According to Variety, Cinemark has pulled the trailer for Paranormal Activity 2 from several theaters in my homestate of Texas because, apparently, filmgoers (the majority of whom were apparently in the theater to see Twilight: Eclipse) complained that it was too frightening.
Uhmmm….right.
I’ve seen the trailer for Paranormal Activity 2 online and, to be honest, the scariest thing about it is that it confirms that a sequel was actually made to Paranormal Activity One.
(As a sidenote, the PA 2 trailer recycles the old footage of viewers supposedly jumping in fright while watching the first film. I always wondered just who exactly these idiots were and whether or not they’d ever actually seen a movie before.)
This whole thing seems to be an old-fashioned publicity stunt designed to create word-of-mouth among the type of people who probably think that the obnoxious filmmakers in Cannibal Holocaust actually were eaten by cannibals at the end of the movie.
It’s especially interesting that these complaints supposedly came from Texas. I suppose that’s going to be the new advertising angle — Paranormal Activity 2: The Movie So Scary That Even Texans Are Afraid To Watch. I imagine that now filmgoers are supposed to say, “Wow, it’s got to be scary! I mean, we expect that sort of cowardly behavior from those new age hippies in Vermont but these are cowboys here!”
(By the way, I’m from Texas and I’ve never worn a cowboy hat and I don’t own a horse. I do say “y’all” on occasion. Seriously though, FUCK VERMONT. Sorry, I’ve always wanted to say that.)
I have to be honest, as much as I disliked the first Paranormal Activity, this publicity stunt has won the filmmakers a very small place in my heart. This is the type of shameless, silly stunt that would make the grindhouse proud. Hopefully, they’ll have a nurse present at all screenings of Paranormal Activity 3.
Anyway, if you think you can handle it, here’s the trailer that’s apparently too scary for Texas:
Through the Shattered Lens 
Just a quick afterthought: I’m not sure what the plot of Paranormal Activity 2 is though apparently they’re still determined to pretend that this is all just “found footage” as opposed to slick Hollywood averageness. Perhaps Micah comes back from the dead — now that would be scary!
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The premise that “Twilight” fans would find PA 2 too frightening, whether true or not, says more about them than the new film, and is (unintentionally, I’m sure) amusing.
PA 1, not surprisingly, was far more annoying than scary. I recall one ten-second scene that was a bit intense, but that was only because nothing that preceded it or followed it was even slightly so – it was a matter of relativity. (“My God, did you see that pillow move?!”)
Maybe the PA movies are resetting the bar back down to where it was decades ago. Horror movies have become so extreme that there is pretty much nowhere to go. If a new generation of fans is conditioned to find a whole lot of nothing, and then a little bit of something scary, it gives the horror industry room to build up again for awhile. Or maybe the producers have simply tapped into the easily frightened market.
I doubt that I’ll be paying to see PA 2. But if I do, and Micah has indeed returned, I will most definitely be demanding a refund.
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Unless, of course, he dies again. That would at least partially redeem the film
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LOL, I had forgotten that you had posted this. Always makes me laugh whenever people try to hype up these found footage-type films nowadays. I blame “The Blair Witch Project” for it.
They really can’t beat the “found footage” film of all “found footage” films: Cannibal Holocaust.
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hey, i just gotta say fuck texas. you and your express line for capital punishment. vermont is not full of a bunch of new age hippies and we sure as shit can take PA2 better than you can cowboy.
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HA! I know I’d eventually get one of you little Vermont toadsuckers to start crying about the death penalty! You Vermont people are so fucking predictable, how do you fucking live with yourselves!? I mean, come on! That’s how you’re going to insult a state? Do you think you’re the first person in the world to bring up cowboys and the death penalty? Wow, you’re so fucking pathetic because I bet you do think that you really are special and unique. I bet you probably think that you’re the first person to ever give head for money too. Wow. How sad.
By the way, you may say that you’re not a new age hippie but c’mon — nauticalstarphotography@yahoo.com? What type of dumbfug e-mail address is that? Also, what type of name is Fern? Seriously, you say you’re not a tree hugger and then your fucking name is Fern? C’mon, who is fooling who here?
Also, if you would take a closer look, I think you’ll see that I’m definitely not a cowboy. 🙂 I have to wear a bra just like you do though since you’re a new age hippie from Vermont named Fern, I’m sure you’ve never actually worn a bra and your tits are probably dragging across the perfect, green Vermont landscape.
Now, go off and sit in your fucking little Hybrid and cry your fucking little eyes out about having to raise children in this strife-filled world, you fucking little worthless piece of mainstream decay. 😉
Oh, and in case there’s any doubt — Love ya, sweetie.
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heh heh … I’m so mean. 🙂
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Seems Akismet is not foolproof when it comes to filtering out spam and trolls.
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Technically, she’s not a troll. She’s a Fern.
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Hmmm, maybe thats why Akismet got confused.
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Fern, you prove that stupid people will always get upset over the stupidest shit.
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Hmmmm…I’m okay with cowboys and capital punishment (as long as they’re definitely guilty, of course). I suppose, in the interest of diplomacy (and you seem so interested in diplomacy :)), you might at least have apologized for George Bush.
