"Paranormal Activity 2" review

“Paranormal Activity 2”. For those who have seen the first film, saying that name out loud sounds almost laughable. While the original Paranormal Activity really pushed the boundaries of what an independent film could accomplish, it was an entirely self-contained film, so the fact that a sequel was actually made just screams “Hollywood cash in!” With a much bigger budget, a more seasoned director, as well as the inevitable stigma that comes with sequels, could Paranormal Activity 2 possibly live up to the incredibly high-grossing, low budget, R-rated film that terrorized worldwide audiences last year?

Paranormal Activity 2 shouldn’t really be considered a “sequel”, because its story does not actually take place after the story of the first film; it runs parallel to it (though you would never guess that from the misleading title). The story begins several months before the events of the first film, where Kristi Rey (Grayden), the sister of Katie from the first film, is bringing her newborn son Hunter home from the hospital. Through segments of home-movie footage and security camera tape (through which this entire story is told, just like in the first film), we meet Kristi’s husband, Dan (Bolland), her stepdaughter, Ali (Ephraim), the family’s superstitious nanny, Martine (Vivis), and their German Shepherd, Abby. The actors do a very good job across the board convincing you that they could very well be the family that lives next door to you. Everything in their lives seems perfectly average until (you guessed it) strange, unexplainable things begin to occur around their house. And while Kristi and Ali are quick to jump to a supernatural explanation, Dan has a much harder time believing that his house is really haunted by otherworldly spirits.

The true genius of Paranormal Activity 2 is how it seems to effortlessly fit like a glove into the plot of the first movie. Featherstone and Sloat reprise their rolls from the first movie as Katie and Micah, who frequently visit Kristi’s house to see their newborn nephew Hunter. Without spoiling too much, the events of Paranormal Activity 2 greatly expand upon the events from the first film, with many scenes adding as much insight into the plot of the first film as it does this one. We learn not just what Katie and Micah were doing during the large time gaps in the original Paranormal Activity, but we also dig a lot further into Katie and Kristi’s history, which gives much more context to the hauntings. Seeing these events unfold from a different angle gives the story a much bigger scope than anyone who has seen the first movie could have predicted. After seeing this sequel, you’ll never be able to look at the first movie the same way again, which is a huge testament to the writers who clearly put a lot of effort into creating a plot that so effortlessly supplements the first film’s.

Unfortunately, the very existence of a Paranormal Activity 2 is very obviously the result of the success of the first one, and this very blatantly comes through in the film’s structure. Paranormal Activity 2 will not scare you nearly as much as the first one did, but this isn’t because it’s a hacked-together sequel that isn’t as well-structured as the first film. The genius of the original Paranormal Activity was in its agonizingly slow increase in perceived spiritual activity, which left viewers always on edge. It would cleverly heighten tension at times without a payoff only to hit you with a heart stopping “BANG!” when you least expected it. Combine this with a “this could happen to ordinary people like you” atmosphere, and it’s no wonder why this film left some viewers with sleepless nights. The biggest problem with Paranormal Activity 2 is that it sticks to the original’s formula to a T. You realize very quickly that this sequel follows the pacing of the first movie almost beat-for-beat, so those who have seen the first movie will be able to predict exactly when the “scares” are coming, diminishing their effect almost entirely. It’s almost all déjà-vu: the characters talk, they go to bed, something mysteriously moves, the characters wake up and freak out about it, they talk, they go to bed, a door mysteriously slams, they freak out about it, etc. It can definitely leave you bored, wishing you had a remote control so you can just fast-forward to the interesting stuff at the end. The last twenty minutes or so is definitely the highlight of this movie, but even its “Blair Witch”-style action doesn’t make it much less predictable. The film does have its fair share of jump-out-of-your-seat moments, but you just never get that bone-chilling feeling you got when you saw a possessed Katie standing over Micah watching him sleep for hours on end in the first movie.

As far as sequels go, Paranormal Activity 2 could have been a lot worse. Creating a good sequel to Paranormal Activity is nearly impossible task, but you can definitely tell that the creators of this film at least had their hearts in the right place. They definitely nailed the spirit of the first film; the biggest problem is that they actually did it TOO well. Still, Paranormal Activity 2 does offer some very interesting insight into the first movie, and it is for this reason that I can definitely recommend this to fans of the original. Just don’t go into it expecting the same level of fear and suspense the first one gave you.

Movie Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Warning: Minor Spoilers

Ok so I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen last night at midnight (at least, it was supposed to be midnight, but after the biggest line I've ever seen at a movie theater flooded in and found seats, it was at least 12:30 when the previews started).  And it was epic.

