Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Green Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Summits
Business Video
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Afghan Journal
Africa Journal
India Insight
Global News Journal
Pakistan: Now or Never?
World Video
Politics
Politics Home
Front Row Washington
Politics Video
Technology
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
Felix Salmon
Breakingviews
George Chen
Bernd Debusmann
Gregg Easterbrook
James Pethokoukis
James Saft
John Wasik
Christopher Whalen
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
The Great Debate
Unstructured Finance
Newsmaker
MuniLand
Money
Money Home
Analyst Research
Global Investing
MuniLand
Reuters Money
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Life & Culture
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Left Field
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Article
Comments (0)
Slideshow
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Apple hunted lost item - clue points to new iPhone
12:52am EDT
A-listers not spared in pandemic film "Contagion"
9:23am EDT
China state paper urges Internet rethink to gag foes
02 Sep 2011
Obama ups pressure over transportation
10:00am EDT
Documents show links between CIA, Libya spy unit
9:47am EDT
Discussed
178
Labor leaders must pay for parade if GOP banned, mayor says
121
White House to nominate Krueger as top economist
79
UPDATE 1-Obama warns Hurricane Irene flooding could worsen
Watched
Buenos Aires Fashion week sizzles
Mon, Aug 22 2011
Lockheed Martin presents airship of the future
Thu, Aug 18 2011
Gaddafi's Tripoli spy network revealed
Fri, Sep 2 2011
A-listers not spared in pandemic film "Contagion"
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Madonna's crown slips with mediocre movie reviews
Fri, Sep 2 2011
Hollywood films take on serious edge for fall
Fri, Sep 2 2011
Madonna thanks exes for encouraging movie career
Thu, Sep 1 2011
Madonna, Polanski films vie for Venice limelight
Thu, Sep 1 2011
Clooney explores dirty politics in Venice film
Wed, Aug 31 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Madonna vs Polanski in Venice? No contest
Could Venice numbers work for Cronenberg?
Related Topics
Entertainment »
Fashion »
Film »
People »
1 of 2. Matt Damon (C) ,cast member of ''Contagion'', arrives at the Film Cinema's Place during the 68th Venice Film Festival September 3, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi
By Mike Collett-White
VENICE, Italy |
Sat Sep 3, 2011 9:23am EDT
VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - Not even the A-listers are spared in "Contagion," a star-studded movie directed by Steven Soderbergh that recreates the outbreak of a global pandemic.
Audiences used to seeing the most famous faces last longest will be in for a surprise when they watch the slick, globe-trotting picture which is in competition at the Venice film festival.
The ensemble cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard and Jennifer Ehle, most of whom were in Venice for the world premiere on Saturday.
Soderbergh, an Oscar winner for "Traffic" and best known for his "Ocean's" crime capers, said the complex nature of the film made Hollywood heavyweights particularly important.
"It's very helpful to have movie stars playing as many of these roles as you can, because you're throwing so many characters and so much information at the audience it's very helpful for them to get a sort of reference point," he told reporters in Venice.
"There's a reason that movie stars have existed since the beginning of cinema," he added after Contagion was warmly applauded at a press screening ahead of the red carpet premiere.
"It's good for audiences -- they like to have people they can identify with."
Contagion opens with a couple played by Paltrow and Damon who find themselves at the center of a global emergency that goes on to claim millions of lives.
Cotillard and Fishburne play health officials trying to get to the bottom of the disease in a race against time, while Law portrays a journalist and blogger who challenges the official line.
SARS AN INSPIRATION
At one point, one scientist irked by his questioning turns to him and says: "Blogging is not writing. It's graffiti with punctuation."
Soderbergh weaves the bigger themes of fear, panic and globalisation together with individual tales of sacrifice and selfishness, hopping from Hong Kong to London to the United States as he does.
Paltrow was asked when she would allow her pre-teen children to watch Contagion, which features death, violence and a scene where a dead character's scalp is peeled back during an autopsy.
"My kids can't even watch (children's comedy) 'Babe', so I don't know, probably not for a while."
She added that she did not see the death of central characters as any kind of judgment on the lives they led in the movie.
"I think that if death by virus was a punishment for extra-marital affairs there may be only about three dudes left in this room right now," she joked at a packed press conference. "Maybe less because we're in Italy."
Script writer Scott Burns said the story was partly based on the real-life outbreak of SARS in China in 2003.
Soderbergh, who said he would shortly be taking a break from film making, added: "All of the science in the film had to be accurate, all of the scenes in which the virus was discussed or shown visually had to be absolutely realistic or plausible.
"Otherwise we felt we weren't advancing our ideas very well or contributing to this genre very well."
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
Entertainment
Fashion
Film
People
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
Entertainment News From the Wrap
Summer Cable 2011: Winners and Losers
02 Sep 2011
With networks taking a repeat-heavy recess, it was up to paid TV to keep our interest. Here's where they succeeded -- and failed
Hungary, Norway Join Foreign-Language Oscar Race
02 Sep 2011
The Netherlands, Serbia also among countries to announce official selections this week
Toshiba's Glasses-Free 3D TV Debuts in Europe by Year's End
02 Sep 2011
The 55-inch television will retail for 7,999 Euros, or about $11,400
Golden Globes Broadcasting Rights Case Postponed 30 Days
02 Sep 2011
The legal fight between Dick Clark Productions and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was supposed to take place in U.S. District Court next week
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Mobile
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Newsletters
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.