It's the End of the World ... and I feel Conflicted about this Genre! by Michael Foltz

I've been meaning to put this up on the Blog for a loooong time, as you might can tell. But I've finally decided that people should know

that first and foremost, I'm a fan of the Post-Apocalyptic genre. Yes, the world of man falls into run. Thus, you can get some great

storytelling. Or horrible storytelling. And that's why I'm writing this article. Two recent films echo these two sentiments exactly.



First, you have my choice for Best Picture of 2009, The Road. This film does almost everything right in terms of mood, atmosphere,

character's motivations, dialogue, and a decent backstory (albeit not enough to spoil Cormac McCarthy's initial mystery of planetary

devastation). Viggo Mortensen plays The Father. Codi McPhee plays The Son. And this film is simply about one thing: Survival. The

end of the world has happened, but you do not know why. Nuclear war? Global warming to a massive degree? Meteor strike? No one

is telling, including the director. All that matters is getting through each day in this depleted and hellish landscape. Color is stripped from

this world. Trees crackle, burn, and die. Streets are barely there. Civilizaton seems almost extinct. The direct, John Hillcoat, does an

amazing job of de-saturating EVERYTHING, removing almost all hope from the color palette and the actors' emotions. Yet, he doubles down

on the desperation and fear they have to endure every second of the day. When they find things like clean clothes and Coke, this seems

like nothing short of a miracle. And the fear they feel is completely earned. As if this doomed environment wasn't threat enough. No,

their fellow man who has taken to canabalism as a way of life. Every day folks you'd see at work or at the store become demons of necessity.

Yet, morals and conscience are still alive. Viggo as The Father has a world weariness that his not only carried by his various haunted looks, but his very pores reek of the mourning for the lost world his Son will inherit. McPhee does very good work at being an embodiment of innocence and naivety that human beings need to exist w/o becoming something else; something harder and more removed from nature. Even the brief glimpses of the past to The Father's Wife (Charlize Theron) offers a window into what pure despair can do to one's mind and long term/short term view of the future.



Now let's take this in the other direction. Let's talk about an outstanding piece of garbage called The Book of Eli. Where do I start? Why o'

Why? seems to be the general question I kept asking during this film, until I grew sullen at the lack of answers NOT revealed in the simple

minded plot. Why does Denzel need to feed a mouse some cat? Why is being a cannibal somewhat amusing in this film instead of horrific?

Why is Gary Oldman acting like a more doddering, incompetent version of his character from the Professional? Why does Mila Kunis wear

skinny jeans and have her eyebrows waxed???? Did nuclear war happen (judging by the craters dotting the landscape), yet kept all the

spas and boutiques still operating without duress?? Feels like Jennifer Beals, who ages better than Dorian Grey, was way to desperate to

use this as her way of entering films again after her long stint as foxy, control freak lesbian, Bette Porter. But why this vehicle??? And have

the Hughes brothers, after being physically threatened by Shaquille O'Neal, lost all ability to tell a compelling tale? Other than some good

design and better-than-average cinematography, they should be ASHAMED of themselves. Why is the most sacred place in the whole movie

guarded with one idiot? Why is Denzel Washington almost bleeding to death, yet Mila Kunis's character can't get her ass to row the boat for

him??? EVERYBODY IS WASTED IN THIS FILM!!!!!! Don't even get me started on the cameos by Tom Waits, Malcolm McDowell, and Michael Gambon? Do small favors have to be this costly?? When it comes time to end civilization, the Hughes bros couldn't have messed it up any worse. With

the talent they had, they couldn't improve upon the silly lead line to the studio, "IT'S DAREDEVIL MEETS THE ROAD WARRIOR! A NEW FRANCHISE

IS BOOOORN!" Oh, please. A schlockly film from the 70's, Damnation Alley blows this away ... and it shouldn't!



See, as an auteur, it ain't easy to trash the earth and expect a good plot to come forth like fallout. Attention to details is VERY important. Like

I say with a lot of films: if the small is done well, it can be more rewarding than doing the big equally as well. Or, like the Book of Eli, you can do

EVERYTHING wrong.