Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Apocalyptic Genre and THE BOOK OF ELI

I love apocalyptic stories.  I especially love the movies if they're done right.  THE BOOK OF ELI is one of those done right.

It's been several days since I rented and watched this flick, and it's still sticking to me like meat to a bone.  The acting is top notch, but the scenery and circumstances of the movie (not to mention the killer ending) are what make it, in my honest opinion.  If the "background" isn't plausible, nothing else is going to get me interested in the plot.

Why the interest in this genre?  I have no idea.  Maybe it's because it's always so abysmal, that someone has to emerge victorious in the struggle for survival. And it's that someone we cheer for whenever they succeed.  (Please don't get "apocalyptic" confused with "futuristic".  The "end of the world as we know it" could happen today.  And the future could become a marvelous utopian society.)

Likewise to reading and watching, I love to write these kinds of stories.  My BATTLE LORD series (yes, there's only one out, but there's 4 more finished books waiting in the wings, not to mention a separate trilogy I've outlined.) is my hands-down favorite.  There's also A DIFFERENT YESTERDAY, which is due out this December from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid.

Technically speaking, of all the apocalyptic movies I've watched, the overwhelming majority of them do not end Happily Ever After (among those rare exceptions are 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow.)  Still, it doesn't stop me from watching to see how movie makers depict the end of the world.

I'll be posting a list of my favorite doomsday movies tomorrow...

That is...if there IS a tomorrow!

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