Transformers is one of those franchises that has such a huge following to begin with that a studio could almost slap any piece of crap together and throw it on the screen and make a killing.  But luckily, they didn't choose that route.  Instead, they manage to craft an incredible action movie with breathtaking special effects that should keep both fans and non-fans of Transformers well entertained.  

I'm sure the first thing you're wondering about with the new Transformers is: "How's the action?"  Well, I have to say, it was PHENOMINAL.  This movie seriously blew my expectations away with its intense action scenes.  Some of the action scenes are so well shot, animated, and completely breathtaking that it really has to be seen to be believed.  I know we've seen CGI creatures beating the crap out of each other in like every action movie for years now, but Transformers manages to take the whole thing a step further with some truly incredible blend of live action and CGI.  The shots are also great at showing off exactly how massive these giant alien robots are.  And I'm pretty sure this movie should hold some kind of record for most explosions in a single movie, because during the action scenes (which was about 90% of the film), the explosion average was about one every two seconds.  

As far as plot goes, it is pretty much what you'd expect from a movie like this.  The Decepticons are back and once again hell bent on taking over the Earth, and the Autobots are ready to try to stop them.  Meanwhile, the government is trying to pass a law that would make Autobot presence on Earth illegal, believing that their very presence is why the Decepticons are attacking.  It's all very standard for an action movie like this, and the whole government-making-autobots-illegal thing feels like a watered-down Watchmen ripoff.  But if you're walking into the movie "Transformers" for an excellently-written plot that will emotionally move you, then I'm not sure what rock you've been under for the past 30 or so years.  This movie understands what it should be--an action movie--and doesn't make any huge attempts to change that, which is perfectly fine with me.

But this movie is definitely not without its faults.  First off, this movie, like its prequel, suffers from some of the most badly-written, smack your hand into your forehead "love scenes" this side of Star Wars Episode II (and surprisingly, this wasn't the only similarity to Star Wars this movie had).  I have no idea who the person is who keeps approving of the writing on these scenes, but the dialogue between Shia Leboeuf's character and Megan Fox's character is so disgustingly bad written that it really makes you want to throw up.  Its such an obvious tarnish on this otherwise pretty well-written movie that you almost have to wonder why these scenes ever made the final cut.

Secondly, I will not argue with any man, woman, or child on this planet that Megan Fox is absolutely GORGEOUS.  But as absolutely stunning as she is, I can't help but feeling that a lot of her scenes were just way too over the top sexually explicit, especially for a movie rated PG-13.  For example, the first shot of her in the movie really makes you feel like you accidentally just walked in on her having sex with a motorcycle.  There's also a scene not far after in which she literally strips in front of the camera for no real reason at all.  The movie takes it so far that there's actually a tiny Decepticon robot humping her leg for a good minute near the end of the film.  I know sex sells, but I can't help feeling like some of the writers on this movie were a bunch of college frat guys who made every attempt they could to see Megan Fox in less and less clothes in the most sexual positions possible.  If you just took out every shot in the movie that Megan Fox is not in, you would basically have an hour long Megan Fox porno.  While this might be more acceptable in other movies, I felt this was way too over the top for a PG-13 movie based on a cartoon.

This movie was also really, really long.  I thought the movie was almost over at least four times throughout it, only for it to take another turn that felt like it was just to show the robots beating each other up just a bit longer.  Giant alien robots beating the crap out of each other is undeniably cool, but it's like a magic trick--it's really cool the first few times, but every time you see it after that it gets progressively less cool.  There were so many times during the last 45 or so minutes of this movie where I just wanted to shout "END!  PLEASE!!"  Though I have to admit, the final battle was nothing short of spectacular, but I wish that we had just gotten to it a lot sooner.

But in the end, Transformers is, at its heart, an action movie, and a great one at that.  It also managed to be downright hilarious at times.  It's absolutely a movie worth seeing, but I don't think it's one worth seeing again and again and again.  

I give it 3.7/5 stars (yes, I can give it 3.7 stars)

Anyone else who saw it have any comments?  Do you agree/disagree?  Feel free to post your thoughts under the "Comments" section.

Healthcare in the U.S.

Ok, so I've done music and movies, so what's next for my amazing new blog?  Time for politics!  To begin--my thoughts on healthcare and healthcare reform.  

