Paranormal Acitivty 2

I just returned from a much needed week long vacation in LA where on my first night I went to check out Paranormal Activity 2 at the Arclight theater in Hollywood (which was an awesome theater but I will get to in later post). PA1 was a horror flick that was high on my wishlist of movies that in my opinion needed to come to New York so I would be able to see it, word had been floating around for a good amount of time (possibly a year or so) that this movie was great but was only doing limited showings in tours around the country. Eventually it became popular enough that they film website put up a "Demand It" program giving movie goers the opportunity to vote for it to come to their city. I finally saw PA at a 1am showing in times square (it was only showing after midnight in this godforsaken location) on the first night sleeping in my new apartment. Mostly I loved it, the acting was not the best thing on the planet but it was entertaining, suspenseful and definitely had me looking over my shoulder all night once I made it to bed. The most successful thing about this series is that it stays with you in the way a scary movie should, every now and then I think about it and still get a little nervous thinking about what could maybe be happening around me while I am asleep.


Once the trailer appeared for the sequel I was skeptical. They made a hit once and it was everything I wanted it to be, but a sequel could sink very quickly and to my surprise it didnt. I may have enjoyed Paranormal Activity 2 more than the first, I was glad to see more characters involved and that the scares made their way out of just the bedroom and hallways and into more areas of the house. It took less time for things to start happening as well luckily so there wasnt as much time to lose interest. My favorite sorts of scary movies are ones where not much is seen; for example, M.Night's "Signs" is one of my top suspense films, the imagination is far scarier than anything you see or hear. Unfortunately his reveal at the end puts a damper on things but if you stop before the last 10 minutes you can save yourself. PA doesnt use music the way Signs does but it does use sound or the lack thereof to create tension before all hell breaks loose.

Im still not sure how I feel about the ending and I dont know how I'll feel if a third is made either, there are still a few unanswered questions which leaves room for another film. Knowing me I will see it but the stakes are high for failure if they continue, then again I was proven wrong on the sequel...

Paranormal Activity 2
Released 2010
Directed By Tod Williams

"The internets not written in pencil Mark, it's written in ink" - The Social Network

Do you remember when your school got added to "The Facebook"? Remember when it was called "The Facebook"? I do, as will most people my age. The Social Network blew my mind. I was bummed to see it end and going on Facebook after just felt odd to say the least. Some people have expressed to me that they have absolutely no interest in seeing this movie and that they actually hate Facebook (yet still have accounts?). But in my opinion, I dont care if you hate Facebook, you have to admit that its creation is one of the defining moments of our generation and modern times and it cant hurt to go see an extremely good movie about the building of this empire.


The Social Network is the story of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) a Harvard student struggling to find his place in a school full of over achievers, heirs to excessive amounts of wealth and an overwhelming desire to be "somebody". After a drunken blog rant he creates a site, "Face Smash" (a site allowing you to decide who is hottest between two girls images), in a matter of hours the traffic brings down the schools server landing Mark in hot water with the school board. Hes soon approached by the Winklevoss twins (Both Cameron and Tyler are played by Armie Hammer), identical twin rowing powerhouses who are everything Mark desires to be; good looking, rich, powerful and popular. The twins and their friend Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) proposition Zuckerberg to help them code a site for social networking and dating that is exclusive to Harvard. Zuckerberg takes the boys for a ride for a little while without ever doing any actual work for them and eventually pulls out, at the same time he unveils The Facebook with the help of his only real friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

The story is told through scenes of two separate lawsuits that were later filed by the Winklevoss twins/Divya and Eduardo Saverin, the rest of the film is in real time as the events are described by the boys involved. I couldnt imagine The Social Network being any other way, in terms of cast, writing, cinematography, everything fit the film. Eisenbergs performance as Zuckerberg was completely different than any other character he has played in a film before, for once he plays an asshole. As most know the real Zuckerberg declined to take part in the films production (however Natalie Portman has been linked to helping some due to the fact that she dating someone involved in an exclusive final club within Harvard that Eduardo was apart of) so who knows how he really is but its not the best portrayal of him as a person. Hammer as both Winklevoss twins was also brilliant, stitching his face on the second twin was done seamlessly and it was awesome to be able to see the differences in both characters. Since seeing the film I have gotten into numerous discussions over who created Facebook and was Zuckerberg at fault for being sued. I think that he created Facebook and was sued out of jealousy to an extent and like he says in the film, "If they could have created Facebook, they would have". Case and point.

