Disaster movies don't make us laugh anymore 

Disaster movies—and cinema more broadly—have gradually shifted from spectacular entertainment to a darker genre that reflects the atmosphere «end »of the century" at the dawn of the 3rd millennium.

Where has the optimism gone in movies about the end of the world? The question isn’t as out of place as it might seem, given how much the major Hollywood blockbusters of this genre have gradually grown darker in recent decades. Let’s recall a few memorable films from the 1990s: *Armageddon*, despite its title evoking the biblical Last Judgment, is a «big, brash American flick» that can only be taken with a grain of salt. The film is, intentionally or not, riddled with Michael Bay’s trademark antics: crass humor, simplistic American patriotism, things that go “boom,” and a complete disregard for the laws of physics... 

But in the end, it's