Scary Movie is a 2000 film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, as part of Wayans Bros. Entertainment. It is an American dark comedy which parodies the horror, slasher, and mystery genres. Several mid-and late-1990s films are spoofed, including The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects, The Matrix, and The Blair Witch Project, with a significant portion of the film’s plot being dedicated to the more subtle horror film parody series Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. In addition, the film parodies classic horror films, most notably Halloween.

The tagline is “No mercy. No shame. No sequel.”, with the last reference being to the tendency of popular horror movies to become long-running franchises. However, in 2001, Scary Movie 2 was released (with the tagline “We lied”). The film was followed by a series of sequels Scary Movie 3 (2003), and Scary Movie 4 (2006). The original title for the film Scream was “Scary Movie” which ironically was later used to parody it. Both films were released through Dimension Films. It also Gives a short reference to Charmed 3×6 Primrose Em-path in the fight between Cindy and Ghost face.

Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans
Produced by Eric L. Gold
Lee R. Mayes
Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Phil Beauman
Written by Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Buddy Johnson
Phil Beauman
Jason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer
Starring Anna Faris
Regina Hall
Jon Abrahams
Rick Ducommun
Carmen Electra
Shannon Elizabeth
Kurt Fuller
Lochlyn Munro
Cheri Oteri
Dave Sheridan
Marlon Wayans
Shawn Wayans
Kelly Coffield Park
David Lander
Marissa Jaret Winokur
Music by David Kitay
Cinematography Francis Kenny
Editing by Mark Helfrich
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release date(s) United States
July 7, 2000
Australia
August 31, 2000
New Zealand
September 7, 2000
United Kingdom
September 8, 2000
Running time 88 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $19 million (est.)
Gross revenue $278,019,771 (est.)
Followed by Scary Movie 2 (2001)

You’re going to have to excuse the rather frightful poster if there ever was one. It is however entirely relevant to its morbidity, Pandorum definitely lives up to the hype of its horror, especially with a tagline such as ‘Don’t fear the end of the world. Fear what happens next.’ The German/American sci-fi horror was one of the better films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing within the last couple of months, and definitely worth a look at. But why?

Pandorum is one of those fist-clenching, mind-warping, jump inducing films where you are literally on the edge of your seat for a good minute at a time. Directed by newcomer Christian Alvart, whose only earlier works include ‘Curiosity & The Cat‘ and ‘Antibodies‘, but who will also be directing the upcoming ‘Case 39‘ featuring Renée Zellweger. Filming staff also includes Paul W. S. Anderson, director and writer of ‘Alien VS Predator‘, and Jeremy Bolt, both the producers of the ‘Resident Evil‘ trilogy. Stick AVP and Resident Evil in a blender and what do you get? Pandorum. Throw in a little sprinkle of ‘Sunshine‘, and you have the complete movie smoothie. However, was it a good idea to put all of their eggs in one basket? I’m afraid it wasn’t entirely. Many gamers are calling it a Dead Space wannabe.

The plot of Pandorum, a rather nice one at that for sci-fi fans, is set around the human race overpopulating the Earth. As a result, the first sleeper ship to head for Earth’s replacement, Tanis, holds 60,000 humans, except as the film opens up… You can’t see any of them. It is notably a unique blend of psychological thrills combined with action packed sequences filmed in classic, sci-fi grated-floor corridors. At times, Pandorum forces you question your OWN sanity, and explores some of the deep-rooted fears within its viewers. Specifically some of the more frightening fears which often take host, such as; a fear of the dark, loneliness, claustrophobia, lack of memory and it definitely plays upon those fears throughout the film. However whilst it was excellent in provoking thought, it was not exceptionally well constructed, despite the fact there was a plot (unlike most films these days!). This, alongside its lack of publicity, marketing and such may have been why it didn’t even make half of it’s $40 million budget.

A good film if you’re a sci-fi-aholic, or even if you enjoy video games, harnessing a strange familiarity to a first person shooter. However if you’re not that into chasing and racing in space, this isn’t the film for you. A possible DVD buy.

You’re going to have to excuse the rather frightful poster, if there ever was one. It is however entirely necessary in its morbidity, Pandorum definitely lives up to the hype of its horror, especially with a tagline such as ‘Don’t fear the end of the world. Fear what happens next.’ The German/American sci-fi horror was one of the better films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing within the last couple of months, and definitely worth a look at. But why?

Pandorum is one of those fist-clenching, mind-warping, jump inducing films where you are literally on the edge of your seat for a good minute at a time. Directed by newcomer Christian Alvart, whose only earlier works include ‘Curiosity & The Cat‘ and ‘Antibodies‘, but who will also be directing the upcoming ‘Case 39‘ featuring Renée Zellweger. Filming staff also includes Paul W. S. Anderson, director and writer of ‘Alien VS Predator‘, and Jeremy Bolt, both the producers of the ‘Resident Evil‘ trilogy. Stick AVP and Resident Evil in a blender and what do you get? Pandorum, throw in a little sprinkle of ‘Sunshine‘, and you have the complete movie smoothie. However, was it a good idea to put all of their eggs in one basket? I’m afraid it wasn’t entirely. Many gamers are calling it a Dead Space wannabe.

