Went to see "Contagion" at Salem Valley Cinema tonight and as entertaining and frightening as the movie was, the theater experience was a rival.SVCinema (some call it SVEnema after buying concessions) has removed its ticket booths, moved that activity to the concession area and the ticket sellers are now also ticket takers and concession clerks.
What we expect on those rare nights when SVC draws a crowd is people ahead of you buying tickets and popcorn and cokes at the same time. You'd better arrive early whether you want concessions or not (I never do), 'cause you're going to have to wait for them in any case.
The movie was a modern-day "Jaws" for creep-out value. In this one, a strange airborne disease is making its way around the world as people touch each other and it kills off some of our favorite actors in the process (really pissed me off when they bumped off Kate Winslett--how could ANYBODY kill Kate Winslett?!? It would have been just as easy to bump Jude Law's oily blogger character.)
Anyhow, the screen is filled with some of my favorite people (Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, among them) and the script doesn't kill them all but it doesn't let them develop their characters much, either. While the movie is long on creepiness, it's short on character (save for Kate, who can give you a full-blown heroine in two lines). Don't expect to want to touch anybody for a while after the movie ends.
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