the blog of nathan loding

The vision of the world after apocalypse is nothing new to cinema. Nor was it to books when McCarthy’s original book was published. A gray world that is desolate and foreboding, ashy and violent. Gangs run amuck, taking hostages; few good men still exist, the hardships of their new life taking obvious tolls. The difference with The Road is that it’s personal and up-close. The Road has managed to take the essence of the book and present it to us successfully on the screen.

With the teenage vampire craze under way it’s hard to find a good vampire movie any more. (Although I’m not really certain I can blame Stephanie Meyer for it, good vampire movies were hard to come by before.) This is one that makes a valiant, original attempt at reclaiming the genre. Unfortunately, the film turns a little too grotesquely comedic in the middle of the second half for it to have been a brilliant picture.

I had little to no interest (closer to no interest) in seeing this movie until I watched the Golden Globes. People had recommended it, but they also recommended other comedies that turned out to be only mildly amusing. Then the Golden Globes played a clip during their broadcast that I found extremely funny. So I rented it. And very much enjoyed it. It’s hard to call a movie about a killer hangover smart, but this one actually is. It’s getting rare to see a mainstream comedy that is these days.