Drive

Every now and again a movie comes along that evokes the mood and flavor of a film that could have walked out of another era.

This movie reminded me very much a drama / revenge type of movie that would have been right at home in 1981 or around there.

It didn't feel Hollywood at all, and I wasn't aware of the background of the movie or it's director before I went in.

I was recommended to avoid the movie several times before I went in, people didn't like the movie, etc etc..

But I liked the movie, as mentioned it was just like a film from another era. And in no way seemed to fit the typical Hollywood mold. Whether this was what turned people off, or the fact that it had a 'R' rating and was being described as an action movie (Which I wouldn't describe it as) and were disappointed when they didn't get it, I don't know.

But when there is violence, they don't shy away from it. It's quick, and brutal. And even though there weren't any real big stars, I was more than happy with the cast. A cast who could act. Even though Goslings character was pretty dry, the two mobsters and the old mechanic (From Breaking Bad) were great.

Definitely recommended. But if you don't like the style, you will be disappointed. And in that regard reminds of M. Nights Unbreakable.. I got a lot of bad recommendations about that one too, and people seemed to be going looking for the Sixth Sense 2. And were upset when they didn't get it. And got a wholly different kind of movie altogether.

4 stars out of 5

Contagion

Right off the top I will say that this movie reminded me a lot of the old original version of 'The Andromeda Strain'

It was like watching a documentary of sorts. It's not a gross out movie, or anything of the sort. It's a medical documentary / drama.

It was a good movie, but it's dialogue heavy, no action to speak of. And could almost be compared to a zombie movie (And some reviews have)if you think of the virus as the spread of the zombie horde infections, with the break down of society.

The part of the movie that seems to fall apart for me, is when we find out that something like 5% ( I don't remember the exact number that was mentioned) of the world was susceptible to the virus. Little hard to believe that modern society would collapse with that number. But then again, whenever there is a holiday you can't go to the grocery stores because of the people. You'd think they'd all starve if the store was closed for a day.

But then when you start to think that way, most people only have a few days to a week of supplies at home. And stores maybe a little more. And if trucks and supplies stop moving then things could rapidly spin out of control..

Which I guess is where this movies horror really is.

3.5 stars out of 5

Upcoming Weekend

I was planning on going to see Apollo 18. I was looking forward to it, the trailers didn't look too too bad. And the premise sounded interesting. Am getting a little tired of the lost footage thing though..

Once I discovered that the release date had been moved something like 6 times this year, and that there were no advance copies or releases made available.. That's never a good sign. Obviously I know, that the mainstream reviews sometimes leave you scratching your head so what does it matter that no advances were made available.

That usually means that the studio knows the movie has problems in one way or another. And they want to make sure that word of mouth doesn't get around to kill it, before the droves rush that first weekend to spend their bucks.

So I ended up passing on it.

I plan to go and see Contagion this weekend. It looks pretty interesting.