Thursday, January 21, 2016

The Remaining (2014) movie

Imagine the Christian "Rapture" event as a horror film and you have The Remaining, a 2014 Christian-horror movie. Combining elements of cinéma vérité, mainly the handheld camera, the film follows a group of 20-somethings after the events foretold in the Bible's Book of Revelation unfold following a wedding reception. The movie is graphic in some of its imagery. As with many of these movies based on someone "documenting" the events with a video camera, the end of the film leaves many questions unresolved.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Seveneves (2015) novel

Seveneves (2015) by acclaimed Seattle author Neal Stephenson is set in the near future. It opens with the explosion of the moon by an unknown agent. Earth has about a year to prepare itself for its utter destruction as the moon pieces rain down. Only those humans in outer space, deep in the ocean (think nuclear submarines) and survivalists in deep underground Arctic mines will remain alive for the next 5,000 years. While not his most challenging read, the story is mostly satisfying though not without some obvious questions around how any human society, especially one trapped in outer space, could actually survive for 5,000 years.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse (2014) anthology

Edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse (Holstein, Ont.: Exile Editions, 2014) is an anthology of 23 stories exploring possible scenarios on Canadian soil after the world ends.