I woke up feeling sick this morning. I mean, really sick. I should have expected it: my dreams for the last few nights have been bizarre. I don’t mean creepy. I mean Willy Wonka meets Flashpoint in an Atlantis-setting kind of weird. Yeah. That kind of weird.

So as I’m sitting here trying to think up something profound to write for today’s post, I’m also inundated with horrible news stories from around the world. Tropical Storm (soon to be Hurricane) Isaac, a plethora of earthquakes, and of course all the political thrills going on.

The news reports and even my Facebook wall read more like something out of a movie. And that is what has inspired this post.

My Top Ten Disaster-Type Movies, in no particular order (except #1):

10.  JAWS. Sure, it’s not a natural disaster in the Mother Nature sense, but what’s more natural than predator vs. prey?

9. VOLCANO. Tommy Lee Jones. The “It Can’t Really Happen Here” syndrome that makes you wonder… what if it did happen here?

8. SUM OF ALL FEARS. Sort of a cross between natural disaster and political thriller. With Ben Affleck. Any questions?

7. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Either the original with Frank Sinatra or the remake with Liev Schrieber. Not a disaster movie, you say? Maybe… but it’s a great political thriller, so I think that qualifies.

6. KNOW1NG. Who doesn’t love Nicolas Cage, even when he’s rejecting what everyone else seems to know… until, that is, he has no choice but to believe.

5. 2012. John Cusack drives a limo and flies a plane, just to save his family from the end of the world. I call that a tad romantic. Or cheesy. You decide.

4. ARMAGEDDON. Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck (here he is again!) save the world, with a bunch of misfit oil-riggers and a little romance.

3. SIGNS. I guess this one really does fall under the “It Couldn’t Happen Here” category… or could it? Just because you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean they’re not out there…

2. CONTAGION. Aside from one of favorite reasons being any FLASHPOINT actor (here, Enrico Colantoni), this movie really brings it to the table. Everything, that is, except the vaccine.

1. THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. Sure. You keep making fun of those who speak of Global Warming

*Honorable Mention: THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. While the remake with Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas is outstanding, nothing compares to the original with Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine. A rogue wave, survival of the fittest, and a plausible plotline. If anyone asks, this is why I’ve never taken a cruise.

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

Conversations with My Daughter
I Wore a Baseball Cap Today (Sunday Stream of Consciousness)
Sweeten my tea and share: