2012
2012 is when a planetary alignment will instigate the destruction of our planet according to the ancient Mayan calendar - December 21st to be exact, 12-21-12. Flash forward to December 2012 and Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) a US Geologist is discovering that unprecedented solar flares are shooting light particles at the earth’s core which is heating up the crust. He alerts US President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover) who directs the implementation of a plan dreamed up in British Columbia in 2010. Meantime Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) one of Adrian’s favourite authors who has to moonlight as a chauffeur is trying to reconnect with his two kids on a camping trip to Yellowstone. They find that the military has deemed the park off limits just before meeting the brain fried Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson) who broadcasts his conspiracy theories out of his dilapidated motor home. Charlie gives Jackson the lowdown on Mayan chronology and the big plan for what world leaders intend to do about it. What follows is a wild ride as Jackson tries to get his kids, Kate (Amanda Peet) his ex and her boyfriend out of harms way while the earth is literally dissolving underneath them. Shot in Ashcroft we’re treated to locals like Blu Mankuma, Gerard Plunkett, Val Cole, Gillian Barber and Beverley Elliott playing off Hollywood a-listers like Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton and George Segal. At 2 hours and 40 minutes normally this kind of corny dialogue and cloying sentimentality might make it seem like the real 2012 will come to an end before this picture does but the stunning special effects make the time fly, most of which is spent perched on the edge of ones seat.