Paranormal Activity

Ten years ago, moviegoers were scared out of their minds by “The Blair Witch Project.” Will the newly released screamfest “Paranormal Activity” have the same effect? Early search interest points to “yes.”

The film is shot documentary style (but is scripted, like “Blair Witch“), and concerns a couple who may have a poltergeist in their home. They’re dubious at first, but quickly change their tunes after “things” start happening. But by then is it too late? After all, horror movies have a tendency to punish doubters as much as amorous teenagers.

One of the things that makes “Paranormal Activity” unique is its release schedule. Right now, the film is only being screened in a handful of theaters. However, if moviegoers make enough noise and bug the studio bigwigs, the film may get a wider release. Wisely, the filmmakers have made it easy for fans to voice their demand. A visit to the movie’s official site leads to a form that goes to theater owners. Power to the people.

And then there’s the trailer — “Paranormal Activity” did something unique in that the trailer aims the camera at a special sneak preview audience reacting to what they’re seeing on screen. The moviegoers scream, jump, and generally turn into blubbering messes of terror. It’s what every horror fan wants to see.

Lookups on “paranormal activity” are up a whopping 450% this week, and related queries on “paranormal activity trailer” are also trending upwards. Feeling brave? You can watch it for yourself below…

see more here: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/buzz-log-paranormal-activity.html

The options include a curfew banning late-night driving; restrictions on engine size and speed; and laying down who could accompany young men in cars.

The suggestions are being studied by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

RSA chairman Gay Byrne said yesterday that it was part of a proposed “reconfiguration of the driving licence” for young men.

The suggestions had come in from public consultation, which was ongoing, Mr Byrne said.

Males aged between 17 and 24 were “internationally” more dangerous, and with two or more of their contemporaries in a car were 85pc more likely to have a crash, he said.

Reconfiguration

The RSA would “make a selection” and by means of a reconfiguration of the driving licence “may save a few parents from that knock on the door at 3am”.

Mr Byrne was speaking as he tried out the Honda motorbike simulator in the RSA’s mobile interactive shuttle, which is visiting the Rose of Tralee festival in Kerry.

The unit, which is the cornerstone of a new campaign, offers car simulators, driver theory test computers, multimedia games and smarter travel bikes.

It was called the shuttle “because it was like walking through something from NASA”, Mr Byrne said.

The shuttle would park wherever there was a crowd and was heading for the National Ploughing Championships next.

“Up to now the national road safety effort has been led by major media campaigns, which have been hugely successful. However, we felt that something was needed to bring road safety directly into people’ everyday lives at a face-to-face level,” Mr Byrne said.

The motorbike simulator was not like the real thing — it didn’t swing, he remarked as, surrounded by Roses, he demanded his sunglasses from wife Kathleen Watkins.

He said he still rode a Honda Deauville, cycled a bicycle and drove a car, but being chairman of the Road Safety Authority had made him more safety conscious, he said.

The shuttle, on a 40-week trip around the country, is being sponsored by Reynolds Logistics, one of the country’s leading petroleum hauliers employing 350 drivers, as well as by the Co Roscommon-based Westward Scania, the importers of Scania trucks, and Smarter Travel.

Also at the Tralee event, Road Safety Authority chief executive Noel Brett said the road safety message was getting through and the number of road deaths so far this year yesterday stood at 159. This was 31 less than the same day last year.

There was absolutely no doubt that a reduction in alcohol levels would save lives, he said.

This had been the case wherever transport ministers had been courageous enough to implement reduced alcohol measures, he said.

- Anne Lucey
see more:http://www.independent.ie/national-news/driving-curfew-proposed-to-save-young-mens-lives-1868264.html

Preview screening of BRUNO

I saw a screening tonight of Sasha Baren Cohen’s new movie BRUNO in the marina.

WOW, I have to say I have NEVER quite seen a movie like this. However outrageous BORAT was, this one is 10 times sharper, wittier and altogether ballsier. And I fucking LOVED every second of it.

It will be very interesting to see how the masses will receive this movie: it is not just gay but sexually graphically, hilariously GAY. I dug it and I’m not even a homosexual!

