2011. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Ehle, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law. ●●●○○
Contagion does a great job of changing the way you think. For a few hours after leaving the cinema I was afraid to touch door handles, hand driers, bar snacks, nervous of using public transport and definitely avoiding coughing in peoples faces. All of these apparently harmless activities now seem to invite painful inevitable death. One minute you could be throwing dice in Macau, gleefully planning to shag your ex, and the next your cranium will be cut in half by nervous pathologists. Steven Soderbergh's clinical thriller, analysing the likely response to a global pandemic, certainly ratchets up the tension but objective approach and multiple storylines prevents the audience from empathising with the characters and ultimately we left with the impression of a heavy handed Government Information broadcast.
Picking up the story from day 2 and the first anonymous victim stumbling under a lorry in his Hong Kong Soderbergh has deliberately avoided the usual disaster movie conventions, instead he's trying to understand the likely battle against a rogue flu. So we follow Laurence Fishburne's head of the Centre for Disease Control, with his field operative Kate Winslet trying to contain the virus and his top scientist Jennifer Ehle finding a way to beat it. All the while Matt Damon's everyman and Jude Law's harbinger of doom blogger are caught up and carried along by the collapse of society as fear and desperation become even more viral than the initial bug.
Soderbergh is trying to replicate his success with Traffic, weaving a multi-character arc around an issue we will all face from time to time, however the storylines don't provide enough of a variation to create a satisfying whole. In his 2000 masterpiece each of the major plot informed reactions to the others, here they feel tacked on, even when Fishburne and Law debate their point on TV news or when Marion Cotillard surveys Gwynneth Paltrow's last steps these seem ultimately disconnected events. Some sections manage to make an interesting case to have seen more of - ultimately the CDC sections are the most compelling - however others seem unnecessarily sparse (Cotillard is especially hard done by) and Matt Damon's personal travails come across as petty and small - and he loses his wife and stepson in the first 10 minutes of the film!
The messiness also seems to detract from the central thesis, the status quo for mankind isn't panic and disorder but trust and sacrifice. The scientist that tests a drug on herself, the reasercher who gives up a coat, the man in a queue picking up a passport, the importance of a handshake. These are the minor moments that define us as human beings.
We do see some nice performances, Jennifer Ehle's resourcefulness is a highlight, as is Elliott Gould's proud academic (a character I really wanted to see more of), indeed none of the cast are doing a bad job it's just a shame so many of them have very little to do.
Steven's work as a cinematography also throwbacks back to his earlier experiments with colour filters, here a sickly green hue permeates through the action, queasily altering our general perception. There are also some nice touches with out-of-focus shooting, even if we have seen all these before. The script also provides some belters, "Blogging isn't writing, it's graffiti with punctuation." easily winning plaudits as the most quotable line. So naturally I repeat here - spraypainting my thoughts on the wall of the internet.
Overall I would say this is a competent movie and would recommend it (if only to make everyone think twice about going to work when they have a cold) but I couldn't help thinking probably had something better inside of it, maybe a much longer miniseries or jettisoning the other stories and focusing on the work of the CDC could've have kept the film sharper.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Contagion
Friday, 21 October 2011
Sniffle sniffle (Out this week - 21/10/11)
Last week the huge selection of high profile big ticket releases none of them managed to take the box office lead over the Rowan Atkinson's spy spoof so this week where the most significant release is about germs then I suspect Johnny English is going to hang on for another week. There's some pretty decent arthouse fare this week to, so whatever you're into you know your local cinema's going to provide for your niche. Film of the week is, drum role please, Contagion.
