Postings for the last few days have been quite heavy and heavy-handed. Cathartic for writing, but perhaps not so reading. Sorry. I've just been thinking too much. The Day After Tomorrow has been an excuse to reflect on the things we are doing as individuals and as a global community and it's not really a happy reflection. As individuals, what we do in our lives is in reality so insignificant. The futures we plan for ourselves and work so hard to build; are we able to pick up the pieces and build a new future if things just don't go the way we plan? Collectively, can we see that our insignificant comings and goings add up and the cumulative effect of it all can cause such dramatic changes around us and place us in just the state of jeopardy that we are working so desperately to avoid? And as individuals, will we care only after it's too late (c.f. the Vice Pres)?

The concepts Day After considers are quite profound, but because the scope of destruction is so tremendous, the movie's focus on how the cataclysm affects one single family feels narrow and claustrophobic. It's admirable how Dad braves everything to go fetch his son, stranded in the NY Public Library in the middle of an overnight Ice Age, but you have to ask yourself, "What the heck for? And what does he hope to accomplish once he gets there?" If anyone had survived the flash freeze -- and many people did -- then a far more efficient rescue operation would have been mounted for them. Dad's only excuse to traipse from Washington DC to NY over fresh tundra: "I made a promise." Forgive my skepticism but, yeah, right. Makes for a storytelling device but it does stretch credibility a bit. Besides, the focus on this one tough trek means so much less sympathy for everyone else who was caught unprepared for the freak storm. It's like oh, everyone else is dying around our heroes; erm... ok, nothing more to see here, let's just move on. I left the movie knowing that I wasn't impressed, but I couldn't articulate why. It was June who mentioned this point first, and I thought she hit the nail on the head. Maybe I can convince her to write reviews from now on?

Like I said, too much to think about. This morning I made myself happy with a couple of prata and a wadai then sat in front of the TV watching Saturday morning cartoons. You should see the grin on my face now. I'll stop blogging in time to watch Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (click the link and play with the "Dub your own flick" toy -- be patient, it's hilarious!) on STAR Movies in about a minute. Wonder what my face will look like then?