tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post5622235785360593707..comments2024-03-18T03:16:47.773-04:00Comments on Not Just Movies: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-43465677176063338572011-09-18T09:32:56.735-04:002011-09-18T09:32:56.735-04:00I guess it could be said Soderberg handles his ste...I guess it could be said Soderberg handles his sterile detachment about as well as his characters do; cautious at the beginning, but fatally careless towards the end. Glad you mentioned the RED One, I was going to look up which camera they used. I found the blown-out highlights to be curiously -and pervasively- distracting. The RED actually records a flat, desaturated raw image that is praised for its dynamic range, so blowing out every lamp and window is something SS chose to do as opposed to being a limitation of the format. It's his call, I'm just a bit perplexed by it and aware that I'm more interested in that technical trivia than his story.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02405379411493674328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-47665705944042805372011-09-11T13:23:45.993-04:002011-09-11T13:23:45.993-04:00One of the worst film I've ever seen. Poorly w...One of the worst film I've ever seen. Poorly written (just look at Cotillard character), dull (Jude Law character???), racist. It's US propaganda, nothing more. To me, of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-36644908898452942322011-09-10T20:27:48.392-04:002011-09-10T20:27:48.392-04:00I get where you're coming from, Chase, but I t...I get where you're coming from, Chase, but I think that any attempt to explain that scene is basically adding justification to pat screenwriting. The film worked well enough to that point without sentimentality; why start now other than to cover bases? A critic on Twitter told me that he saw the photos Damon looks through reminded him of THE HANGOVER, and now I can't think of anything else. It just felt so ridiculous, tacked on and unnecessary, and the timeline of the film doesn't quite lend itself to the idea that Damon only finally reflected more than four months later.<br /><br />There were many things to admire about the film, but I was sad to see the Hollywood glitz Soderbergh was undermining from the moment we saw Paltrow's sallow, mucus-crusted face eventually take back over at the end. Still, like Doc said, it does devote a lot of time to a progression of events that works more strongly for being realistic.Jake Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15532951308638768249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-36374717036430725532011-09-10T19:30:29.146-04:002011-09-10T19:30:29.146-04:00I completely agree that the film works much better...I completely agree that the film works much better in its first hour or so - crisp, taut, frightening - and that that level of sharpness turns a bit limp in the final act, but I do take issue with your disapproval of the "prom scene" as I'll refer to it as. <br /><br />I think the scene had real potential to completely flop on its face, but the way Soderbergh allows Damon his moment in the closet was quite lovely, if you ask me. Throughout the entire film, he never has a chance to express his emotions because he's always in survival mode (taking care of his daughter, trying to get out of the city, going to the store, etc.) that to see him finally take in what has happened and reflect upon what he's lost was a really great moment in my eyes, and completely earned. <br /><br />Overall though, I like the write-up, you made me question my own feelings about it, which I just emerged from not five hours ago completely enthused by the formal precision of the whole film.Chase Kahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07969868987204703561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-19145303249175963942011-09-10T16:39:24.479-04:002011-09-10T16:39:24.479-04:00I think so too, hence the ultimately positive view...I think so too, hence the ultimately positive view, but it is a big letdown after such a strong opening.Jake Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15532951308638768249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-52475156979163619142011-09-10T16:10:44.884-04:002011-09-10T16:10:44.884-04:00Feel free to delete my last comment if you think i...Feel free to delete my last comment if you think it drifts too far into spoiler territory. I have difficulty knowing the boundaries of spoiler/nonspoiler content when it comes to comments.<br /><br />I think ultimately <i>Contagion</i> sneaks through what it can before selling out. Even with all of its compromises, it still conveys a truthful sense of what could easily happen.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-39481761669893916432011-09-10T15:10:12.952-04:002011-09-10T15:10:12.952-04:00Yeah, obviously I didn't want to go too far do...Yeah, obviously I didn't want to go too far down that road for spoiler issues, but the ending is so bewilderingly pat and optimistic that it really undermines the tone of the rest of the film. The breakdown builds and builds, but then it plateaus oddly in the intervening weeks, as if things never got worse than a string of riots. There's also a huge discrepancy between the film's depiction of near-extinction and its spoken details of the virus leaving most of its victims alive even when it's contracted. The script completely comes apart in Soderbergh's hands, but he keeps things going as long as possible.Jake Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15532951308638768249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-78012905533840505282011-09-10T14:53:15.175-04:002011-09-10T14:53:15.175-04:00Nice analysis, Jake. I especially like your discu...Nice analysis, Jake. I especially like your discussion of the lighting. For me, the movie's key weakness showed when Mitch and his daughter continue on indefinitely at their comfortable suburban home. What did they do, eat Saltines indefinitely? And somehow the legal system, the government, etc., all survived intact until the vaccine arrived? I thought the vaccine wasn't supposed to arrive for months? Wouldn't the media have become some deranged circus in the meantime? The movie cheats its own knowledgeable bleakness for a semi-feel-good ending.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.com