It'll make you paranoid, but educated

What if there was a virus that can spread around the world in a few months and can cause death in a matter of a couple days?  There are plenty of those right now, but we have vaccines for them.  What if we didn't?  The 2011 film Contagion explores this 'what if'.

It explores this first and foremost from the perspective of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a few of its doctors (Laurence Fishburne and Kate Winslet included).  This is the major U.S. government run agency that is responsible for these situations.

The film also looks at it from the perspective of an immune widower (Matt Damon) who lost his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) soon after her return from a business trip to Hong Kong (and her secret sexual affair during layover on the way back).  Later that day he lost his young stepson.

Finally, the film also follows a professional conspiracy blogger (Jude Law) and his opinions on the virus and how it is being handled by the government.

This film really gets the viewer thinking about what he/she would do if this really happened.  Because it approaches the concept in such a believable way (unlike The Day After Tomorrow, et al.), it really has the ability to scare you.  How would you handle these situations?  What would you do?  I was more affected by the chaos that ensued when quarantines were set up than by the effects of the disease itself.  Fear can lead people to do desperate things.

Contagion really digs into the politics and the procedures that take place behind the scenes in government.  Everyone wants a say and this leads to inefficiency and slow-flowing information.  It is fascinating, yet unnerving.

Contagion is a good film covering a scary topic.  There are a few graphic scenes (an autopsy and the dying people) and a little language that would prevent me from showing a younger kid (who would probably be bored anyway), but otherwise this is a clean film.  Contagion runs 106 minutes and is rated PG-13.  I give it 8 ramheads out of 10.

 

Cowboys & Aliens Review! (yes and no)

No, this blog isn't a review of the July 29 future movie Cowboys & Aliens, though it is about both of those types of films individually.

True Grit (2010) is a Coen Brothers film starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. It about a 14 year old girl (Hailee Steinfeld) using the resources she has (her money and her mouth) to convince Bridges' character Rooster Cogburn to help her hunt down her father's killer. It is really entertaining (shooting/humor/western-ness), heartwarming, and the characters are all extremely interesting and very well played. The music was great, the story was great, and it deserved all of its 11 Oscar nominations and should have won. To me it was a better film than The Social Network.True Grit runs 110 minutes and is rated PG-13. I give True Grit 9 ramheads out of 10.District 9 is was very low key film when it came out. I heard of it from a friend who loved it and it sparked my interest. All I knew was that it was about aliens. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, a bunch of aliens showed up and then started leaching the land and the people dry. They were "worker bee" aliens who are clueless without a leader. They were rounded into shacks in "District 9", the militarized ghetto camp with a big fence/wall around it. Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is appointed to lead the eviction from District 9 to newly constructed (far away from Johannesburg) District 10. He gets some stuff sprayed on him and interesting things happen.

District 9 is a highly entertaining film and filled with very interesting concepts. It holds an disturbing view of the military corporate world and really gets you thinking (if you have a critically thinking brain).District 9 runs 112 minutes and is rated R for violence. Definitely don't show this to kids, there is plenty of language and violence. I give it 9 ramheads out of 10.

MATT DAMON!

I just finished The Bourne Ultimatum last night and I decided that I should review the Bourne Series. The three movies are based on the Robert Ludlum novels from the 1980s (which I intend to read sometime in my lifetime.)

The Bourne Identity (2002) starts this CIA conspiracy story off and really gets the heart pounding. An action packed, well-written story like this is a rare find. The things that Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) does are not unrealistic, they're just awesome. The story gets you rooting for Bourne and against the US government. It is impressive.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004) picks up where Identity left off. Jason and his girlfriend are hiding in India where a hit-man comes and tries to take Bourne out, and ends up killing his girlfriend. This pisses him off and he searches for the people who tried to kill him and gets tangled with the CIA again. He ultimately remembers some stuff from his past and deals with that while once again escaping CIA capture.

The third one, The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) is the most recent Bourne film and the best one yet. I liked the story, how things are resolved, and the action was phenomenal. It continues where Supremacy ended (and actually overlaps some times) and he's trying to find out about how he became a brainwashed CIA agent/assassin. He does find out (but I'm not going to tell you how). There was some resolution in this one, including Bourne learning his real name, David Webb.

As far as the future goes, Matt Damon stated that he is working on a fourth Bourne film, which is good because those movies are really enjoyable and Damon does an excellent job.

All three movies are rated PG-13 and they run 119, 108, and 115 minutes respectively. This film isn't as violent as Gladiator so I think most kids are ok watching it. I give the first 3 movies in the Bourne Series 8 ramheads out of 10 for solid action in a good plot.