Having seen this movie before as an expatriate living in the third or developing world, I have a sense of what to expect in the second worst case scenario of the coronavirus.

In the first worst case, I would be dead before it came to town.

Abroad we planned for things that might happen, so I’ll start from those skills.

• The power might go out as it did everywhere we lived in the developing world. In Mexico it happened (yet again) as we were about to sit down for dinner party at our home, with 50 guests.
• The water might stop running as it did in Mexico and Ecuador, making the pool water of the latter quite useful.
• Deliveries might disappear from groceries and other shops leaving them with empty shelves, a reality that often happened on the sunny island of Curaçao. It’s an experience to watch fresh broccoli rot on the grocer shelf to an unappetizing brown. But I learned to buy ahead non-perishable items.
• So like then, I will stock up on things we use anyway, just more than I’d usually keep about.

Cans and jars of foods, dry goods like pasta and rice, a container to store drinking water (if needed), long shelf-life items like UHT (ultra high temperature) almond milk, wine and dark chocolate. Prescription medications that our stingy insurance allow us to order more than one unit at a time. And things without expiry dates like tissues, toilet paper, soaps for everything from our dishes to clothes, hair and body washes.

But what I most assuredly will not stock on, is panic. Panic is not helpful for my primary immune deficiency that needs weekly infusions to be normal like other people’s. That isn’t a medical statement, just a life lived in challenging countries statement.

So I’ll stock up on reliable, science-based information. Not the voodoo of social media and poorly sourced internet junk, or the magical thinking of a friend who is hanging onions about the house to keep coronavirus away.

But don’t listen to me. Go to the CDC coronavirus website to read and learn. Read a book, like John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza. Take a FREE beginner course online like my 9-year-old British grandson at Coursera. (Full disclosure, a relative works at Coursera.)

Knowledge is power and also assuages fear.

THE INVISIBLE MAN

Genre: Horror

Rating: R

Running Time: 124 mins.

Where Can You See It?: In theaters now

Premise: After escaping her abusive boyfriend, Cecilia (Elizabeth Moss) hides out with her cop friend (Aldis Hodge) and his daughter (Storm Reid). A few weeks later, she learns her ex-boyfriend committed suicide. But, all is not what it seems, and Cecilia finds herself being stalked by an invisible force, with nobody to believe her.

Behind-the-Scenes: Universal has long attempted to reinvigorate its classic monsters. Their first attempt was 2010’s The Wolfman with Benicio del Toro. It received poor reviews and middling box office. They tried again in 2014 with the misguided Dracula Untold, which turned Dracula into a superhero. That flamed out, so their next move was to mimic Marvel and go for some of that shared universe money by creating the “Dark Universe” – an interconnected series of films starting with Tom Cruise’s The Mummy. Budgeted at $120M and only grossing $80M here in the U.S., the Dark Universe never even got off the ground and was quickly shuttered, with future flicks like Frankenstein (with Javier Bardem) and The Invisible Man (with Johnny Depp) shelved.

That’s where Jason Blum comes in. Blum is a highly prolific producer who specializes in low-budget horror. Almost every movie he makes turns a profit, so Universal was wise to go with him. The other key move here was to bring in writer-director Leigh Whannell. He’s probably best known for writing the first Saw, but has recently found success as a director. If you haven’t seen Upgrade yet, you should definitely make that a priority. With a responsible budget of $8M, The Invisible Man is Universal’s latest attempt to bring back the classic monsters for a new generation.

The Good: The Invisible Man is a highly effective new spin on the character. Elizabeth Moss gives (another!) tour-de-force performance as Cecilia. Her character is really put through the ringer, and Moss manages to layer hurt, fear, paranoia, strength, and questionable sanity with expert precision. There is a fantastic scene where she speaks to an empty wall that is as riveting as any piece of acting you’ll see. Whannell crushes it on both fronts as writer-director. The script is smart – balancing humor, horror, thrills, twists, and even a little noir, and mixing in timely social issues like gaslighting and domestic abuse. Whannell’s direction only serves to enhance the script’s elements – he deftly uses a number of wide shots, giving ample space on screen between the characters and their surroundings, making the audience wonder where and if the Invisible Man is in the room with them. It never goes for cheap scares, and is economically stylish, with some terrific action set pieces. Benjamin Wallfisch’s thunderous score and the sound design both contribute to the intensity, and the opening 10 minutes provide a master class in creating huge suspense with minimal explanation.

The Bad: Some of the twists, much as they keep you guessing, don’t really make sense the longer you think about them. Not all of the other actors are up to Moss’ level. The ending may turn off some viewers.

Should You See It?: Definitely. This is the first great movie of 2020. Even if you don’t consider yourself a “horror person,” there’s enough here to elevate The Invisible Man beyond the horror genre and make it a must-see.

