Below is a video of just audio from a public screening of Paranormal Activity. (see review below).
This is the crowd reaction to the last minute of the movie. Don’t worry, it gives nothing away but it WILL give you some idea of the experience I had watching the film Friday night inside a packed theater.
btw, if you plan on seeing this movie, AVOID Spoilers at ALL costs. ( i consider this clip spoiler free.)
Years from now, when I think back on the first time I saw the horror mock-u-mentary Paranormal Activity, I’m sure the first thing I’ll remember is the 18-year-old dude behind me, sitting with his three friends, screaming like a little girl.
Yes, he’d scream…out loud…as if he’d just encountered a monster in a dark alley on his way home from soccer practice. But, in that packed theater in Avon Friday night, no one seemed to mind his screaming much. Truth be told – everyone was screaming.
Yep, Paranormal Activity was THAT spooky.
If case you haven’t heard, Paranormal Activity is a low-budget suspense film- shot on a hand-held camera in one week. The movie is done in the spirit of The Blair Witch Project as in, it presents itself as an actual experience where you the audience are viewing the “found footage”.
The movie tells the story of a young couple who believe their house may be haunted and therefore buy a video camera to record any Paranormal Activity.
The tension builds slowly, as the apprehensive Katie, a student, and the skeptical Micah, a day trader, feel the first emotional tremors. The movie keeps us in its grip because we never leave the couple’s haunted property and because all we see is what the camera has recorded when held by Micah or Katie, or when left on at night to monitor their bedroom. That claustrophobia creates a bond between the couple and the audience; they can’t escape, and neither can we.
The tension gets so unbearable that the audience literally groans with dread as the camera is left on each night while Katie and Micah sleep. I don’t want to give anything away and the less you know about this film the better, but the movie works best during these scenes filmed in the bedroom during the night. That is when the true terror happens. That is when the audience, at least at the screening I attended Friday night, screamed loudest.
Paranormal Activity is the complete opposite of The Hangover but at the same time nearly identical. The Hangover made packed audiences laugh so hard they wanted to pee, while Paranormal Activity provides scream inducing scares.
And those are the best movies out there, the kinds that elicit some sort of human response.
So if you like to be scared, go see Paranormal Activity but be warned, you will have trouble sleeping if you are easily frightened.
Like right now. I’m dreading going to sleep tonight. Really fucking dreading it.
I would never call myself a huge Quentin Tarantino fan. Sure, I like most of his movies, but I never “rush” out to see them, and other than Pulp Fiction, and to a lesser extent Reservoir Dogs, I don’t think his movies are amazing.
So, as I parked my ass into the seat for a Sunday afternoon showing of his latest flick, “Inglorious Basterds”, I was expecting to be entertained. However, I was not only entertained, I was blown away.
The movie gets off to a rousing start with its opening chapter, “Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied France,” when we are introduced to Tarantino’s single best character to date, the somewhat charming Nazi Col. Hans Landa, played by the amazing Christoph Waltz, who won the Best Actor award for this role at the Cannes Film Festival.
Landa at first doesn’t seem befitting of his nickname, “The Jew Hunter.” During his talk with a local French dairy farmer, Landa is polite as can be, seemingly wanting to do little more than follow-up on a previous visit by another officer about a local Jewish family who may have fled, moving the conversation from German to French and finally to English. As they speak, we start to realize that moving to a language both Landa and the farmer know isn’t just for the audience’s benefit, giving them a moment’s reprise from what will be many subtitled sequences, but setting a trap for the farmer which will make many in the audience squirm as they realize what is about to happen.
Making audiences squirm seems to be what Tarantino wants to do most with “Basterds.” You may be aware from the commercials and trailers that Brad Pitt leads a group of Jewish-American soldiers who are set upon terrorizing the Nazis, leaving their marks by scalping those they kill and carving swastikas into those they leave alive. You may also be aware one of the Basterds, Sgt. Donny Donowitz (“Hostel” filmmaker Eli Roth) has a special skill amongst the team by taking a baseball bat to those who, as his Lieutenant likes to say, “want to die for their country”.
