by mike | Jan 20, 2022 | Blowing Shit Up, California, Disaster Movies, Movies, Uncategorized |
When will the Big One hit? We Californians know that it’s not a matter of IF, but WHEN. This post first ran in 2018. We had an earthquake here in Southern California last week. Like, what else is new? The 4.5 temblor—its epicenter in Riverside County near the San...
by mike | Dec 6, 2021 | Disaster Movies, Guilty Pleasures, Movies, Thrillers, Uncategorized |
I was on the fence about presenting the 2000 survival thriller, Vertical Limit, as a Guilty Pleasure. No problem with the box office, and it did have some decent reviews, including one from Roger Ebert. But other reviewers were brutal, including one who called it...
by mike | Aug 30, 2021 | Blowing Shit Up, California, Disaster Movies, Disasters, Movie Lines, Movies, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Uncategorized |
Recently, while watching the Gerard Butler-fueled disaster film, Greenland, it occurred to me that a lot of couples with troubled marriages/relationships have been brought together by their harrowing experiences in movies of this genre. Weird. Here are just a few...
by mike | Aug 2, 2021 | Death, Disaster Movies, Disasters, Movies, Non-Fiction, Uncategorized |
Last month I watched the much-honored 1997 film, Titanic, for the first time in many years. (I almost made it through the three-plus hours without bawling, until Jack bobbed up and said his farewells to Rose…) It reminded me that I had heard a replica of the doomed...
by mike | Feb 15, 2021 | Disaster Movies, Movies, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Uncategorized |
Last week I wrote about “bad science” movies and mentioned The Day After Tomorrow, a 2004 “climate science fiction/disaster” film. In this expanded post I first thought about adding it to my Guilty Pleasures, but given that it grossed over $550 million, I quickly...
by mike | Feb 8, 2021 | Disaster Movies, Movies, Science Fiction, Uncategorized |
I strongly believe in science, especially when it comes to dealing with major issues such as global pandemics and climate change. But when I watch a movie, primarily in two of my favorite genres—disaster films and sci-fi—I’m doing it to escape from reality for a...