The plot of Pandorum, a rather nice one at that for sci-fi fans, is set around the human race overpopulating the Earth. As a result, the first sleeper ship to head for Earth’s replacement, Tanis, holds 60,000 humans, except as the film opens up… You can’t see any of them. It is notably a unique blend of psychological thrills, which at times forces you question your OWN sanity, combined with action packed sequences filmed in classic sci-fi hallways. Pandorum explores some of the deep-rooted fears within its viewers. Specifically some of the more frightening fears which often take host, such as; a fear of the dark, loneliness, claustrophobia, lack of memory and it certainly plays upon those fears throughout the film. However whilst it was excellent in provoking thought, it was not exceptionally well constructed, despite the fact there was a plot. This, alongside its lack of publicity, marketing and such may have been why it didn’t even make half of it’s $40 million budget.

A good film if you’re a sci-fi-aholic, or even if you enjoy video games, harnessing a strange familiarity to a first person shooter. However if you’re not that into chasing and racing in space, this isn’t the film for you. A possible DVD buy.

]]> http://margavp.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/scary-movie/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:52:18 +0000 margavp http://margavp.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/scary-movie/

I think that i could make a great horror movie here. There is a certain house “in charge”  who would make a great villain in the classic, “too good,  she must be evil” fashion. See in film below the (classic horror) chanting children. I hear this coming from next door to my bedroom every evening…Would also have to use the location from middle of somewhere (see previous post).

this “chanting” usually lasts between 5 – 8 minutes

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

today’s butterfly, for more click here

my favourite of today’s photos requested by subject

…unfortunately, it was a documentary.

Check out the trailer for “Hell House” right here:

Lordy,

-Shady

De acterende familie Estévez bestaat uit vader Ramón en kinderen Carlos, Emilio, Ramón en Renée. Ramón is de zoon van een Ierse moeder en een Spaanse vader, beiden Amerikaanse immigranten. De acterende Ramón besloot zijn familienaam achter zich te laten en een artiestennaam te zoeken. Hij was erg gelovig en vond de naam bij Fulton J. Sheen, een katholieke bisschop en theoloog. Het werd uiteindelijk Martin Sheen. Klinkt niet slecht. Maar klinkt het zo veel beter dan Ramón Estévez? Dat heeft ook wel iets. Iets exotisch. Sheen bouwde een stevige carrière uit met als hoogtepunt de rol van Captain Willard in de oorlogsfilm Apocalypse Now van Francis Ford Coppola. Geniale film, geniaal geacteerd. Hij bleek ook naast zijn filmcarrière erg productief en kreeg vier kinderen: Carlos, Emilio, Renée en Ramón. Estévez dus, niet Sheen. De vier kinderen stapten zoals dat hoort in de voetsporen van hun vader en gingen acteren. Emilio, Renée en Ramón behielden hun vaders geboortenaam, Carlos nam de artiestennaam van zijn vader over. Emilio Estévez heeft als ‘grootste’ acteerprestatie de rol van Gordon Bombay in The Mighty Ducks neergezet. Renée en Ramón moesten het met heel wat mindere B-films doen. Het grootste succes in de familie was uiteindelijk weggelegd voor zoon Carlos, die zichzelf omdoopte tot Charlie Sheen. Iedereen kent zijn naam, zijn gezicht, maar eigenlijk heeft hij een belabberde filmografie. Of vindt u Major League, Scary Movie 3 & 4, Hot Shots en de tv-serie Two and a Half Men om mee uit
te pakken ?

Ok, I mean really? I am starting to totally rethink my fear of scary movies. I actually think that Hellraiser is more of a love story – a warped one. It is basically about a woman that takes on a lover, he is dead-ish and being tortured but trying to come back, and she will do ANYTHING to help him. For him to come back and become a real fully functional person again he needs to kill people and I guess suck the life out of them to regenerate himself. So his lover, Julia, tricks men into coming home with her for some hanky-panky and there Frank kills and “eats” them. It did have some bloody scenes but nothing too shocking or scary. The whole time I was waiting to see Pinhead, the master of evil and gang leader, and you only see him for about 5 minutes of the whole movie. I assumed the movie was about him and he would be featured throughout but that was not the case.

The second movie Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 was a continuation of the first story. Julia who dies in the first movie is resurrected by some weirdo doctor and his silent puzzle patient that opens and closes the box. They run around trying to close the gates of hell and fend off crazy Julia who seems to become the queen of evil. For me the movie was kind of confusing as far as following a plot. I guess I would need to watch them again to catch everything. But in the end, not really scary movies.

With the Paley Center’s “Dawson’s Creek: A Look Back” panel and the release of “Dawson’s Creek: The Complete Series,” I’ve been on a DC high the past week and a half.  Imagine my delight in finding someone who was not only just as enthusiastic but also chock full of insider stories only true fans like TDW readers could appreciate. And when you combine that with the fact that this guy is also partly responsible for introducing Beverly Hills 90210 to the world, well, that pretty much makes him a teen drama god.

After reading all the DC and 90210 goodness executive producer Paul Stupin shared with me, you’ll never want TDW’s stroll down memory creek to end!

TeenDramaWhore: How was the Paley Center panel?  How did it come about?

Paul Stupin: It came about for two sets of reasons. The first was that there are a  lot of die-hard Dawson’s supporters and fans out there that could support such a event. And the second key element is Sony is planning to issue this monumental all-seasons of Dawson’s DVD collection.

TDW: Yeah! It came out yesterday and I went to three different stores and finally found it!

Stupin: I just think it’s the coolest thing ever. So it was a good opportunity to call some attention to the DVD collection while at the same time having an event for the fans. It was really fun for me because when I did Dawson’s, I look back on it as a very special and rewarding time in my life and to be able to talk about it and see some cast members and see Kevin [Williamson, creator] again was just a blast.

