Agenda: Appetite for destruction

As you’ve no doubt heard, the ancient Mayans supposedly predicted the world will end in 2012. Somehow, it would be easier to put more stock in their prediction had they also come up with, say, indoor plumbing and the Croissan’Wich. But it is what it is.

Whatever fate awaits humanity in three years, Hollywood knows drama when it sees it. On Friday, “2012” blasts into theaters, and no global landmark is safe. John Cusack plays a scientist who — well, never mind all that. What you need to know is that stuff gets absolutely wrecked through the magic of computers.

“2012” is hardly the first disaster picture to come along. It’s not even the first from director Roland Emmerich. He’s already blown up the White House (“Independence Day”), laid waste to New York (“Godzilla”) and annihilated the entire world (“The Day After Tomorrow.”) His “10,000 BC” demolished critics, but that’s another story.

No doubt about it — we humans have always had a strange fascination with the end of the world, even before CGI.

“People have always been fixated on the end of the world, whether it was the second coming of Christ or some apocalyptic event,” says Jim Rawles, author of “How To Survive the End of the World as We Know It” and creator of survivalblog.com.

So when our jaws drop at the impact crater of a life-ending asteroid or the sight of a 300-foot wave rushing through Wall Street, we feel both the chill of doom and the spectacle of the barely imaginable.

“There has been a renewed interest after Hurricane Katrina, after 9/11, after the advent of H1N1. People are realizing that we live in a very fragile world, and it doesn’t take much to disrupt it.”

Bill McGuire, a professor at England’s Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre and author of “Global Catastrophes: A Very Short Introduction,” agrees that the doomsday fascination basically boils down to fear. As for the scenario that’s mostly likely to snuff out mankind, McGuire says it’s not the Mayans but climate change. Coming in second is a volcanic super-eruption capable of triggering a volcanic winter (which happens about once every 50,000 years), followed by a cataclysmic meteor strike (once every 500,000 years).

“2012” looks to capitalize on this doomsday fever and follow in the charred, smoking footsteps of other epic disaster pics, from 1928’s “Noah’s Ark” and 1933’s “Deluge” — both of which featured massive flooding — to apocalyptic sci-fi films such as 1951’s “When Worlds Collide,” which is being remade for next year. Here’s hoping some of us will be left alive to see it.

Also in theaters:

* Wes Anderson’s stop-action version of Roald Dahl’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox”

* “The Messenger,” a war movie starring Woody Harrelson and Jena Malone
* Phillip Seymour Hoffman brings rock ’n’ roll to British airwaves in “Pirate Radio”

2. Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s “Serenade/The Proposition”

In honor of his bicentennial, Abraham Lincoln gets a literally moving tribute with a dance performance and original score that incorporates his speeches. If only we could’ve watched this instead of going to history class. Tuesday through Nov. 15 at The Joyce Theater. Tickets are $10 to $59 at joyce.org.

3. “Up”

Before there was Balloon Boy, there was “Up,” the high-flying flick from Disney/Pixar, the masters of animation responsible for kid and adult favorites such as “Finding Nemo” and “Monsters, Inc.” This sadly sweet story about a retired balloon salesman and an overeager Boy Scout-type who decide to hit the skies with the help of thousands of balloons is out on DVD Tuesday.

Also on DVD:

*Kings of Leon’s “Live at the O2 London, England” l “Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days”
* “The Ugly Truth” starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler

4. Bon Jovi’S “The Circle”

If you didn’t score tickets to tonight’s Bruce concert, don’t worry. You can still get your Jersey-boy fix with the latest CD from Garden State rockers Bon Jovi, out Tuesday. Sure, the band’s “Slippery When Wet” hair may have been taken down a notch or two over the past 20 years, but they’re still going strong. “The Circle” features Bon Jovi’s newest hit, “We Weren’t Born To Follow” and comes with a DVD of “When We Were Beautiful,” the documentary filmed during the band’s Lost Highway tour.

ALSO ON CD: “Midwinter Graces,” a Christmas album from Tori Amos

5. A Conversation with Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman

Quirky actor Jason Schwartzman and even quirkier director Wes Anderson have become the dream team of indie films, turning out “Rushmore” and “The Darjeeling Limited.” Now they offer the stop-motion adaptation of “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” featuring Schwartzman as the voice of Ash.