Many heads are scalped, a few are bashed in or carved up. Someone pokes their finger into a bullet wound to get to the truth of what just happened. Thousands of bullets fly, and a number of gallons of blood are splattered. It’s quite gruesome at times.
Pitt is the name that will get butts into seats, but it’s not his movie. Along with Waltz, who is deserving of every accolade he’ll get the rest of the year, “Basterds” belongs to Mélanie Laurent, the equally little known French actress who plays Shosanna Dreyfus, a survivor of one of Landa’s hunts now operating a movie theatre in Paris under an assumed name, who devises a plan to take down the man who killed her family when an unexpected German movie premiere falls into her lap. And believe me, in one unforgettable piece of cinema, this bitch means business when she decides to get her revenge.
With out ruining anything, the last shot of the film is of one of the “basterds” staring into the camera after he has just carved up a Nazi soldier.
“This may just be my masterpiece,” he says, of his handy work.
Fittingly, the same can be said of Tarantino’s latest film.
I’m sure back in 1987, girls all over America dragged their boyfriends (kicking and screaming) into the theaters to see the latest romantic comedy, Say Anything, starring a just getting started John Cusack.
Now 2o + years later, the story of Lloyd Dobbler and Diane Cord is a whole lot more of a guys movie than it is a “chick flik”. I mean, come on, what guy didn’t sympathize with Cusack’s Lloyd? A good looking, witty, kickboxing slacker with a heart.
So, my advice to any dude out there who may be dragged to the new film 500 Days of Summer: Go willingly and keep an open mind. The reward is a great film. A Say Anything for present day, and, possibly the best film I’ve seen this year.
The title, (500) Days of Summer, comes from the name of the girl in the film, played by Zooey Deschanel, and the 500 day period during which she is a part of the main character’s life. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom Hansen, an architect working a crappy job at a greeting card company who becomes smitten by the new intern, Summer Finn. After some awkward attempts to catch her attention, he eventually wins her over and they have a whirlwind romance. Before long, however, the tide changes, and Summer starts to wonder if Tom is really the right man for her, which sends Tom spiraling into depression.
The film works best when the relationship is clicking and Tom is happy. The montage where Tom “struts” to work while dancing to Hall & Oats could become a classic.
When things go bad it’s hard not to hate Summer and sympathize with Tom, but don’t forget the movie is shown from Tom’s point of view so it’s kind of hard not to feel for the poor guy.
Thankfully, at the end of the film Tom sees things more clearly and, as expected, so do we as audience members. And, as I walked out of the theater I couldn’t help think that a sequel could possibly be filmed someday. (500) Days of Autumn, perhaps?
The term “romantic comedy” is not particularly well-regarded nowadays, thanks to years of formulaic and sappy love stories manufactured specifically as light entertainment for couples who are out on a date. But movies about relationships don’t always have to be cheesy and predictable.
Some of you may know that every year five (5) movies are nominated for a Best Picture Award at the yearly Oscar ceremony, and, of those five, only one walks away with the top prize.
Some of you may also have heard that, starting next year, the academy has changed things around a bit. Now, instead of five movies to choose from, the academy will nominate 10 for the prestigious Best Picture Award.
I for one think this is great, especially after last year’s travesty where movies like The Dark Knight and Wall-E were ignored while The Reader and Milk were honored, granted, both were good movies but neither deserved the nod over Batman and Pixar.
While the academy says it’s to generate excitement, I for one think money is behind the expansion of the best picture category. I mean, I for one am more apt to see a film if it carries the tag “Nominated for Best Picture”.
Anyway, for those of you who do follow movie patterns, most films that get nominated for awards come out between October and Christmas, which is typically referred to in the movie industry as “award season”. It is very rare for a film released prior to “award season” to earn a Best Pic nomination but it happens.
The Sixth Sense came out in the summer of 1999 and eventually earned a nomination while Braveheart was released in the spring of 1995 and walked away with the Best Picture Prize the following year.
That being said, 3 months prior to the beginning of award season, I have listed a dozen films that have already come out, that I think have a good shot of cracking the Top 10 and earning a nomination for a 2009 Best Picture Oscar. (in no particular order, just how I remember ‘em).
