The World’s End (2013)

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Director Edgar Wright finishes his “Cornetto Trilogy” (the first two being “Shaun of the Dead,” and “Hot Fuzz”) finally with “The World’s End,” a film very much in the tradition of the first two installments. Wright and co. dwell on the prevalent themes that have fueled the first two stories. They’re tales about xenophobia, alienation, conformity, coming of age, the fear of progress, and the dangers of nostalgia. Much in the way Woody Allen did with “Midnight in Paris,” director Wright warns about nostalgia and how our memories can lie to us and become a crutch, preventing us from growing up and moving on with our lives.

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This Is the End (2013)

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You would think that “This is the End,” a movie about a group of Hollywood actors that basically play themselves for no reason would be self serving and self indulgent. And you’d be correct. Even in its breaking of the fourth wall and satirizing of its stars (that probably only the stars and their friends really would find laugh out loud funny), “This is the End” isn’t a bad movie. In fact for the first forty five minutes, it’s really funny and works as a goofy apocalyptic horror comedy. The rest is just filler, endless montages, and flat improv (mostly from Rogen).

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Diabolique Magazine No. 18 (Nov/Dec 2013) [Magazine]

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I think in a past life I was a doomsday survivalist, because you just have to say “apocalypse” and my ears perk up with interest. The November/December issue of “Diabolique” is all about the apocalypse, and how it’s been depicted through various forms of film, television, and literature. And it’s not a slapdash compilation of articles. As is the case with “Diabolique” the articles about the popularity of apocalyptic entertainment in today’s media are beautifully written and insightful. And you can’t really scoff at their dedication to “28 Days Later” and Richard Matheson.

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Night Of The Comet: Collector’s Edition (1984) [BluRay/DVD]

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Director Thom Eberhardt’s eighties apocalyptic classic is a great amalgam of zombie horror and coming of age drama. And while it does watch very much like an eighties film with brutally dated clothing and hairstyles, Eberhardt’s film has been incredibly influential since its initial release, nonetheless. Scream Factory provides a fitting and really sharp treatment (though maintaining the grit and grain) for what is still a stellar dose of post-apocalyptic fiction that entertains as well as frightens.

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Bounty Killer (2013) (DVD)

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The best action movie released all year, “Bounty Killer,” finally comes to DVD and Blu-Ray, as director Henry Saine delivers action fans a pulpy apocalyptic thriller worthy of a large fan base. “Bounty Killer” is set in the future where corporations are now enemy number one and have laid waste to civilization with their greed. The government has sent a slew of skilled and crafty bounty killers to hunt down and take down corporate executives daring to run away with their corporation’s profits.

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Pacific Rim (2013) [Blu-ray]

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Though we may never get to see director Guillermo Del Toro’s vision of “At the Mountains of Madness,” that doesn’t mean “Pacific Rim” isn’t without its Lovecraftian influences. There’s the deep sea monsters, the beings from another dimension, giant tentacled beings, and the implications of something bigger to come. “Pacific Rim” is set in a world where kaiju are a natural phenomenon and the world is built around the constant threat of attacks from giant beasts that didn’t come from the sky, but instead the bottom of the sea through an inter dimensional rift.

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