I fucking hate scary movies. When I was 10, my step dad let me watch Candyman II with him. I've never recovered. In point of fact, after seeing the first 2/3 of that movie, I stayed up all night, reading the bible. It was the only thing I could think to do to make myself safe against the evil black man with the hook hand that had a vengeance crush. Needless to say, I'm gonna skip this one. You say it makes you scared on a realistic level? Great. Fuck you. Enjoy shivering in your terror bed. I will sleep sound, and not worry about ghosts in my fucking house, ever.
Thumbs up for Paranormal Activity, I saw it last Friday night with a full house and the audience reaction def helped my enjoyment of the movie. I have not seen The Blair Witch Project but my brother who has and was with me at PA said the styles and production of the two were very similar. PA was a creepy movie for me and I thought that actors pulled it off well. I don't see very many movies in theaters and I am very glad I went to this one, worth the 10 bucks.
Apparently the movie was released a while back prior to the current theater release. Don't ask me how, why, or what, but the main point of this is that a friend of mine ended up downloading the original version which has a slightly different ending... a better ending that the current theater version. I'm planning on watching it tonight so I'll prob post up the spoiler after if someone else can help me out with the theater version's ending for comparison.
That seems to be the version I just watched here: http://www.megavideo.com/?v=EX1YYSIA I was actually kind of bored for a good portion of the movie. It wasn't bad and the scary stuff was pretty cool. Just not enough of it for me. The ending seemed kind of obvious early on to me as well. That said, I'm sure it is much more entertaining in theatres. Or at least seeing it in the dark instead of 2 in the afternoon like I just did. If you're set on seeing a film one night then I'd say go for it though. 6-7/10
Paranormal Activity Paranormal Activity: I had mixed feelings after seeing this one. It is shot entirely home video style, has absolutely no special effects, and could legitimately have been made by 2 normal people on a $5k budget. That said, I was legitimately....nervous... for a lot of the movie. I wouldn't say I was scared, but I can see why people would have some sleepless nights after this movie. Blair Witch you were scared for the people in the movie (not yourself), the Saw movies you are grossed out by the traps, but after the movies end you walk out and go about your day. This movie evokes a fear inside the viewer that could return later that night, next week, or whenever something similar happens in their own lives. I think that is why it's successful, and might be worth $10. I agree with earlier posters though, drive out to the suburbs or go at an off-peak time so there aren't a bunch of screaming hooligans in the theater. There are a bunch of quiet scenes that would be scarier in silence. A few questions/thoughts for those that have seen the movie: Spoiler I felt like the movie was slowly building the entire time, then just as it started to get really scary and interesting it ended. I wish instead she went downstairs and came back up with a knife and stood over him before "waking up", then progressing it more every night. They could have cut out a bunch of early scenes that dragged on, and tacked on an extra half an hour of really scary and creepy stuff to the end. Also, why didnt they ever talk about the fire on the Ouija board? Why did they write it so that the second doctor was out of the country and have the other dude come back for like 10 seconds? The second doc could have made it more interesting. Why have that part with the cross in her hand and burning it? It felt forced. I wish they added some more special effects to actually show the daemon, even if it was just a dark "cloud" or something. The footprints that looked like a dinosaur were a strange choice. Lastly, I waited in the theater for like 10 minutes after the movie ended hoping for an extra scene. There were no credits at all, which I thought was odd.
Paranormal Activity was awesome. Some parts may feel slowly paced, but horror often works that sort of whiplash effect. The slow parts make the tense scenes more effective. Other posts have covered my thoughts on it, so I'll just comment on the ending(s): Spoiler There were two alternate endings. Both endings had Katie getting out of bed, going downstairs and screaming. Micah heads down to help. You hear noises and then Katie comes back upstairs, covered in blood and holding a bloody knife. The first ending had Katie collapse at the side of the bed and sit in a trance as the camera went into time-lapse mode for a few days. The "friend" girl then calls and leaves a message on the answering machine, wondering if Katie is ok. She comes by to check on Katie and discovers Micah. The police then come up upon Katie, who is still holding a knife. The police see the knife and shoot her dead on the floor of the bedroom. The second ending had Katie come into the bedroom with the bloody knife, and slit her own throat. I wish they had gone with one of these endings. First of all, when they showed Micah being thrown at the camera in the trailer, they gave away the ending. When you mix it with the "authorization" message at the start of the movie, you can kind of predict what's going to happen. The whole "she is still out there" and her going after the camera was still a good ending, but just seemed out of place with the whole movie. Further, if Micah is stabbed to death, it ties in the earlier scene where he said he'd "take care of" the demon while gesturing with the knife. It'd be a sort of horror-foreshadowing and fitting end to his character.
