Contagion didn't catch

The new movie Contagion received great reviews, and we were excited to go see it. The 'chillingly real epidemic' and 'breakdown of society in response' sounded too good to pass up. Despite a renowned cast and obvious scientific background, there just wasn't much to the movie. We were never shocked, disturbed, scared, or awed.  Later on we weren't afraid to touch common surfaces like doorknobs. After the movie someone coughed in front of us and I wished I'd felt a little thrill, an impression carried over from the movie. Did you ever watch The Mothman Prophecies or any other movie where the phone rings as part of the plot? Imagine watching it on DVD and having the phone in your house ring midway through the movie, feeling that quick jolt before you convince yourself it's ok to answer it in real life. That's what was missing from Contagion. It had the chance to really shock and scare us with The Truth, and yet failed to deliver. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I think the movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman did a better job scaring people with an infectious disease than did Contagion. Alas!

Speaking of the CDC and a different kind of contagion - have you checked out their page on preparing for a Zombie Apocalypse? Seriously, it makes you appreciate the CDC even more to know they have your back for when Zombies strike. Unless it ends up like The Walking Dead (season 2 starts next month!!) and the CDC is the last place you want to be. Their Zombie Preparedness page has all sorts of useful information like:

"Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance! This is also helpful when natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast."


I've realized in the past few months that I really like zombies. I don't care how sexy or sparkly or glamour-ous a vampire might be, I'm definitely on Team Zombie.