TDW: I’m sure. I wish I could’ve been there!

Stupin: Yeah, you would’ve liked it!

TDW: Oh, I’m sure. Well let’s go back even further, to 1997-1998, and Kevin Williamson comes to you with this idea to make this semi-autobiographical show. What made you come on board?

Stupin: Well, that’s not exactly how it happened but I can tell you. I had read an early draft of this film that he wrote. At the time, it was called Scary Movie but that was going to turn into Scream and they used the original title for something else. I had read a draft of that and I had really responded to the writing. One of the things I loved about it is not only did it have some smart thrills and chills but it also had this great sort of teenage/20-something dialogue. I just loved his voice and I loved the different perspectives that he had brought to the horror genre so I pushed really hard to his agent for Kevin and I to sit down. Originally, I wanted to run two areas by him. The first area was sort of a younger X-Files-esque kind of show and the second one was just a really smart, young ensemble sort of show that could tap into younger characters’ voices. I had ran programming at Fox, so the idea of doing a family show was kind of not on the board because Fox had Party of Five. So we started to talk about potentially doing a show about a number of younger characters who live on the same street. Then Kevin sort of went away and came back and sort of pitched to me a bunch of characters living on the same creek, which, of course, was semi-autobiographical. What made that so interesting is that it specified the idea and made it something unique and took us to a place I had never seen before. And the other thing that made that original pitch so exciting was the characters. He pitched to me the characters of Dawson [James Van Der Beek] and Joey [Katie Holmes] and Jen [Michelle Williams] and how that triangle would work. And then as we were talking about that, we came up with the idea of incorporating another character into the mix who could be a confidante for Dawson and that’s how the character of Pacey [Joshua Jackson] originated.

TDW: I think you really hit it when you said the show was unique. There are a couple of specific things that people are still talking about today and they really want the inside details of how it happened. I know you guys went over a bit of this at the panel but I’d love to hear it from you yourself.  So if we can just go over a couple of different storylines, I’d love to hear what you guys were thinking and the genesis of those. So the first one is in season 2 when we have Jack [Kerr Smith] announce that he’s gay [Episodes 2.14 & 2.15, To Be Or Not To Be... & ...That Is The Question].

Stupin: I think there were two reasons for that. The first reason is it was a great way to integrate in a gay character on our series and to do it from the perspective of the kids we’d come to know and love on the show from the get-go. So the thought of involving Joey in a relationship with Jack and seeing that relationship take a completely unexpected turn and then understanding the emotional impact it would have on Joey’s character, and what it would do to Dawson and Pacey–all that seemed really interesting. And at the time, the thought of integrating a gay character and following that journey seemed really powerful and a way to tap into a whole set of emotions that would make our show even more memorable. One of the things that I love about Dawson’s is that it sort of wore its heart on its sleeve. Not only did it capture the voices and that sense of teenage yearning and teenage love and first-time love, and the power and the strength of all that, with love comes heartache as well in many stories. I think it enabled us to tell a really emotional and powerful story for a character that we’d really come to enjoy in the form of Jack. So that was one element to it and I think for Kevin it was a very personal story as well, and it was a way to again put a whole different perspective on the teen ensemble drama in a way that it hadn’t been done before. The second element to it was the fact that when Joey started that relationship with Jack, it was not going to go on forever. The key relationship in our series was what was going on between Joey and Dawson and Pacey, so the Jack character, that romance, was ultimately going to come to an end. And I think there was the thought of what a powerful way to see the relationship head south when the character starts to realize an insight into his own sexuality.

TDW: Going back to the Dawson-Joey-Pacey relationship, I read in Jeff Stepakoff’s book “Billion-Dollar Kiss” that Greg Berlanti–whom I adore–was the one to suggest putting Joey and Pacey together. I was wondering how accurate that story was in the book.

Stupin: Well, at the top of every season, we’ll sit and we’ll talk about [our plans]. We take a couple of weeks and we talk about each character and where we were going and what the sort of macro-issues were that we want to cover over the course of that particular group of 22 episodes. And Greg was definitely a part of that and the thought  of telling sort of a whole Joey-Pacey romance did in fact come out of that, absolutely. But I think you can go back, you can look at the pilot and you can look at the chemistry–and I did, in looking at the pilot last week–you can look at the chemistry between Joey and Pacey and you just know they’re sort of two peas in a pod and sooner or later that element of the triangle is going to get explored. So it’s definitely true what Jeff had in the book but I think that Greg was building from the seeds that were established in the original conception of the show, to tell you the truth.

TDW: Right.  Going to a more somber note: this probably came early on for you guys given how you plan the season but a lot of people were really surprised and devastated when in the 5th season Mitch [John Wesley Shipp] died [Episodes 5.03 & 5.04, Capeside Revisited & The Long Goodbye].

Stupin: Yes.

TDW: I’m wondering what the idea for that was. We never knew if it was casting reasons or storyline-dictated.

