Contagion

Definition of contagion:
a. A contagious disease
b. The transmission of a disease by direct or indirect contact
c. A disease-producing agent (as a virus)
d. A people-centered, realistic movie about all of the above

The fact that Contagion, in part, takes place in Minneapolis doesn't help in remembering that it's just a movie about a worldwide disease outbreak, not the actual thing.
I (surprisingly) wasn't as paranoid about germs after seeing the movie as some audiences I've heard about, but the simple series of events Soderbergh chose to lead to the death of millions and millions of people certainly put the effect of a pandemic in perspective.
Contagion starts in with Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Beth, traveling from Hong Kong to Minneapolis and subsequently becoming sick with a deadly virus that quickly infects more and more people. Her husband Mitch, played by Matt Damon, is immune, leaving him to show the human side of what the disease outbreak causes in society while the world around him resorts to violence and stealing. As more people begin to get sick and die across the world, Soderbergh breaks apart the crisis from the standpoint of Homeland Security, the Minnesota Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, as well as the media.The film is shown as a race against time while researchers try to create a vaccine to fight the virus as well as find its source.
For me, a film like this could easily turn into one big scare tactic with over the top results, but Sodebergh effectively kept the topic and his cast on a short leash. Simply, and it's not a bad thing, what's scary about Contagion is how believable it is. At no point in the film is there a worldwide war zone, zombies, aliens or some freak accident that caused the virus to spread. There is certainly violence as a result of the disease when people are fighting to survive, but, sadly, in the events that take place it's all human nature that can't be controlled.
I'd say all of the acting performances in Contagion are level with each other, but that's a good thing.
All the characters are fighting for something in their own sector of society and I don't think the actors were meant to shine over each other, but focus on telling a story as if it were actually happening to them.
Of course I have a bias toward Matt Damon on any day and I think he fit the role of Mitch well. For the most interesting character, I'd pick Jude Law's blogging journalist who interjects himself into the disease crisis to experience it first hand.
If Contagion fell short anywhere, the plot surrounding Marion Cotillard's character (a doctor with the World Health Organization) wasn't tied in to all the other events as much as it should have been. It made sense, but fell away from the story at times, then reappeared.
Overall, Contagion comes off as original in the "disease outbreak" genre and I appreciate that Soderbergh and his cast kept the story, despite its many complicated elements, human.

How Did This Get Made?

Podcasts are my new obsession. It all started with a friend's recommendation to check out How Did This Get Made? with Paul Scheer. I thought I could handle one and was pleased to discover something else to listen to on the way to and from work, although I will always love The Current.
The premise of HDTGM is simple, it's about bad movies (so bad they're awesome) and people talking about bad movies. Scheer and his costars see a bad movie and then break it apart scene by scene and play clips of the dialogue. There's also a guest star in each episode to add to the regular cast. At the end they involve a listener challenge, asking fans to give their take on the movies or think of alternative titles/endings. I've made it through their renditions of Smurfs, The Green Lantern, The Tourist, Mac and Me and The Back Up Plan so far and I'm hooked. I actually haven't seen any of those movies, but could listen to the HDTGM folks talk about them all day long.
Then there's all the podcasts I found related to this one and all of a sudden my computer is almost out of memory. I have yet to delve into the Nerdist recordings I've heard about with Chris Hardwick, Doug Love Movies, and don't even get me started on the library of Breaking Bad talks I have waiting in my queue.
I feel like I've seriously been living under a rock as far as the podcast world is concerned and with the amount of time I spend in the car in a given week, it's a true shame all that listening time has been wasted.
Luckily I'm driving to see my parents in Wisconsin tomorrow so I've got 4 hours or so each way, with a fun-filled family visit in between, to catch up.
Signing off now ... must ... download ... more .... podcasts.

Weekend picks

Upon checking the film releases this weekend and reviewing my record of must-sees, I could probably spend the next three days camped out at the multi-plex. I don't think the fall movie season has officially started, so I have a lot of work to do if I am going to keep up. Realistically I hope to see at least one of these films this weekend: Our Idiot Brother, 3D Shark Night, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, Bellflower or The Whistleblower.
In the meantime I can recommend some options based on what I have seen recently, both in the theater and on DVD.

