SyFy Channel is at it again, a film about the near end of the world.  With the backlog of disaster films, you would imagine if there ever was an emergency and the world was on the cusp of massive destruction, thankfully there is a film out there to at least give us an outside-the-box theory of how to prevent the end.  After all it’s not as though NASA or the numerous geniuses working in labs in front of computers or telescopes would have any idea about what to do.  It’s always someone nestled in a small town no one has ever heard of, but this resident has the answers to everything.  It’s with this kind of thinking and obsession with disaster films where End of the World wants its viewers.  This isn’t a film that takes itself seriously, but it also is a far cry from being a parody.

Greg Grunberg (Alias and Heroes) plays Owen Stokes, a disaster-film-obsessed owner of a video store.  It’s a small town, so it doesn’t seem as though Netflix or Red Box has made its corporate invasion quite yet.  Selena (Caroline Cave) is Owen’s girlfriend and doesn’t seem too pleased that he’s forgotten her birthday or that he uses the birthdate of his favorite sci-fi writer Dr. Walter Brown to remind him.  But before their argument can get too out of hand, a solar flare hits the Earth sending bursts of blue energy that destroy whatever it comes into contact with.

Tinto Brass is a dirty old man, but I'll get to that later. Tinto Brass directed the film Black Angel in 2002 (when it was called Senso 45), and it is now getting a DVD release. It is an adaptation of the novella Senso, written by Camillo Boito, which was previously filmed by Luchino Visconti. This version takes place in Fascist Italy in 1945. Fascism had been growing in Italy under Benito Mussolini since the early part of the 20^th century. It influenced and eventually became intertwined with German Nazism until their mutual destruction in 1945 with the deaths of Hitler and Mussolini within days of each other at the end of April of 1945. Whatever their goals were at the start, they both devolved into depravity and insanity. The goal of Fascism was the subjugation of the individual for the good of the collective state. It was a reaction to Marxism but also merged with the philosophies of Capitalism. It is generally believed that the philosophies of Fascism were further perverted by the opportunistic desires of Mussolini. Domination of the individual was essential to the growth of the totalitarianism of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and that power over the individual corrupts the soul. This leads to the decadent domination of individuals for any purpose.

Tinto Brass is best known for the film Caligula, but he took his name off the film when Penthouse's Bob Guccione took over and inserted hardcore sex scenes and generally botched the editing. Brass's career began when he started working for Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini and made hist first solo film in 1963. Ironically, Brass turned to erotica after Caligula because of a subversive desire to undermine censorship of any kind. One of Brass's first major successes was Salon Kitty with Ingrid Thulin and Helmut Berger which has many thematic similarities to Black Angel. They both deal with an ambiguous and amoral Nazi officer. He is clearly influenced by his mentor Rossellini and especially his film Open City. Brass says as much in an interview included in the DVD extras. But Brass never reaches the sublime levels of complexity of his masters Fellini, Visconti or Rossellini. He has settled for pushing the limits of soft core into a higher level. Brass clearly is obsessed with the sexual aspects of what is a very good story. He is so obsessed that he has focused on many of his fetishes above all else. There is some pleasure to be had from this, and it clearly appeals to an audience of adult films, but it is also prurient and indulgent. Another famous film, The Night Porter, dealt with the bizarre sexual obsession between a Nazi officer and his lover with more compelling ambiguity than Black Angel.

Whit (Whitby) Hertford is short, around 5 foot 1. He is the writer and star of Dreamworld. I mention this because he is the little dynamo that drives dreams of greatness. He also plays the depressed and scared little mouse because it is a part he understands. Whitby Hertford was a child actor (Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child), and he has retained the giant puppy-dog eyes even though now he has five o'clock shadow and a puffy face. He has worked regularly through the years, because clearly he is bitten with the bug. He wants to be a star. If he is going to be a star, he will be an unlikely one. At least he hasn't  gone the way of many child actors. He's not a drug addict, prostitute or convicted felon. He has the look of someone who is dying, though. He has a sad and longing look. The film is all about him, and it seems to be very heavily drawn from real life. The DVD of Dreamworld also includes three short films under the headings of Human Hearts (Long Story Short, Elliot, Tomorrow). They are all unique and interesting in their own right but all driven by an unquenchable longing. The DVD extras also include a Nickelodeon/Adult Swim pitch for an animated series called “Life After Myth”. It is a Sponge Bob Square Pants type show about grouchy and retired creatures like the Easter Bunny, The Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. That's how Dreamworld begins with Whit (Oliver Hayes) pitching the series to a bored executive. The pitch goes terribly, and Oliver shuffles off not knowing what to do with his life. He whines and complains to his strange friends at an art exhibit. His gay best girlfriend, Jules (Nora Kirkpatrick) gives him an epic pep talk, but Oliver is not gay and is not consoled. Jules is probably six feet tall, so it's funny having her stand next to short little Oliver. Jules is busy anyway making eyes at a girl at the party.

Oliver does meet a girl who is very interested in him. Her name is Lily Blush (Mary Kate Wiles), and she is so interested in him that she practically takes over his life. Lily enchants him and makes him fall in love with her instantly. She is a self-described pixie and is compared in the film to Kate Winslet in the The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind and Natalie Portman in Garden State. In other words, Lily is kind of a crazy muse and probably really believes it in her own mind. Lily convinces Oliver that she knows someone at Pixar and they should go on a journey together to pitch “Life as Myth”.