Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: happy
  • Music: War of the Worlds, "Ulla!"

Monday, Monday...

...can't trust that day.

Getting out of bed this morning was complicated by the fact that I was so thoroughly covered by cats that I had to practically do sit-ups to recover the use of one arm. This is the true danger of having large cats. When they want to, they win.

Still, the weekend was good, despite back issues which kept me abed a bit longer than I wanted them to on Sunday (as in, "they kept me abed on Sunday"). The new episode of Doctor Who, "The Girl Who Waited," was stellar. The season premiere of iCarly was excellent. I managed to package two-thirds of the pending poster orders for shipping. I made Chris watch War of the Worlds: Live, which was the big concert of selections from the War of the Worlds musical (complete with giant floating Richard Burton head). And Contagion...

...seriously, this movie was designed to be porn for Seanans. It could not have made me happier if it had come with the first theatrical trailer for the upcoming prequel to The Thing.

OH WAIT. IT DID.

Now, I want to note, firmly, that this is not a movie for people who are looking for plot, detailed characterization, clear enemies, happy endings, or absolutely absolute endings. It's a story about a virus. Viruses don't have secondary motivations. They don't have desires. They just have biological imperatives, and when they start exercising those imperatives, it's the job of people like the CDC, EIS, and WHO to step in and try to make them stop. Characters don't get detailed back stories or motivations, because there isn't time.

And yes, lots and lots and lots of people die. That's what happens when this sort of thing occurs. It's a good movie. It's smart, it's solid, and while the science is extremely rushed (and several layers of medical care are missing), it's rushed in the way that says "we needed a two-hour narrative, not a twenty-hour miniseries," rather than being rushed in the way that says "honey badger didn't give a fuck."

If you're not a germaphobe, I recommend this movie hugely. If you are, I recommend you stay home and watch iCarly. Or War of the Worlds: Live.

Ulla!
Tags: at the movies, chris, geekiness, social life, too much tv, wild adventures
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Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 15:23:06 UTC 5 years ago

Hooray!

To all of the above, really.

Deleted comment

drcpunk

September 12 2011, 15:15:41 UTC 5 years ago

Judging from Wikipedia's summary, the film is a) quite good and b) probably not for me, although c) having the spoilers is likely to make the film more watchable for me.

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 15:23:17 UTC 5 years ago

I can understand this.

tikiera

September 12 2011, 15:16:40 UTC 5 years ago

where does one find the war of the worlds: live?

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 15:23:51 UTC 5 years ago

I don't know if there's a DVD of the concert, but the CD is available. Look up "War of the Worlds: The Musical" on Amazon.

wendyzski

5 years ago

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ladyphoenixia

5 years ago

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crewgrrl

September 12 2011, 15:18:41 UTC 5 years ago

"a killer virus, rampaging fear, an unscrupulous blogger"

That's in the opening sentence of the NY Times review of the film. Not only is it porn for Seanans, the first thing I think of when hearing this *is* Seanan!

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 15:24:13 UTC 5 years ago

I wish there'd been a little good media to balance out the wicked media, but apart from that? Brilliant.

qnofhrt

September 12 2011, 15:21:29 UTC 5 years ago

Contagion...

...seriously, this movie was designed to be porn for Seanans.

Which is exactly what I've thought every time I see the ads for it - "Oh look! They've made a movie just for Seanan!"

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 15:24:24 UTC 5 years ago

And I loved it very, very much.

iuliamentis

September 12 2011, 15:27:00 UTC 5 years ago

I adored Contagion, as it is relevant to so very many of my interests. Midway through the movie, at a particularly quiet moment, someone in the audience coughed, and the nervous laughter that erupted was fantastic.

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 16:02:34 UTC 5 years ago

Hee.

Yay.

beccastareyes

September 12 2011, 15:36:26 UTC 5 years ago

Would War of the Worlds unsettle a germophobe too, since it's about how microbes Save the Day? (Oh, yeah, and Martians...)

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 16:02:45 UTC 5 years ago

Probably not. They skip over a lot.

beccastareyes

5 years ago

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nicachick007

September 12 2011, 15:58:38 UTC 5 years ago

I am seriously looking forward to Contagion. So excited. I'm either going to see it with my pharmacist friend or my mom. We'll see how that goes!

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 16:02:52 UTC 5 years ago

Yay!

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:33:02 UTC 5 years ago

Yay!

marlowe1

September 12 2011, 16:57:23 UTC 5 years ago

Definitely looking forward to it. The Black Death is still my favorite history subject.

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:33:12 UTC 5 years ago

Mysteriously, mine, too!

childinthegrave

September 12 2011, 16:57:27 UTC 5 years ago

thank god, i'm not the only grown woman who watches icarly. my husband is wrong! hah!

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:33:22 UTC 5 years ago

Watches, hell. I have the DVDs.

dornbeast

September 12 2011, 17:42:00 UTC 5 years ago

I haven't seen Contagion, but the people at AVI BioPharma did.

"This is so relevant to what we're working on every day. It's not sensationalized — it's a real-world situation."

So, if there's ever a real-life Kellis-Amberlee, the world might be saved from becoming zombies. On the other hand, everybody might go into spontaneous amplification when the cure is tried.

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:33:35 UTC 5 years ago

Either way, buckets of fun!

dormouse_in_tea

5 years ago

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sheistheweather

September 12 2011, 17:55:37 UTC 5 years ago

That movie sounds like fun.