Ok so close to 50 million Americans have no healthcare and are forced to pay for their healthcare out of pocket (or not pay at all if they cannot afford emergency treatment).  That, ladies and gentlemen, is a sin.  You can't put a price on someone's health.  Yes I know it's a capitalist society, and people should make their own money and spend it on health insurance.  But there are too many people in low income jobs that simply cannot afford the added expense of health care.  And, like I said, you can't put a price, or even a capitalist ideology, over someone's health.  So where do we go from there?

There are many different solutions to this problem, with pretty much all involving government intervention.  The first, and seemingly most popular approach around the country right now, is Social Health care.  In a social health care system, the government would provide basic healthcare for each and every citizen of the United States.  I have discovered that there are two ways to approach this.  The first of these would be for the government to offer the ability for a private healthcare company to sponsor the healthcare program in the entire country.  This private healthcare company would be chosen by whichever one can offer the best deal.  The second way of doing this would be to bypass private health insurance companies altogether, and created a government-funded organization, or even an entirely new branch of government ("Department of Healthcare" anyone?) that would completely organize and provide all of the government-funded healthcare.  In both of these scenarios, there would be an option for anyone with the money to opt out of the government-funded system, choosing instead to purchase their own private healthcare.  

This all sounds great on paper.  It would definitely provide the healthcare services we need, and be able to insure the close to 50 million Americans who are currently uninsured.  It would leave no one without healthcare, and hospitals would no longer be forced to suck up the bills of patients who cannot pay.  But there is one major, major flaw with this system.  If we went with the first option, where the government sponsored health insurance is provided by the private insurance company that can give the best deal, a huge monopoly over the insurance industry would be created.  There's no way that any other healthcare provider could compete with a company that provides all of the government sponsored healthcare, and they would all go bankrupt, leaving one health insurance provider.  However,  the second option poses the exact same problem to all of the private health insurance companies, as a government-funded program that provides health insurance would almost certainly force all of the private insurance companies into bankruptcy, leaving the government in complete control of the industry.  With the way our economy is right now, the last thing we need is for some of the biggest businesses in our nation to go under, leaving thousands more unemployed, and hurting both wall street and our economy in general.

However, I believe that there is an option in which we could avoid this horrible inevitability.  I call it the "John McCain option".  Now I only realized how much sense this plan made after the election, but looking back on it, it really makes a lot of sense.  In this plan, the government would provide money to citizens that would have to be put towards health insurance (there could be a points system or something so that people don't go spending the money on other things).  In this option, people can go out and search for the healthcare plan that best fits their needs, and would be able to choose from a variety of companies with a variety of healthcare plans.  This would spread the money across the different private insurance companies, and would restore competition between the companies, in effect keeping their prices down and preventing a monopoly over the industry.  Different amounts of money (or points) could be given to different families depending on their need and current income level.  This option would provide healthcare to all citizens, while keeping these private healthcare providers (and our economy in general) intact.  

And that's my thoughts on healthcare.  Feel free to post your opinions on it under the "comments" section.

First movie review: "This Is Spinal Tap"

Picture this: a movie about a 1980s hair metal band that never existed.  It hits on every hair metal band stereotype:  the sex, drugs, costumes, ridiculous stage props, the makeup, things they put in their pants to enlarge themselves, out of control guitar solos, etc etc.  Now picture that it's filmed in the style of one of those bad TV rockumentaries, with the camera following the bands every single move both onstage and backstage, and camera angles that always seem to be too zoomed in and really poorly focused.  Now picture that the members of this band and the crew that's with them are completely clueless and constantly high, and everything that could go wrong does.  Sounds like a hilarious idea for a movie, right?  There's only two major problems:

It's already been made, and I wasn't laughing.  

Now before you obsessed Spinal Tap fans spam me with all kinds of hate mail, just listen to what I have to say.  "This Is Spinal Tap" seemed like it cared too much about making and authentic-looking rockumentary that it almost seems to forget why it was made in the first place:  to make FUN of rockumentaries.

There are absolutely funny moments in "This Is Spinal Tap".  The discussion about how their amps actually go up to 11 was absolutely priceless.  There's also a really funny scene in which the band can't seem to find the stage their supposed to be performing on.  And you can't forget the discussions about how their drummers keep dying in the most ridiculous ways (most notably spontaneous combustion).  But the biggest problem in this movie is that in between these genuinely funny moments we have to watch scene after scene of stuff that looks like it was literally recorded right off of a VH1 documentary about a real band.  We're forced to watch stage performance after stage performance of rock songs that, with a few exceptions, feel like genuine 1980s hair metal songs.  It's like they geared these sections towards an audience who finds VH1 classic as hilarious and well-written as Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  There's scene after scene of them talking about gigs getting cancelled, scene after scene of them just sitting around their dressing room, and interview after interview with the director in which they just talk about how the band got together and how they're really tight.  While it's all very convincing, its not necessarily funny.

