Films - It's the End of the Week As We Know It...

It's the End of the Week as we know it and Nate McKenzie still feels fine as he gives us five more recommendations for End of the World films to watch this weekend...

Find more of Nate's End of the World recommendations here

Last week, I had an internal monologue that went like this: ‘Today is Wednesday. No, wait, Thursday. Yeah, Thu- nope it’s definitely Wednesday.” It was Tuesday. Two days later, on actual Thursday, I had to be reminded that it is now April and no longer March.

2020 remains undefeated.

While we descend into madness, here are a few movies you can watch and imagine all the horrible ways that life on this planet might end. Spoiler: I’m rooting for whichever scenario raises the collective IQ of society. I suggest a 5th grade science quiz. Those who pass, congratulations, you get to live. Those who don’t (Sorry-not-sorry, Mr. President) are fed to Joe Exotic’s large feline children.

THE WANDERING EARTH – Starring: it’s a Chinese movie, so…

The sun is dying. Our solution? Build giant thrusters and move the planet to a new solar system. That sounds ridiculous. I haven’t seen this movie yet. I want to. Let’s watch it together, shall we? [motions you to follow along like Mr. Rogers]

SUNSHINE – Starring: Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Mark Strong, Benedict Wong

The sun is dying. Yep, again. What do we do this time? Shoot a rocket full of attractive humans at that giant star to restart it. All that hotness and sexual energy should just about do it! But then things happen and, since it’s written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle, all the things are extremely weird things. Weird and wonderful. Sunshine is an incredible movie that has the presence to inspire lofty thinking or simply entertain as eye candy. Certainly, it is more than worthy of two hours of your time. It’s not like you’re going anywhere.

THE ROAD – Viggo Mortenson, Charlize Theron

There might be better post-apocalyptic films in existence but there are no better books in the genre than The Road by Cormac McCarthy, with the former being a faithful adaptation that deserves praise. A father and his son travel on foot towards ‘the coast’ amidst an eternally burning landscape. Bleak is the world. There is as much fear of starving or freezing to death as burning or being consumed by other humans, but the real horrors are unseen until you’re too close to avoid them. Direct quotes from the book, McCarthy’s unparalleled prose, find their way into the dialogue, adding to the ambiance set by the backdrop of ashen Earth and ‘gunmetal gray’ skies. If you have a child, the book is capable of spiraling you into depression; thankfully, the movie will only make you cry.

ATTACK THE BLOCK – John Boyega, Jodie Whitaker

A gang of teens find themselves defending their neighborhood from an alien invasion. Before he successfully helped defend the galaxy from the Empire, John Boyega was a teenage thug pulling switchblades on an innocent future Doctor who (see what I did there?) resides in South London. Attack the Block is like a music video with an actual film plot; think ‘Thriller meets P. Diddy feat. Mase, directed by Edgar Wright’. This is one incredibly fun movie that looks too damn cool to be as unknown as it is and if you don’t watch it you deserve to contract the ‘Rona.

MONSTERS - Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able

Six years after an alien invasion, a journalist agrees to escort an American tourist through an infected zone. Half of Mexico is quarantined as the monolithic alien entities are kept in containment. The beauty of this movie is the subdued but incredible visuals that director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is able to accomplish on a $500K budget. Of course, those visuals are carried by splendid story-telling and solid acting. I can’t recommend this movie enough as a How-To for creating a scifi world on an independent film budget or simply as end of the world fare to enjoy while we quietly acquiesce to this dystopian existence of our own making. Cheers!

*cough*

Follow Nate on Twitter @Circusjump_

Images - IMDb