By Max Bartlett

Things being what they are, I decided that watching the movie “Pandemic,” directed by John Suits might be the most appropriate thing for me to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Nope. And um, spoiler alert.

Some of the scenes were eerily similar, empty playgrounds, abandoned sidewalks and city streets. But the slow move toward a more zombie-like flu that has four, no FIVE stages, the first one curable but the last four, totally mentally deranged blood sucking human has-beens. I guess I had been hoping for something as good as “The Andromeda Strain,” a movie that came out in 1971 (don’t watch the remake, it doesn’t hold a candle) directed by Robert Wise. In this epic film the scenes are similar (empty towns) but the acting, and the storyline are far, far better, even believable given the news of the day.

Next on the list, “Contagion”, “28 Days Later,” and “Cabin Fever.” Who’s with me? I might even try “Cloverfield.” Thing is, I can only handle so much news. I’ve got the World-o-meter website bookmarked (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/), and today, I watched the total death jump by almost 600 people. I feel like I’m living in a dystopian setting. 

Meanwhile, my teachers think I’m fully capable of concentrating on my academic goals. I’m sorry. No. Not gonna happen. I mean, I feel guilty about it, and all, but, I need the distraction of my flip-flops between the real news and the movies (and the fake news that’s on real tv coming from the leader of my country). I think I’ll just let school slide. Nobody’s going to give me grief about it. The world is in crisis.