Contagion
I had Steven Soderbergh's flu thriller at the top of my most anticipated movies for 2011, and whilst my enthusiasm has dipped a little it's a natural choice for the top film this week, with it's souped up cast list and chilly directorial style I expect the only fun to be had is trying to figure which famous face will be the next to go.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
We need to Talk about Kevin
Tilda Swinton has another career defining performance, in a CV dominated by them, as the helpless and hapless mother to a monster in the film adaptation of Lionel Shriver's devastating novel. John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller co-star.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Hwanghae
Or The Yellow Sea. South Korean hitman movie that comes as a timely reminded that some of the most exciting action work takes place in the far East. Our anti-hero is a gabling addicted cabbie who signs up for murder in order to repay his debst and get his wife back, but will he only have to kill the once?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Restless
It's fair to say that Gus van Sant's latest film, which clearly apes the feel of Harold and Maude or Love Story (doomed protagonists you see) as well as a touch of magical realism in the form of a kamikaze ghost, is unique and original, but when renowned critic Armond White says it's the worst film he's seen this year you have to wonder if there's something in his comments.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Bendeyar
The Turkish film industry is a bit of a mystery to me, whilst reasonably prolific only a few films make it over here and the releases are sporadic without a feel for the community. This part-thriller, part plea for religious tolerance, features an action heavy plot interrupted by CIA backed telepaths. Yes, you heard that right.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Four
More concept than movie the single set (an abandoned warehouse, please) London thriller with character types (cuckold, private eye, lover and wife) trying to get the upper hand following a kidnapping.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
The first of two movie aimed at the pre-teen girl market (it's half-term didn't you know) concerns the titular third grader making the most of her vacation. Presumably she doesn't waste time with movies like this.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Monte Carlo
Or if you're slightly older you may want to try this mistaken identity whirldwind romance, with three cash strapped American's suddenly the centre of a media storm in Monaco when one looks like a ringer for a British heiress. Isn't it usually the other way round?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Paranormal Activity 3
I had completed forgotten that Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman were directing this second sequel, straight from the success of their was it or wasn't it a documentary Catfish. No way of hiding the reality of this unanticipated trip back in time to watch a ghost do nothing.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Reuniting the Rubins
If Honor Blackman were my Grandmother I suspect I'd want to make up wit my estranged siblings on her death bed, if only to get her to say how much she loves us in that husky Pussy Galore voice. So there's the premise of this Brit comedy almost ruined because you couldn't stay angry for long, pity.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Matt Damon
Happy Birthday to
Matt Damon
41 today
Damon is one of the most exciting actors working in mainstream Hollywood from his preening lisping LaBoeuf in True Grit to the downbeat medium in Hereafter he is able to fit snugly in a variety of roles. Coming soon is a huge list of great looking movies including bird-flu thriller Contagion, animated cameos in Happy Feet 2, family friendly We Bought a Zoo and the long delayed Margaret (no sign of a UK release for that though). Looking even further in the future I'm really interested in seeing how he'll play lover and chauffeur Scott Thornson in Soderbergh's Liberace.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Gwyneth Paltrow
Happy Birthday to
Gwyneth Paltrow
39 today
If come out straight away as a Gwynnie fan I hope that doesn't irritate too many people. I feel she completely deserved her Oscar for Shakespeare in Love and as an actress she's shown a great level of diversity. Of course that said I can't imagine going to see a film purely because she's in it. I will be seeing Contagion, though even if it doesn't end terribly well for her character (it's not a spoiler if it's in the trailers).
Sunday, 11 September 2011
John Hawkes
Happy Birthday to
John Hawkes
52 today
Last year character actor Hawkes came out of nowhere with a devastating and brutal performance in Indie Winter's Bone earnign his first Oscar nomination - don't be surprised if he gets a second for religious cult drama Martha Marcy May Marlene - as well as turning up in higher profile pics Contagion and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. Which goes to show what a great performance can do to your career.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Tuesday Trailers - Contagion
It's getting really close now. As we slip into September looking at October's trailers we're getting closer and closer to this, my most anticipated movie of 2011. And whilst I was worrying over the summer about whether it could live up to my expectation, the clever marketing and nifty trailer, which promises a grotesquely real take on a global pandemic, only confirm my initial excitement for Soderbergh's latest. Take a look and tell me what you think.
Contagion is released on 21 October 2011.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Laurence Fishburne
Happy Birthday to
Laurence Fishburne
50 today
Laurence has been slumming it the last few years with a lucrative but questionable role in CSI, however with the contract running to an end we're going to be lucky enough to see him back on the big screen. Next up is Steven Soderbergh's killer virus thriller Contagion, pictured.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
20 for 2011: 1 - Contagion
Finally we reach my top pick for 2011, the film I'm most looking forward to seeing is...
Steven Soderbergh's Contagion.
Steven Soderbergh, that former darling of the American indie scene, is a cinematic chameleon, his back catalogue encompasses the full gamut of genres from biopics (Che) to star laden comedy (The Ocean's trilogy) to experimental art (Bubble). Even his misfires are generally considered to be worth watching, as they exhibit an understanding of form and content almost unparallelled in modern cinema.
For Contagion he reunites with The Informant writer Scott Z. Burns for what is described on imdb as "An action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak." That's just the tip of the iceberg, as the hyperlink movie will take in a variety of stories including familial sacrifice, panic-stirring bloggers, the collapse of Governments as well as the race to find a cure.
Originally planned to be shot in 3D, the latest I've heard is that has been quietly dropped as Soderbergh wasn't happy with the results, proof that he is serious about this multi-character drama. Indeed it seems to indicate the sort of serious mind he brought to Traffic, his superb take on the war on drugs.
Like that previous picture the cast is huge, and hugely talented, including Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Lawrence Fishburne, Elliott Gould, Jude Law, Gwynneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and John Hawkes (recent Academy Award nominee for Winter's Bone). In case you weren't aware that little lot have 3 acting Oscars and a further 12 nominations between them, it's the sort of cast list you didn't think you'd see anymore and the sort of cast that wouldn't just sign on to anything.
