What a Disaster

I'm currently reading a thorough book on disaster films titled, appropriately, "Disaster Movies" by Glenn Kay and Michael Rose. The disaster movie category is yet another genre, or perhaps, sub-genre, of films, the big genre being 'action/adventure'. And, I'm gonna run with scissors here and produce a sub-sub-genre called 'schlocky-fun disaster movies'.

Here's why. Serious disaster films, which do exist (think A Night to Remember (1958), the REAL movie about the Titanic, an excellent film), stand apart from the fun disaster flicks. And, like many truly great movies, defy genre. Slapping a movie in a specific genre sometimes sets it up as a certain type, almost a cliche, occasionally an unintentional spoof of itself. So, my schlocky-fun disaster movies, of which there are a bazillion (Meteor (1979), The Towering Inferno (1974), 2012 (2009)), fit neatly in their boxes, but can't be taken seriously.

At any rate, the book is a good read, and I'm learning the titles of several potentially-hysterical disastrous films that I'll need to watch and throw on my blog.

'til next time... Adios.