Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2009)
October 29th, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Paranormal Activity (2009) | dir. Oren Peli | 86 min| USA
Somewhere, director Oren Peli and a handful of Paramount executives are laughing all the way to the bank. The hype over Paranormal Activity (2009) has peaked with remarkable timing, beating out the latest Saw sequel at the box office with one-tenth of one percent of the latter’s budget. If there’s anything dope about Paranormal Activity, it’s that. Some say it’s evidence of a barely-breathing hope that an independent, low-budget film can triumph in the multiplex. Sure, as long as a there’s a multi-million dollar marketing campaign to back it up. There’s no need for me to regurgitate the film’s plot. I can’t even say whether I really liked it or not. I enjoyed being frustrated by it. I was gripped by its tediousness. I laughed at its corniness. It was dope and wack at the same time. But I must say that as simple, as often uneventful, as unlikable as the couple was, it held my attention for 80 straight minutes. Which is something I can’t say for 90% of all the films I ever see in a multiplex. Which is also why I watched a bootleg copy at home instead. By myself. At 2am. Which is probably the best way to appreciate this film, rather than in a theater that reeks of the hype machine’s vomit.
…speaking of vomit… you’ll be getting the dry cleaning bill for my sweater one of these days.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:01 amGEO!! you couldn’t have said it any better, my friend!!
but the only difference – i hated the movie.. total waste of time, but NOT my money because i had a friend pay for me for my birthday, nice of him..
per the twitter/facebook reviews; EVERYONE got scared.. BUT me.. i read that folks couldn’t sleep for a few nights and i got really excited to see it because i can’t get scared off of “scary movies” for some reason.. even when i was little..
i think you should suggest me some films that at LEAST has a great plot and that is SCARY…lol. i haven’t found one yet..
thanks, bro..
deuces,
roads
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 amI’m sure you know this already, but the downloaded copy is a bit different than the theatrical version. I find the theatrical version to be a bit better but if you watch that now, I don’t think it’ll change your overall feeling on the matter. I watched the pre-screening, and I’m guilty of being part of the hype machine, and I can tell you it’s different being part of the hype vs giving in to the hype.
I liked the movie, but I’m sure if I watched it now, I’d feel differently.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:13 amI agree with you about the film keeping your attention the entire time through; it was the same with me. But damn did it feel like a waste of time when it ended.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:23 pmthe hype is what killed the movie for a lot of people. i wonder what those reviewers would’ve said if they had viewed the film previous to all the hoorah
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:59 amI liked the ending… maybe because it was the end.
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:35 pmMinorcircuit, did you expect a happy-ending?