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lol. I’ll apologize for Bush after Illinois apologizes for Obama. 🙂
The difference between Vermont and Texas is that governors from Vermont run for President and governors from Texas actually become President. 🙂
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Let’s see –
Bush – Hundreds of thousands of people dead for no damn reason, a country likely permanently destabilized, the Taliban allowed to regroup while the aforementioned destabilization was carried out, our armed forces stretched so thin that they couldn’t adequately take on a legitimate military threat, the transformation of the largest budget surplus in the nation’s history to trillions of dollars of debt, actions and policies that have caused us to be hated more deeply by more people around the world than ever before, he can’t construct a cohesive sentence (witness the verbal train wrecks that occurred when he strayed from his scripts, ), the dumbest president in modern times…. (I’ll stop there, but there is plenty more.) And, we don’t really know whether or not he legitimately became President, thanks to the Supreme Court.
Obama – Two years in, he has not yet solved the many and massive problems that were in place at the time he took office, most of which were caused or intensified by the previous administration. He is intelligent and eloquent, and he thinks before he speaks and acts. At worst he has enacted strategies that are of questionable efficacy, and are opposed by many (largely because of intelligence-insulting misinformation campaigns), and have not had time to work.
Yeah, pretty much the same level of incompetence and damage. 🙂
I don’t want to corrupt this wonderful Entertainment site and forum that y’all (my homage to Texas) provide with political polemics. But Bush’s bumblefuckedness was so profound that it transcends politics (and defies credulity). I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. This guy is just an idiot, and a dangerous one, at that. If Obama, oh, I don’t know…declares war on both China and Russia and sells Hawaii to Japan, we can talk then. For now, he has an astronomically long way to go before he would be “Bush league” bad.
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Oh please. Obama is just pretending to be President. It’s like he’s seen a bunch of movies that feature Presidents and he’s trying to imitate them. He’s the mainstream movie version of a leader and unfortunately, we’re living in a grindhouse world.
As for Obama’s intelligence, have you actually sat down and had a conversation with the man? He may be the political equivalent of Jean Renior but until he makes a film as good The Rules of the Game, I’m not going to just embrace him just because he’s not George Bush.
Besides, the point is this — why should Texas have to apologize for Bush? I get sick of that elitist bullshit. Just like I get sick of people fixating on Texans saying “y’all” as if we’re the only ones in this country with a familiar accent. I mean, come on. You want to talk about insulting someone’s intelligence? What’s insulting — both personally and intellectually — is this idea that someone’s worth can be determined by where they were born.
That said, Vermont is the exception to that rule because Vermont just sucks.
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Ha. Yes, well, again, my comments were not an endorsement of Obama. I was simply making the distinction between their relative apology-obligating statuses. But even that was not the serious part. I don’t think states are responsible for the morons that spring from within their state loins. Although Texas did elect Bush Governor…Nonetheless, it’s not their fault that he became a national embarrassment, and an international menace.
I have not sat down (or stood, for that matter) and had a conversation with Obama. But I have seen and heard conversations wherein journalists have done so with each of them. Obama clearly thinks better on his feet – he can respond spontaneously and thoroughly, actually answering complex questions. Bush…well, you’ve heard the guy. More importantly, Obama considers his words and actions more carefully than Bush. That indicates better judgment, which is crucial for a world leader.
Look at it this way – If an advanced race of extraterrestrial beings landed on earth, emerged from their space craft, and one of them said. “Take me to your leader.”, would you really want to point them toward W? REALLY? THAT guy? That guy represents our best and brightest?
The “y’all” reference was an intentionally simplistic joke, and assumed to be interpreted thus. Sort of like telling an Australian to put another shrimp on the barbie’. It’s a facetious invocation of a stereotype, and if anything is self-deprecating – if the speaker really thought everyone from the region speaks that way, they are an idiot.
So no, you and other Texans don’t have to apologize for Bush. And Obama has not yet lived up to the hype. Who could? The point was, apology jokes notwithstanding, I don’t care whether or not someone likes Obama. I am apolitical.* But any intimation or assertion that Obama is anywhere near as bad as Bush is ridiculous.
* “If you think you’re part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” ~ George Carlin
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See, once again, we are going to have to agree to disagree as far as Obama being eloquent is concerned. Whenever I’ve seen him actually have to answer a question without a prepared response, I’ve just seen him stumble through a lot of platitudes.
But anyway, let us not fight among ourselves while the true enemy remains Vermont.
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Simplest answer would be to make me President…and my first official proclamation is to change the title to God-Emperor. 😀
I probably won’t do any worst than the last couple POTUS we’ve had.
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If I was President, the first thing I would do is declare free everything. Free lunch, free movies, free money, and free love. Especially free love. 🙂
And I would rename the country Lisa’s Country. 🙂
Also, if I was President, I would repaint the White House and I would have them put a fake cemetary in right next to it and every night, on the news, they’d have to say, “President Bowman is at the House By The Cemetary tonight…”
Oh! And I’d also reopen all the old grindhouse theaters in New York City. And I would send Danny Trejo down to Mexico to fight the drug cartels.
And I would make Harvey Levin the new Attorney General and I would make Jeff Probst our ambassador to the UN. 🙂
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So the alien landing thing didn’t sway you? Okay, then.
Alas. Poor Vermont.
Arleigh, you’ve got my vote. It’s your humility that makes you better than the rest of us.
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Although now that I see Ms. Bowman’s plans, I will have to say that she has a much more specific platform. An an equal amount of humility.
This is going to be tough choice.
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