Star Rating: **** out of 5 stars

Better Than: Hollow Man, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, The Mummy

Worse Than: It Follows, Get Out

* * *

For more movie/TV commentary and other mischief, follow me on Twitter: @Hammervision and on Letterboxd: @Hammervision

A few days ago, Fox Chicago reporter Tia Ewing was just minding her business on Twitter. Then, she got trolled for doing what TV reporters do: using a fake work voice encouraged by dinosaur news directors who think it’s still 1982.

The “TV news voice” has always created a dilemma for nonwhite TV reporters because it’s just not our cultural identity. It feels fake. Yet, it’s all part of playing the game. (Radio folks deal with the foolishness, too.)

When I wanted to be a news reporter, I contacted news directors across the country for advice on how to improve my voice. They wanted me to “deepen” my voice, practice with a cork between my teeth, and follow the TV reporter cadence. (TV reporter cadence is annoying because you TYPICALLY stress WORDS that don’t need EMPHASIZING! )

Yet, Tia is aware that she has to please those folks in the control room. If it were up to us, she could use slang while doing the news. However, the industry will deem that “unprofessional”.

I’m disappointed that Tia removed the news report. But I understand that she’s not up to the trolling.

Not long ago I heard a radio interview featuring the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. talk about COVID-19 and how his country was way ahead of everyone in the world in their containment of the virus.

I was initially impressed until the matter of how the doctor, Li Wenliang, was treated by his own countrymen came up.  The press savvy Ambassador, attempted to skirt the issue, but he was up against a seasoned journalist that wouldn’t let him forget that President Xi Jinping and the powers that run China castigated the man for alerting the world to the outbreak.  The Ambassador attempted to paint a picture that the state had every right to muzzle the doctor in an effort to prevent pandemonium.  It was only after Wenliang, the ophthalmologist, who broke the news about COVID-19, despite an attempt by a totalitarian regime to shut him up, received the recognition he deserved albeit late and posthumously.  Li Wenliang suffered death at the hands of a virus he alerted the world to in December of 2019 – a full month before most had any idea of the impact the virus might wreak on the health of the planet and its economy.

We can be critical of China but even in America we have an administration that barred Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), from speaking publicly about the novel coronavirus without approval from the White House.  At a time when transparency is essential to garner the trust of our leadership, we instead must deal with the powers that be who have in the past displayed scorn for science and instead opted for what Kelly Ann Conway described best as “Alternate Facts.”   Everything is not okay or fine or a matter to be trivialized because of an upcoming election.  Hearing what the experts have to say is what is mandated NOW if we are to have confidence that the issue is being dealt with effectively and efficiently.

Other ground breaking individuals that have made a difference are those who have brought to the public’s attention what they perceive as unjust.  A number of courageous women had to put their own safety on the line to bring Harvey Weinstein, a sexual predator with tremendous power and prestige in his industry to justice.  Prior to their coming forward, Weinstein was impervious to consequences for his bad conduct that for years was overlooked or ruled to delicate or injudicious to bring to a court of law.

In the last six months, a number of dedicated patriotic Americans serving in our national security agency or our diplomatic corps found themselves also on the line for testifying about what they saw or heard that made them question whether or not the rule of law was being followed by those in our government.  Their previous service as veterans defending democracy as we know it was ridiculed and many were targeted with threats of violence for appearing before Congress per a subpoena (again per the rule of law).

Let me toast each and everyone of those who broke ground to GO DO GOOD in times when doing nothing would have been much easier  than suffering the vilification they received for being true to themselves and others.

What a long winter it’s been, and an extra day in February, too.

But meteorological Spring begins March 1. And there are already early signs of seasons changing–2 hours more daylight since the winter solstice on December 21. There have been some robin sightings. And the pussy willows are just starting to open.

Yes, spring is coming! And the waxing crescent moon is beautiful.

But there is a climate of uncertainty these days. It’s not just the Cook County property taxes due on March 3,  or the looming tax deadline on April 15.

Markets don’t like uncertainty.  The tumbling stock markets in response to the coronavirus crisis is the worst week since October 2008.

The stock market is not the only place that deals in futures.  Loans and bond issues are long-term deals. They assume (except for force majeure clauses) that life as we know it will be pretty much the same in 30 years. There will be roads and schools, bills and taxes.  But what will life be like in 30 years?

We know there is a climate crisis. The wild fires in Australia and melting glaciers in Iceland and Antarctica are signs of change.

There are more floods and fires, blizzards, tornadoes and hurricanes. More people are affected. There are more refugees. Will there be bridges or walls?  What kind of future do we want?   What kind of leadershipt do we want?  Remember when Donald Trump tossed the rolls of paper towels in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria?

Remember when he altered a weather map with a Sharpie, and NOAA coerced to salvage his ego?   Hurricane Dorian seems so long ago. Here’s a post about it.

There was a pandemic response team at the CDC under President Obama. That has been  scrapped. Now we are facing a crisis with the new coronavirus.  Maybe Donald Trump will throw us bottles of hand sanitizer.