In short this is a fascinating prospect, a director whosework I trust and have a long time affection for, working within a curious and underused genre with a castlist out of this world. How could anyone not be excited by this.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Jude Law
Happy Birthday to
Jude Law
38 today
2011 is going to be a very exciting year for Jude Law fans, of course he'll be reprising his Dr. Watson for the blockbuster sequel, but he'll also be starring to two 3D movies by respected directors. Martin Scorsese's Hugo Cabret and Steven Soderbergh's Contagion will both feature Jude gorgeous features being thrust out of the screen at us.
Friday, 8 October 2010
Matt Damon
Happy Birthday to
Matt Damon
40 today
There are few actors today who are consistent and hard working as Bostonian Damon. Frankly he is a delight to watch even in the most stodgy of films. I'm currently looking forward to five films that he's signed up to. Eastwood's Hereafter as a retired medium, playing a cowboy in True Grit, as a dancing penguin (probably) in Happy Feet 2, reuniting with Steven Soderbergh for Contagion and - should it ever be seen - there's also a role in Kenneth Lonergan's much delayed Margaret.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Marion Cotillard
Happy Birthday to
Marion Cotillard
35 today
So many great actresses, especially ones whose first language isn't English, disappear after winning an Oscar, or at least make a string of flops. No so for Marion who has followed up her turn as Edith Piaf stealing scenes from Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio. Over th coming year we'll get the opportunity of watching her beguiling American tourists in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris and fighting deadly bacteria in Steven Soderbergh Contagion.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Film News (07/03/10)
A big catch up on three weeks worth of news, although this does mean we have to edit out some of the less exciting stories (at least in my humble opinion). I've not had the time to do any production or release date news, other than one new film that I've already shown the trailer for. I'll update on all that after my return from the tour.
Contagion
Without doubt the most interesting project coming is from one of my favourite directors - Steven Soderbergh. It concerns an outbreak of a deadly virus spreading worldwide, with an incredible cast of white coat wearing scientists battling to stop it. When I say incredible cast I mean it - currently attached are Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwynneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne. It's difficult to try to second guess how Soderbergh will play this. It will be coming after the popcorn black ops pic Knock Out so I'm thinking this may end up being more introspective like a more populated Andromeda Strain.
Read on for virtual reality wars, two types of gangsters, a modern day Lady Macbeth and lots of wild animals.
Dot War
It's a crazy sounding project, as reporter by Pajiba, based around the idea that a video game programme gets recruited by a shadowy government agency to battle terrorists using virtual equipment. I'm not completely sure what they mean by virtual equipment, does that mean it's not really there? Will it be drones? Will the whole thing be a spin on Tron where the action takes place inside a computer? Whatever the case there's certainly an audience for this sort of mindless fun.
I Heard You Paint Houses
During the press junkets for Shutter Island Scorsese let slip that he's currently working on a project that will reunite him with former frequent star Robert De Niro. We know nothing more than that but rumours are it's the biopic of mob hitman Frank Sheeran. On related news the idea bumping around that Lars von Trier was going to remake Taxi Driver seems to have thankfully disappeared.
Savages
If Italian gangsters aren't quite your thing how about Mexican drug cartels? Based on Don Winslow's forthcoming novel it concerns a couple of drug dealing friends from Laguna Beach (who it should be said work the entire business growing and selling their own Marijuana), when a mutual girlfriend is kidnapped they devise a dangerous scheme to rescue her with paying up. Depending on the tone of the novel - will this be a stoner comedy or a dense polemic - this could well be worth watching, and if the leading trios relationships are carefully drawn will this be a Butch Cassidy for the 21st century?
Serena
Is Anjelina Jolie circling the adaptation of Serena: A Novel by Ron Rash? It's about the wife of a North Carolina woodsman in the 1920's who slowly becomes more ruthless and violent until she decides to murder her husbands son from a previous marriage. It's like a reverse Changeling, which sounds fun.
We Bought a Zoo
Cameron Crowe may have finally settled on a follow-up to his critically panned Elizabethtown in the adaptation of the Guardian columnist's memoir about the renovation of a Devon country house and Wildlife park attached. Alongside the general highs and lows involved with Llamas and tigers there's also the drama of fighting the cancer that Benjamin Mee's wife contracts. I've missed Crowe's lightness of touch, so I'm hoping he will actually take this project seriously.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Film News (13/02/09)
You just can't move without finding exciting news stories this week, overall there have been 13 different press releases that have struck me as projects to look out for. That's pretty much a record for me and as a result this weeks post will be scattershot, focusless and messy. Hang on that's every Saturday news post only even worse. And on to it...