Stupin: It wasn’t really casting issues. The thing with Mitch was every year we would figure out a way to have 1 or 2 sort of emotional stories between Dawson and his mom and dad. In the first season we had all that great stuff with her affair with a newscaster. That was just sort of natural. The second season we have the story with mom and dad trying the open marriage, and it’s arguable as to how memorable that actually was. It seemed like such a fresh idea. I’m not sure that it translated quite as well as the idea initially seemed. And then after that, when the inter-relationships between the teenagers grew ever-more prominent and people became much more invested, it felt like the parents–though still important–were not quite as much a part of the storylines. So that’s when we would always try to include them, to have them in different things, to have great sort of Dawson-mom, Dawson-dad scenes but I think we were straining a little bit. And I think that when we got to the point of deciding the fate with Mitch, it seemed like we weren’t using him altogether that much in the series, in the seasons. We were using him but we weren’t using him in a huge way. There weren’t any financial or casting considerations. It really did come from the creative angle, in terms of how would it affect Dawson’s character if in fact this happened to his dad, and exploring that, and exploring the unexpected tragedy of it seemed like another way to really heighten the exploration as to who Dawson was, so that’s basically where that came from. And I remember talking to John Wesley and mentioning that the one thing that this would provide is that it was going to take the Dawson-father storyline to a really heartbreaking sense of conclusion and, at that point, we weren’t using him as much as we had in the past.

TDW: How does that contrast, then, to the decision in the series finale [Episodes 6.23 & 624, All Good Things... & ...Must Come To An End] to have another death and this time it be Jen?

Stupin: It was so interesting last week; it came up that in a way it was a great book-end for the series. It frankly never occurred when we were talking about the beginning or the end of the show but one could argue that the series began with a catalyst and that was the arrival of Jen. And the series ended with a catalyst as well, and that was the departure of Jen. And the one thing that I think that it did is it really brought a sense of emotional resonance and power to that final episode, because one of the things with a final episode you want to be able to do, you want to be able to end a series in a satisfying and emotional and interesting way. And if we essentially had the last episode in history for Dawson’s Creek, we could talk about and we could explore issues of mortality involving some of our characters. Then when we talked about it, if we were going to be dealing with the characters’ mortality, she seemed like the most natural character in which to explore that.

TDW: Going back to the catalyst idea, it could be extended that that was really what it took for Joey to finally make up her mind between the two boys.

Stupin: Yeah, I think a little bit. I think the interesting thing was the series sort of ends twice. It ends in the episode before then [Episode 6.22, Joey Potter And The Capeside Redemption] where we get the sense that finally Dawson and Pacey are going to be friends and Joey did actually get to Europe. And I think that had a sense of closure. Then we took it another step and went to a sort of even more sort of larger-than-life ending of exploring who she was going to end up with. I think that was the big question: who was she going to end up with? And I think that that was handled pretty well, too. Like I personally love the thought that what this show was really about was not the romance of Dawson and Joey but about the strength and depth of that friendship and how that friendship was going to exist forever.

TDW: So if you had to answer the question, in your heart of hearts, do you think Dawson belongs with Joey in a platonic, friends soulmates sense and Pacey in the romantic soulmate way?

Stupin: In my heart of hearts, I think we ended it the right away. I think that what she did have in the romance with Pacey was as powerful as the friendship with Dawson. And I think that we were able to come up with a sense of satisfying closure for both of them. ‘Cause I will tell you, weirdly enough, when I was looking at The Sopranos–I’ll weirdly liken it to the conclusion of The Sopranos, at least from my weird perspective, because I was a fan of that. I like to think, in my mind, that Tony Soprano is still out there–maybe it wasn’t going to last forever, but maybe he’s still out there with his family, still dealing with the issues and still dealing with all the balls he was juggling. And in my mind, I like to think that Dawson and Joey are still out there in our alternate TV universe, still communicating with each other and still sharing the inner-most aspects of their hearts and still dealing with their friendship as adults, and that Joey and Pacey still have that romance. Because I feel like what we were able to come up with was, for me, an emotionally-satisfying conclusion for both stories which doesn’t let anyone down. And I know there are people who think Dawson and Joey should’ve been together romantically and I totally understand that point of view but I think we did the right thing.

TDW: Well, as a Joey and Pacey fan, I completely agree with you!

Stupin: Well, I can tell you this: that decision wasn’t made until the last hour was being shot and so if you look at the first hour of that final two-hour, I think at that point we were leaning toward her ending up with Dawson and so there are a few, I think, little cues–for the life of me I don’t remember exactly–that were set up to lead us in that direction and then, frankly, in the last hour, when the last hour was being shot–because it wasn’t shot as a two-hour; it was shot as two separate 1-hours–that when we came up with that conclusion, it caused us to shift things around a little bit. So I’ll tell ya, we were undecided up until the very last minute ourselves.

TDW: Wow. Well, switching gears slightly, you spoke about Dawson and the way he would communicate with Joey. Going off that, both Kevin Williamson and James Van Der Beek are on Twitter these days. I was wondering, had the service existed when the show was on the air, how do you think Dawson would’ve used it, if he would’ve used it? As I said, They’re both on it now, and Dawson was very much a storyteller.

Stupin: Well, I think Dawson might’ve used it to express his emotions. I think he might’ve used it as a shorthand way of communicating with both Joey and Pacey. It’s certainly easier to communicate things to someone by Twitter than it is necessarily in real life. He might’ve, at some point in our storytelling, he might’ve used it to express something that he might not have been so willing to express in person.

TDW: When you look back on the show and the television landscape then and now, what do you think the show’s legacy is?

Stupin: You know, I think for me it’s–well, first of all, I’m so proud of the show. I think the characters were amazing. I think their stories were amazing. I think the quality of the writing, the quality of the direction was–of course I’m biased but I think it was just top-flight. And I really do think it took the young adult teen genre and elevated it from just a niche kind of show to something universal and iconic. I think adults could look at it. When we were doing it we never looked at it as just a teen show.  We looked at it as just a smart, interesting, relationship show that happened to deal with teenagers and though our core audience was teenagers, it was written for everybody, for people in their 20s, their 30s, their 40s. And I really think it managed to transcend all of that and bring an element of quality and exploration to the genre that really took it to the next step.

