Thursday, August 25, 2011

Thursday Top Threes: Apocalypse

J: Top three apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic movies, TV shows, novels, etc!

Mira:
I might be interpreting this loosely, but...
1. The Hunger Games trilogy -- I feel like the world portrayed in this trilogy represents a post-apocalyptic-type world. Such a fantastic read; it had been a long time since I'd been so excited about something I read!
2. I'd be remiss not to include Buffy the Vampire Slayer on this list. It was one of the earlier shows Jenn and I really bonded over and c'mon, Buffy saved the world from apocalypse quite a few times!
3. Wall-E -- I usually am panning this movie, mostly because I fell asleep during the first 45 minutes when the only "dialogue" was robot sounds and Wall-E saying "Eva" and Eva saying "Wall-E." But really, it was quite an incredible movie that was definitely very thought-provoking. The innate lazy and self-obsessed nature of humans was quite depressing to watch, but it was so incredibly on the mark on what could happen to our world if we continue with our lives of pure indulgence and waste.

Jennifer:
1. Y: the Last Man. I'm not a huge comic reader but I was a big fan of this series. It's about Yorick, a young man who finds himself as literally the last man on Earth after a plague of some kind wipes out every other male (human and animal).
2. Children of Men. More dystopic than post-apocalyptic I guess but a genetic defect causing all women on Earth to become infertile is kind of like a slow apocalypse? Best known for a couple of amazing single-shot action sequences but the story and writing are really moving. And having Clive Owen in it doesn't hurt!
3. The Road. Both the novel by Cormac McCarthy and the film. Very spare and haunting, with no explanation for what happened to destroy civilization. Could have been a candidate for most depressing movie last week but it ends on a somewhat hopeful note.

1 comment:

burkie said...

how is there a comic about a man named Yorick and i don't know about it?! and jenn, two of your apocalypses seem to be gender specific!

1) The Stand. novel by stephen king. about 3 inches thick, but a great read. a germ escapes a bio warfare lab and most of humanity is wiped out. being stephen king, though, it's not just about rebuilding society; it's good vs. evil, too. a big thumbs down to the 4-inch unedited version that was published years later. it was bloated and awful, but at least it highlighted the value of a good editor. the TV movie was uneven, but there was some ispired casting.
2) The Watchmen. i guess i'm interpreting this one loosely; it has apocalyptic themes. the comic was great and i enjoyed the movie, too.
3) Wall-E. i am not a fan of animation at all, but i was really impressed at how they made a sweet kid-friendly movie about the end of the world.