Saturday, June 05, 2004

The Night Before Yesterday
The night before yesterday, we went to the drive-in. The first film was Cody Banks and the second film was The Day After Tomorrow.

The temperature dropped to the mid-50s (no tornadoes, hailstorms or tidal waves though), but we had provisions: pizza, drinks, blankets and pillows. The boys made a warm bed in the back of the Suburban with the hatch up while Mom and Dad were outside on lawn chairs swathed in a shared sleeping bag. The first film was a mindless comedy with enough laughs to make it enjoyable.

No one told me that both films were comedies. How could they deliver their lines with straight faces? Stop reading if you haven't seen TDAT, but I'd suggest saving your money.

First the survival parody.

Why in the world did the father go into the storm? There was nothing he could do to save his son. He already told him to stay inside. Duh! We always go for a cross country hike in a blizzard. Of course, it was the police who led the victims to their frozen fate. Just can't trust trained rescue workers, I guess.

Why did they burn the books and leave all those wooden library chairs and tables that would have made a warmer, longer lasting fire?

And it was amazing that the fireplace worked after a 100 years of disuse. Makes me wonder why we bother cleaning our chimney.

Wolves! Come on now. Why would they attack the three boys when lots of frozen food was readily available. And I suspect any self-respecting wolf would seek shelter when temperatures drop to 150 degrees below.

Of course, the few brainy teenagers survived in a public library through their wits while the experienced Scot scientists already provisioned for cold weather stoically faced their death with 12 year old scotch.

We saw steel doors freeze almost instantly when the artic freeze hit after a torrential downpour and tidal wave. However, none of the characters had much trouble opening the doors. Has anyone tried to open a car door after a rain and then a freeze? Also there was a lot of bare skin, but no one got frost bite.

And will the internet be the last link to civilization?

OK, a nod to the political messages, although I've seen more thorough discussions of this aspect of the movie. The President, a fearless captain, stoically was the last man out of Washington, unlike Bush on 9/11. Of course, when he finally decided to escape, he died outside the city. You see, only environmentalists are savvy enough to travel prepared.

Closing the Mexican border to US refugees was a nice touch. Walk a mile in my shoes, eh?

But the best laugh came when the scientist-hero confronted and reprimanded now President Dick Cheney for not doing anything to cut greenhouse gases the day before when he was warned of the impact of global warning. What was he suppose to do in one day?

The boys thought it was a great movie; first end-of-the-world film they have seen, I suppose. On the way home, Ricky mused, "The world is changing, Mom. Terrorism. Gas Prices. And now..." Global warming went unsaid. "Yes, the world does change and you adapt, change with it, son." I wish I could keep their childhood security, but I really want them to grow in wisdom and stature in the eyes of God and men. (paraphrase of Luke 2:52 - "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.")

This movie reminded me of a childhood fear. When I learned about the Ice Age, I thought it happened quickly. I imagined giant glaciers of ice, rock and gravel rolling over my childhood home. Around middle school, I realized how slow it happened. This was about the same time I realized that the seal hidden in Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper was not an animal. I just couldn't figure out how the seal survived without water and food and why no one heard it barking. Both misconceptions came from reading beyond my comprehension level.

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