TDW: Do you have a favorite episode or storyline?

Stupin: You know, I’m so biased. It’s like trying to pick if you have 120 kids which one’s your favorite. But I think for me there are certain sort of moments that I love. There’s certain episodes, like the pilot because it introduced us to that world, and I remember so much of it almost like it was yesterday. The first season-ender when Joey went to visit her dad in prison, I loved that. I loved the detention episode [Episode 1.07, Detention]. A lot of them are some of the original ones. But then I think I love the episode when they graduated high school [Episode 4.22, The Graduate]. I thought that was just sensational. I love the one-hour ender as well as the two-hour series finale ender. I think there’s so many. The episode where they studied and it was an all-nighter [Episode 2.07, The All-Nighter]. The episode where Joey had to enter the beauty pageant [Episode 1.12, Beauty Contest]. I just love all of those.

TDW: Well, conversely, do you have a big regret or something you wish you did differently?

Stupin: Yeah. My biggest regret would probably be, as I think about it–and it was a mistake we made–was the character of Eve. Remember that character?

TDW: Yeah. You guys even have a joke about that in the episode before the series finale.

Stupin: Yeah. I don’t think the first episodes of season 3 really were as memorable as the other episodes. And I think that whole notion of “Is she Jen’s sister? Is she not?”–I don’t think that was that effective. I don’t look back on that run of episodes as my favorites.

TDW: Yeah, I think the fans do agree with that.

Stupin: Yeah, but you know what, we turn it around.  In the middle of that season we turned it around with–

TDW: With Joey and Pacey.

Stupin: Yeah, with Joey and Pacey. And that certainly helped get us back, I think, to our roots.

TDW: Going more to your history, I know you played a bit of a role with the creation of Beverly Hills 90210.

Stupin: Yes, I did.

TDW: What influence, if any, did that show have on Dawson‘s Creek?  If you learned anything from how viewers took to what was really the first teenage show, as Dawson’s Creek is largely considered the next step in the genre.

Stupin: Well, two things. And it’s an interesting question. The first thing: when I hired Darren Star to write 90210, I felt as if his voice was just so unique in terms of his ability to write characters and come up with dialogue and wit that seemed like it would be a particularly good fit if he put into teenager characters’ mouths. So in a way I think that when I read Kevin’s voice, I felt some of it was the same in terms of being clever and sharp and smart and pop culturally-savvy. I felt like I had found another voice who was capable of taking the genre to the next step. So I felt like both Kevin and Darren brought originally a really unique sense of humor and sharpness to their creation of characters and dialogue. So I think there was a similarity there. The one issue that I took away from 90210, that was very effective in 90210, was the mix of issue-oriented episodes and personal inter-relationships. Though, when we jumped into Dawson’s, we veered away from doing the issue-oriented episodes and explored further just all of the great inter-relationships.

TDW: Going further ahead to the rest of the genre and the teen dramas that are on today, do you think Dawson’s Creek influenced them?

Stupin: I’m sure it did, though I can’t say–you know, again, I’m biased. I don’t know. In my mind, I’m undecided as to what the next real step in the genre is after Dawson’s. I’m not sure what it is. I haven’t watched enough of the shows. I hold, of course again I’m so biased, but I hold everything up to the prism of Dawson’s. I don’t know if any of them that have come since have quite represented that cultural milestone that Dawson’s did.

TDW: Do you think Dawson’s Creek would fly on The CW today? Because it’s so different than what The WB was.

Stupin: Yeah. I’m not sure. I’ve often thought would I be able to sell Dawson’s today? Would I be able to pitch that as a series and get it going, and I’m not altogether sure. Because now, when you look at Dawson’s, we sold it off the strength of the characters and off of the strength of Kevin’s voice being so fresh. Now, I think that the networks are looking for slightly higher concepts. So I’m not altogether sure that a Dawson’s would be able to sell today.

TDW: I have to ask, then, why do you think the 90210 spin-off sold?

Stupin: Oh, I see, are you talking about bringing able to bring it back, for instance?

TDW: Well, no, not for it to be a spin-off. But the 90210 concept today is working.

Stupin: Well, I think the 90210 concept–everyone, myself included, has fondness for that original show. The thought of sort of putting two new outsiders into that world and bringing the  show back is a great way to hook people into a whole new group of characters, and I think it was a great idea. The thing with Dawson’s is I don’t know if bringing the world of Dawson’s Creek back with a bunch of new characters would generate quite the excitement. Because I think when you think about the show, you think about Dawson and you think about the very unique 3 characters, the 4 characters we had, and the actors that played them. And I’m not sure if it was brought back again–I certainly wouldn’t want to redo it with a new Dawson or a new Pacey. So the question would be could we go back to Capeside with a whole new group of characters, and I’m not sure we would be able to put together a new group of people as memorably as we did originally.

TDW: Right. You know, they say lightening strikes once.

Stupin: Right. And you know, I’m afraid you always run the risk of–when you make a sequel to a movie that’s not as good, it kind of reflects negatively on the original movie.

TDW: I completely agree.

Stupin: And I like to think of all our episodes as being so special, I’m not sure it’s something you could bring back.

TDW: Well, my biggest disappointment right now is that Dawson’s Creek is no longer on any channel in America.

