What Did You Watch Today?

[MalaCloudy Black]

PA3 spoilers:

Yeah, the main characters were the most sympathetic of all three films so far. Also, shit, the end - when Dennis goes to tap Katie on the shoulder and she turns around and throws him across the room - that was pretty fucking scary. And then Toby breaking Dennis in half, jeez.

[Trench]

PA3 spoilers:

Yeah, the main characters were the most sympathetic of all three films so far. Also, shit, the end - when Dennis goes to tap Katie on the shoulder and she turns around and throws him across the room - that was pretty fucking scary. And then Toby breaking Dennis in half, jeez.

Just something I noticed that did not seem consistent:

I really enjoyed the film also, but I felt some things were not explained from two. In two, Katie mentions that her mother went crazy when Christi brings up what happens when they were kids..but she died. That may be brainwashing as Dennis mentioned when talking about the cult though. Also, it says the house burns down and I expected for that to be the ending. Just small things, I think it was great though. My favorite is still 2, but this entire series has been pretty great.

[zero]

PA3 spoilers

It's not 100% clear that their mom died. She just got thrown down the stairs and I wouldn't be surprised if they purposefully left it ambiguous. Perhaps another movie centered around mom's time in an insane asylum? Or maybe she is dead and Katie and Kristi just think she went crazy. It's always been a constant theme that they don't really remember what happened when they were kids, but I think the mom lives since Micah mentions her in the first movie.

The house burning down could be grandma's house and it could be yet another prequel. They're definitely going to milk this thing for awhile... the search for Katie and Hunter has to be the finale though.

[Baddar]

The Roommate

It's a bit like The Resident, which I watched a few weeks back, just nowhere near as good, and has 100% less Hilary Swank.

[zero]

Saw VII

A mercy killing for the franchise that made horror such a drag in the 00s. This was better than 4, 5, and 6 (not saying much), but the only movie in the series I thought was actually good was 3.

[thatblindgeye]

Finally saw Paranormal Activity. It may be because I really dont care for the horror genre or because I saw it a few years after it came out, but I didnt find it to be a great movie. It wasnt too boring for the first half hour with just watching two people do stuff around a house (but still, it wasn't entertaining either), nor did it seem to drag on, but I just didnt find it great. It was alright I guess, with the whole Blair Witch feel it had (unexplained entity haunting people, having it filmed as if the characters are filming whats going on), but I didnt find the film to be up there for scariest movie ever. I jumped when they heard the first loud bang come from downstairs and when the first time the door was slammed shut, but other than that it was pretty average for me.

There wasn't really anything for me to be scared of other than the jump scares. I like the idea of Katie dealing with this demon or whatever and Micah filming what is going on and, granted, if that shit happened to me I WOULD be scared shitless, but I dont know. Maybe I just dont 'get it'.

I dont regret watching it, as it wasnt a bad movie to pass my time. Ill probably check the second one out later today or this week to see if that is any better or at the very least to pass more time.

EDIT: I DID enjoy the way they pulled some of the stuff off, though, and how they presented the entity. The board catching fire, the powder, and Katie being dragged off down the hall I did like.

Edited October 23, 2011 by Vitamin E

[zero]

The Crazies (2010)

Good remake, good scares, and Timothy Olyphant... not a bad way to start my Sunday movie marathon.

Batman: Under the Red Hood

One of the best animated comic movies I've ever seen.

[MalaCloudy Black]

PA3

The girls' mom seemed pretty freakin' dead to me.

You should check out the new Batman animated film, Zero. I'd put it up there with Under The Red Hood, and Under The Red Hood is really fucking good.

[Ruki]

Red State.

Holy shit, that movie. That was certainly something...not what I expected AT ALL. 8.5/10.

[TKz]

Finally saw Paranormal Activity. It may be because I really dont care for the horror genre or because I saw it a few years after it came out, but I didnt find it to be a great movie. It wasnt too boring for the first half hour with just watching two people do stuff around a house (but still, it wasn't entertaining either), nor did it seem to drag on, but I just didnt find it great. It was alright I guess, with the whole Blair Witch feel it had (unexplained entity haunting people, having it filmed as if the characters are filming whats going on), but I didnt find the film to be up there for scariest movie ever. I jumped when they heard the first loud bang come from downstairs and when the first time the door was slammed shut, but other than that it was pretty average for me.

There wasn't really anything for me to be scared of other than the jump scares. I like the idea of Katie dealing with this demon or whatever and Micah filming what is going on and, granted, if that shit happened to me I WOULD be scared shitless, but I dont know. Maybe I just dont 'get it'.

I dont regret watching it, as it wasnt a bad movie to pass my time. Ill probably check the second one out later today or this week to see if that is any better or at the very least to pass more time.

EDIT: I DID enjoy the way they pulled some of the stuff off, though, and how they presented the entity. The board catching fire, the powder, and Katie being dragged off down the hall I did like.

It's a much better film in the cinema than at home, if you get the chance watch 2 and then watch 3 in the cinema. It's just an entirely different feel I found. I watched the second one at home and it wasn't as exciting.

[thatblindgeye]

I dont usually go to the movies, mostly because I have no way of getting there. While I dont WANT to agree with the idea that it would be better at a theater, one reason why I dont think I enjoyed the second half of Rocky Horror is because I watched it alone at home (the first half I watched in college with room mates, and I enjoyed that part of the movie).