Surrogates This is an action movie and the best thing that can be said for it is that it gives you the sensation of a coma without either the worry or the inconvenience. Boring, predictable plot, forgettable characters, and shoddy acting. I expected better from Bruce Willis. Plus, 90% of the cast looked like a fucking Real Doll. Pass.
I thought it was alright. I think the problem is that it tried straddling the line between mindless action movie and thought-provoking sci-fi without trying to really do either one very well. They needed to pick a direction and run with it. They really gave fuck-all about character development too. Still, I was somewhat entertained. I would consider watching it again if I was flipping around and saw it on HBO or something, but not a movie worth going out of your way to specifically see. 5/10.
Paranormal Activity I am a huge horror fan and was excited to see this after reading all the rave professional and personal reviews. That being said I saw it Friday and ranted for a good 20 minutes after leaving about how big a piece of shit it was. I absolutely hated it and could not fathom how or why people are proclaiming it to be amazing. I re-watched it again yesterday and saw the alternate ending (I have no preference for either), after giving it a day and some thought I have to retract my previous statements and say that it isn't a bad movie, just not a scary one. At all. At no point in either viewing did I jump or cover my eyes and I slept fine all weekend. Spoiler I thought Katie and Micah did a good job of making their characters relatable, her fear was honest and his skepticism seemed completely plausible to me. I liked that it was slow paced and didn't have any outward BOO! effects, (the baby powder foot prints, finding the picture in the attic, and her being pulled from the bed were great) and I don't think horror is or should be gratuitous gore or violence. With a budget of $15,000 they pulled off a decent thriller but as horror it just didn't do it for me.
I saw Paranormal Activity on Saturday. I went to the Somerville Theater, which is always full of scrawny, white, indie film students, so it was a pretty quiet showing. Except at the parts where the whole theater screamed. Including me. That movie scared the hell out of me. For about 15 minutes after walking out of the theater I was still freaked the fuck out. I called up a friend of mine who had recommended the movie to me just to tell him I'd seen it, and he told me that it wouldn't really hit me until I got into bed that night. Apparently he had trouble sleeping for about three days afterwards. Pretty wrong in my case. I had no trouble sleeping on Saturday night or last night. It was a great movie overall, despite really dragging at the beginning. I love this kind of movie, provided it's executed well. The Blair Witch Project scared me as well; I find "amateur-style" camera work to be an effective technique to create scares as long as when there's something interesting in the scene the camera actually focuses on it. (I'm looking at you, Cloverfield.) Spoiler I too was pissed off that they showed Mica getting thrown at the camera in the trailer. I kept waiting for that scene throughout the movie, and wondering how they'd go even further after that. What? They didn't? That was the last scene in the movie? FUCK YOU! Great, you can recommend the movie to all your friends by saying that the big scary scene at the end is in the trailer.
Can someone review or PM me about Vince Vaughns "couples retreat" movie. I know I may have the title wrong sorry............. Anyway, I love Vaughn and Jason Bateman and I think it was directed by Favreaux so i'm thinking it's worth taking my wife too, anyone?
It was directed by Peter Billingsley, AKA Ralphie from A Christmas Story. No joke. He's actually really good friends with Vince Vaughn. I enjoy Favreau and Vaughn together, and the previews look really funny, but I've only heard negative stuff about this movie. I usually respect the reviews on this board, so I'm looking forward to hearing what others thought of it before I spend my money.
It was about what you'd expect. Bateman and Bell didn't have the chemistry I'd hoped, Vaughn does what Vaughn always does. He plays himself. Favreau was pretty funny in an aggressive, assholish kinda way. The black couple's storyline was annoying for the first part of the movie, and stupid for the second half. But yeah, it's no Wedding Crashers or Old School. It's funny, but a lot of that was given away in the trailers. I'd give it a 6.5/10. Rent it.
Law Abiding Citizen I don't believe I've seen a review of this movie here yet, so here you go. First off, I am a fan of Jamie Foxx, I think the guy is a well deserving Oscar winner who can pick and choose which projects he wants to be a part of. Gerard Butler, his career is at it's peak as well, so I really have a hard time figuring out why these two guys would take on a film like this. Maybe the script actually read better than the end product, but I seriously doubt it. This movie reminded me of 88 Minutes with Pacino and of course, Righteous Kill, starring both De Niro and Pacino, two guys who are some of the most highly regarded actors working today. Those movies blew, hard. They're the kind of movies you'd never want to see again. There was very little that was original about them and you felt like you were watching legendary actors on screen that should have fucking known better. People go to movies to escape reality and for 90 minutes or however long the movie is, they become immersed in the story. The problem with this movie was that it was so unbelievable, you couldn't help but think you're watching a shitty movie the entire time. Where I live, to go to a movie theater costs me something like $3, so I'll generally watch 2-3 movies per week if I have the time. So I can watch a crap movie such as Law Abiding Citizen and not feel too cheated. If I dropped $10 like you'd have to in most places, I'd probably ask the manager for a refund. Bottom line, I left the theater wondering how scripts like this ever get turned into major feature film starring A list stars. It makes me question the judgment of everyone involved. This movie makes Miami Vice look like an Oscar caliber film. 3.5/10 On par with 88 Minutes & Righteous Kill. If you like those movies, you'll probably enjoy this one. And you'd have horrible taste.
