Film Review: Paranormal Activity

I had to be dragged to this movie. I generally shy away from horror movies (I'm chicken), found-footage movies (hand-held makes me sick), and anything involving Ouija Boards (that's just stupid). That said, I liked Paranormal Activity. The main characters are a young couple, Katie and Micah, who have moved into a new house. Katie believes she's had a paranormal entity following her since her youth. Therefore, it's not the house that's haunted, but Katie. Micah doesn't believe her, so he buys a video camera AND A TRIPOD (thank you!) and rigs up the house to disprove Katie. Of course, they catch some very strange things in the middle of the night, and spookiness ensues.

The movie was creepy because of noises in the night, and everything we don't actually see. It's an effective horror movie about someone getting possessed without any blood, distorted fingers or disjointed heads. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But even stepping outside of the genre for a moment, I liked that the film provoked an emotional response from the audience without any violence, sex, special effects, major actors, or money. Again, not that there's anything wrong with any of those things, it was just interesting to see the power of filmmaking and timing.

Another reason this movie worked for me was the characters. I bought their relationship. Their banter and bickering seemed natural, and Micah had an unafraid-but-really-afraid attitude that felt realistic for a young guy in a new house. Katie's role was a little bit harder to play, as a character who thinks she's followed by ghosts is less believable. However, I again bought that, and I liked both characters.

Finally, Paranormal Activity was a lot of fun to see. Because (at first) it only showed at limited theaters and only at midnight, the theater was inevitably packed. So, every time the audience gasped all at once, everyone laughed right after. In that way, Paranormal Activity felt more like a ride, or the Haunted House at Universal Studios than a movie. I also got the inappropriately vocal guy behind me who'd mutter, "Ohhhhhh, shit!" every time the main characters turned the lights out at night. Paranormal Activity probably would have been scarier on DVD at home. This is probably one few movies that has less impact in the theater. But then again, I don't know if that's good or bad...boo!

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards

The Emmys were kind of awesome this year. And I'm not talking about who won and who lost; I watch too much television on DVD after the fact to have terribly strong feelings about that. The production itself, though, was right on target. Host Neil Patrick Harris opened with a musical number, poked fun at the internet's relationship with television, and was even interrupted by his alter ego, video blogger Dr. Horrible. My favorite aspect of the show, however, was the details, and its thoughtful and recurring acknowledgement of the collaborative nature of television itself. For example, as NPH pointed out, the musicians were on the stage as opposed to hidden/forgotten in the pit. The control room was also featured on stage. Enclosed behind glass walls, the glow of the different camera angles provided not only aesthetic interest, but a reminder that people were hard at work on the production. The other little thing I noticed was wording of the announcer. In cases where a show, or group of people won, he'd say, "Accepting the award for the team...Tina Fey." Using the word "team" was effective, because everything on television is the result of a team effort.

I thought the recognition of those working behind the scenes was great because—with things like the broadcast from the red carpet—attention is usually focused on the actors. However, Neil Patrick Harris also recognized the actors in a unique and meaningful way. When introducing the presenters (actors), NPH would say something like, "Best known for his performance as Mailman #1 in..." The recitation of insignificant roles was meant as a joke (and worked as a joke) and they were probably made up, but the simple detail also reminded us of the long road most actors take before finding success. Therefore, the production seemed to go beyond the bling, as we considered the behind-the-scenes, the before-the-scenes, and the general time, work, and effort that goes into entertainment.