Contagion
I think we all know that I am a huge fan of Steven Soderbergh. Frankly I think he's a genius, with an enormous output and a clever way of balancing high-profile marquee productions with more intimate experimental work. This week it was announced he's working on Contagion, an international deadly virus thriller. It's not the sort of thing that has been tried on such a massive scale before (most virus plots focus on small communities such as Outbreak). It's definitely going to be one of his bigger pictures with Matt Damon, Jude Law and Kate Winslet all circling roles.
Here's a flu virus in action - Steven Soderbergh not pictured.
Read on for Penelope, Rachel and Cate casting news, 70's comedies, US Presidents, metaphoric violence, original musicals, Russian spys and social satires!
Dream House
Our first major casting story is the addition of Rachel Weisz to the it's-not-a-remake-but-sounds-exactly-the-same-as-Cold-Creek-Manor Dream House. She will be married to Daniel Craig, which in itself is quite a dreamy proposition.
Hanna
Also signing on to a new project is Cate Blanchett, who has taken an unnamed role in Joe Wright's child trained to kill flick. This shouldn't be a big surprise as there's a big hole in her schedule where Wright postponed his Lady Mountbatten/Nehru picture for Hanna in the first place.
Laverne and Shirley/New Years Eve
There seems to be some confusion about what's next on Garry Marshall's slate. New Line, sensing box office gold with this weekends Valentine's Day have already started the ball rolling on a sequel - that is using the same concept of a star studded selection of relationships all intersecting on New Years Day. Names in the hat for who'll be in that one.
In the meantime Garry's been joking(?) on the red carpets that's he's planning a big screen adaptation of "Laverne and Shirley" - the long running spin-off from "Happy Days". I'll confess I don't know the series so I can't say whether it's a good or bad thing.
Personally I'm planning on seeing Marshall's latest magnum opus this afternnon so I'll get back to you on whether I think he should be allowed behind a camera again.
Untitled LBJ Biopic
From the austin360.com website (I think it's just a local arts/tourism site) comes the news that Robert Benton is prepping for a biopic about 36th US President Lyndon B. Johnson. All we know from the story, which can be found here, is that filming will likely take place elsewhere in order to receive more favourable tax cuts. It seems that would be bad news for the Texan economy. HBO are producing so this may or may not get a theatrical release, but either way the story of LBJ is probably ripe for the telling.
Little War of Our Own
Beacon pictures have picked up Dan (The Hurricane, Murder in the First) Gordon's script about a small town drifting towards violence during the second world war, effectively mirroring the international political scene at the time. It will up to the Sheriff to keep the peace before it's too late. This could be a modern western, or just pure allegory, either way it may just work.
Melancholia/Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Penelope Cruz has hit the headlines for signing on to two widely diverse projects. The first is Lars von Trier's catastrodrama Melancholia, and the second will be seeing her square off to Johnny Depp in the next Pirates installment. Both projects, which I'll be honest I was probably going to see anyway, have just got a lot more interesting.
Robocop
The remake of the seminal 80's action thriller is not yet dead in the water. In spite of rumours that Darren Aronofsky was against shooting in 3D and that MGM were equally reticent about the R rating the director favours, writer David Self is convinced the project is still go. There are certainly practicalities about the production that need to be finalised as there would be when dealing with a "large corporation" but there's nothing major in the way. Other than Aronofsky's Black Swan, which is due to be released later this year, of course.
Song is You
Based on the novel about Arthur Philips, the story revoles around a middle aged commercial director, going through a bad patch in his life (I'm mentally casting Paul Giamatti) who feels a connection with a club singing ingenue. A tenous romance then plays out with him guiding her career and her becoming his inspiration to reinvigorate his life. Sounds dreadful - only the plan is to make a musical about it. I hope thet means original songs. There are so few musicals writeen directly for screen that I hope they're good when they do try.
The Terminal Spy
Do you remember when there were multiple Alexander Litveninko project hangiong around Hollywood, with Johnny Depp being very vocal about his wish to play the former KGB spy? Well finally one of these is beginning to get moving with news that the authoritive Alan S. Cowell's investigative best-seller is being developed. He's the former chief of the London Bureau of the New York Times so it'll be well researched and at the same time won't hesitate from pointing the finger where it needs to be pointed. Whther any adaptation will be able to fit in the complexities of the case, or whether Depp will be involved in this one remains to be seen.
Turn of the Century
Finally I'm turing to on of the most promising directors of the 1970's, but equally one who never really made good on that original promise: Peter Bogdanovich. It's been 9 years since his underrated Cat's Meow so we're certainly due this Kurt Anderson adaptation. The novel has been favourably compared to the yuppie classic "Bonfire of the Vanities", a social satire which should fit Bogdanovich's style. Let's hope it does - I want to see a re-emergence of the once feted auteur.
