movie review

MOVIE REVIEW

EVER SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
Rated NR 2001
By Calum Grant and Joshua Litle
This movie uses a documentary style, the interviewer and cameraman recording interviews of the survivors of a super plague. At first I had fears of Blair Witch BS, jerky camera action and what not, but the whole thing was rather well done. Overall a very good effort. Now, that said, the film does suffer from a severe California Lifestyle outlook. I had forgotten how totally out of touch “those people” were, having successfully escaped that mad house almost twenty years ago, but this movie definitely brought that insanity back to life.
*
Twelve years after the plague started ( of unknown origins with no known cure ) and ten years after the end which left only 186 people left in San Francisco, our two guys decided to do the whole interview for prosperity shtick. Kind of the book Warday, but on video and in the Bay Area and just north. It isn’t just talking heads, they show people actually doing the things they are talking about such as fishing with spears and poles on the beach. The pace is good and never lets up and they bounce back and forth in the interviews so it doesn’t get boring. Plus, there is plenty of live video as the two travel with others. There are shots of the Golden Gate bridge falling apart, clearly the CG budget buster here even though the film never seems low budget or cheesy. But, good Christ the feel of the whole thing.
*
Think of painfully hip young people. Now, picture painfully hip and young urban Californians. All with lifetime indoctrination in politically correct thought. These people are their own culture, and if Baby Jesus had any love for us they would be their own country. Those people living in California, I’m sorry to hear that. Those Californians cursing me right now, tough crap. I was born and raised there and I am qualified to pronounce you friggin wacked. The whole thread this movie had was that with almost total population decline everyone left had the abundant resources to do as they deemed fit. You had a women’s commune. One of them was interviewing for a sperm donor. She wanted a child, not a family. The women’s commune would all pitch in as the family unit. Way to go, keep that PC brainwashing going. Another teenager was tired of the reminiscing of the adults and had gone from foster parent to foster parent until he was satisfied with a group of kids raising themselves. One guy was living up in the trees. He only used a crossbow so he stayed silent and he had animal totems in his hat. The ultimate groovy nature tree hugging lifestyle. Two guys were slackers, smoking weed all the time. Their tip was to follow the wild dog packs to edible and abundant food ( just be careful they don’t turn on you, dude ).
*
Every decision was made by arguing amongst themselves. One psycho guy had started fires, endangered the city. He was run out of town. After “listening to the ghosts” in the wilderness away from everybody he wanted to return to the city and be with other people. Of course everyone was afraid he’d start fires again. Blah, blah, talk, talk, what do we do about crazy dude? Kill him? Too barbaric, who are we to play God, yada, yada. The guy ends up dead by an unknown executioner. Most of their reaction was that there were too few people left and it was a tragedy. Morons. Any normal society after the crash a sentry would have smoked him as he came back. Or, plenty of volunteers would have stepped forward to off the silly twit. And been praised for the effort. Instead, these idiots are talking about not allowing hate to become toxic or some such drivel. Hate is good, dumbass. It keeps you focused and alive.
*
And then there was the conspiracy nut ( the plague was by the CIA/NSA/CDC- I don‘t have proof yet, but I will! ). Portrayed as weak chinned and almost effeminate and completely off his rocker. Okay, I will admit that most conspiracies are a bit much and their devotees a bit too focused with almost no sense of humor. Although, let me just say look at the hole in the Pentagon. It’s the size of a bunker buster rocket, far too small to be the fuselage of an airliner. But that’s all I’ll say about that. My point here is that in the movie this portrayal struck me as a bit pro-liberal PC big daddy government and a bit anti-individual. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. But the conspiracy guy was a clear bit of propaganda one way or another. Then, near the end, one of the traveling group was shot by unknown assailants ( perhaps another negative portrayal, the evil unseen rural dweller attacks the hip and cool city dude ) and still several days out they can’t get him back since they’re almost out of water. And his wound is starting to smell a bit. Argue, argue, what do we do, and then another guy shoots the wounded one. Okay, problem solved. No more burden to carry.
*
To me this kind of goes along with the whole outlook so far. California is the ultimate idea of personal freedom without any responsibilities ( which is why the Nanny State is so popular there since it is the only safety net the juvenile society has ). I can’t see beyond myself, so I’ll eliminate any problem to myself. Pathetic.
*Genre Rating-very good. Not perfect, the mass die off leaving massive supplies to the survivors seems like a cop out to me. But everything stays consistent. The salvage of materials to explain what they have is realistic. The lack of people translates into a believable hunting existence. The gravity water system for the city is explained, gardening is believable in their climate. Everyone is nicely dressed, explained by salvage.
*Nudity Rating-piss poor. No skin.
*Overall Rating- very good. While the whole California Culture pollutes the film, there is no denying it was well made and has a realistic feel to it. Even their sanitized appearance is excused by youth and a relatively easy and less stressful lifestyle.
END