So the plot is based around the BRUNO character (who was the Austrian fashion reporter character from Da Ali G show). Bruno is busy covering fashion week in Milan when he gets the bright idea of wearing an all Velcro suit to a runway show. The suit sticks to everything and ruins some poor designer’s show. So Bruno is basically cast out of Milan and the fashion world altogether. Announcing that those people are shallow, he decides to go off to Los Angeles to become a celebrity instead. Read more here

Description: Reacher’s an effortlessly cool former military policeman who drifts around the US getting involved in various scrapes and always comes up with a plan for getting out of them – and a wisecrack for the worst situations.

‘Gone Tomorrow’ begins with Reacher on a New York subway train in the early hours of the morning. Down the carriage is a woman whom he zeroes in on as a suicide bomber. She isn’t, but a couple of minutes later she’s dead and Reacher’s attempts to find out the why sees him caught in the crossfire between political ambition, covert ops and terrorism.

Comment: Lee Child delivers another fast-paced thriller featuring his hero Jack Reacher. He’s got the formula down pat, and manages to provide sustained peaks of suspense throughout the tale.

Description: When Kit and Adam separated after almost fifteen years of marriage, Kit felt like she had lost her lover, her best friend and her identity all in one fell swoop. But now, a year on from the divorce, Kit has found herself again and she loves her life in the idyllic Connecticut town of Highfield. She has the perfect job – working for Robert McClore, the famous novelist – two wonderful children, a good relationship with her ex-husband and time to enjoy yoga with her friends. Then Tracy, Kit’s yoga instructor and close friend, introduces her to Steve – attentive, charming, the perfect gentleman – and, for the first time in years, Kit thinks she may have found the right one. But is Steve really as perfect as he seems? And why does it bother Kit when Tracy starts dating Kit’s reclusive boss, Robert? What no one knows is that Tracy is hiding a secret – one that threatens to ruin her new-found happiness with Robert and her friendship with Kit. And now Tracy must decide whether to keep her past hidden from them both for ever or whether she should reveal the truth before it’s too late… Sparkling, poignant and wise, Girl Friday is a captivating tale of friendship, family and marriage as both Kit and Tracy discover that sometimes the people you thought you had lost make their way back into your life again…

Comment: As usual, this was classic Jane Green reading with its interesting characters and engaging stories. Your typical chick-lit that as a previous reviewer says, makes for easy summer reading.

Also like the previous reviewers, the ending was contrived. Everything worked out perfectly in the end for Kit. I had no problems with Adam being forgiven, but I do agree that Annabel was treated unfairly by the author. What was she going to do with Kit’s statements? What happened with her father not returning her calls?

Overall, pretty good book but just left a little unsatisfied by the ending.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard

Directed By: Ron Howard

Plot: Based upon Dan Brown’s bestseller, Angelsfinds Langdon on the trail of the Illuminati, the powerful secret society that poses a major threat to the Catholic Church.

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quito, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood

Directed By: J.J. Abrams

Plot: A chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members.

Directed By: Gavin Hood

Description: Wolverine lives a mutant life, seeks revenge against Victor Creed (who will later become Sabertooth) for the death of his girlfriend, and ultimately ends up going through the mutant Weapon X program.

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas, Breckin Meyer
Directed By: Mark Waters

Description: He stars as Connor Mead, a womanizer who is confronted, by the “ghosts” of his past, present, and future girlfriends. Will bearing witness to the emotional destruction and broken hearts he has wrought show Connor the way to being a good boyfriend? Will he change his ways in time to woo the girl of his dreams (Jennifer Garner)?

War Movie, Drama, Foreign, True Events

Starring: Artur Zmijewski, Maja Ostaszewska, Andrzej Chyra, Andrzej Chyra, Jan Englert, Magdalena Cielecka, Agnieszka Glinska, Pawel Malaszynski, Maja Komorowska, Wladyslaw Kowalski

Director:Andrzej Wajda

Description: This film tells of the Polish officers who were murdered near Katyn by the Soviet secret service NKWD in the spring of 1940. It is also the story of their relatives, many of whom waited for years for the return of their husbands, fathers, sons or brothers. After the invasion of the German Armed Forces on September 1, 1939, and the occupation of east Poland a few weeks later by the Red Army as a result of the Hitler-Stalin pact, all officers of the Polish Army–including reservists, police officers and intellectuals–were taken into Soviet custody.

Comment: Very good war drama from poland, true events!