Contagion in one word: "Ewww"

Literally just got back from seeing Contagion and, wow, if there are two things on my mind right now they are "Lysol" and "gun". But, to be fair, obviously this was designed to be a "what-if?" kind of movie and it certainly served its purpose well. Yikes!

The film is a theoretical look at what would happen today if there were and outbreak of a new virus, much like the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of the early 20th century. The result that they confront their audience with is frighteningly realistic.

The beginning character, Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow), is shown talking on her cell phone to an unidentified man in the beginning shot and doesn't look very well. Over the next two days she goes from looking like she has a bad cold to dying, leaving her husband (Matt Damon) in confusion and with a terrified phone call from the babysitter, learning that his son has now suffered from the illness as well.

It then goes on to form a spiderweb sort of plot in which one subplot revolves around Matt Damon and his surviving daughter trying to live in a condemned neighborhood; another in which scientists are looking for a cure; another in which the government has to decide what to do with the people; another in which Jude Law blogs about possible cures; another in which a French woman is held hostage for a village vaccination; and a few others. It really looks at this issue from every angle, from the defenseless public to the frantic government who can't seem to get the situation under control.

The epidemic occurring in the movie appears to be like a modern-day Black Death. The virus has an incubation period of about two or three days, showing symptoms such as coughing and lung congestion, and after that the body goes into seizures after which death is imminent. Bodies are not allowed to be buried, being a liability for the gravediggers, and funerals are out of the question. Bodies are put into bags, sealing off the disease, and put into mass graves which are dug and covered by people in full bodied protective suits. Cities are quarantined, buildings are broken into, people are killed, taken hostage and robbed.

Even further than the obvious human nature questions, though, Contagion goes on to question many other facets of the social impact of an epidemic with attention to what the internet is capable of, what people are capable of doing in order to preserve themselves, and the complicated question of vaccines. In short: don't see this movie if you're depressed. While every question is intelligently answered and examined, the background for the film is one of terror. Where did the virus come from? Who is immune? What about transportation? Quarantines? Vaccinations? Food? Protection? Healthcare? The panic that befalls the general public is portrayed with what seems like a sickening accuracy.

Despite the desperate nature of the movie, though, I would still recommend it. Steven Soderburgh does wonders with his attention to human emotion, durability, and fear. Albeit a bit of a downer, there are glimpses into the good that men can do as well as the bad. Where there are lootings and rushes for any possible food, there is also human love and perseverance. Soderburgh creates a horrifying yet comforting portrayal of a horrible situation.

In terms of acting quality and the aesthetic of the film, going a bit outside the realm of analysis (as usual), I was shocked at how many stars I saw in this film. Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law (with REALLY bad teeth, woah!), Marion Cotillard, Demetri Martin, Jennifer Ehle, and a LOT of others. In addition, the cinematography seems to be very somber but realistic. The camera never stays still for very long, giving an element of unease to the film as a whole. Overall very beautiful, very scary movie.

Guess I'll stop Lysoling this keyboard now.

4 outa 5 stars.

another vampire movie?

So a few weeks ago, my mother and I had a hankering for a movie so we basically went with whatever was playing at 7 (Mom has a rule about seeing movies past 10). The film we ended up seeing was Fright Night 3D. Now, unfortunately, I still can't really understand the logic behind making everything 3D. Though it seems to be used as a market ploy to attract audiences, the only films that seem to get away with it are either really badass movies like Harry Potter or something really silly like whatever latest Disney 3D movie came out (Cars 2? no?). Long story short, I'm not a big fan of the 3D thing.

Now at first I was hesitant to open myself up to this film because I thought it would be like Twilight/Blood and Chocolate/True Blood/The Vampire Diaries/(insert vampire movie here). However, I was pleasantly surprised with Fright Night. Not so much because of the 3D but more because of how much I didn't really mind watching it in3D. In fact, it kind of recalls campier 3D movies of the 80s but does it one better.

The basic plot of the films consists of what happens after Charley Brewster, a native of Los Vegas, discovers that his neighbor, Jerry, is a vampire.

Interestingly, instead of the audience pulling out their hair for an hour and a half while the protagonist tries to find a way to convince the people around him that there's a monster who lives next door, this film has everyone believe him from the get-go. This made the experience more like rooting for a sport team than getting pissed off at how stupid everyone is. The audience was really excited for him to conquer the vampire (well, at least me and my mom were, we were the only ones in the theater...not an uncommon occurence...).