As for the visual aspect of the film, there really was not a thing I wanted to complain about. I felt the saturation and dark color palette was appropriate and fit the tone. One of the most talked about scenes being the rowing competition the Winklevoss twins take part in which is one of the first times the "tilt shift" technique has been used in a film. I will say anytime I see this technique I am immediately taken back to my days of sophomore year in college where as a photography major one is required to take view camera and learn the ways of tilting and swinging. In photographs this has been overdone a bit at this point, mainly because you can easily apply this look in photoshop, however seeing it on film in a major motion picture is very new and done nicely in this scene.



The Social Network
Released 2010
Directed by David Fincher

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go is an adaptation of the novel of the same title written by Kazuo Ishiguro, I had hoped to read if before the movie was released but it came quicker than I expected and felt the need to see it immediately. The story begins with three friends Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley) at their childhood "boarding school" Helshaim on the English countryside where everything seems perfect and picturesque and follows them through young adulthood after their cruel fate has been shared with them and the boundaries of love and friendship are tested and in some cases crossed.

I thought that the casting choices were done well in this film, we get to see slightly different sides of Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield (a drastic shift from his portrayal of Eduardo Saverin in the Social Network) and would not be surprised if Mulligan was nominated for another Academy Award this year for her role. The cinematography was also very well done, the colors and landscapes lead you to think that the story takes place in 1960-70s England possibly, yet at the same time we see the characters passing electronic wristbands over beeping devices that would only seem to exist in present time or the future even which ads to the mystery. I really liked Never Let Me Go, a heartfelt story with a dark undertone that gives the film just enough of a twist without killing the story and still has enough room to leave you seriously contemplating if youre doing all that you can with the time you have here.

Never Let Me Go
Released 2010
Directed by Mark Romanek
Adapted from the novel "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishoguro

Frozen

Anyone who has been skiing or snowboarding can tell me that when the ski lift stops in midair for a few minutes your heart doesnt jump into your throat and start to beat a bit faster. You look down at the ground and realize just how high up you are and how much it would suck to be stuck there...Frozen takes on those fears. Three friends go skiing for the weekend and after bribing the lift operator to let them take just one last run ultimately get stuck at the top all alone. Someone would notice eventually right? Wrong, they are closed for a holiday weekend and theres a storm moving in.

I think the main hesitation for audiences with this film is the idea that a whole movie taking place on a ski lift would be or get boring. I didnt find that to be the case and was pretty interested the whole way through, there is obviously a lot of dialogue but that allows for character development and gives you an idea of what each character is going to have to overcome within themselves to push through this situation.

Frozen
Released 2010
Directed By Adam Green

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Remake)

I'll pretty much see any horror movie that comes out. I was really drawn into a few scenes depicted in the initial trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street that look very much like fine art photographs reminiscent of Gregory Crewdson, such as the suburban bedroom filled with snow. The film is a remake of the 1984 classic originally written and directed by Wes Craven, it stays fairly true to the original story. As someone who is from the more gruesome torture and blood driven generation of horror films, I was never a huge fan of the original. Freddy Kreuger was always a little too cheesy in demeanor for me personally, more like that creepy guy on the corner with bad inappropriate jokes than a nightmare haunting murderer. However I can appreciate what he has brought to the genre as a whole.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is based finger knife wielding Fred Kreuger, a former school grounds keeper and accused child molester who was brutally burned alive in an abandoned building by his victims parents. Years later he begins to haunt dreams of teenager who fight for their lives to stay awake once they realize if you die in your dreams you die for real.

As dark as it is, as well as taboo subject matter, I like the Kreuger story. It is reminiscent of old exploitation films that push the boundaries of what could be acceptable subject matter. I did enjoy Jackie Earle Haley's (Shutter Island, Watchmen, Little Children) portrayal of Kreuger, he made the character much darker and less of a jokester than the original making the movie all around a bit scarier and uneasy. The acting was not terrible as long as one goes into it without pretentious expectations and wants to be creeped out and entertained I'd say its worth a watch on a fall night with friends.

A Nightmare on Elm Street
Released 2009
Directed by Samuel Bayer