the day the earth caught fire

Watching grungy and gray-skied London in Guy Ritchie's action/drama Sherlock Holmes made me think of the future. Ritchie presents the fictional detective as a reflection of the period in which he lived, and as such Robert Downey, Jr. stands out as much for his independent thinking and alternative lifestyle as for his deductive reasoning.

That means he would have fit in very well in the future, or in an alternative today, as well illustrated by the ten films I've chosen for this list. As usual, it's a very personal list, which means I cheat sometimes on the nationality of the film. To me, born and bred in America, these films feel very British, reflecting a very distinct point of view. I'm sure that's more reflective of my own (perhaps misguided) perceptions rather than reality, but at least I've stuck with flicks that are set somewhere in Great Britain, somewhere in time. Are they all great? You be the judge.

1. Children of Men (2006)
My pick for SciFi Squad's The Best of the Decade. Without repeating myself, let me add that the film feels like a James Bond spy thriller in which the world has gone to hell. Clive Owen makes for a very good, tattered, weary 007, no longer interested in bedding or drinking martinis or gambling or chasing after the bad guys. The picture also tilts and narrows its worldview to present conditions after Britain has shut itself off from the world. Once again, the British Empire rules the world -- or, what's left of it.

* The headline became too unwieldy, but, just so you know, my original title was: "The Top Ten Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Flicks With Dogs, Hot Chicks, Robots, or Zombies." Please consider the following list accordingly!

In these difficult economic times, it's encouraging to see that hundreds of people found gainful employment destroying the world (again). Roland Emmerich's 2012 opens tomorrow and apparently employed every living soul who knows how to create havoc on the big screen. The trailer promises large-scale destruction of well-known landmarks, a prescient, disheveled, very concerned parent / ex-husband (John Cusack), and last-second narrow escapes. That doesn't sound too familiar, does it?

Meanwhile, The Road, which finally opens November 25, stars Viggo Mortensen in an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bleak, devastating novel about a father and son trudging through a post-apocalyptic world with nary a glimmer of hope. Between those two extremes -- popcorn and pessimism -- lie my favorite kind of post-disaster flick: reasonable possibilities in a world forever changed -- but still with dogs, hot chicks, robots, or zombies.

1. Mad Max 2 (AKA The Road Warrior)

George Miller pushed Max (Mel Gibson) to the edge in the first film; in the sequel, Max well illustrated the changes wrought upon ordinary people by extraordinary circumstances, as the family man was transformed into the ultimate loner, an action hero for the new millenium. Thrills, chills, and missing heartbeats play out amidst the carnage of last-chance heroes and the bewildered affection of a feral child. At least Max had his dog.