On a night far colder than it should’ve been, I stood outside of the UCB Theater in Chelsea after a screening of Mystery Team. Out there I interviewed the guys from Derrick Comedy prior to their being picked up for a city-by-city release in what would later become “The Paranormal Activity way.”
It came as a surprise to almost everyone that Paramount’s Activity managed to usurp Lionsgate’s long-standing Saw franchise this weekend by $8 million . In a way, it’s worth praising a tiny independent film with a simple grassroots campaign for knocking down a mini-major juggernaut with nearly six years’ worth of convoluted yet perfunctory plot and back story.
But that wasn’t what happened. In fact, Paramount relied on the age-old basis that if you make people think they have power, they’ll surely feel like they’ve done something with their opinion. And you don’t get any more petty, opinionated or power-drunk than with film nerds.
Which is why we, collectively, like Paranormal Activity .
Happy Thursday! In a few hours, there’s a new episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show, but before that here’s the news you should use when arguing with bus drivers:
-John Lichman
Above, my introduction. Below, the new trailer for Derrick Comedy’s Mystery Team. Below that, the original trailer for Mystery Team. And then, my name.
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The original. That is clearly not Green Band.
-Brett Erlich
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