What disappointed me even more is the fact that they saved many pretty funny bits for DURING THE CREDITS.  I think I laughed more in the short interviews during the credits than I did while watching the movie (which really isn't saying much).

Maybe I'm being a bit too hard on Spinal Tap.  After all, it was one of the first ever mock rockumentaries.  Maybe it's just that many more movies and TV shows have improved on this concept of a mockumentary, and watching the first of its kind is like trying to amuse yourself with an hour and a half of Pong in 2009.  Whatever the case, watching "This Is Spinal Tap" today certainly made me question why the film was so raved about upon its initial release in 1984.

I give it 2/5 stars.

And I know people out there will disagree with me.  Feel free to voice your opinions under the "Comments" section.

Nine Reasons Why Classic Rock....ROCKS!

Ok so anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Classic Rock.  Here's my top nine reasons why I think Classic Rock (60s, 70s, and 80s mainstream) is the coolest stuff around:

9) MORE HAIR

Seriously, how can you rock out with short hair?  The Beatles started the long hair rock trend, and rock shouldn't be any other way.  When the hair is flying, you know its rocking.

8) Vocal harmonies

No, I'm not talking about when the Jonas Brothers singing at the same time.  I'm talking about true vocal harmony, when different singers from bands sing very different parts that, put together sounds like angels on Earth.  Bands like The Beatles, Kansas, Boston, and Journey were incredible at this.  When there's more than one great singer in the band, its time to hear em.

7) Choose your rock

It seems today that when we choose what type of rock we listen to, there's only two actual choices:  Alternative or Metal.  So I have to choose between some whiny goth punk and bands that sound like all their instruments (including vocal chords) are made out of dying airplane parts?  Where has pop rock gone?  Where has southern rock gone?  Where has lite rock gone?  Where has our choice in listening style gone?   

6)  Power ballads

There was a time when almost every band had its own power ballad.  REO Speedwagon had "Keep On Loving You", Journey had "Open Arms", Kiss had "Beth", Cheap Trick had "The Flame", Styx had "Babe", Boston had "Amanda", Foreigner had "I Want to Know What Love Is" and the list goes on and on and on.  Sure some were cheesy, but they were all catchy and extremely romantic.  Where have these amazing ballads gone?

5)  Guitar Solos

Rock today is missing out on epic face-melting guitar solos, or solos of any kind for that matter.  Don't worry, the singer won't pass out if he stops singing for more than four measures.  Give that guitarist time to show off his awesome skills!  Cause what rock fan doesn't freak out when they hear the last four minutes of "Free Bird" or Van Halen's "Eruption"?

4) The Beatles

These guys practically invented what we know as rock today.  Its impossible to state the impact that this quartet from Britain has had on rock as we know it today.  They popularized the full length album.  And almost every rock subgenre can trace its roots back to one or more specific Beatles songs.  These guys did it all, and even though they were only together for less than ten years, they made such a big impact on popular music that I don't believe we'll stop feeling their effect any time soon.

3) Not just power chords

Too many punk and alternative bands today make a living off playing simple power chords over and over and over and over and over.  Gee that takes all the talent of a first year guitar student. You know you don't HAVE to bar all six strings for the guitar to make a sound right?  Prove to us that you're as awesome as you say you are and let's work the guitar like you mean it!  

2) Classic songs

Classic rock has songs that everybody knows and everybody will know generations from now because of their incredible impact on our lives.  How many people can you find that can't sing a part of "Don't Stop Believing", or couldn't sing the outro of "Hey Jude"?  Who do you know that can't hum the riff of "Smoke on the Water", or sing the chorus of "Sweet Home Alabama"?  These are songs that will go down as classics, and will probably be more well know by future generations than our own national anthem.

1) Legends

There are way too many classic rock legends who have completely changed the way we think about rock:  Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Ozzy Osbourne, Eric Clapton, Steven Tyler, Jimmy Page, David Bowie, Slash, Eddie Van Halen, and Sting are just scratching the surface of the absolutely legendary list of classic rockers who have become household names.  Their influence on music and on society in general make them much more than passing fads, which is why we're still listening to their music all their years later.

And those are just some of the many reasons why I think Classic Rock is the coolest stuff around.  Feel free to comment!