While buzz is starting to build for the low budget haunted house/demon possession independent film Paranormal Activity, the odds of anyone actually getting to see the film seem surprisingly low. The film is getting an incredibly limited release on Thursday September 24th, with midnight screenings at 13 different theatres.

But so far that is it in terms of theatrical release. The studio (Paramount here in the US) is trying to increase demand for the film by having a competition hosted by Eventful, where fans demand the release in their local markets with a rather vague promise of “When your city gets enough demands, you WILL be the first to experience the terror!” Yet no mention of just how many demands are required to get a screening.

Knowing from experience what I do about free screenings, you’ll need something in the neighborhood of 1000 demands to convince a theatre to devote a 200 seat auditorium to a screening. And, as of this moment, not a single city has reached that magical number, though LA seems like it will eventually make it. It doesn’t seem very smart to make promises, no matter how vague, to their fanbase only to not be able to live up to them.

Of course we then have the new trailer, which incorporates audience reactions while showing moments from the film, which makes the entire thing look incredibly cheesy to me. The original trailer looks better, and is far more effective, and in the new trailer it is readily apparent they’ve cleaned up the images to make the picture look glossier and thus have more appeal to mainstream audiences. Whether or not the actual product has been cleaned up I have no idea, but the disconnect is now evident. Then you have the previous plans to remake the film with original director Oren Peli helming the remake, and you can’t help but wonder if they simply re-shot the whole film with better equipment due to the stark contrast in the visuals of the two trailers. It has taken two years to release this film after all.

And finally, we have the film’s rumored new endings. I say endings, because word is that there are as many as three endings floating out there in the ether that have been screened for audiences. While I know what two of them are, I haven’t heard anything specific about the latest ending, other than it is the worst of he bunch, which is probably why Paramount chose it.

At this point I have little hope of ever seeing this film in the theatres, which is a shame as the film certainly seems to have as good a chance as any of being a modern horror film that is actually scary, or God forbid, horrifying. But I will be sure to check it out once it eventually hits DVD, and here’s to hoping the film lives up to its rather strange, but intriguing, hype.

Paranormal Activity Official Site

For those interested I have both trailers after he break.
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Slight delay this week at getting my theatrical and DVD recommendations posted. I had a few other updates I wanted to make and this is the one that ended up getting pushed to the back burner for the short term.

That all being said, it actually is a surprisingly strong week for theatrical releases, as Tyson, The Limits of Control and Tokyo Sonata are all released. While I was underwhelmed by Tyson, The Limits of Control and Tokyo Sonata are incredibly strong choices for those who don’t want to watch the latest Ron Howard vehicle.

As for DVD releases, While the Internet has been a buzz about Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus, a couple other films caught my eye. The first is the practically direct to DVD film Outlander, which was snuck into a few theaters early in the year then quickly dropped from booking schedules. Outside of the Vikings vs Aliens premise I know little about it, but really, do you need to know anything else?

The other film that I’m excited to see is the French horror film Eden Log. A sci-fi cyberpunk styled film that takes places underground and is shot entirely using hand held cameras. The look of the film reminds me quite a bit of The Descent, and if it can capture the same clausterphobic feel of that film, Eden Log could potentially be on hell of a horror film.

As always trailers are after the break!

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DVD releases are almost universally awful this week, so much so that I am not going to recommend any film release this week, but I do have something much much better. That would be the release of The Dana Carvey Show on DVD. One of the more innovative and edgy sketch comedies ever to air, directly do to the monster roster of comedy and writing giants that comprised the writing staff. Sure the show borders on bizarre and never goes for a cheap laugh, which makes it even more amazing that it ever aired. Be sure to check out the truly amazing show.

As for theatrical releases, the easy choice is Star Trek, and while I’ve been a fan of Star Trek for over 20 years but that’s not my recommendation this week. No, my choice is Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Sure it helps that they will be in town this weekend performing at The Uptown, but I’m a documentary fan at heart and this looks like it could be one of the better documentaries of the year.

As always trailers are after the break!

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While their is a veritable deluge of new theatrical releases this week, most of them aren’t worth the celluloid they are printed on, thus making my pick a relatively easy one, Tokyo! Three short films by three directors (Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-Ho) as they give their takes on one of their favorite cities.

As for DVD releases, this is a very easy selection, as next Tuesday marks the release of one of my favorite films from last year, JCVD. No matter what you think of action films or Jean-Claude Van Damme, JCVD is a movie that should not be missed.

As always trailers are after the break!

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Another light week for both DVD and theatrical releases, though their are some solid choices. The easy pick for DVD releases is The Wrestler, a good film that is greatly helped by hinging everything on Mickey Rourke’s outstanding performance as Randy “The Ram”. It is certainly worth a watch if you haven’t been able to catch it yet.

As for theatrical releases, the pick is a lesser known film about illegal immigrants attempting to reach the US. While I had low expectations going into the film, it turned out to be a film far more interesting and unique film then I anticipated. Sin Nombre is easily my choice for the week.

As always trailers are after the break!

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