The End Review

Not much to tell

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:03:00 PDT

It's been a long time, folks. Nothing much to write about in the world of the Post-Apocalyptic. I did catch Terminator Salvation, which I liked. I don't know, just couldn't find time to write about it. Christian Bale was under used. Didn't feel like his movie. John Connor is a mythic figure in the Terminaverse, so anything he does seems less than what we have all pictured over the years. The effects were balls to the wall, though. Good time, very exciting.

There are commercials for a new mini-series/two hour movie event on ABC called "Earth 2100." Of course it's got all the puzzling flashes of plagues, famines, and the like. Can't wait to eyeball it.

Not greatly interested in seeing "9." I don't know, just looks like "Wall-E" with rag dolls. Whatever...

Finally, there's work. I'll have to get back to that.

Office Cataclysm

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:09:00 PDT

The power went out... for half a second. Now half the office is dark and everyone's a flutter about it. It's like they've never been somewhere that the power's failed, even for a second. Sure it's shocking when it first happens, but wasn't the human race in existence prior to this whole electricty thing? People still won't drop it! Now we're into our 20th minute at half power and my colleagues are headed toward talk of terrorism. How far could this go? Is it all over Midtown? Could the suburbs be affected? Someone downstairs thinks it's the whole grid. I doubt it. Generators fail all the time. Get over youselves.

Let the pants shitting commence.

Decline of America, Part I

noreply@blogger.com (The End Reviewer) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:01:00 PDT

I'm a little behind on my "Decline" stories. Found an interesting story in Time, via Fark. In it, we get to see inside one of the most depopulated urban centers in America. Detroit was the factory city of the nation when I was a kid and now 1/3 of it is wasted out and forgotten. How did it happen? Foreign industry, bad credit, poor sales. It all had a hand in it. The photo essay is stunning. Doubt Robocop will ever become a reality there. Hell, they couldn't even afford Robosapien holding a squirt gun in front of City Hall.

Chopped

noreply@blogger.com (The End Reviewer) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:35:00 PDT

Just read that "The Chopping Block" was cut by NBC. They said it wasn't good as a reality competition. No, it wasn't. Neither was it's host good as a human being. How awkward...

Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:59:00 PDT

It snowed here yesterday. It wasn't much, only four inches. It was like the world was ending. There were cars on the side of the road, wrecks all over town. It's not all but gone. Good thing you had to get to the store for milk, huh?

Testing

noreply@blogger.com (The End Reviewer) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:07:00 PDT

Set up my Word07 to post directly. Think it will work now.

Post-Apocalyptic Movies Should Point The Way To Utopia [Quote Of The Day]

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:46:00 PDT

Post-Apocalyptic Movies Should Point The Way To Utopia [Quote Of The Day]

via io9 by Charlie Jane Anders on 3/10/09

"I see many of these post-apocalyptic movies warning us, but I see very little in the line of suggestions for post-apocalyptic living or specific life-changing prescriptions for our current situations...

"What I would like to see is more movies where we see the apocalypse, but then we ALSO see how hard work, changing our life-style, and being supportive can bring communities together. I don't want just a "look we saved the day by killing the enemies" ending or a "we found the cure that saved the world" ending, but I want a film full of actual steps toward making our world a better place to live in. How do we do that?" [Beer And Scifi]

Posted via email from theendreview's posterous

Introducing the Genre

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:50:00 PDT

Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated with the end times. It's not the end that I crave, it's what comes after and how humanity deals with it. I should amend that by saying "if there's a humanity left, what would they become." A lot of the time, I see situations where the people who are survivors of cataclysm are portrayed in much the same way: destitute, vicious, weary, caricatures of whatever "present day" exists at the time the work was written. "Mad Max", for example, shows bands of roving maniacs who appear at once to be groupies of the Sex Pistols and as muscle headed motor racers. It's these similarities with the present that draw audiences into these stories. I could sit here and cite examples all day long, but for this introduction, I would like to focus on my own discovery of these stories.

I was born in 1979. When I was a kid, I would catch glimpses of "The Road Warrior," a film that was already in and out of theaters and highly edited for television. It seemed that I always caught it in the midst of the plot. I didn't see the beginning of the film until I was much older so viewing it as a kid I couldn't understand what was happening or where the action was taking place. Big desert, so what? Little did I know at the time, but there was a backstory! There were details that would explain everything that was happening here and enrich my understanding of this! So I saw the beginning, finally. For those who don't know, the beginning of the tale is told through newsreel footage of everything from U.N. conferences to great battles from a bygone time. It's done in such a way as not give up the suspension of disbelief but to heighten the belief by using actual scenes from real life's past. As an adult in a world where we are fighting for oil rights and politicians are endlessly talking over one another and there is an economic crisis that threatens, I find post-apocalyptic stories, if done right, can be a real picture into what will come to pass. Rather than cautionary tales that highlight ethical themes, PA films and stories show us that history repeats itself no matter how hard societies try to fend off the sins of the past. It's inevitable.

Printers

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:49:00 PDT

The one I sit next to is down. You'd think it was the EOTW here at the office. Lovely. It's only a matter of time before the looting and battling for resources commences.

Superman

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:03:00 PDT

A dream... to write an original story about Superman... maybe a new screenplay.

Interesting paper

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:44:00 PDT

The Hermenejutics of Apocalyptic The Hermenejutics of Apocalyptic api_user_11797_nemoneta04

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Humanities Other horror RPG

Obvious ploy

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:41:00 PDT

"Republican Road to Recovery" Budget Rebuttal "Republican Road to Recovery" Budget Rebuttal politix The Republican "counter-plan" to President Barack Obama's 2009 budget.

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Government Business & Legal economy obama

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:43:00 PDT

How am I supposed to think anything other than the world is ending? What leads me to believe that this whole damn mess isn't going to cave in on me and destroy everything? You know something... those who say this is just part of the cycle are nuts. They can say shit like that because they have no clue what it's like to be dangling over the abyss. OPEN YOUR EYES! The government can only do so much. They can only pass so many laws and oversee so many things. There are people out there who have no oversight looking at what they're doing at all! That's what got us here in the first place. Why can't people see that building an economy based purely on passing money around and "growing" it does nothing real for anyone? It's all bollocks! All of it. Everything this nation is built on is AIR. That's right, air. This house is not built on a good foundation, it's built on sand and we're sinking under the weight of all the garbage that we're collecting for ourselves! Wake up, idiots!

Intro

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Lillich) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:48:00 PDT

My name is Henry Fremantle. I'm a researcher and part time professor of Literature, dealing with Post-Apocalyptic literature specifically. This is my blog. I'm currently at work on the biography of Lucius Tobin. If you're of the uninitiated, you won't be after a few visits. Check back frequently. When I can't sleep, which is often, you'll find me here. Posts are frequent and long winded. I'll save you from the boring stuff, though. Cheers.