Paranormal Activity

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 16 October 2009

Writer and Director: Oren Peli
Running Time: 1 Hour and 26 Minutes

Staring:  Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat and Mark Fredrichs

Rating? R

SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS

IMDB: 6.3 of 10

RT: Critics: 83% Audience: 56%
MY RATING: 8

STORYLINE

After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

MY REVIEW

For a low budget indie-film, this was absolutely scary from beginning to end. So, the idea is that this man and his girlfriend buy a video camera in the attempt to record any strange activities that may be occurring in the night. The more they record, the more insane it gets. It's real and the actors are convincing and natural. It truly feels like you are watching someone's home movies. Home movies, but better because they actually have a tripod that keeps the camera steady. It's suspenseful and imaginative and deep. One can be far more scared of an idea than an actual thing. This proves it with the unseen entity wreaking havoc on this couple! Of course, i am not a paranormal believer, but suspension of reality works in most cases!

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Originality- This was a concept that I could stand behind. The idea of NOT seeing what is causing the problem is conceptually clean and builds an air of suspense that cannot be created with movie magic.
• Tension- This movie does NOT rely on cheap jump scares. Fear builds and gets under your skin in a way that is both terrifying and imaginative. It's Hitchcockian with this simplicity.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• Writing- I'm torn on this one. On one had, I think there was just enough acting to make it feel real, but I still felt that some of the parts were overly acted and written poorly. Leading into the acting issues, but they're good, not great.

On a more personal note..... 

What a great week at work! We signed up as a group to run for Race For the Cure. This was our second year as a team and once again, had a great time bonding with the team.

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Zombieland

MY RATING: 8

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info:  2 October 2009

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Horror
Director:Ruben Fleischer
Writer: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
Running Time: 1 Hour and 28 Min

Staring: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin

Rating? R

SPOILERS? NO

STORYLINE

A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a hun-toting guy trying to find the last twinkie and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.

MY REVIEW

"Oh, America.  I wish I could tell you that this was still America, but I've come to realize that you can't have a country without people. There are no people here. No, my friends. This is now the United States of Zombieland." That's how this movie starts.

Some day, in the future, I will be in the same boat as those who were around when Rocky Horror came our when I can sat that I was around for the beginning of a cult classic. Yes, boys and girls, THIS will be on that level. I swear to you.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• WRITING- This is a well-written movie for what it is. I was not expecting such a good piece of writing in a zombie comedy. Since I'm talking about the writing, let's go ahead and get right into the story. It's bizarrely interesting and easy to follow. I love the dichotomy of the three stories that converge into one shared path. There's no real world scenario where these four people would ever have bonded but yet, they have and it feels right. They all have their quirks but it flows and it's wonderful! BEST EVER was the rules. Comedy meets drama in a wonderful way!
• CINEMATOGRAPHY- I struggled with this one, well, the struggle was where to put how m such I loved the bloody gore! I'm a gore girl, so of course I loved it!
• SCORE- Metallica, Van Halen, Velvet Underground, Blue Oyster Cult and end it with a little Hand Williams Sr. That is a recipe for a winner right there!

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• There wasn't anything specific that I did not like. But I couldn't arbitrarily give this movie a 10. It was good, but it wasn't a 10.