For starters, thank goodness Crazy, Stupid, Love is still in theaters because everyone needs to see it, plain and simple. If I didn't have other film priorities, I'd probably go to it again, I liked it that much. Ladies drag your dates to this one or gather your pals together, heck see it by yourself, I don't care. I may be a little biased here because I've become obsessed with Mr. Ryan Gosling lately, but this movie deserves a first, and second, and third, look. It's like that popular song on the radio you can't get out of your head -- think anything in the Foster the People catalog.
Gosling and his washboard abs star as Jacob, a womanizer who takes Steve Carell's character Cal Weaver under his wing after going through a divorce with his wife Emily (Julianne Moore). Fortunately for audiences, this movie does not go down the rom-com tubes with its plot and has very smart writing. And the cast is the tops with Marisa Tomei, Emma Stone and Jonah Bobo as a kid I actually liked in a movie. Most of the time his type of character is just plain annoying, but Bobo's performance landed on my good side. As Cal and Emily's son Robbie, Bobo masters the angst of an eighth-grader watching his parents' marriage fall apart without coming off as trying too hard or falling into the cliches associated with such a character.
Steve Carell plays the role like he does in most of his other movies -- almost to the point you think that's how he is in real life. True or not, it makes the character seem real to the audience and the entire cast had strong chemistry on screen.
I am sure it will be a stretch to get any guy to see this movie, but my advice is to give it a try.

If they do, a reward could be a viewing of the oldie but goodie Strange Brew.

My friends and I were lucky enough to see it on the big screen last weekend at the Lake Harriet Music and Movies in the park. Sadly it was the last installment of the event and we only just heard about it that week. But the completely weird, crazy and hilarious Strange Brew delivered a fine end-of-the-summer experience. I'll definitely be back in the audience next summer and hope the event organizers replay some of this year's choices such as Pee Wee's Big Adventure and The Labryinth or something of the like. I am sure I am one of the few people that took this long to be on the Strange Brew bandwagon, so I don't need to bother explaining what it's about. Just pop in the DVD this weekend and open a bottle of beer, it's beauty.

My last selection may be a little obscure but if you like indie films, check out Ceremony on DVD. The 2010 release stars Michael Angarano as Sam Davis, a hopeless romantic who crashes the wedding of a woman he met only met once, played by Uma Thurman.

Ever since I achieved my film fanatic status, a good indie is still my favorite genre. There can be unknown or established actors (obviously The Bride Uma Thurman is not a new face in Hollywood) and I enjoy plots that end with some soul searching by the viewer. In the case of Ceremony, the quirky backdrop of a hippie beach wedding and a remote retro hotel create a unique touch and add to the appeal of the film. Most indies I see provide the opportunity to interject myself into the plot and ask, what would I do?

Would I drag my friend on a road trip to reunite with a lost love or do nothing and risk never knowing what would have happened? Ceremony may not please all audiences, but it took a potentially complex and heavy plot and turned it around to be as happy as it is sad. 

Hope those suggestions provide something for everyone, relax and enjoy the show!

Fright Night

I survived one of three horror movies I plan to see in the coming months, Fright Night. This movie is seriously fun, not scary, and I liked it, a lot. Based on the 1985 original, which I did not see, the modern version features Colin Farrell as a neighborly (and hot) vampire hiding out in suburban Las Vegas.

Enter McLovin from Superbad as Ed, a nerdy teen who knows something is up with Farrell's character, Jerry. Ed tries to warn his friend, Charley, who lives next to Jerry, about his blood-sucking tendencies and pays the price. Charley, played by Anton Yelchin, is the hero in this high school student haunt.

Fright Night doesn't stray too far from the standard horror movie requirements where characters fearlessly run into the villain's house and areas they can't escape from; weapons malfunction; and, well, a lot of people die. But in this case they also come back to life as evil monsters of the night.
How does Charley save the day? Well spilling the beans would take the fun out of this movie if you decide to see it, so I'll leave the plot at that.
I will say I am thankful the writers managed to limit the cheese factor in Fright Night and added in some solid humor, especially in Farrell's lines. The Dublin-born actor does well as a sexy/evil vampire and monster.

My only disappointment with Fright Night was the effects because there just weren't enough of them and I am glad I didn't see the movie in 3D.

Overall, you'll have fun if you see Fright Night and I am satisfied my Halloween movie season started off on this note. With Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark and Paranormal Activity 3 on my agenda next, I don't think I'll be so lucky.

