Sicario 2049

It turned out to be actually good, quite good really.
A depressing, oppressive  feeling runs thru the whole movie, a mix of "Sicario" with "Prisoners".
One thing is for certain, Hollywood learn how to represent correctly extreme poverty. something I've noticed for the first time while watching "Children of Men".

Soylent Green is Soap!

Currently reading it, about 80% done.
I simply love it.
The mixed genre is amazing, I particularly love Gibson's influences on the chapter "An Orison of Sonmi~451", and the Hawaii post-ap setting for "Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After" (although that has been the most difficult thing I've read in English so far).
I want to see how it delivers on the cinema.

Currently reading

During the weekend finished Warday, it was sort of a disappointment -waited for years till I get my hands on a copy-, but it gets a little better as it progresses, nevertheless, as post apocalyptic novels go, this is one of the softest and strangest I read so far.
Started right away with Juliet, Naked, which seems like pure Hornby at its best.

The Road, but down South...

This might look like something out of The Road, but, unfortunately it is not.

Ash covered landscape

Epecuén raising

Once a booming small tourist town, located about 500 kms. from Bs. As., in 1985 the whole place flooded in a matter of days; the waters are now receding, and the remains are left in the sun.
More pictures and the story (in Spanish):

La historia del pueblo que volvió a emerger

Books & time

It has been a while since I post something about books and the crap I'm reading in general.

After the one on Yeager, got my hands on "La Costa de Los Mosquitos" (read in in Spanish, IIRC, it was the first and only book on Spanish this year, shame on me...).
Found it an amazing book, I've seeing the film many, many years ago, and it was rather good, but the book as simply an excellent read.
It was the second book I've read from Theroux, the other one being "Saint Jack", I simply couldn't not read that book after seeing Bogdanovich's film (Here is an excellent review of the film).

After that one, got my hands on "Alas, Babylon", got it during my last vacation, but didn't had any time to read it until now. Being a "fan" of the genre, this book seems rather naive, but then again, it was one of the first ones written on the subject of post apocalyptic war.

This summer (my summer) have to get me a copy of "War Day", even if it is a used one thru Amazon.com.

The children of boredom

Just finished, before starting "Accidental Empires", with "The Children of Men"...
By Jeebus, I know that Wikipedia warns you that the movie has substantial differences with the book, but this is ridiculous, the book is a piece of crap, really boring and compared to the movie, it lacks a lot of the "universe" that the movie creates, or at least, suggests.

Abandon all hope

A japanese site with truly amazing pictures of all kinds of abandoned places.

Darkness is a road seldom traveled by films?

I can't wait for this film to get here, damn it... Loved the book, even tho read it on Spanish and I certainly find the subject matter interesting.

The only thing that I find rather strange, is that every single picture I had seen of the film, and I mean the ones shot on the outside, are rather "light", that is, there is way too much light on them... If you get one thing out of the book, is the somber, dark, oppressive environment... You could almost smell the smoke coming out of the book, and the characters, literally, had to feel what was ahead of them, because they could not see a thing.

I understand if you have to cut corners and you can't shoot the whole thing using real nights, but come on!!! At least use a graduated ND filter to bring the corners down a stop or two.

The Road Trailer (a blog)

La Carretera

Friday night got a book of which that I'd read a few reviews, and was recommended to me because of the subject matter, post-apocalypse & dystopia, a subject that I don't really know why, stayed with me through out the years.

The book hooked me completely right from the get go, it is an amazing book, not only for the subject, but also on its technique, but don't take my word for it, take it from the ones who know.

The only drawback was that I was forced to read it on Spanish, couldn't find it anywhere around here on it original form.

Another take at dystopia & nostalgia

Yes.
Another one of those...

I think I watched this film on TV when I must be around 11 years old or so, a SCI/FI classic to me, if ever there was one.
Up until yesterday I wasn't even able to pinpoint the film, didn't knew or remembered the title, nor the leading characters, etc. Matter of fact, I wasn't even aware if it was a color film or not! (Saw it on a B&W TV)
A post on Ars Technica requesting info on this lead me to it and shed quite a light on the matter :)

The thing that stuck with after all these years is the escape scene thru the flooded gutters and debris, when I saw "Children of Men", and they escape the refugee city the same way, it struck me; or at least, that's what I think.

