Paranormal Activity Leaves a Mark

Not since The Blair Witch Project has a movie forced so many unsuspecting viewers to sleep with the lights on

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Tossing and turning in my bed, alone at night, I kept imagining that some alter-dimension entity would tug my shielding blanket from my grip and then toss me around the room at its disposal. That's how I slept the night I paid 12 dollars and 50 cents to see Paranormal Activity at the only theatre in the city playing the do-it-yourself terror flick that was made for a reported $15,000.

Israeli-born filmmaker Oren Peli (2010's Area 51) directed, scripted and even edited his cinematic inauguration, which is being hailed as the suburban Blair Witch Project, due to their familiar style of shooting and techniques.

The one-time video game designer filmed the entire 86-minute movie at his own home in San Diego, using a hand-held home video camera to offshoot expenses and, of course, to induce an atmosphere of plausibility and authenticity.

Katie (Katie Featherston) is a college student living with her boyfriend Micah (Micah Sloat), a day trader, in a humble 2-story tract house in the suburbs of San Diego. We learn that since the age of eight, Katie has been haunted by something that can't easily be explained away, but the malevolent entity comes and goes for any given period of time. Well, now it's back, and an unconvinced Micah is determined to capture its exsistance on his new video camera.

Over the coming weeks the demonic phenomena terrorizes the frazzled couple, tip-toeing on their nerves before menacing their--and the audience's--most internal fears, captured in a rawness that only amplifies the tension.

"[Oren] Peli preys on our humanistic vulnerabilities...and sets the tension for every ordeal with a minimalist musical note that arouses a parade of goose bumps before each fear-mongering climax"

Slamming doors, flickering lights and loud thuds in the middle of the night escalate into eerie visions caught on film when Micah decides to position his new camera on a tripod situated near the foot of their bed. Its abrupt ending was unsettling, not because it left loose ends, but rather because it stretched beyond just an ominous chill unlike almost any Hollywood creation in the "horror" section at your local Blockbuster. Its unnerving realism is its most sinister trait, proving that the director had done his homework in evoking fear out of an audience.

Like the filmmakers did with The Blair Witch Project, Peli cast unheard-of actors for Paranormal, and relied on their improvisational skills to gap the bulk of the film's dialogue. And, as in Blair Witch, onscreen scripture fills us in on the rest of the story, representing that this footage was found and is being screened for our own amusement, sorta. It's all very believable, almost too familiar for comfort, but right on target of Peli's overall view for the project.

Peli preys on our humanistic vulnerabilities, tests our imaginations to fill in what we never get to see, and sets the tension for every ordeal with a minimalist musical note that arouses a parade of goose bumps before every fear-mongering climax.

The hype that preceded Paranormal Activity's wide release was both credible and legit, enticing us as "one of the scariest movies of all time." I bought in, and so did $50 million worth of ticketholders (so far) who've made this sleeper hit one of the most profitable films in history. I can assure you that if you go see this movie you'll get what you came for. What I cannot assure you is that you'll get to sleep that night.

4 outta 5 stars

This review was originally posted on "I Heart Edmonton."
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Top-Grossing Indie Films of All-Time

From Christ to Shakespeare, independent movies are pulling in big numbers

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

In light of the reigning Best Picture Oscar winner--Slumdog Millionaire--becoming one of the most acclaimed and commercially appealing independent feature films of all-time, SiM has put together a list of the Top 10 highest-earning indie films to date (domestically).

These movies generally have small budgets to work with--The Passion of the Christ amongst the exceptions--so marketing tactics, high-tech graphics and big-name stars are usually not big selling points, and so when they top that impressive $100 million mark you can imagine the return on the distributors' initial investment. For example, 1999's The Blair Witch Project cost a reported $22,000 to film, but pulled in a stunning $248.6 million in worldwide box office receipts, which is 11,301 times the amount that was spent on producing the cult classic! No other film in history has ever come close to such a ratio, including its $15 million sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), which made just under $48 million.

As previously mentioned, indie films traditionally don't have the luxury of casting elite celebs to appear onscreen, and although some of the stars of these featured movies have since gone on to stardom (ie. Good Will Hunting's Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, or Shakespeare in Love's Gwyneth Paltrow and, again, Ben Affleck), the only one in the Top 10 that is excluded from this rule is Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, which starred John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis, amongst an all-star cast.

With that in mind, it's easy to say that indie flicks don't rely on familiar faces to earn a buck at the ticket booths, but simply rather a good story told by a gifted crew of filmmakers, such as any of the Top 10 highlighted below. So, without much further ado, I present to you the top-grossing independent films of all-time:

1. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Gross: $370.7 million ($611.8 million worldwide)
Budget: $30 million
Distributors: Newmarket Films/Icon Entertainment
Director: Mel Gibson
Starring: James Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, Hristo Naumov Shopov, Mattia Sbragia
Synoposis: Based on the New Testament accounts of the arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion and finally resurrection of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ was the brainchild of the famously Christian Mel Gibson, who directed, co-wrote and co-produced the top-grossing non-English language film of all-time. Gibson was determined to get this controversial film made, going as far as self-funding the project, which experienced mixed reviews and claims of anti-Semitism and historical inaccuracies. The Passion, which became the top-grossing R-rated film of all-time as well, earned three Oscar nods, but ended up with just a People's Choice Award for Best Drama. Criticized for its graphic violence, The Passion was even banned in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, before Christian leaders' protests had the ban lifted for Christian audiences only.

2. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Gross: $241.4 million ($368.7 million worldwide)
Budget: $5 million
Distributors: IFC Films/Playtone
Director: Joel Zwick
Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Laini Kazan, Michael Constantine, Ian Gomez
Synopsis: Cinema's highest-earning romantic comedy of all-time, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was an indie project written by and starring Winnipeg-born actress Nia Vardalos, who earned an Oscar nod for its original screenplay. Vardalos played a Greek-American who falls in love with a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (Corbett), as their cultural and socialogical differences make up the bulk of the top-grossing feature to never have reached #1 at the domestic box office. Filmed in Toronto and Chicago, the sleeper hit even inspired a short-lived TV sitcom in 2003, My Big Fat Greek Life (CBS), which Vardalos starred in and co-executive produced. It lasted just seven epsiodes before it was cancelled due to low ratings.

3. Juno (2007)
Gross: $143.4 million ($231.4 million worldwide)
Budget: $6.5 million
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney
Synopsis: Co-produced by John Malkovich, Juno was another major sleeper hit, becoming the first Fox Searchlight production to surpass the $100 million mark in domestic ticket sales. The critically-praised indie flick starred Canadians Ellen Page and Michael Cera, was filmed in Vancouver, and premiered in Toronto, before capturing the world's attention. Page became an instant star, even being nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award, while Diablo Cody walked away with the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Centering around teen pregnancy, Juno also saw its soundtrack enjoy some of the international success, reaching #1 and platinum certification.

4. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Gross: $141.3 million ($352.8 million worldwide)
Budget: $15.1 million
Distributors: Pathe Pictures/Fox Searchlight Pictures
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar
Synopsis: Adapted from the 2005 novel Q&A, Slumdog Millionaire got off to a slow start, but quickly ballooned into a cinematic phenomenon that not only took over world box offices ($353 million), but also stormed the most recent Academy Awards, walking away with eight wins (including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay). The British film, though based and filmed in India, was about a young Indian man from the Mumbai slums who wins big on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Sourrounded by various controversies (including the welfare of its child actors), Slumdog was originally sold to Warner Independent Pictures for just $5 million.

5. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Gross: $140.5 million ($248.6 million worldwide)
Budget: $22,000
Distributor: Artisan Entertainment
Directors: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
Starring: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams
Synopsis: One of the most innovative and original horror movies of all-time was The Blair Witch Project, featuring amateur footage and unknown actors who improvised most of the dialogue. Shot over eight days in Maryland, the award-winning Project was made for an unbelievable $22,000, but Artisan spent some $25 million to cleverly market it (mostly via the Internet), leading to a stunning $248 million box office clean-up. Although it recieved mostly positive reviews, it went up for the Worst Picture Razzie Award. A failed sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, followed up in 2000, and a third installment never materialized as a result.

6. Good Will Hunting (1997)
Gross: $138.4 million ($225.9 million worldwide)
Budget: $10 million
Distributor: Miramax Films
Director: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgard
Synopsis: In 1997 this surprise success launched the Hollywood careers of its screenwriters Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who also starred in the independent drama, famously becoming the poster childs of do-it-yourself stardom. Based and predominately filmed in Boston, Good Will Hunting made 22 times the amount of its $10 million budget in ticket sales alone, while earning nine Oscar nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Williams). Telling the story of a young, troubled Irish-Catholic janitor (Damon) who turns out to be a prodigy and autodidact, Hunting's script was brought to Miramax by filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks), and the production company ended up purchasing the rights for just $675,000.

7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Gross: $128.0 million ($213.5 million worldwide)
Budget: $15 million
Distributor: China Film Co-Production Company
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Sihung Lung
Synopsis: Produced in conjunction with Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States, China's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon easily became the most commercially successful foreign film in North American box office history, though its Matrix-like action sequences got all the attention. After premiering at the Hawaii International Film Festival, Crouching Tiger captured dozens of awards from around the world, including four Oscars (Best Foreign Picture, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Art/Set Direction). The acclaimed blockbuster also inspired a sub-genre of Asian action features that used similar graphic effect technology, including Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004).

8. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Gross: $119.0 million ($220.0 million worldwide)
Budget: $6 million
Distributors: IFC Films/Lions Gate Entertainment
Director: Michael Moore
Synopsis: Michael Moore's look into George W. Bush and the "War on Terror," Fahrenheit 9/11, captivated America (and most of the rest of the world) with its rawness and straightforwardness, making it--by far--the most successful documentary in history. After capturing the Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the 2-hour docufilm made more than $220 million in 44 countries, and a fortune more in DVD sales & rentals. In fact, Sony Pictures (which distributed its home release) reported that it sold about 2 million copies in its first day of DVD availability, a record for a documentary. It was also the first doc to take home the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture.

9. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Gross: $107.9 million ($212.9 million worldwide)
Budget: $8.5 million
Distributor: Miramax Films
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel
Synopsis: It may have brought superstardom to director, co-writer and co-star Quentin Tarantino, but the "neo-noir" cult classic Pulp Fiction also relaunched the fizzled career of John Travolta. The ultra-cool crime-comedy phenom was unlike anything else at the time, paving the way for wins at both the Cannes Film Festival (Palme d'Or) and Academy Awards (Best Original Screenplay), and raked in over $212 million at the global box office. All the stars of the 2-and-a-half-hour pop culture staple took pay cuts to appear, including supporting cast members Christopher Walken, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette and Tim Roth.

10. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Gross: $100.2 million ($289.3 million worldwide)
Budget: $25 million
Distributors: Miramax Films/Alliance Atlantis
Director: John Madden
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Geoffrey Rush
Synopsis: Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman wrote the fictionalized script that told of the love story between two real subjects, William Shakespeare (Fiennes) and Viola de Lesseps (Paltrow), with a comedic backdrop. Although it comes in at No.10 in domestic grosses for indie films, Shakespeare in Love actually ranks No.3 on the list when it comes to international tallies. It also stocked up on awards, winning seven Oscars, including Best Actress (Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Best Original Screenplay and the first comedy to be named Best Picture since Annie Hall (1977).