Contagion

Last Saturday, I watched Contagion. Contagion features a little-known up-and-coming actor named Matt Damon.  Maybe you haven't heard of him yet, but just wait; this Damon guy is going places, I just know it.

(Before continuing, please be aware that I am not entirely sure I've ever really read a movie review, so I'm totally winging this.)

I watched this movie because it seemed somewhat realistic. I'm used to watching sitcoms and documentaries so I can't be expected to jump right into any of that Mad Max crap (which is, by the way, one of the most painful movies I've ever seen, and I've only seen like 20 minutes of it.) Contagion also seemed as though it could have an ending that I wouldn't know immediately from the start, which I love. There are few things I hate more than wasting 2 hours on a movie that resolves exactly how I thought it would - I would  much rather spend my time building a template for a scalable Valentine's Day card in Excel. (You steal this idea, I'll kill you and you'll be removed from my database of Valentine recipients.)

I liked this movie right form the opening scene. A lot of times, I just know up front. Maybe that's judging a book by it's cover, but the movie is going to have to not irritate me for at least the first 10 minutes in order for me to give it a chance, it's that simple (I'm the same way with people, so don't worry, I'm consistent in my logic.) For starters, points were awarded for making that super-famous blonde actress* look like a normal person. In fact, most of the people in this movie looked pretty normal; like someone you might actually see. I think it is easier for me to get into movies if everyone doesn't look so "Hollywood."

While I am pretty sure I hate most sci-fi movies, I do enjoy a good post-apocalyptic storyline (I heart Life After People!) and this fit the bill.

I am a major offender of multitasking during a movie and am proud to report that I paid attention to the entire movie, for the first time in a LONG time. The only part that made me roll my eyes was the prom scene. Really? Cheesy. Get your sappy teen love story side-plot out of my drama/thriller. Luckily it was just a few minutes of cheese. Also, Demitri Martin is in this movie and he plays a doctor so that made me laugh at inappropriate times. I kept waiting for him to make a super-awesome graph, but sadly, he was just a doctor in this movie and no comedy diagramming ensued.

All in all, I liked it. Is it legit to give movies letter grades? If so, I'd go with a solid B. I have Contagion to thank for my journey of movie-watching this year because I figure if I can randomly pick one and tolerate, nay *enjoy* it, there is hope for me, right?

*I'm SO terrible at remembering celebrity names. I need to get better at it but am hereby refusing to cheat by using Google to aid me while I post. So, until I get better, you're stuck with stuff like "that super famous blonde actress." You know, the one who is really good at seizures? Shut up, you know exactly who I mean.