The Writer's Life 11/21 - Low to High

The apocalypse is a common theme in cinema, be it due to nuclear blasts, climate, viruses or collision with an asteroid, the latter of which is believed to have done in the dinosaurs. The films are usually a grim, unflattering depiction of the human race. Such is the case with These Final Hours (2013), which I saw last night courtesy of Netflix. An asteroid has struck the North Atlantic, creating a gradual worldwide catastrophe. Australia has approximately 14 hours before it will be wiped out. The end of days is seen from the viewpoint of a young man leading a wayward life. He abandons a woman whom he has impregnated to attend a wild party where he hopes to become numb to the pain the holocaust will deliver. He is side-tracked when he witnesses the kidnapping of a pre-teenage girl by two deviants. He rescues her and it leads to a sort of personal redemption, but not before several missteps along their odyssey. The best aspect of the movie is its refusal to compromise. The world is coming to an end and that is that. Many behave despicably and the horrors are not whitewashed. It is hardcore, pulls no punches. The flick was written and directed by Zak Hilditch, who has twelve credits each in writing and directing, mostly of shorts. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with next. The two leads, Nathan Phillips and Angourie Rice, are excellent. 8900+ users at IMDb have rated These Final Hours, forging to a consensus of 6.6 of ten, a little low in my view. Another plus, it runs less than an hour and a half, much more economical than Lars Von Trier's similarly-themed although completely different, cerebral Melancholia (2011).  Anyone squeamish about violence, nudity, profanity and downbeat subject matter should pass. Fortunately, the DVD was close captioned. The accents weren't a deterrent.

Since the film was so short, it allowed me to catch the last half hour of a celebration of the music of John Kander and Fred Ebb, the team behind Cabaret, Chicago, New York, New York and many other award winning musicals. It was an instant reminder of the very best of life, often personified in the work of great artists. My favorite song by that dynamic duo is the rousing, hilarious Cell Block Tango from Chicago. The program introduced me to one I'd never heard: The Apple Doesn't Fall Very Far from the Tree from The Rink, which was not very successful, running only 204 performances on Broadway. Ebb said of it: "...That show hurt me more than any show I've written.... I felt that I had let them down." He was referring to Liza Minelli, who was nominated, and Chita Rivera, who won a Tony for her performance. I was unable to find the clip from the tribute, done beautifully by two women with whom I am completely unfamiliar. Here's one featuring the aforementioned legendary divas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq4OMZi_GT8 There must be dozens of great numbers from failed shows. In fact, New York, New York is about the only worthwhile part of that misbegotten film, a rare failure from Martin Scorsese.

My thanks to the kind folks who bought books today on Bay Parkway.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/