But even more than cheerleading for the good guys against the bad guys, this movie relates more to a teenage audience than even Twilight does. Or, probably more accurately, if Twilight applies to girls, Fright Night would apply more to boys. It's less about emotions and more about growing up. The main subplot of the film is basically Charley learning how to be an adult and still maintain his true personality. In the beginning he shrugs off his old nerdy friends for guys that are friends with his girlfriend, only to realize later that they're total assholes. Only later does he find out that his girlfriend already likes him for who he was before. Not only in terms of message, but also in terms of entertainment value, Fright Night blows Twilight out of the water. Probably one of the funniest characters in this film, showman turned vampire-hunter Peter Vincent (David Tennant) carries the majority of the laughs although Ed (Super Bad actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse) has quite a few moments himself.

On another level, though, this movie does get pretty creepy. Even more in tune with a boy audience, Fright Night strives to wipe away the angelic view of vampires that the latest trends seem to be pushing. Far from being glamorous (although, let's all admit, Colin Farrell is far from hard on the eyes) the vampires look like demons when they reveal themselves. When Jerry's true self is revealed in one of the final scenes, his face looks more like an demon's than a human's, with rows of teeth and blind rage.

All analysis aside, though, the show is pretty entertaining. Comic relief follows those intense moments of quiet that happen so often in scary movies and Yelchin is believable as a nerd-turned-popular kid. Also nice to see Farrell acting in a part that's so intense. He's terrifying as the creepy vampire neighbor and then even more so when he is on a rampage later in the film.

Four outa five.

The Other Guys

So went and saw The Other Guys with the good ole Mom and broseph after eating an incredible amount of sushi last night and I've gotta say, it wasn't too bad. The Other Guys is a classic Will Ferrell vehicle that knows it's silly and embraces it. While it's no Step-brothers, The Other Guys starts off in a way that has the audience cracking up. Samuel L Jackson and Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) are hilarious as two over-blown caricatures of action heroes. When their luck takes a turn for the worse, it is up to the "Other Guys", Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz, in a typical odd-couple set-up. Allen, the quiet and reasonable (and ridiculous like only Ferrell can be) cop who drives a Prius, and Terry, the ex-detective who is convinced everything leads to drugs, are pretty damn funny as the movie's main characters. Ferrell, as always, delivers what can only be ad-libbedly hilarious dialogue (more notable in my memory is a certain Irish folk song he sings in a bar) and basically carries the movie in a way similar to that of his lesser films, like Semi-Pro (2008) or Kicking and Screaming (2005). unfortunately, Ferrell's one-liners have a tendency to outshine any type of rehearsed dialogue that the rest of the cast seems to be going on. However, Wahlberg (and a lot of the other more minore characters) are not to be slighted. While Ferrell has a lot of the one-liners, Wahlberg's ignorance at how to become heroes can be downright funny, and he really puts in a job well done as an actor who doesn't normally play comedic roles. Overall, the film had me chuckling at the characters' horrible interaction and their countless mishaps, but nothing really stood out and the overall plot dragged a little. Despite car chases and such, my attention span wained a little towards the end. Though I remember a lot of the hilarious one-liners, the plot was mapped out among so many jokes it was a little hard to pick up on, but this movie is mostly fun anyway. And if you don't understand the plot, wait until the credits. I would recommend this movie to any Will Ferrell fan, but if you only go to the movies three times a year, I'd save this one on your Netflix queue. (Also look for outstanding bit parts played by Michael Keaton as the police captain and Eva Mendes as Ferrell's wife!)

Knight and Day

While it seems silly and obscure to be writing my first movie critique on a blog and on top of that to have the movie be Knight and Day (2010), you must think I'm silly. Well, kids, this might be true, but you gotta start somewhere right? So here goes nothin'.

To have an action movie that doubles as a romantic comedy is hard to do. Mr and Mrs Smith (2005) was one of the few current successes (and I should say attempts too, since not that many are even attempted). That being said, I wouldn't walk into this movie with high expectations. The plot revolves around Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) protecting June (Cameron Diaz) from these crazy people who want to steal the "Zephyr", a continuous power source about the size of a battery (go figure it's portable). Well, Cameron Diaz is definitely starting to look her age, but is likable enough as the ditzy mechanic although there were a fair few moments when i wanted to jump into the movie and tell her to stop being so stupid. She does redeem herself in the end though as a true badass. Tom Cruise is a nice surprise though! After steering away from him after reading too many articles in People magazine, I've got to say the old boy's still got it. Flashy smile and blue eyes may have a lot to do with that...but his comedic timing is pretty good! Though if you're anything like me or my mom you'll be wondering through a good half of the movie why he's trying to protect such a dumb-ass. Hilarious cameos by Paul Dano as the funny and geeky Simon Feck and Marc Blucas as the mustached firefighter Rodney.

PS I can't really figure out why the heck they picked that title. It literally had nothing to do with the movie.