1. UP
2. STAR TREK
3. THE HANGOVER
4. PUBLIC ENEMIES TAKEN
5. ADVENTURELAND
6. EARTH
7. CORALINE
8. DRAG ME TO HELL
9. WATCHMEN
10. SUNSHINE CLEANING
11. THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD
12. AWAY WE GO
Like I said, studios don’t start rolling out their award contenders until late fall/early winter, however I think we could see a few more contenders this summer that have yet to open.
Harry Potter, Funny People and Inglorious Basterds come to mind.
Simply put, The Hangover is a crude, crass comedy that manages to be smart at the same time – oh, and funny as hell.
When you start laughing about 30 seconds into a movie, that’s usually a good sign.
I saw the film inside a packed theater and it seemed more like I was at a stand-up comedy show than a movie. I don’t remember the last time a crowd was so into a film. People were laughing so hard they were snorting. I think the old guy sitting next to Ashlie peed his pants.
The plot of The Hangover is very simple: Three buddies (and one tag-along) head to Las Vegas to celebrate the impending marriage of one of their own with a bachelor party weekend. They get so incredibly blasted (thank you jaggermeister) on the night of their arrival that they don’t remember a single thing that happened – of course maximum mayhem ensued during the evening, and they must slowly piece together the night because the groom-to-be has gone missing.
If you’ve ever been to Vegas for a bachelor/bachelorette party I’m thinking you can relate to a bit of the madness. It’s amazing how in Sin City things can truly get away from you…and fast.
The Hangover showcases a great cast of characters – Bradley Cooper as Phil, the handsome, smooth talker of the group, Ed Helms as Stu Price – the dentist who keeps reminding people he’s a doctor, and Zach Galifianakis who steals the movie as Alan, the future brother in law of Doug (Justin Bartha). In addition we have Stu’s insane yuppie girlfriend who ya just wanna punch in the face, Heather Graham plays a gorgeous hooker with a heart of gold, Jeffrey Tambor (Pop-Pop in the attic from Arrested Development) adds a few laughs as the future father-in-law and Ken Jeong is hilarious as “Mr. Chow.”
Yes, Jeong was priceless as the Asian gangster, absolutely hysterical – but the stand out performance had to be Zach Galifianakis as the “not quite all there” member of the troupe. He plays the role as almost mildly retarded, and the lines he delivers and the way he says them are probably on their own enough to make you want to see the movie again. (“Who Let The Dogs Out, doot doot doot”)
There are great bits throughout the entire film, and while some may feel it bogs down for a bit about 3/4 of the way through, it regains its footing soon enough to wrap up with a really great ending.
I loved how they handled the backtracking to figure out just what happened the night before – they didn’t resort to flashbacks or fancy back and forward time-jumps… we just hung with the guys real-time and discovered the pieces to the puzzle along with them. So not only do we have great comedy, as a bonus we get a mystery to unravel as well.
I think it goes without saying but for the love of God leave the kids at HOME for this one. If you can’t afford a babysitter this week, save a couple of bucks a day and wait until next week to see it.
This movie, more than any other comedy I’ve seen since Clerks 2, truly earns its ‘R’ Rating.
Trust me, if you are easily offended by rude crude comedy, by all means stay home, (Allison, I’m looking your way) but if you can handle it, The Hangover is not to be missed.
Some of the most extreme scenes in the movie actually don’t appear until the credits are rolling. I won’t give away anything other than to say if you’re offended by sexually explicit material, you’d better leave just as the credits begin to roll.
Another great point, for once the funniest parts of a great comedy were not ruined by being shown in the trailor. The best parts are inside. Believe me, you don’t know what you’re in for.
I wanna go to Vegas!!!!!!!!!
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btw, Will Ferell’s Land of the Lost also opened this weekend. Some of you may recall a few weeks back when I did my Summer Movie Preview I predicted Ferell’s film would be the biggest turd of the summer.
Was I right? Find out by CLICKING HERE
When I first saw teasers for J. J. Abrams vision of Star Trek, shown last summer, my initial reaction was, “meh”.
