It was my vow to post this week's reviews earlier than I've done in the past few weeks. Between Hurricane Irene and 9/11 coverage, it's been a bit of a doozy.
So, here are my Patch reviews for this week.
It was a solid kickoff to the fall movie season. Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion" was a disturbingly realistic portrayal of what might happen should the world be plagued by an airborne communicable disease.
Much like "Traffic," Soderbergh's new film follows a group of characters at the epicenter of an event. In this case, they are a detective for the World Health Organization, a muckety muck in the Centers for Disease Control, a woman infected with the disease and her husband, a blogger who uses fear generated by the virus for his own purposes and several doctors either in the field or seeking a cure.
It's an atmospherically chilly, but consistently riveting thriller.
One of the better directorial debuts of the year belongs to actress Vera Farmiga, whose "Higher Ground" is a thoughtful, engrossing take on the evangelical Christian movement.
The movie is neither pro-religion nor anti-faith. Rather, much like Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," it's a film in awe of the mysterious nature of faith. Its characters seek spirituality, even when it fails to come naturally.
This coming week is going to be a busy one at the movies. First, I'll be checking out Nicolas Winding Refn's acclaimed "Drive," which won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.
I'll also see "Restless," another Cannes 2011 alumni. That picture is a teen romance directed by Gus Van Sant. And, I'll most likely make some time for Rod Lurie's remake of "Straw Dogs."
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