Stupin: Really? You know, they gotta get on that! Wasn’t it running like forever in the early morning hours?

TDW: It used to be on TBS. When I was in high school, it used to be on at like 10am. And then they pushed it to 4:30am, 5:30am and then it just faded away there and now it’s not on at all.

Stupin: I’m not sure what the design is on that because I always like to know that Dawson’s is out there.

TDW: I know, I know. It saddens me that it’s just not in repeats anywhere anymore in this country.

Stupin: You know what, those things tend to be cyclical. Maybe in the future you’ll be channel surfing one night. Knowing you, you’ll know way before then but maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

TDW: Fingers crossed.

Stupin: Exactly.

TDW: Well, let’s bring it back and finish on today. You’re with Make It Or Break It on ABC Family. Just looking at your career over the years, what is it about Make It or Break It that you’re here now?

Stupin: Well, what I love about Make It Or Break It is I’m a big fan of the genre, having originally developed 90210 and then developed Dawson’s. When I left to become a producer, I never really thought that my first real success would be in the same genre as 90210 because I actually never thought that lightning would strike twice in that genre for me as quickly as it did. But after I ran Dawson’s, you know, for six years, I developed a real love for the genre. And the thing that I love about Make It or Break It is the idea. It’s a fresh idea, it’s a fresh world. And it provides a pretty unique prism in which to explore sort of teenage relationships in a really unusual way. I mean, these girls aren’t normal teenagers. They’re elite gymnasts and there are rules against relationships as they’re pursuing their passion. How do they deal with that? And how do we deal with the same elements of teenage love and relationships and heartbreak but from a whole different perspective? And I love that about it, and I also love the relationships between the main characters and their parents and their parental figures. I think they’re a really organic element to the show and give us an opportunity to deal with really unusual family situations as well. So that’s why I love it. And also the gymnastics is just really cool. It’s a lot of fun just to see the gymnastics.

TDW: Oh, the gymnastics is just phenomenal to watch.

Stupin: So I think that Make It Or Break It is just such a special show. We’ve done 10 episodes and I think it’s just starting to get its sea legs. I think it has a huge successful life in front of it, I hope.

TDW: Well, best of luck to you on that!

Stupin: Thank you!

Come back next Sunday for another exclusive interview!

TDW Interview Index

Day 71: Another scary movie.

Well, I’m not getting any better with scary movies. I’m a child when it comes to horror films, but I love them. At least I don’t scream. Hate screamers.

Oren Peli’s film, Paranormal Activity takes documentary form when a young couple decides to film their lives in an attempt to capture the paranormal activity that haunts them during the night. The film follows Micah, a day trader, and Katie, an English student who claims to have been haunted since the age of 8, as a demon presence manifests itself. Micah is skeptical and provides comic relief throughout, while Katie provides the scares with her creepy weirdo chick vibe. She does provide a bit of comic relief along the way with her excessive use of the ’f’ word, mainly directed at Micah for not taking the haunting seriously.

Paranormal Activity’s success lies in its suspense. Dependent on the viewer’s imagination to run rampant, this film gives you little to work with but proves the less you see, the more intense the horror. Each night the camera is set up in the same position where we’re left with little movement and a simple time counter in the bottom right corner. Your eyes dart between the time counter and the bedroom door as you wait, to see what happens when you go to sleep.

This film is unpretentious and shocking in how well it works in an age of media madness and shock value entertainment. Perhaps the fear comes from the unknown and unfamiliar. Without music to direct our emotions or reactions we’re left on our own, in uncharted territory for most.

As previously mentioned, I’m a child when it comes to horror films but once I rose above the terrifying bit, the whole thing was quite freeing. I love the demon idea; it’s exciting and unfamiliar. The dark unknown aspect of life is a an experience that stirs questions and unease within all of us. Darkness provokes fear and for whatever reason allows for the unknown to surface. Paranormal Activity offers a scare for the blase cyber generation who are bored with Hollywood.

Lessons I learned from Paranormal Activity: You LEAVE a bitch if she’s dealing with demons!

Today I had the delight of watching the famed ‘Jennifer’s Body,‘ which ideally focuses on many controversial concepts which include subjects such as; Satanic worship, torture, mutilation, demonology and lesbianism. Oh, well, sounds like everyone’s first day of the summer break, right? No, of course not. This appeared to be apparent as Box Office sales didn’t exceed more than $19 million with its $16 million budget at hand and scoring particularly badly among critics.

I’ll dive right in to the pool of blood and bad attempts of comedy left behind by the film’s oh so apparent success among younger viewers, which was also dubbed ‘Twilight for boys‘ by acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert, who enjoyed the film. To be fair to Jennifer’s Body, it wasn’t an entirely bad film, it was indeed an interesting and original plot, however it could have been tackled far better by Diablo Cody who, to be honest, had her heart set on the film, but not necessarily all of her head. Fox’s acting was adequate at best, which significantly contrasted against Seyfried’s, who I have to admit, was surprising to say the least. Brody was also rather convincing as a slick-haired, satanic worshipping lead singer, which one wouldn’t have envisioned from his performances on ‘The OC.’