What are your other favorite "Augh! A Virus!" sorts of movies?

oooshiny

September 12 2011, 18:03:29 UTC 5 years ago

So excited to see Contagion! A friend of mine who works in public health is so excited to see it too. For her it will probably be like forensics people watching CSI. She doesn't mind. :D

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:33:45 UTC 5 years ago

It's definitely worth it.

keristor

September 12 2011, 19:09:16 UTC 5 years ago

'Contagion' so sounds like an SF con. One which should have Mira as guest. But talk about the con crud...

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:33:54 UTC 5 years ago

That would be AWESOME.

keristor

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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keristor

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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keristor

5 years ago

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martianmooncrab

September 12 2011, 19:11:21 UTC 5 years ago

War of the Worlds: Live, which was the big concert

(petting the two disc vinal record set) I have always loved this, I keep the CD version in the car. Now I need to find this version.

I always weep for the Thunderchild.

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:34:08 UTC 5 years ago

I just get the sniffles during "Forever Autumn."

ladymurmur

September 12 2011, 19:24:07 UTC 5 years ago

I did love this week's Doctor Who episode! Wow. and WAH! *sniff* I will restrain from commenting on it further, because everything I want to comment on could be considered spoilery.

Don't know if we'll make it to see Contagion before it leaves our local theatre, but The Thing prequel has been on the calendar in pen for ages now. :-)

Speaking of "...and several layers of medical care are missing..." Did you catch any of Torchwood:Miracle Day? My sweetie and I have commented on/critiqued multiple eps by discussing "What would Seanan have done in this situation?" (He finished Deadline moments before watching one of the eps, and it stuck). No 'traditional' zombies involved, but the argument could be made... Again, shutting up for fear of invoking spoilery-wrath.

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:34:26 UTC 5 years ago

I did not. Torchwood lost me at the end of series two.

shiyiya

5 years ago

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queenaeron

September 12 2011, 20:29:45 UTC 5 years ago

io9 even mentioned Feed in their review of Contagion.

seanan_mcguire

September 12 2011, 21:34:36 UTC 5 years ago

I saw!

starmalachite

September 12 2011, 20:38:56 UTC 5 years ago Edited:  September 12 2011, 20:40:17 UTC

OT, except as of probable interest to any published author, the worst case scenario typo from hell. Which, come to think of it, references a common disease vector.


Edited for HTML fail.

Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

billstewart

September 13 2011, 07:20:42 UTC 5 years ago

Many years ago, one of my coworkers in another department asked me to send him an org chart for my department. Microsoft Mail, as it was called in those days, decided to gratuitously spell-check my mail without asking me for confirmation before sending it out. It "fixed" the spelling of the names of everybody in my department, and "fixed" the title inside the document.

This was only an almost-worst-case scenario, because Mail did have an "undo sent messages" feature that sometimes worked, and because I got a confirmation message that my email about "Orgy chart" had been successfully delivered.

---
But yes, back to the main topic, the reviews of Contagion have all sounded like "Oooh, Seanan will have fun geeking over this one!"

Re: Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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Re: Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

agrumer

5 years ago

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Re: Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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Re: Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

ladymondegreen

5 years ago

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Re: Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

ladymondegreen

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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ravenclawed

September 12 2011, 20:39:39 UTC 5 years ago

I can tell Contagion is not my kind of movie, but I'm glad it's yours.

Speaking of your kind of things, Deadliest Warrior on Spike is doing something special for their season finale this Wednesday -- Vampires vs. Zombies. Forget Napoleon vs. Washington or Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror, this is where the real action is. :-)

kirylyn

September 12 2011, 21:06:48 UTC 5 years ago

hmm, haven't watched Deadliest Warrior before but I might have to tune in

ravenclawed

5 years ago

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paksenarrion2

5 years ago

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ravenclawed

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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ravenclawed

5 years ago

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ladyphoenixia

September 12 2011, 21:45:45 UTC 5 years ago

I didn't realise you were a War of the Worlds (musical version) fan, now I love you even more! I went with my parents to see it when it came live to Australia, so epicly awesome.

And I'm very much looking forward to contagion, love diseases, I wonder when it comes out in Australia? (

seanan_mcguire

September 13 2011, 16:06:41 UTC 5 years ago

It's a brilliant piece of work. Strange, but brilliant.

yellowblackhaze

September 12 2011, 22:13:24 UTC 5 years ago

As we're in a current dearth of good new releases (translation stuff I like) I may have to think about this film.

seanan_mcguire

September 13 2011, 16:04:40 UTC 5 years ago

It's lovely.

alicetheowl

September 12 2011, 22:50:16 UTC 5 years ago

I quite enjoyed Contagion, and thought of you the entire time I watched it.

The kidnapping side plot seemed kind of superfluous, though. I wish they'd either developed it more, or left it out entirely.

seanan_mcguire

September 13 2011, 15:58:42 UTC 5 years ago

I would have liked to see a bit more. At the same time, it was an illustration of a very natural human response to that sort of crisis; I think leaving it out would have been more of a disservice than giving it short shrift.

alicetheowl

5 years ago

  • New comment

paksenarrion2

September 13 2011, 00:07:06 UTC 5 years ago

I've heard mixed reviews about Contagion but your review has definitely put this in the must see category for me.

and is it bad of me to think of sneezing at a crucial point during the movie? Yes, I am evil.

seanan_mcguire

September 13 2011, 14:41:34 UTC 5 years ago

Yes, you are evil.

vincentursus

September 13 2011, 02:04:55 UTC 5 years ago

My first thought on seeing the trailer for Contagion was something along the lines of "That looks like it might interesting."

This was followed by the realization "Ah, Seanan's influence."

seanan_mcguire

September 13 2011, 15:56:53 UTC 5 years ago

I win!
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