Critic's corner
Because I bake an excellent humble pie.
"Pimp My Spa."
A Fenway Park cake, complete with the Lime Monster.
I've always been strongly attracted to apocalyptic stories, and this 1959 Stanley Kramer movie is an end-of-days classic. About Australians waiting to die from nuclear winds that have already killed the rest of the world, the movie is slow and quietly devastating. It's not like any of the loud, action-packed global disaster movies of today. Gregory Peck (left) and Ava Gardner are, of course, a plus.
Michael meets modern pirates. Is this a Disneyworld crossover?
Violence ensues, eh?
Fans of director Terry Gilliam ("Brazil," "The Fisher King") know to expect visionary settings and a certain looseness of story. They won't be disappointed in this rotting-civilization tale starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and a wired Brad Pitt. The plot? Time travel, an attempt to save the world from viral plague, and a great deal of uncertainty about who's crazy here. (R; runs through Aug. 28) 