'Paranormal Activity 2': On the scene at the first ever U.S. screening
10/21/2010 05:50:00 PM
kenmouse
, Posted in
It was about 15 months that my colleague Missy Schwartz and I were invited, along with a handful of other writers, to see a screening of a new horror film, about which we knew absolutely nothing. After the first 20 minutes of footage I was half-convinced that the folks at Paramount, the company which was allegedly distributing the movie, had asked us along to watch the amazingly amateurish first attempts at filmmaking by the overly indulged offspring of a studio exec. By the time it was finished, I was entirely convinced that this obviously cheap, but utterly terrifying tale of a haunted suburban house could become an enormous hit.The rest is scare-story. Paranormal Activity was first a sleeper success and then a bona fide box office phenomenon. A sequel was inevitable. And late yesterday evening Missy and myself reconvened to see the first ever U.S. screening of Paranormal Activity 2, at the AMC multiplex on Manhattan’s 34th street, one of a handful of venues around the country where the movie was shown for free to diehard fans 24 hours ahead of its official opening. The screening was introduced by the film’s director Tod Williams (The Door in the Floor) who, when chatting to EW beforehand, seemed bullish about the chances that his film would scare the hell out of the gathered, rowdy throng. “Normally in life you don’t want to promise big,” he said. “But I think in this case it’s okay.”
Taiwan singer-actor Show Luo denied rumours that he had contracted a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) through a post on his micro-blog account on Tuesday, reported Taiwan media.
As we all know, Jiro Wang likes to act cool the most out of all the Fahrenheit members, and even during his leisure time, he chooses the “coolest” way to spend it, which is to go ride on his motorcycle with his friends. A couple of months ago, he bought a new motorcycle, but when asked how much it cost, he timidly replied that it was a birthday gift from his mom. However, he lied to his mom that it cost only around NT$300,000, when in fact it was NT$960,000 after all the add-ons and modifications – he paid the remainder NT$600,000 out of his own pocket.
It must be fun being the most powerful actor in Hollywood: At this point, Johnny Depp just gets a glimmer of an idea in his head and — poof! — it’s suddenly one of the hottest projects in town. Depp’s latest brainstorm is playing boozy, bantering detective Nick Charles, one half of the legendarily quick-witted and perpetually soused crime-solving couple Nick and Nora Charles, in a new adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s classic novel The Thin Man. Depp’s rep confirmed with EW that the actor is developing a Thin Man project through his production company, Infinitum Nihil, and Warner Bros. already has a short list of potential screenwriters. Some film buffs might consider this yet another unnecessary remake — if not a downright sacrilegious one — arguing that the original Nick and Nora, William Powell and Myrna Loy, who starred in six Thin Man films in the 1930s and ’40s, can’t possibly be improved upon. Maybe, maybe not. But if anyone is going to make a go of it, Depp certainly seems like a worthy candidate. Does any major star working today do boozy banter better?
Is this season really, truly Smallville's final hurrah, or have we been had?!
The price requires no contract, and 3G is embedded
She may be a California Gurl, but Katy Perry is fully embracing Indian tradition as she prepares to marry Russell Brand on Saturday.
Justin Bieber hit it big after being discovered on Youtube playing his guitar. Now with millions of albums sold, it appears he’s planning to take it back to simpler times and release an acoustic album. On Saturday, the teen sensation asked his fans what their favorites are from his first two albums through his Twitter page.
Glee‘s resident bad boy Noah “Puck” Puckerman is currently serving time in juvie after driving his mom’s car into a convenience store and running off with the ATM (is this how kids pass the time in Ohio?), but his absence is probably better explained by the fact that Mark Salling is about to release his solo album, Pipe Dreams. We’ve got a look at the magic eye-esque music video for his single “Illusions,” which tries to pass off the “illusion” that Salling is just another aspiring singer who moonlights as a valet. Silly music video, we know what his real job is! (See video embedded after the jump.)Puck has made many a female glee club member swoon with his acoustic guitar-assisted crooning on songs like “Sweet Caroline,” “Over the Rainbow,” and “Only The Good Die Young,” but Salling’s single doesn’t have the same kind of charm. The initial vocals reminded me of “The Remedy” by Jason Mraz, albeit with a much less catchy chorus, and the story is visually confusing; I thought I had stumbled upon a warped clip after the extended bouts of slow-moving, colorful images, which were really more snoozy than trippy. (They also made me feel like I need to get my eyes checked.) Let us know if you’re digging Salling’s solo music, or if you prefer his Glee covers.
Beyonce Knowles better brush up on her lullabies.
James Cameron is still "the king of the world." Last year, the director followed up his Oscar winning film Titanic, which earned over $1 billion worldwide, with the critically acclaimed and visually groundbreaking motion picture, Avatar, which went on to break all of its predecessor's records by earning over $2 billion worldwide. Late last summer Cameron re-released Avatar with nine minutes of never-before-seen footage, and he is about to release an Extended Collector's Edition of the movie on Blu-ray and DVD that will contain the original theatrical cut, the special edition re-release and a new collector's edition that includes six more minutes of new footage, making it sixteen minutes longer than the original version of the film. The director is also busy prepping for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, which he has said that he plans to shoot back-to-back. But will the Avatar sequels be Cameron's next project?
Hong Kong's Hsu Chi has traveled a long way from her difficult days of the mid-90s. Her latest box office hit, a kungfu thriller, is further proof of her versatility. Chen Nan reports
If anything justifies a slushie in the face, surely it's this kind of nonsense.
Lil Wayne‘s I Am Not a Human Being came out two weeks ago, and off internet sales alone it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Last week it plummeted to No. 16, but now that physical copies have been released in stores the album rockets up to No. 1 this week, selling 125,000 copies.
Taylor Swift does not like talking about her personal life.
Seems that Lindsay Lohan may need more than rehab if she continues at the rate that she’s going. The actress and singer had a coke craving and was willing to do anything to get it.
A holiday tradition? Making things out of gingerbread, and Google is doing its part to keep that practice alive according to a report stating Android 3.0 is set to hit some tablets this December. Those will just be early samples destined only to light up the eyes of engineers who've been very, very good this year, but the rest of us naughty boys and girls will get to see those slates when they launch to the public in January. We hear there's a little electronics show happening that time of year, and supposedly HTC, Samsung, and Motorola will be showing their Gingerbread tablets there, amongst others (but not Lenovo, apparently). We can't wait to get a taste.
Electronics Arts announced Tuesday that its newest "Medal of Honor" game has sold 1.5 million units since launch. The company will also add a new multi-player mode to the game on Nov. 2.