Paranormal Phenomenon...

Paranormal Activity cost just $15,000 to make and was filmed in one week at the director, Oren Peli’s home. Each of the unknown actors in the film was paid $500 to do the project. You probably already knew all of this, right? Well, I came across an article last night that said the film has already taken in more than $100 million at the box office in the past five weeks and had officially become the highest grossing R rated film in the horror/thriller genre of the past decade! I thought that with this week’s discussion on production organization and everything that goes into the making of a project, it was interesting that a film done on such a small budget, in a short amount of time, and with actors who are very new to the business, has become a bit of a phenomenon lately. I haven’t had a chance to see this film myself yet, so I can’t really offer an opinion about what has made it so successful, but it is amazing to see a “little film that could” dominate at the box office.

Has anyone seen the film? Any opinions?

American Movie...

Hmmm… what can I say about American Movie? Well, it was a lot better than I had thought it would be. At the beginning, I wasn't all that intrigued by it, but it became increasingly interesting as it went on. It definitely demonstrates how important it is, especially when trying to create a career in entertainment, to have dedication and a genuine interest in the entire process of filmmaking/production and not be blinded by the glamorous side of the industry, because it can be very difficult to get to where you want to be. With that said, Mark Borchardt, the man featured in the film was quite the character. You have to give him credit for never giving up on his dream, but at the same time, it was a little bit difficult to take him seriously because he just didn’t seem to have his priorities completely straight, man (sorry, I couldn’t resist). However, I was a little curious about whether or not he was still making movies, so I looked him up on IMDb, and he is actually credited on quite a few films as an actor, director, producer, editor and cinematographer, with one of his films, Scare Me, currently shooting and scheduled to be released in 2010, so it seems like he is still going after his dreams and you can’t fault him for that. What did everyone else think about this film?

Shattered Glass & The Importance of Research...

Shattered Glass, which told the story of the downfall of reporter Stephen Glass was a really fascinating film, in my opinion. Not only did Glass build his journalistic career on phony stories and nonexistent sources, but he went so far as to create fake business cards for his “sources”, set up websites for imaginary corporations, get family members to leave voicemail messages as his so-called sources, etc. It seemed especially surprising that something like this could occur at any professional publication, but especially at New Republic which was said to be one of the most respected publications around. In the film, one of the points mentioned was that each article circulates to multiple people for checking before it is cleared for publishing. With so many people responsible for making sure Glass’s work was accurate, how did he manage to get away with such ridiculous reporting practices for so long?

The film definitely reiterates the importance of proper research. The issues presented kind of raise questions about how credible the information we receive from the media actually is. If Stephen Glass was able to publish dozens of stories using fake notes and sources that did not exist, how do we know that everything we read in magazines, journals and newspapers is 100% factual? Any thoughts?

Reality Overload?

So, I was in line at the grocery store last week and happened to glance over at the tabloids that are always up by the register and I saw something that I thought was kind of funny. There was an issue of Life & Style prominently displayed on the rack and across the top of the magazine in large print, it said “Special Gosselin Free Issue”. I thought this was interesting because it is the tabloids that have made the Gosselins out to be such a big deal in the media and now even they are sick of them? It kind of reminded me of the Speidi ban that was implemented on E! a while back because so many viewers were tired of hearing about Heidi and Spencer Pratt from The Hills. Anyway… my point is, how much exposure is too much? Also, why is that reality stars seem to be the most overexposed? I mean, I know other celebrities have been the focus of too much media attention (The whole Brangelina or TomKat crazes, for example), but reality stars seem to be taking over a significant chunk of entertainment news these days. Why is this the case? Any thoughts?