This is the End

It's rare these days to see a movie that is so refreshingly different from all the movies that have come before it. Too often movies are made to fit into certain prefabricated marketing slots. Even the artistic movies are made to conform to the current preferred award format. So when a movie comes out that ignores all of those rules, it's certainly worth seeing.

This is the End is more outrageous than it is laugh out loud hilarious, but it's just outrageous enough to keep you giggling throughout. What's so remarkable about it is that these guys obviously set out to make a movie for themselves. It didn't feel like a movie that had been focus grouped, or audience tested. They didn't necessarily want to make a movie that they thought people would find funny, they wanted to make a movie they thought was funny, and if other people liked it, then great. For that reason, it turned out to be one of the most original films in years...and by the way, it's very funny.

There are too many great moments to go into, but the homemade Pineapple Express 2 and video confessionals are definitely highlights of hilarity. Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jonah Hill play perfect exaggerated versions of themselves, and Michael Cera is brilliant in his guest spot. If you're like me, tired of comic book movies and formula horror plots, this is definitely one to see.

While You Were Dreaming

The other night, I woke up in the dark and discovered the power was out. The near full moon had already set, leaving everything in pitch blackness. As I stumbled down the stairs, reaching for the railing and trying not to miss a step, I started to think. Thinking is always a dangerous thing at 4am.

There's was no obvious reason for the power loss. No wind, no snow, no lightning. And perhaps I've been watching too much apocalyptic television of late, but I started to wonder, Is this it? Is the power out all over the world? Is tonight the night when electricity ceases to exist? 

I sat in bed for about ten minutes considering the possibility and planning what I would do. What fascinated me was the actuality that it might be true, not that I believed it to be, but given the situation, it was a possibility. This relates back to a post I wrote last week and this idea that we wait for the big things to happen. We know history has no shortage of curve balls to throw our way. At certain points, every lifetime is marked by something big. It was interesting to consider being in the midst of such an event.

The power came back on at 7am. Nothing shattering on this night, but you never know what is around the corner.

When This World Will End

Disaster! that was what Lee continually yearned for. Or, to come limping in to the next station to find it abandoned by everyone save only a single old man, the sort who would enjoy telling of the catastrophe that had overtaken the earth. --from The Sweet-Scented Manuscript by Tito Perdue

I've been thinking a lot about the end of the world lately. Not in a morbid way, but as part of my creative process. I started a new manuscript this week where the end of the world is the central theme.

It doesn't take place there.

It's not a doomsday story or a post-apocalypse fantasy.

My exploration is more about how we relate to something that most of us feel is an inevitable fate. It's a theme that has been around since the beginning of man. Lately, it's been gaining traction in our collective imagination throughout the last century and into this one. Recently, it's consumed a large portion of literature written for teenagers and children.

Recently I started to wonder what the affect all of that thinking would be on a character today. As a child, I often thought about the end of the world and knew I was doomed to survive it. The event itself isn't interesting or important, except in the sense of ways to prevent it. But what's really intriguing is how we relate to it. If one thinks he or she will survive or not?

Zombies on the Brain

The tricky thing about telling a Zombie Apocalypse story is that essentially the plot is always the same. Zombies arrive on the scene by one cause or another, get hungry, and devour the living. That's it. So the real story becomes about the survival of the fortunate few...or perhaps unfortunate depending on the tale the writer wishes to tell.

Given that the tale has been told many times, the job of the writer is to have an interesting hook to the survivor's situation. In Zombieland, the Zombie Apocalypse becomes a backdrop for a buddy story. It focused on a specific aspect of surviving the zombies...who you partner with. In the brilliant British mini-series Dead Set, the hook is the fantastic setting for the zombie outbreak.

The show takes place on the set of reality series where the contestants are secluded in the Big Brother house. They remain oblivious as the people outside get brutally slaughtered until one of the production crew manages to find safety inside and reveal what's going on. Seeing these people slowly come to grips is wonderfully done. We see each of them drop their 'reality tv persona' and begin to deal with the horror that surrounds them. In a incredibly bleak and absolutely terrorizing conclusion, the show manages to become one of the rare emotionally charged horror films that also leaves the viewer with powerful questions about our society.

This is definitely one of the best zombie related things I've seen. Though I must warn you, it's absolutely horrifying...but in a good way. Just be prepared, I was too scared to enter my basement for an entire day. I just hope The Walking Dead lives up to this. More to come on that show after a few episodes.

Dreaming of the Coming Apocalypse

Perhaps it's just my pessimistic nature, or maybe it has something to do with growing up under the leadership of an Apocalyptic Reagan, but for some reason I've always held this belief that I would be alive to see the end of our civilization - and unfortunately, survive it. My dreams this weekend have done nothing to quell those instincts.

I can vividly remember my first Post-Apocalyptic dream from my early adolescence. A tattered movie screen hung in front of a rust desert that was once a city, where charred people fought over the last scrap of food. My attempt to write that dream down was one of my first determined efforts at writing. In fact, images from that dream have shown up in several of my books.

Many other such dreams have followed since that first one. I average a few end-of-the-world dreams per year. However, in the last month or so, I'm setting a new record. I've had at least five, and two this very weekend (on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, no less...hmmmm). These recent dreams have been a little different in that they are clearly of the Zombie Apocalypse variety of fighting off the mindless hoards. Though I fully admit some in the past year have had clear indicators such as hours spent playing a certain video game or watching a certain movie, this weekend had no such direct indicators.

Standard dream interpretation suggests these type of dreams are anxiety driven by a fear of a major shift in you beliefs or situation. But mine are a little different in that I'm always sure of survival. I prefer to stick with idea of them being prophetic. In which case, it may be time to stock up on the canned goods and weapons. The zombies are coming folks. In fact, they may already be among us (ummm...shameless Zombies Blondes plug, because even in end times I need to sell some books).

Oh, a little tidbit from the last dream...for some reason, Beverly Hills and Haight District will be spared. So pack your bags folks, the party is in California!