Avoid these movies like the plague

When it comes to end-of-the-world movies, I avoid them like, well, the plague.

But it seems like filmmakers and the movie-going population must like something about these kinds of stories. During a recent trip to the theater to see "Zombieland" (see the review in the Weekend Pinnacle Friday), which in its way is an apocalypse movie, though I prefer to see it as a zombie comedy, I saw previews for two new movies to add to the end-of-the-world genre.

I knew what "2012" was going to be about when I saw the title of the film. I learned about Aztec culture in Spanish class where we watched a film about it. Apparently the Aztec calendar predicts the end of the world on Dec. 12, 2012. That's only a few years away. It doesn't bode well for my chances of winning a pulitzer, writing a novel or falling in love and having a baby, if that timeline turns out to be accurate.

The movie "2012," which is set to come out in December, is about the end of the world and the people who survive it. Even John Cusack, who I enjoy watching in most films, isn't enough to make me want to watch this movie.

The other movie previewed this weekend is "Legion" and I got totally turned off when an old woman bit a man in the preview with crazy weird fangs and then scampered up a wall like a bug. And then evil angels came down to Earth. From what I can gather of the preview a pregnant waitress is carrying the messiah and has to be protected to save mankind.

These, of course, are just the most recent in a long line of movies. In fact there are so many, there is a whole Web site devoted to them. The Web site classifies the movies by date, dating back to the 1950s or by sub genre. They include zombies, plagues, nature, aliens and more.

The Web site is updated regularly because it does have movies for 2009 listed, including "Zombieland" and "9.

I will admit I've seen my share of apocalypse movies, inlcuding the animated film "9" and the zombie comedies "Zombieland" and "Shaun of the Dead."

But it is rare that a movie about the end of the world will get me to the theater. I just happen to see some when they are out on DVD or because it just happens to be on TV when there is nothing else on. I saw "I am Legend" with Will Smith, though I didn't really get it. I saw "City of Ember," which I didn't really think of as a post-apocalyptic movie until I saw it listed on the apocalyptic movie site, though given that it is about a city under ground I guess it fits into the category. I saw "Children of Men," the drama starring Clive Owen as a man who has to ferry the only fertile woman to safety in a dangerous world, but again I didn't really get it.

Most of the time I just don't like these movies because they are downers since they all involve a world that humans have destroyed - though sometimes aliens or zombies do the deed. They usually run for two hours, and then offer a little glimmer of hope. I'd rather have more hope up front. And I guess a little part of me feels that all the production and marketing money spent on these films could be better spent on fighting global warming or world hunger or any one of the plagues that is killing humans right now.

Of course, if a virus mutates to turn humans into zombies that can be passed through a rabid zombie bite, we're all probably just screwed.