Roger Ebert was correct in saying that Jennifer’s Body is Twilight for boys, I mean how many women out there are prepared to sit through 102 minutes of blood-dripping, body-dismembering, scantily-dressed-cheerleading? Well, I’d imagine a few. It’s like Twilight in the same sense that every female in the world would go to see it because of the actor’s portrayal of the protagonist, who beyond all disbelief is Megan Fox, most men’s favourite young actress of the year.. or four. It’s also like Twilight in the sense that it’s completely and utterly successful beyond ever imagined. Oh wait a second…

Jennifer’s Body, overall, isn’t great. If you enjoy cheap thrills, then hey, be my guest. However, as the analysis goes; the acting is poor, the satirical side of it fails to achieve what it’s designed for, and probably the best part of it was the ending where I had a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to watch any more of what I thought would be a crazily good film. Unfortunately, it isn’t.  Despite a few occasional moments in the script, kudos to Cody for those, the film really can’t take off as what it’s supposed to be, comedy, slasher, horror or a film about female empowerment and it’s not like any other teen horror movie out there, for starters this one has some degree of a plot line, but it’s still not really worth the money of a cinema trip. Sorry folks. Oh and this poster is blatantly a rip of True Blood.

Uuh. I love weekend. I can stay up at night. Sleeps the hole day and eat really much candy, of course im also eating som green things, like an apple and something like that. I can read some good magazines with a lot of info for me and i can seee whats there hot right now and see pictures about all the cool things there is. See a movie(maybe Twilight, Scary Movie or Mamma Mia). Listen to some music, and dance a little dance. Its so cool. But i have a lot of homework to do, thats a bad thing. I miss my friends. Love colours and should do something more in the weekends, but hey, why should i? I have read to books today, and theres was really good, hm. Tecno music, bad or not? I cant deney. Be happy and clean up self, nope, i cant always do that. So… hey people, let us swing! If all peoples do like me, i think the hole world will be so cool. Maybe… maybe not. I like chocolate, i dont now why you should now that, but hey, really do. Theres dark outsite and i sit in front of the computer and listing to some really weird music. Time stood still… la la la…. Ups, dit you hear me? I did, ups, dont say it to anyone.

On Friday I finally went to see Paranormal Activity. I was super excited to see this movie because I love, love, love scary movies. There was tons of hype surrounding this movie and I was excited that I would finally see a movie that actually scared me, since movies usually don’t. Well, I was sorely disappointed.

This movie is really not scary. It is formulaic and you know when something is about to happen. The only scary part came within the last 5 minutes. The plot line was definitely creepy. The way that it was executed throughout the film was also creepy, it just wasn’t scary. I really enjoyed the acting and the way the viewer gets to know the characters and therefore can really feel sorry for them as the haunting gets worse. The movie was definitely a slow-build. I wanted to see more action with the demon. Once the demon got really heated up the movie finally got exciting. I wish the pace of the movie had started quicker and just picked up from there.

Overall, an okay movie that wasn’t scary at all. Good plot line but the pace is entirely too slow. I would not see the movie again.

The post title is part of a quote from some crappy horror movie I watched a few years ago. I can’t remember which movie exactly or the exact quote, but it goes something like this:

Girl (seductively): “Mmm, you smell good.”
Guy: “That’s the pizza I spilled on my shirt, you stupid bitch!”

The movie was terrible, but that quote was great.

Black and white;  Hot and cold; Good and evil; Horror and comedy; surely these are antonyms, opposites, things that can never exist together? Then again, there’s always grey, lukewarm and Harvey Dent…

That is so.  For the 3yr old boy who lives with us. On Saturday, which was Halloween day, late in the evening, I asked the boy to march upstairs for his pre-bed bath. He refused (obviously). When asked why, he said, he wanted to watch the movie on TV…which we refused(obviously) since it was the scary kind, that will for sure, make the boy squeeze out pee in the bed. After 5mins of haggling and threatening the boy walked upstairs (since this is not a democracy, he had no choice, right from the start of this conversation), and while in the tub, declared so.

” Amma, I am 3 now. When I am a biiiiggg boy, I will watch all the scary movies and become strong (flexing his arms for added drama and effect) and you will not say anything then. Ok?” I did not answer, but did you think that stopped the boy for a min?  Nope. Not at all. He went, “OK???” for the next 10mins, until he squeezed out the OK from my mouth. Little does he know, that it will still not be a democracy, even 10yrs down the line

As the title suggests, yes I have finally watched ‘Paranormal Activity’!!!

So what did I think
Well, I wasn’t a huge fan of the hand held camera, but I am willing to allow the fact that it had the dizzy factor for the fact that it added authenticity to the film. The ‘morning’ parts of the film did have dragging moments. I looked forward to the ‘night time’ scenes where all the freaky stuff happen.

I wouldn’t give the film 5 stars but its definitely worth a watch.

It makes you believe that these things can happen to you in real life.. Or maybe it was all just the mere excitement in my head that I was watching this alone in my room, in the dark, on the night of halloween. Haha.

Re-enacted reaction from watching Paranormal Activity

After a night of crazy storms on Thursday, chilly weather has finally made it to Houston. Granted, we had a few days earlier this month of brisk weather, but I’m hoping that we won’t have to put the AC on again until March of next year.

Wishful thinking.

Tried to watch a scary movie last night with Gregg, but it wasn’t really scary, just startling. I like to be scared, not startled. Yes, it’s harder to scare, but if you scare someone, that will stay with them. Startling just irritates me when I’m watching a movie. Just ask Gregg. Half the movie last night my face was turning into his chest because the movie was so predictable that you KNEW when you were going to jump. Eh. WE watched “Shrooms” – I guess I don’t really have reason to complain.

Thinking of making some breakfast and coffee for my still-sleeping husband. We bought 1/2 caff coffee awhile ago for him, and it’s still sitting here.

