Deepwater Horizon Trailer

Deepwater Horizon Movie Trailer released

Contagion

There's a great little movie that came out a while ago called "Contagion".  It's about a modern pandemic outbreak (a la the Spanish Flu of 1919).  Turns out, the MEV-1 virus is based off a real virus:

Nipah virus is an active virus.  It's had multiple outbreaks, some with dozens of fatalities (very high mortality rate; easily communicable), and there's still no vaccine or cure today.  And it's still out there today.

Discussion of Contagion by epidemiologists 

What's interesting about epidemiology is it's a never ending battle.  You have to constantly be on your toes, because viruses mutate over time.

One of my favorite parts was where one of the scientists working on the cure talked about Dr. Barry Marshall, who drank an infectious broth to prove his theory was correct. That's a pretty amazing way to put your money where your mouth is.

Check out the movie.  Also take a look at John Barry, author of Rising Tide and The Great Influenza, writes about what's next for Swine Flu.  The Great Influenza is also worth a read.

This is a drill

Jimmy Stewart in Thunder Bay (1953)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Went to Benjamin Button last night at The Prytania. The ending induced serious Katrina flashbacks for New Orleanians, though. Half the theater was crying at the end and you could hear the sobs of the lower level all the way up on the balcony.

Incredible movie. Two thumbs up. Spoilers in comments.

Movie Review: Idiocracy

I just discovered that Mike Judge (the dude behind Bevis and Butthead, King of the Hill and Office Space) created another movie. I didn't know about it because the studio (Fox) didn't spend 1 penny on advertising. In fact, they tried to kill the project at every turn. I liked Judge's stuff, so I decided to give Idiocracy a try.

The movie is loosely based on The Marching Morons, but it also covers corporatism and American pop culture as well.

Here's the opening:


When I watched it, you could tell they had a genius concept on their hands, but Fox (being Fox) did everything in their power to kill the project from the moment they were handed the first script. The movie is pretty low-budget and it shows. Painfully, sometimes. The movie isn't very tight and could use a better editor. The whole movie is also a bit short. All in all, it's a great concept that was successfully killed by Fox. The skewering that Fox News gets, though, almost makes up for it.

It's worth a rent. If you've got Netflix, definitely add it to your list. Wouldn't buy it, though. The quality just isn't there.

Here's a pro's take on Idiocracy.