Fifty Films About Ruined, Totalitarian Futures

September 29th, 2007, 4 Comments »

This is making the rounds about the web, but in case you haven’t seen it, it’s a list entitled Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time. There’s no original commentary–just plot summaries from other sites. That’s a bit lame, but it’s neat to see all these movies in one place, as dystopian worlds are a favourite setting of mine.

Here are a few less popular films from the list which I enjoyed and are worth mentioning:

  • Equilibrium - It’s not a very good film, but it has its charms. Plus, I’m a fan of Christian Bale–I think he’s a little under-appreciated.
  • District 13 - A French film, and only remarkable because of its excellent fight and chase scenes.
  • Dark City - A head-wrecking, visionary film that mixes a beef stew of influences into something new and deeply weird. Plus, I could watch Jennifer Connelly watch paint dry.
  • The City of Lost Children - I don’t remember much about this movie, but I do remember being impressed.
  • Code 46 - This is a wonderful film that hardly anybody saw. Do yourself a favour and rent it. The leads–Samantha Morton and Tim Robbins. I wrote a review when I saw it in the theatre.

I think the fan-boy (and fan-girl) factor has pushed V for Vendetta and Serenity too far up this list. And I’m not even sure if the latter qualifies–where’s Star Wars, then?. They’re both good movies, but they certainly don’t merit their placings at #23 and #15 respectively.

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Coupland’s Apocalypse

June 20th, 2007, 1 Comment »

Via Metafilter, I read this essay by Douglas Coupland that apparently appeared in AdBusters back in 2002. It’s seven days that ends with the earth “not much more tan a waterlogged, barbecued briquette”:

Colossal lightning activity in both hemispheres triggers fire even in those areas most remote from what was once the human civilization. Residue from pesticide and pharmaceutical facilities quickly sterilize most European, North American and Asian rivers: the Mississippi is now a gummy, acidic broth, not unlike hot-and-sour soup, but cut with burnt rubber.

I’m always interested in dystopian views of the future, and it’s an aspect of Douglas Coupland’s writing that I’ve always particularly enjoyed. He seems to have been inordinately affected by growing up during the Cold War.

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