When I saw the full fledged trailers shown relentlessly over the past few months my opinion hadn’t changed much. Meh.
Then the reviews started pouring in. The film began receiving universal praise from all that had seen it. JJ Abrams’ (yes, he created LOST) vision of Star Trek currently holds a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a phenomenal number, unheard of for a sci-fi film.
I’ve seen almost all of the Star Trek films in my lifetime but have only seen two at the movies.
But, because J.J Abrams created Lost, my favorite show, and based on overwhelming praise, I decided to see Star Trek at a special screening Thursday night, as opposed to waiting for the matinee over the weekend.
Unlike previous incarnations, there are no weighty scenarios or moral quandaries in this refashioning of Star Trek. It’s an energetic sci-fi extravaganza, with spectacular action sequences and way-cool visuals.
This film is clearly aimed at a broader audience than just die-hard Trekkies, though there is plenty of nods toward Trek history, some of which I didn’t get but seemed to really excite some fifty year old men in the crowd.
The film is really about Captain Kirk and Mr Spock, played superbly by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, aka, Sylar from Heroes. We get the back story on the two leads which really is a lot of fun. We also see how the original Star Trek crew, Bones, Scotty, Sulu, and Checkov come together.
In my opinion Star Trek is everything a summer movie should be. It’s action packed, funny with great characters that tell a great story, and, at just over two hours, it’s the perfect length.
Granted, given the volume of Trek lore, aficionados may find plenty to take apart. But non-Trekkers are likely to be transported by this latest voyage on the mother ship of sci-fi sagas.
And, keep your eyes peeled for another J.J. Abrams creation, a special appearance by The Cloverfield Monster.
No really, he’s in there.
The summer movie season officially kicks off today with the arrival of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Then, for the next 16 weeks the studious roll out, what they hope will be blockbusters.
Here is what I’m looking forward to most in the summer of 2009:
(click the movie titles to see the trailers)
1. FUNNY PEOPLE: The third Judd Apatow film, following The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. This one has Apatow staple Seth Rogan teaming up with comedy superstar Adam Sandler. Can’t go wrong with that combo right?
2. HARRY POTTER & THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE: The second to last Harry Potter book comes to the big screen. This previews for this one look awesome. We will finally get to see Snape kill Dumbledore on the big screen. And Hermoine is aging nicely I must say.
3. PUBLIC ENEMIES: Johnny Depp playing legendary bad ass bank robber John Dillinger while Christian Bale plays the FBI chief trying to catch him….nuff said.
4. UP: I’ve never seen a bad Disney/Pixar film. Hell, I’ve never even seen a mediocre one. They have all been brilliant. Early buzz says the story of an elderly gentlemen in a flying house could be the best yet. I’m there…with our without Aidan.
5. WOLVERINE: The man with the bushy sideburns and steel claws has always been my favorite part of the X-Men movies. Even though critics are saying this one is bad, I’ll make up my own mind, thank you.
6. STAR TREK: This is an origin story. How did captain Kirk come to lead the Starship Enterprise. Sounds interesting. Plus, it has Sylar from Heroes playing Spock and LOST creator JJ Abrams is directing.
7. TERMINATOR SALVATION: Can a Terminator film succeed without Arnold Schwarzenegger? We’ll see.
8. HALLOWEEN 2: Rob Zombie gets his second crack at the Halloween franchise. I didn’t “love” his first try a few years back, but I’m told this time Zombie has creative control and he finally had the chance to film the Michael Myers movies he’s always wanted.
9. THE HANGOVER: This film looks hilarious. Once I saw Mike Tyson dancing to Phil Collins music in the trailer I knew I’d be seeing this one on opening weekend.
10. INGLORIOUS BASTERDS: The latest Quentin Tarantino film about Jews kicking some German ass during WW2.
The summer will also bring a host of other potential blockbusters including Transformers 2, Angels and Demons (davinci code sequel), a live action GI JOE film, and Land of the Lost staring Will Ferrell, which, in my book, will be the biggest bomb of the summer.
