Guh. Sometimes I believe that film goers are so duped by a marketing campaign that they’ll believe anything. I guess if one is devoutly religious and has a leaning towards absurd supernatural belief he might get a slight tingle out of “Paranominal Activity.” No guarantee though. In a year where horror movies had a good run, the runt of the litter in both budget and scares took hold after a ridiculously contrived “DemandIt!” grass roots campaign (the film industry version of a Fox Tea Party) where the movie was at first only shown at midnight. Midnight exclusivity gave way to demand which opened the door for amazing profits for this micro budget movie.
The problem is the only way to consider “Paranominal Activity” a success is to qualify it by its budget. It’s pretty good for a $12,000 budget movie. That’s it. I didn’t want to walk out on it, but I most certainly was never scared and have slept like a baby every night after watching the movie. The camera was too centric to the plot and the theme could never overcome the half-baked religious quackery.
Do you want to know what is a great micro budget film? Robert Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi.” Unfortunately the promise of “El Mariachi” never panned out with regard to Rodriguez’s career. In my opinion Rodriguez is Hollywood’s most talked about useless property. If it were not for his bromance with Quentin Tarentino, he would certainly not be near the top in buzzed about directors. “El Mariachi” is his best film to date and I have my doubts if he will ever match or surpass it. Trailer for that movie below:
53. The Killing Room
It’s refreshing in this era that movies that fail to get theater distribution capital can secure financing to hit the trails to direct DVD land. At one time that was the kiss of death for films, but these days some direct to DVD movies are outstanding but without the names and backing to find a wide audience. “The Killing Room” is one of the many direct to DVD releases this year, but fall well short of outstanding.
“The Killing Room” is a psychological thriller of the people trapped in a room variety. The spin has something to do with the U.S. MK-ULTRA program and Chloë Sevigny as some sort of super profiler. There is some tension and the movie has its moments, but the premise falls flat from inconsistency in its own set-up and failure to establish a believable menace. The first kill, however, might be worth the price of rental alone.
Hey, I like Seth Rogan. For the most part he plays endearing characters and has the timing for good-to-great comedic delivery. Even with those traits, however, “Observe and Report” is an unfunny snooze-fest a good portion of the time. Rogan departs from his typical role and instead hams up his mall security character like something John Goodman would have had a good time with. As the protagonist, however, he is unlikeable. The movie alternates between gross, sadistic, and sarcastic; and the pace never manages to, well, find a pace.
“Observe and Report” is rife with unlikeable characters and an unstimulating plot. Ray Liotta is probably the only interesting thing in the movie – and even he is just playing Ray Liotta. I was looking forward to this “comedy” when I first heard of it coming down the tubes. It was a major let down.
Although sloppy, “Mutant Chronicles” is a pretty fun movie. Ron Perlman is fun as always, but the pacing and entertainment never reach the level of “Hellboy.” I think the aim of a movie was misunderstood a bit – including by me – but the end result, though messy, is visually interesting with its Steampunkiness and one is able to have a good time watching it.
50. Knowing
The best thing about “Knowing” is that it is better than Next. Nick Cage my be resurgent from a critical perspective with turns in Werner Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” and Kick-Ass, but 2009 also had this movie of which the style and pace is similar to the “National Treasure” franchise. If one likes that movie, he is likely to enjoy “Knowing.” I thought it was slightly sharper than “National Treasure,” but the style and pacing was so similar that I felt like I’ve seen the movie twice before.
Similar Posts:
- The State of the Super Hero Movie
- [Scene] Solomon Kane (2009)
- Entertainment Free-for-All
- [Trailer] The Asylum’s “Sherlock Holmes” (2010)
- [Trailer] Apollo 18 (2011)
- 2009 The Year in Movies | 20 – 40
- Killing Room (2009)
Popularity: 1% [?]
[