If I find someone whod want to see PA3 I might check it out if the tickets are cheap enough, but otherwise I may just wait for Netflix to get a hold of it.

Currently starting PA2 now. Not sure how I feel about it being a prequel rather than a sequel, but at the same time I think trying to follow up with the ending to the first one might just end up being a disappointment. If anything, the first one DID get me interesting in seeing what the second one will add to the story.

Instead of viewing the second one as a horror movie, I'll just watch it as a movie about, well, paranormal activities. I might have been expecting more horror from the first one as well, so we'll see if just watching it will do any good.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I saw 2 and 3 in theatres and was infinitely more scared coming out of those. Saw the first one at my cousin's house and even though we tried to have an "atmosphere" for it (lights off, in the dark, blah blah blah) it still wasn't as good as seeing it in the theatre would've been, I thought.

[TKz]

I saw 2 and 3 in theatres and was infinitely more scared coming out of those. Saw the first one at my cousin's house and even though we tried to have an "atmosphere" for it (lights off, in the dark, blah blah blah) it still wasn't as good as seeing it in the theatre would've been, I thought.

I think it's because the film thrives on getting you so enthralled that you're listening and looking for the slightest hint of anything strange, so when something actually happens you've already got yourself so tense that it makes you jump even more. You can't recreate that quite as well with a small screen and a regular sound system. At the cinema, the screen is huge and I found myself looking for the slightest hint of movement anywhere in the room, whilst listening intently for anything at all. At home, I couldn't really even see some of the stuff that I was meant to see on my 32 inch TV and the sound not being so loud ruined it a little too.

[thatblindgeye]

I definitely find myself looking around the rooms to see if anything is going to happen. Im not getting the scared aspect all that much, again outside of maybe a couple of scenes, but the idea to it is interesting enough to make me want to continue watching to find out more. I like that, thus far at least, Im not given any outright reason for any of the stuff happening. The movie doesnt tell us "oh this entity is upset that you moved away so it is following you to make your life a living hell" from some super expert. As a horror movie, Im not impressed, but as a movie just about paranormal stuff going on without any real reason given, it is much better.

The movie having been set in for a while now may be helping as well.

Edited October 23, 2011 by Vitamin E

[thatblindgeye]

Well, I may have to eat the hat of anyone willing to lend one.

Paranormal Activity 2 I think was better overall as it actually was scarier than the first I thought. The story is definitely interesting, and I like how the events prior to the first movie actually tie in really well. Im interested in seeing the third one now, though not sure if Ill be seeing it in theaters. My only worries are a) the series going too far into sequels like Saw did, or b) the finale of the movies is a letdown. I really enjoy how little information is given about why stuff is happening or what is causing it at first, and it is slowly building up to explain more.

[Damian WayLNKe]

Red State was like Dogma meets Tarantino. It was an interesting flick, but I'm probably never going to rewatch it.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I don't think PA will turn into a Saw type franchise. There's probably at least one good movie left that should wrap everything up. I really don't want it to turn into Saw.

[zero]

Cloudy, I'm not picking on you or anything because I've seen it all over the internet, but I dislike the Saw comparisons for two reasons. One, Saw was not the first franchise to pump out sequel after sequel year after year... Friday the 13th beat them to that by 25 years. Two, Saw was such a convoluted mess filled with an ever-increasing cast of characters that I cared about decreasingly. Katie is the key to Paranormal Activity and while a few characters here and there come in, it's not like Saw that had Jigsaw, his assistant, his other assistant, his other other assistant, his other other other assistant, that assistant's assistants, the cop, the other cop, the other cop, the FBI agent, the cop helping the FBI agents, the FBI agent turned assistant to Jigsaw, the wife, and the dozens of victims and victims' families that got involved.

Saw was never very good to begin with, PA has had three solid movies in a row and again, I can't think of any other horror franchise that has done that. Now granted, there's only so many times a tug on a sheet or someone standing over the bed is going to be effective. They can't make it to Paranormal Activity 8: Katie's Dorm Room and expect things to still be scary, but if they move to a different location besides a home, they could keep the scares fresh.

[MalaCloudy Black]

You're not picking on me as much as on Vitamin E, he was the first one to make the Saw comparison >_>

[TKz]

Cloudy, I'm not picking on you or anything because I've seen it all over the internet, but I dislike the Saw comparisons for two reasons. One, Saw was not the first franchise to pump out sequel after sequel year after year... Friday the 13th beat them to that by 25 years. Two, Saw was such a convoluted mess filled with an ever-increasing cast of characters that I cared about decreasingly. Katie is the key to Paranormal Activity and while a few characters here and there come in, it's not like Saw that had Jigsaw, his assistant, his other assistant, his other other assistant, his other other other assistant, that assistant's assistants, the cop, the other cop, the other cop, the FBI agent, the cop helping the FBI agents, the FBI agent turned assistant to Jigsaw, the wife, and the dozens of victims and victims' families that got involved.

Saw was never very good to begin with, PA has had three solid movies in a row and again, I can't think of any other horror franchise that has done that. Now granted, there's only so many times a tug on a sheet or someone standing over the bed is going to be effective. They can't make it to Paranormal Activity 8: Katie's Dorm Room and expect things to still be scary, but if they move to a different location besides a home, they could keep the scares fresh.

Keeping in mind that I don't know what happens in PA3, as I have to wait until Wednesday to see it, I think the only way they could really go any further with it is if somehow, someone in the family ends up having to actually deal with the demon. Maybe the teenage girl from the second one?