2:26:23 PM Tara Ariano: Last week, when we speculated about what movie would come in first, I have to confess: "Paranormal Activity" was not even a distant possibility as far as I was concerned. But the plucky little indie pulled out a win.
2:27:40 PM Will Edmondson: Yeah, and I was worried because I normally don't like movies like this. In fact, I'm pretty much completely against movies like "Paranormal Activity" in general...but I'll make an exception, because last night was AWESOME.
2:28:38 PM Tara Ariano: The MOVIE was enjoyable -- not worth the crazy hype, but very entertaining for something that was obviously made for $3.

2:29:54 PM Will Edmondson: Oh, but the movie was dwarfed by our experience. To be fair, I don't get movies like this, I didn't find it particularly scary, etc. But this crowd was INTO it!
2:30:54 PM Tara Ariano: Let me just say this. I go to movies a lot -- once a week, minimum. And I've sat in some obnoxious audiences. But this was BY FAR the WORST movie audience I've ever sat in.
2:31:23 PM Will Edmondson: And, if you mean BEST by "WORST," I agree with you.
2:32:23 PM Tara Ariano: So the movie, if you don't know, is a "Blair Witch"-style super-low-budget ghost story, basically, where the filmmakers have to create an atmosphere to creep you out because they're not going to get the job done with special effects (as opposed to, say, "Drag Me to Hell," which you also hated).
2:33:10 PM Will Edmondson: "Also hated"? I never said I hated "Paranormal Activity." I maintain that these movies are just not for me.
2:33:44 PM Tara Ariano: Can we agree that the effect those movies are trying to achieve doesn't work on you?
2:34:34 PM Will Edmondson: Oh, absolutely, but that's different from hating something. I hated "The Proposal." I hate getting cut off on the highway. I'm just not in the target demographic for "Drag Me to Hell" or "Paranormal Activity."
2:35:15 PM Tara Ariano: Okay. And to be fair, you aren't just stubborn; you expected to hate "District 9" and ended up liking it.
2:35:57 PM Will Edmondson: Right, I try to keep an open mind about movies that don't star Sandra Bullock.

2:37:35 PM Tara Ariano: Back to "Paranormal Activity": the people with whom we saw the movie talked at normal speaking voice (or louder) through the entire thing. The three guys in front of us obviously wandered in knowing absolutely nothing about the story because they spent way too much time trying to diagnose all the crazy stuff that kept happening. Plant leaves rustle? That's the central air. Weird, loud bump? Raccoon in the attic. DUDES: THERE'S NO RACCOON IN THE ATTIC!
2:38:04 PM Will Edmondson: Oh, come on! That was far and away the best part of the night.
2:38:12 PM Tara Ariano: Yes, you loved it! We've argued about this before.
2:39:11 PM Will Edmondson: Disclaimer to what I'm about to say: If that had happened during "Where the Wild Things Are," it wouldn't have been cool. I, too, sometimes enjoy the "silent moviegoing experience." But to me, a big part of the fun of going to the movies is watching with other people. And part of that is when the crowd gets into a movie, and especially when it gets rowdy in the theater. One of the best moviegoing experiences I've ever had was at an early screening of "Gridiron Gang" with 200 of my not so close, defnitely liquored-up friends, who screamed, "YEAH, ROCK!" every time Dwayne Johnson got on screen. It's the best.
2:44:37 PM Tara Ariano: One of the best moviegoing experience I have ever had was the opening night of "Starship Troopers" at the Cinerama Dome in L.A. Everyone was going crazy cheering and laughing and clapping and so on -- I have no problem with that in the right context. But a movie like "Paranormal Activity" requires some quiet so that you can effectively get creeped out by it. Also, I don't think this particular audience was "into it" when members kept yelling at them to get out of the house. THEY ESTABLISHED THAT THE HOUSE WAS NOT THE ISSUE. SHUT UP AND PAY ATTENTION!

2:47:32 PM Will Edmondson: Oh, please. 1. "Paranormal Activity" is not "Schindler's List." 2. Even with the hilarious unsolicited commentary, that movie still got its "creepy" point across. 3. I think the whole point of it being hilarious was that our friends were so wrong. That's what makes it so funny.
2:48:11 PM Tara Ariano: I never said it was "Schindler's List," but I think some of its effectiveness was siphoned off by the idiots watching.
2:49:40 PM Will Edmondson: I really don't think that they ruined any of its "effectiveness": it managed to be creepy if you're creeped out by moving bedspreads and powder footprints. As a moviegoing experience, the theater made it phenomenal and hilarious. The movie itself was good at what it was trying to do, but again, these movies don't really work on me, so I'm perhaps not the best representative of a horror genre fan.
2:51:11 PM Tara Ariano: Perhaps not.
2:51:50 PM Will Edmondson: But, the movie did one thing really right, and that was casting Mika the androgynous pop star as the male lead! (Not really, but that dude was still awesome.)

