Doom and Gloom on Film: Dr. Strangelove: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Nazi scientists, perverted generals, and nuclear holocaust! It’s the most gripping trifecta one could hope for in a film. And thanks to American mass consumerism it can now be yours! Get the Dr. Strangleove DVD, or the Dr. Strangelove Special Edition, get it on Blu-ray, record it with TiVo, rent it on iTunes, Amazon, or just commit a mortal sin and download it.

It’s the story of man whose unselfish concern for the natural bodily fluids of his countrymen leads him on a momentous fight to destroy the Soviet Union. Don’t worry, it might take a while for most people to accept 150 million American deaths in the process but the President and his generals are quickly persuaded by the always lovable Dr. Strangelove. America is, after all, the land of second chances, the great melting pot, so it is perfectly normal that a Nazi scientist makes such decisions right?

And so finally the United States is made anew, a country of polygamist mineshaft dwellers, free to fornicate their way back to the current Gross National Product!

Dr. Strangelove is a great movie to watch with the family on Independence Day. Watching it is a celebration of the American Spirit and our bold willingness to go forth into the unknown!

Doom and Gloom on Film: Reefer Madness (1936)

Tell your children! The greatest threat America has ever faced - marijuana! - is alive and well. With Colorado and Washington's recent actions to legalize the deadly narcotic, this prophetic film is more relevant now than ever.

Reefer Madness is the chilling chronicle of some innocent, clean cut, God fearing teenagers who are lured into the depths of depravity by the sinister siren song of marijuana. In a matter of days, these poor young people fall from their positions as star athletes and paragons of virtue into the ranks of murderers, rapists and the criminally insane.

The educational value of this film cannot be overstated, as we are taught the often obscured truth that marijuana use leads inevitably to incurable madness, but be warned! These images may shock and disturb you. If it is merely entertaining escapism that you are after (understandable given the deplorable state of the world,) then this is not the film for you. Still, its message is of dire importance if we hope to stem the tide of wickedness that, if left unchecked, will destroy us all.

Who will be next to fall under the grip of the deadly weed? It could be your son, or your daughter, or yours, or YOURS!