THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW: Why all the shouting?

USA Today is running another screed against the new film THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, a science fiction thriller in which an Ice Age is brought on overnight by Global Warming, and a father must race to the ruined New York City to save his estranged son. A lot of ink (digital and otherwise) has been spilled challenging the science behind this film, charging that the producers are trying to influence the political debate in the same way that THE CHINA SYNDROME triggered a national dialogue on nuclear power in its day.

How do I know so much about a movie that isn't out yet? I've seen the promos, and I've read and reviewed the book upon which it is based, The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber. In Strieber's previous work, Communion, he explained that he was told of the Earth's upcoming apocalypse by aliens. And how this knowledge was communicated is much more the purview of an adult Web site than a family newspaper. What's on the movie's Web site is worse — nothing but out-and-out distortion.

All I can say is remember who is produing and directing this film, the same guy who made Indendence Day and Godzilla 1998. Was Independence Day a serious film to trigger dialogue about the possibility of alien invasion? Uh, probably not. If so, I doubt Brent Spiner would have been involved with the project. Was Godzilla a cautionary tale about allowing Matthew Broderick to appear in feature films involving semi-serious subject matter? Maybe you could make a better argument for that one. Either way, the point is to remember the source. This film is not a serious attempt to influence politics. (For that, check out Fahrenheit 911 - whichever side of the aisle you fall on.) It is a serious attempt to separate moviegoers from their hard-earned $$$ on Memorial Day weekend!