2:52:43 PM Tara Ariano: Yes, Micah Sloat was your second-favorite thing about the movie, after the audience.
2:55:38 PM Will Edmondson: Yeah, he was phenomenal. He was my hero, and any day trader still making money in this market deserves our respect. That, and he taunted a demon! Phenomenal job, Mee-Kah Sloat.
2:57:14 PM Tara Ariano: Yeah, he taunted it hard. He didn't help the situation.
2:57:51 PM Will Edmondson: He helped my situation. Because without him, that would've been a dull, dull movie.
2:58:44 PM Tara Ariano: Of course, his total disregard of the psychic's advice advanced the story. It didn't make him a good boyfriend -- or, really, a prudent homeowner.
2:59:25 PM Will Edmondson: He was a fine boyfriend, and he was right: Ladies, before you move in with a guy, if you're haunted by a demon, maybe a head's up would be nice? Just a little one?
3:00:03 PM Tara Ariano: Guys, when your girlfriend's been haunted by a demon since the age of 8 and she tells you not to antagonize it, maybe you listen to her?
3:01:14 PM Will Edmondson: Um, she told him that a little too late in the game. That's not something you wait to tell someone until after doors are slamming and you hear breathing in the middle of the night.
3:02:43 PM Tara Ariano: She told him she thought filming it might make things worse. She told him not to taunt it. She told him not to buy a Ouija Board.
3:03:47 PM Will Edmondson: But, she was resigned to the fact that there was no way to get rid of it, so she didn't really give any suggestions on what to do, now, did she?

3:05:58 PM Tara Ariano: Katie did have an idea of what to do: she wanted to call in the demonologist, but Micah talked her out of it.
3:09:03 PM Will Edmondson: This demonologist thing is the vehicle to try to make him seem like an a-hole. And I'm not buying it.
3:09:36 PM Tara Ariano: Well, as you say, there had to be a reason for the story to progress, and his skepticism is basically it.
3:09:38 PM Will Edmondson: I think if my girlfriend, or your husband, or any generally rational person came out asking to see a demonologist, you'd tell them to eat it, too. Also, why would you pay to have another quack come out when the first psychic didn't work?
3:10:29 PM Tara Ariano: The first psychic said he wasn't a demon expert.
3:10:38 PM Will Edmondson: OH, SORRY. THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE! HOW STUPID OF THEM NOT TO LOOK UNDER D FOR "DEMONOLOGIST" IN THE YELLOW PAGES!

3:11:15 PM Tara Ariano: I mean, look, if you believe in hauntings to the point where you DO call in a psychic, why not narrow down your advisors according to their expertise?
3:12:23 PM Will Edmondson: I'm going to let you in on a secret about guys, Tara: Sometimes we do things just to shut up our girlfriends. We don't do those things because we like doing them, or because we think they're right. We do them to be nice, yes, but also so they'll just be quiet.
3:12:54 PM Tara Ariano: So then why wouldn't he shut her up by letting her call a demonologist?
3:13:48 PM Will Edmondson: Because that first psychic should've shut her up! And then, once the stuff started really hitting the fan, the "demonologist" thought it would be a good time to flee the country. This "demonologist" didn't exist, Tara.
3:15:00 PM Tara Ariano: Well, yes, it wouldn't have made sense for the production if a guy did come in and escalate things. Plus then we got the great scene where the original psychic comes back and is like, "You are on your own, peace!"
3:15:28 PM Will Edmondson: Yes, my friends in the theater and I loved that.
3:15:42 PM Tara Ariano: Come on, that was funny for everyone, even me.
3:16:27 PM Will Edmondson: I think your sense of humor is in question if you couldn't appreciate the comedy in people screaming "That's right! Sleep behind her! Push her to the edge of the bed! She's crazy!" while Micah was trying to calm Katie down in bed.

3:17:33 PM Tara Ariano: Or "Send her back to MySpace!," I suppose? Which, I don't even know what that means.
3:17:46 PM Will Edmondson: HAHAHAHA!!! Oh man! SHE WAS SUCH A MYSPACE GIRL!
3:17:53 PM Tara Ariano: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!
3:17:57 PM Will Edmondson: Oh, you're so old. What's next week!?
3:19:08 PM Tara Ariano: Well, the widest opening is "This Is It," but it should probably be disqualified because it technically opened today, and also tickets are probably already sold out for next week anyway.
3:20:01 PM Will Edmondson: Ah, too bad. That would've been a horror movie I could get behind.
3:20:07 PM Tara Ariano: Too soon! The next widest opening is the sequel to "The Boondock Saints"...on 65 screens.
3:20:37 PM Will Edmondson: Oh dear. And that movie shouldn't have happened. "Boondock Saints" should stand on its own.

3:21:35 PM Will Edmondson: I'm going to call an audible and say that next week is a wild card week. We might see something in the theater, we might watch something on DVD, we might watch something on the site, and hey, we might read a book.
3:22:18 PM Will Edmondson: Either way, a heartfelt THANK YOU to the 23rd St. Clearview Cinema, Theater 8. We did it, you guys! We made it happen! U-S-A!
3:22:23 PM Tara Ariano: Ugh.