"Body of Lies" and "Quarantine"

I've been to the movies twice this weekend, something hasn't happened to me in a long time. As I was purchasing my ticket to "Body of Lies," it struck me that there were a host of movies I'd had varying interest in seeing: "Nick and Norah", "Rachel at the Wedding", "Religulous", "Rock'n'rolla", and "Appaloosa." Hell, I'd probably see "Ghost Town." At any rate, these are by no means summer blockbusters and there are finally well-made movies worth seeing that don't insult my intelligence in theatres (I'm looking at you Shia Le Beouf for making two of the dumbest of the dumb, Indiana Jones AND Eagle Eye). Spielberg is determined to screw up his credibility I guess.

Quarantine
As a horror fan and a zombie connoisseur in particular, I loved this movie. I was so anxious in the theatre and was pumping my fists as the zombies began to take over the situation. "Quarantine is a shot-by-shot remake of "[Rec]", which I've been dying to see. These represent another hand-held camera entry in the horror genre, joining "Blair Witch", "Cloverfield", and "Diary of the Dead." We are led to believe that no one knows what has happened in the building that has been quarantined but this footage has been found. As a brief side note, I was super irritated that the ad campaign was showing the last scene of the movie all over the place. I guessed the ending about 15 minutes into the film. I mean obviously we know everyone dies, but I'd rather not know exactly how it all ends. Spoilers start here.

The film was really interesting and had a few great takes on the genre. The cameraman even uses the camera as a weapon at times in the film, which I thought was awesome. The "zombies" have been infected with an extremely fast-moving form of rabies spread by rats, a kind of plausible and awful black plague. Victims start crying, foaming at the mouth, and then attacking. I don't want to give too much away, but the filmmakers cleverly use the constrained space to create a claustrophobic nightmare where we are forced to acknowledge the necessity of the quarantine, but also feel for the victims who are casualties to prevent the spread of the zombie menace throughout the rest of society. The film crew is obviously way too nosy for its own good and the authority figures, a fireman and a policeman, are in way over their heads, completely unable to control the situation. However, it is not until the CDC arrogantly intervenes that all hell breaks loose. The movie builds up for a long time and quite effectivley so when the hits start coming, even when I knew what was about to happen I was shaking and cringing. That said, there wasn't a lot of zombie attacks and there were mostly littered throughout the film. When the zombies did attack, it was off-putting, reminiscient of "28 Days Later." The hand-held camera was an extremely effective conduit for this film.

Grade: A-


Body of Lies
I know this movie got pretty mixed reviews and maybe low expectations played a role for me, but I really liked this film. Too often Ridley Scott is content to make an okay movie rather than make a great one, but I felt he played to his strengths and made a great thriller. Leonardo Di Caprio is excellent as Russell Crowe's right-hand man on the ground coordinating anti-terror efforts in Iraq. In particular, they are looking for a man named Al Saline, who is the force behind a number of very public attacks on the West in Amsterdam and Manchester.

Crowe, Di Caprio, and the supporting cast are excellent and the script is taut here. Roger Ebert mused that "Body of Lies" is a James Bond plot with modern headlines, but I tend to disagree. Perhaps this is how a CIA Bond would behave in Iraq, but the fake terrorist cell in particular is contrary to the methods of Bond, who prefers to run in shooting. I never felt that my willing suspension of disbelief was violated or that the script was insulting my intelligence with the liberties it was taking. Yes, it was probably too slick to be real and had some limitations, but they were well-hidden and much less egregious violations of the audience's trust than we're used to seeing in previous years.

I know that the critical reaction is partly a reaction to having been forced to endure years of mediocre Middle East thrillers, but I truly believe that this is among the best of them. "Syriana," which even garnered notice from the Academy, was very inferior to "Body of Lies." Where "Syriana" attempts to be comprehensive and represent all the totality of perspectives, "Body of Lies" is focused and still manages to get the point across effectively. "Syriana" was a bloated, nearly 3 hour film that suffered from a lack of focus and represents the worst of the "Pulp Fiction" derivatives. It tries to say so much that the stories hardly blend together at all and the connections are limp at best. "Syriana" has a total lack of continuity that even "Babel" was able to deliver, as flawed as that film was as well. In the face of these decadent and over-arching films, I was refreshed to see a taut, well-written move slickly navigate the landscape. I still believe that "Body of Lies" forcefully establishes the errors of the American MO as represented by Russell Crowe and shows precisely how America can be blamed for the conversion of new terrorists everyday, but it also knew what kind of movie it wanted to be. "Body of Lies" is an unapologetic thriller, but who's to say that doesn't mean it can't simultaneously an intelligent one?

Grade: A-/B+