Z.P.G. (Zero Population Growth)
Z.P.G. (1971) - Monster Hunter review
Z.P.G. (Zero Population Growth)
Zero Population Growth
ZERO POPULATION GROWTH - in Greek

Threads anyone?

We had a long week end around here, zero work, zero Nagios alarms, zero problems with any server anywhere.
So, given the effing sh*t my country is running into once again, I decided to watch -once again- 'Threads'.
Bad, bad, choice, matte.

This should be, I guess, the fifth time I see the film in my life, this time on DVD (don't ask how I got it on DVD, but I should say that I'm really grateful to a certain IchiKiller)

The movie is tough, no matter how many times you see it (specially since it has no subs, not even English, and its spoken in British English), but also, to me it is rather easy to compare the pre war situation to all the f*cked up things we are having a ball with in Argentina right now.

Of course, we are not going to start a nuclear war anytime soon, but, if we keep f*cking stuff like we do, will be back to steam power and hand crops in a jiffy.

Birthday wish list, more like "research"

My birthday is close, so I have been web window shopping for my present.
I have been looking for a long time for a book, not a sci-fi one, that would deal with the repercussions on humans after a nuclear war, sort of like Threads so "wonderfully" did (extra link 1 extra link 2)

I read (lost it on a moving, I guess) A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race and I have The Cold and the Dark: The World After Nuclear War, but both of them are pretty much centered around the climatic, the weather changes on the subject.
Whilst the subject it is really interesting (I b*tch a lot about the regular weather...), I would like to read something that is primarily aimed towards what would happen to society, or whatever remains that resembles it.

Found these two, but I don't know what to expect.

The Long Darkness: Psychological and Moral Perspectives on Nuclear Winter

Nuclear Winter: The Human and Environmental Consequences of Nuclear War

Dystopia & Post-apocalypse, Pop style

Lately I have been watching a lot of DVDs, say something like 6/7 a week.
Last night I saw movie that I have completely forgot about, Children of man, not only when it made it to the theaters, but also, on DVD; found it on my local Blockbuster by share coincidence.

I really, really enjoyed the film, it deals with many of the subjects of SCI-FI that I like: post-apocalyptic scenarios and the end of society as we know it, besides post nuclear Armageddon.

Searching a bit on the internet, found some of the things -old TV series, mostly- that I believe are the origins for my interest on the matter.

Ark II
(I don't recall how it was called in Argentina, but I remember being fascinated by the vehicle...)

Planet Earth
(IIRC, this one had a special inflatable, pop-up tent, like a tipee)

Genesys II
(Very much like the one above, I recall seeing this on a Sunday, really, really late on TV, I guess on the old Canal 11)

Earth Abides
(The grand daddy of all of them, even before I Am Legend)

Nuclear autumn

Ever since this smoke thing started to invade Bs As, I could not stop to think that would be how Bs As might look like after a nuclear war, if not blown up by an actual hit, of course.

The thing is, that instead of grass fires and an awful smoke from it; we will get and really, really toxic smoke from the burnings from all the cities, factories (people...) coming down from the civilized Northern hemisphere.

Of course, this being Argentina, where everything is upside down, instead of getting a drop on the temperature, we are getting a summer like highs in the middle of autumn.

Nuclear apocalypse films from the 80's

Here is a top 3 list of my favorite nuclear war films from the 1980s, I think that the first two did more for the peace movement than all the Hippie & Flower Power combined, at least for my generation.
Of course, there was also The Day After, but personally I always thought it was kinda goofy, specially compared to "Threads".
The third one it is a comedy, but I have fond memories of it, so I have added it.

Threads
Testament
Miracle Mile

DISCLAIMER:
Do not watch the first 2 on a Sunday afternoon.