Completely agree. I guess I was expecting something else or just too much, but I thought Paranormal Activity was completely shitty in terms of not being scary. I got the chills one time (Not the last scene), but never had that "jump from my seat" moment, and I have slept fine since seeing it. I didn't think the acting or the story itself was that bad, it just wasn't that scary.
The Invention of Lying This is a film with Ricky Gervaise from the UK Office, so I was expecting very funny (and hoping for it because I really support the making of films that are an alternative to Hollywood etc) Saw this yesterday and didn't find it very funny. There were many subtle laughs, but all in all it seemed self reverential in a 'fat guys need love too' way, Jennifer Garner looked very weird, her lips have changed shape.
Michael Jackson's This Is It I went to see this movie because Thriller was one of the first albums I've ever listened to and despite MJ's weird personal life, his music and talent has left a permanent etch in pop culture. That and the trailer was pretty awesome. This movie gives an amazing glimpse into what it was like to work around Michael doing what he was put on this planet to do. The man is without a doubt an extremely talented performer and a true professional in his craft. His female guitarist is unreal, besides MJ she had the most presence of anyone in this movie. It was pretty cool watching Michael interact with his staff, musicians, and dancers. He was surprisingly humble and it seemed like he genuinely appreciated everyone that was around him. The man could still perform better than anyone in the business at 50 and just days before dying. I'll give it a 9/10 because the film delivered. Everything that the director set out to do, I think was accomplished in this film.
Paranormal Activity So I just got done watching this on my laptop. I was told to download it because the theatrical ending "sucks." Based on Dufresne's spoiler tag above, I'd say I got the better ending. It was the one where Spoiler ...she rocks back and forth (which reminds me of the witch in Left 4 Dead, BTW), Amber shows, Amber leaves, cops come, and Cuntasaurus Rex gets capped. As a horror/thriller movie, this is MUCH better than most stuff of its genre, especially the shit that gets pumped out nowadays. Unlike most horror movies, which just bombard you with spooky shit running after the characters or feature scene after scene of torture/gore for its own sake, this movie moves slowly, bringing an occasional sound or shadow, then dialing it back again. It teases you along the way, and doesn't let the viewer get habituated to the action (which is what I think sets it apart from most others in its genre). Lots of talking, lots of boring shit...but then, when it gets quiet, your eyes and ears are highly on alert. Because of the constant juxtaposition of relaxed scenes with mundane conversation and the eerily silent ones at night, the tension gets so thick that you could lean against it. This will sound lame, but I naturally felt this: this movie is to horror/thriller what IHTSBIH is to comedy. Though far from perfect, it attempts to be original and doesn't feel so cliched. Both movies felt refreshing for their respective genres. Personally, I wasn't that scared, but I also tend to root against people in these kind of movies. Every time the stairs creaked or the walls pounded, I was hoping for that whiney bitch girlfriend to get cut in half.
MICHAEL JACKSON: THIS IS IT I went to see this movie because my 5 year old LOVES Michael Jackson. He stands in front of the computer and watches the you tube videos trying to copy the moves. I have never been a crazy big fan of Michael Jackson, and I did not expect to like this move as much as I did, but I have to echo what Johnnychase stated in his post. It was absolutely fascinating watching him work. Saying he was extremely talented is an understatement though. The man had his hand in every aspect of what was going on, and I can state unequivocally he was a genius. Several times I found myself wowing at the things he came up with on the spot and you could tell he was just walking through the rehearsals saving himself for the tour. Even at that low level with him obviously holding back, he was entertaining to say the least. It's a shame no one will ever get to see the concert. It would have been phenomenal. I also completely agree with what the above poster said about the female guitarist in this move. I have seen and heard a lot of guitarists, both male and female, and this woman needs to be famous in a hurry. She was holy-shit unbelievable, and her presence was second only to Michael's. Not only that but she was fucking BEAUTIFUL. Definitely a 9/10 movie.
Good Hair Chris Rock's new documentary was awesome. I went in not knowing what to expect, and came out very satisfied. It is nowhere near as funny as his stand-up, but the interviews and the way things fall in to place at the end is very well done.