demon fighting is not an unfamiliar situation. As Piper’s explosion power grows, we begin to see her quite nonchalantly vanquishing demons alone; it has become everyday and ordinary for the three sisters. With Prue, all three were still finding their feet, still exploring their new found magic, but with Paige, Phoebe and Piper are old hands. As they say on an annoyingly frequent basis, ‘We’ve been doing this a lot longer than you’, and that experience is obvious in the characters as well as the series as a whole.

On a technical note, it is also obvious that more money has been awarded to the show after Doherty’s departure. The shots are slicker, the special effects infinitely more realistic, and everything just seems more polished. It’s very possible that they made the switch to HD at this point as well, as the picture is sharper and each image more defined. Whatever they did to improve the quality certainly works, as the show comes off as a lot more solid and weighty, which is difficult when your plot is driven almost solely by the supernatural.

Totally Rad!

I have to let everyone in on one of the best podcasts around. It’s called The Totally Rad Show (or TRS) and it is a video podcast of three guys talking about movies, TV, video games and comics. Now although I am only really interested in two of those things, TV and film, I love every episode of their show. The hosts, Alex, Jeff, and Dan, have been running it for about four years and really know their stuff. Not to say I always agree but they are definitely knowledgeable and they make each discussion interesting and informative.

I’m probably not their target audience, considering most entertainment based podcasts are more focussed towards men, but I don’t feel patronised or out-of-the-loop by not knowing certain references. They also have impromptu games and almost every show offer a discount for some website or another, although many of them are US based. They’ve also managed to introduce me to loads of new websites and films and got me desperate for a console, any console!

Check out website FlickChart as well, as it’s the basis for their Versus game and it’s quite a cool little site where you can rate movies. I definitely recommend watching this show – try downloading either a ‘Versus’ or ‘Media Mashup’ episode to start with though, as you’ll be able to get a feel for the style of the show before plunging into a full-on review.

http://www.flickchart.com/

http://www.flickchart.com/agoodbook

http://revision3.com/trs

I have a voice!

I’m sorry to say, but I broke my Charmed marathon the other day. Couldn’t help myself I’m afraid. The King’s Speech was too much of a draw, it called to me and I replied. And I’m very glad I did because the film was very, very good.


Colin Firth aka So-perfect-as-an-actor-it-hurts played Prince Albert, later to become King George VI, struggling with a speech impediment. His wife, played by Helena Bonham Carter (she was brilliant), introduces him to Lionel Logue, Geoffrey Rush, who works to help ‘Bertie’ conquer his stammer.

I can’t really write a proper review to be honest because I genuinely just enjoyed the film. Period drama often leaves me feeling like this; simply contented to let the film just wash over me. I didn’t find anything wrong with the film, but I didn’t find anything outstanding about it either. Firth’s performance was excellent and deserves the many awards nods it has received but, then, it is Colin Firth; he’s damned good at pretty much everything. I would recommend a watch, because it is a very nice film and it definitely left me with the warm and fuzzies.