The Royal Tenenbaums

"In fact virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums had been erased by two decades of betrayal, failure and disaster."

But there's always chance for redemption in The Royal Tenenbaums.

I recently purchased The Criterion Collection DVD of the film, thanks to a super sale at Barnes and Noble, and needed to revisit it as research for an upcoming costume-related holiday.

Research purposes or not, this is one of my favorite movies to watch.
It's individualistic and quirky mixed in with a dose of sad and happy. I especially enjoy that it's a film where the actors play roles you've never seen them in before and never will again. Especially Gene Hackman, who plays the self-described asshole Royal Tenenbaum. (If you haven't seen it, don't worry, he grows on you).

"You know who I am, I'm Royal. Have you heard of me?"

Royal visits his family for the first time in 17 years to share the news that he is sick with stomach cancer. While of course that doesn't go well, eventually his presence brings peace to the Tenenbaums and he makes up for his past mistakes, which is what he set out to do in the first place.

Usually I don't watch the special features with any DVD, but with the opportunity to have more of a glimpse into Wes Anderson's mind, I just might. He wrote in an enclosure with the DVD that The Royal Tenenbaums contains more unnecessary visual detail than his other films combined and even includes a map of all the elements to look out for.

That's what makes this film. The story is deep and dynamic enough that meaning after meaning can be taken away from it during each viewing and on top of that there is fun stuff to look at in the background. Like the game closet, for example. Add in one of my favorite movie soundtracks ever, and all is right in the world.
Happy weekend!

Beginners

Here's the Top 5 reasons why Beginners is the tops. 

1. Arthur the dog

2. Writer/director Mike Mills' use of flashbacks to portray a series of beginnings in the characters lives (and that it's an original script)
3. 1993 Chicken McNuggets (you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it, and yes I said when, not if)

4. Stealing roller skates

5. I like Ewan McGregor now, and Melanie Laurent even more.

Page One: Inside The New York Times



David Carr

I've been dying to see Page One: Inside The New York Times since it hit the Minneapolis box office a few weeks ago and the documentary recently made it onto my short list blog. THEN I learned yesterday was the last day it had a full docket of showtimes over at the Lagoon theater and this weekend it would only be available at 9:40 p.m. What's up with that? I expected the documentary would be playing longer given the legacy of the subject matter, but all good things must come to an end, I guess.
After making the deadline to see it last night, I find it unbelievable all the news they were able to fit into just under two hours of film. In reality, there is so much content to focus on about The Gray Lady that I could still be sitting in the theater right now. That would be fine by me. Andrew Rossi and his crew created a voyeuristic experience about The New York Times starting with its coverage of Wikileaks in 2010 and weaving through its history, including publication of the Pentagon Papers and more recent controversies caused by reporters Jayson Blair and Judith Miller.
Everyone on camera had nothing to hide as they gladly read aloud their nutgraphs and allowed interviews with top sources to be filmed. In a more humbling and heartbreaking moment, camera crews captured one day where the paper had to layoff 100 employees.
Then, the voyeurism increases with commentary from folks on the outside at journalism summits with the likes of Arianna Huffington, David Simon and Daily Kos blog creator Markos Moulitsas. All their views are enlightening, and a little bit scary, takes on mainstream media alongside the blog-o-sphere and online journalism. Newspaper moguls Carl Bernstein and Gay Talese, author of The Kingdom and the Power, also made appearances in candid interviews.

Most enjoyable to me was the focus on David Carr and his rise up from being addicted to crack and in jail to being a fixture at The New York Times as a reporter covering trends in media, including at the very paper he works at. Following Carr, the documentary includes scenes shot in Minneapolis as well as in New York as he spent weeks on a piece about the bankruptcy of the Tribune Company. He told his editor he was going to spend two weeks reporting on it and one week writing it. Now there's a man after my own journalistic heart.
"If you write about the media long enough, eventually you'll type your way to your own doorstep," Carr said.
He also said in the documentary that most often when he finishes an interview for an article, the source will ask him, "What's going to happen to The New York Times?"
As Carr put many people who challenged the institution in their place during the documentary, the answer appears to be nothing, and everything.
The documentary message rested on this: The public role of journalism and ground floor reporting of mainstream, historical media like The New York Times is everlasting.
Any journalist will certainly be fascinated with this glimpse into the fine print of one the most powerful news agencies in the world, but I strongly recommend everyone take a peek at it.