I’d really, really, really like to get my dining room painted and furniture bought before Thanksgiving, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. At least not the furniture. Gregg’s passed his IT exams and is currently studying for his network test, but he’ss till sans job. Which means sans paycheck. Oh, well. It’s just Mom coming for Thanksgiving – Mum and Daud will be west Texas so we can easily eat turket sandwiches at the kitchen table.

I jest, I jest. I am planning on making (with Mom’s help) a turkey this year, complete with stuffing, veggies, and Yorkshire puds. I can easily make them, but now I’m just working out all the kinks – mainlymy timing and my my shapes. I can’ts seem to evenly pour the batter, so I keep getting the weirdest shaped puds ever. Gregg seems to like them, though. He’s a cutie pie.

Maybe I’ll upload some pictures of the pond today, but for now, I’ll just leave you with a picture of Megan, the one-eyed pirate cat:

Yar! Happy Halloween!

Eep! The day has come and you haven’t organised a thing!

Don’t panic. Follow these steps to have a simple and money friendly halloween bash.

1. CANDLES

I’m sure every house in the world has a stash of candles. If not, you should! What if you have a powercut guys? They are an essential kitchen cupboard ingredient. If you don’t have any however, Ikea will sell you about a billion for a pound (disclaimer: this is an exageration)

2. SKULL CONFETTI

Sprinkle this over your table, on your shelves, on a plate, by your TV. Wherever. Just adds a little spook to your party. Plus its super cheap and super convenient from Tesco.

3. PUMPKIN FOOD

Super easy seasonal dish to make. All you need is pasta, bacon, pumpkin, creme fraiche. Bosh! Sorted!

4. SCARY MOVIE

If you don’t already have something hiding in the back of your cupboard lots of stores have scary movie deals on at the moment. Or there’ll be lots of choice on le TV today too.

5. FACE PAINT

Use your face paint left over from last year or go buy a tube from the millions of places that sell it this time of year and splat yourself with blood or ‘Kiss-up’ your face. Easy peasy!

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Hello, Well Ovbiously Tomorrow Is HALLOWEEN!! And To kick It Off Here Is A Huge List Of Movies That Will Be Broad casted Tomorrow: I Have Organized Them By The Channel.

FX- TV-14 Movies

Ghost Rider

Halloween H2O- 20 Years Later

ABC Family- TV-PG & TV-14

Scooby Doo-TV-PG

Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed-TV-PG

Edward Scissor Hands-TV-PG

Batman-TV-14

Batman Returns-TV-14

Batman Forever-TV-14

MTV-TV-14

Scream 3

Halloween-Ressurection

E!-TV-14

20 Most Horrifying Hollywood Murders

Comedy Central-TV-14

Scary Movie

Scary Movie 3

Even Though I Wrote TV-14 All These Movies Are PG-13 But The TV is stupid and puts tv-14 :p…..Well Since I’m In The  Halloween Spirit…

CONTEST TIME!!  =)

*Post Your Costume Name With A Picture

*Leave Your Name E-Mail And Website (Optional)

*Winner Gets On My BlogRoll For 1 Month A Post All About Them And Author On My Site

* Runner-Up Gets Blogroll For Life.

Have Fun!

~Jaayy =)

With the buzz surrounding the recent release of Paranormal Activity, audiences are lining up to watch this season’s biggest, although cheapest, scary movie.  The independent, low budget film starring unknown actors and filmed with one hand-held camera is racking up numbers at the box office and filling the pockets of those involved with making the film.

But is it worth the hype?

Reports from early screenings give details of viewers leaving the theater half way through the film because they were too scared to stay until the end and theater staffers standing guard to assist frightened viewers.  When I watched the film last night in my local theater, a theater worker stood sentinel at the door.  I’ve patronized this theater for several years, and I’ve never encountered a theater worker watching the door BEFORE the movie.  There was a mass exodus about half way through the film, but I doubt it’s because the movie patrons were terrified.  They left more because the film is slow and predictable for anyone who has ever watched any horror film of any kind or because they thought they should in order to be as cool as the hype or because the shaky hand held camera action made them nauseous.  I also saw adults leaving (not just spooked teenagers), and I’m sure it had more to do with the distractions from the audience than the film.

The theater was packed with hordes of nervous (planted?) teenagers who giggled and whispered through the entire film.  They screamed at the slightest jump moment.  They ooohed and ahhhed at the slightest scary moment.  As an adult who’s seen a few horror films and cable television programs in my lifetime, I’m not certain any of the moments in Paranormal Activity were scary enough for screaming.  In fact, I don’t recall any moment worthy of a gasp.

I will give kudos to the filmmakers and the actors.  For a low budget film, they did a great job, and the hand-held camera home movie documentary style worked.*  I’ve also read that much of the dialogue between the two main characters was improvised, so kudos for that, too.

Basically, the audience and the pre-viewing hype ruined the movie.  If you haven’t seen Paranormal Activity yet, don’t.  Wait until it’s released on DVD and watch it at home.  Alone.  In the dark.  With your own house creaking and popping.  And the refrigerator and furnace clicking on and off.  Then it will be a good, scary film.  Or not.

*Spoiler:  There are two flaws in this film.  First, the story took about 30 minutes more to tell than it needed.  I checked my watch a few times, and I saw others in the theater check theirs, too.  And the second, it’s obviously a pillow.  That’s all I can write about that without giving anything away.  But, yes, it’s a pillow, and if it’s not a pillow, it sure looked like a pillow.