comets, of course, should be described in terms of olympic sized swimming pools, even though most pools, even public pools-- are way smaller.
4 Likes
My son watched it and said he started tearing up near the end (spoiler: it has something to do with Egon).
1 Like
3 Likes
This is a really affecting movie about people trying to cope with some truly unenviable circumstances. It has a pretty strong and clear message throughout, which is all completely undermined at literally the last secondā¦
Rambling explanation follows:
So, the core premise of this movie is that you have a group of adult friends and their children getting together for Christmas, only itās going to be their last Christmas because the world is about to be uninhabitable due to climate change.The UK government has distributed exit pills to all of their citizens in order to allow them to die peacefully and painlessly instead of in agony due to their organs liquefying from the poison tornadoes that are imminent.
Most of the characters are at some level of reluctant acceptance of these circumstances, and the performances are understandably and repeatably messy. There are two exceptions to this. First, there is a young woman who has recently discovered that she is pregnant, and doesnāt want to take a pill that will kill her baby. She is ultimately convinced by her SO as the poison storm is headed towards them. I can respect that they wanted to include the conflict, but the script does nothing to articulate how her position could possibly be defensible. Thatās OK, I guess, because it was an emotional impulse rather than a rational one. Similarly, we have a young boy who starts with some level of acceptance, but becomes increasingly more reluctant as he learns details like that the homeless and undocumented would not be receiving exit pills, and that the young woman mentioned above was choosing not to take the pill. This culminates in a monologue where he says that he doesnāt want to give up, and that maybe the scientists that are telling everyone that they are going to die are bad at their jobs, and no one is listening to the good scientists who can solve this. There is no evidence at any point presented that this alternate viewpoint exists anywhere than in this kidās mind. Thatās OK, though, because heās young and going through grief, and heās just in denial. I donāt expect a 10 year old to understand how the scientific method and peer review work. This leads to a confrontation with his parents, and heās runs off in anger. His father chases after him, but only finds him after the boy encounters a still running car where all of the inhabitants (including an infant) are dead after taking their pillsā¦ He screams just as a conveniently small poison tornado shows up to afflict him and disappear right before his father retrieves him. We are then subjected to several minutes of him convulsing in his bed intercut with the adults arguing and in general not checking on him. Finally his mother retrieves him once theyāve all decided that it is time for everyone to take their pills. When the time comes to give the boy his pill, however, we see that he has been bleeding from his eyes and mouth, apparently dead from his encounter with the poison storm. The rest of the family take their pills, as do the remaining people in the house. There are various moving scenes of people sharing their last moments together. The final scene shows the aftermath on the next morning, where the camera pans thoughout the house, showing each guest in their final resting place. This is a depressing movie, there will be no happy ending. That is all fine until the camera pans over to the boyās bloody face and stops, and at the very last second his eyes open. Roll credits.
That very last shot utterly reverses the message of the movie. Instead of being a messy story about a complicated subject where ultimately we have to accept that itās too late and come to terms with our fate, it is strongly implied that the irrational rambling of a pre-teen boy is the correct position. All of the scientific consensus, all of the observed deaths, none of it matters because this young boy said āBut what if theyāre wrong?ā It is so disappointing to agree with a movie and then have my opinion so completely changed by the ending.The only thing I can think of that comes close is the ending of The Mist, but I think that this is more harmful because it reaffirms to the science averse that actually their feelings are more important than facts. Hopefully few of those types of people will watch this movie, but Iām skeptical given that the trailer I saw prior made no mention of the climate disaster plot.
Itās hard to say that I would recommend it, except that I wouldnāt want you to read what I wrote above without first watching it. I would definitely recommend against watching it if existential crises and suicidal topics are too much for you. There were also some aspects that I found particularly difficult as a parent.
1 Like
Grandpa/Papa is none other than Douglas Fowley, B-movie actor and father of rapist Kim Fowley.
I dig ANYthing with Ann Sheridan in it!
Addendum: This episode seems to predict āWagons East!ā to a degree.
1 Like
Never heard of it.
1 Like
2 Likes
It wasnāt on for very long, one season, and Ann Sheridan died in 1967, so they couldnāt do more episodes. They were definitely going for an āF-Troopā vibe, but with more ladies. I only know about it because Iām a fan of Ms. Sheridan.
1 Like
3 Likes
2 Likes
What a woman. What a human.
1 Like
Four days to Super Bowl, and New Orleans is like a time-bomb about to go offā¦
2 Likes
This is an incredibly obscure Australian indie movie from the early 1980ās that I was recently astonished to discover is available on Amazon Prime:
Rather low-budget, but I always liked it. Features footage of antinuke protests in Sydney and a Midnight Oil concert.
Topical, but not cheerful.
4 Likes
Iāve had vague memories of a cartoon featuring a robotic retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but Iād never managed to track it downā¦ until today.
Itās not as impressive to adult-me as it was to child-me, but itās still nice to see it again.
5 Likes
Sounds like something Iād like. Apparently itās not available in the U.S., even using a VPN to spoof being traveling in Australia. Pirate Bay found one torrent but with no seeders.
3 Likes
l33tx may have a couple by the look of thingsā¦
3 Likes
I have a feeling all the laughter and applause here is canned. But that somehow makes it perfect.
1 Like