Author name: Lawrence Napoli

More Lord of the Rings?

A Film Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

By: Lawrence Napoli

[*Note, the reviewer did see this film opening weekend but met up with health complications which is why this review is coming out now.]

Peter Jackson is to be credited for making The Lord of the Rings trilogy an instant classic featuring incredible cinematography, costume design, set design, visual effects and performance which garnered unparalleled success from “The Academy” for the fantasy genre by winning best picture of the year for Return of the King.  That kind of legendary success makes any follow-up film or franchise a tad anticlimactic; that is, unless one decides to go back to the same well of success.  The danger inherent of revisiting iconic greatness of the past is that the new story will always be compared to the original which is completely unfair and totally natural.  Would the Star Wars prequels not have been be considered as inferior to episodes 4-6 had they been released chronologically?  The prized fiction of the Tolkien estate will now go through the exact same scrutiny with a second trek through Middle Earth with another trilogy which happens to be a prequel tale. 

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Once more into the breach.

Let me be perfectly clear.  This first installment of The Hobbit looks, sounds and feels a little too much like Fellowship of the Ring.  A group of adventurers assemble to go on a quest, a ton of walking is featured, there are plenty of fights with monsters, there is a riveting escape through a subterranean stronghold and Gandalf is back with a bearded vengeance.  These are the facts of this film’s plot and they are undisputed.  Now, I didn’t just spoon feed the entire movie, but these elements combine for the vast majority of the screen time and none of it seems fresh.  The leader of the Dwarven expedition has the same personality and looks (minus height) of Aragorn.  The countryside of New Zealand is as vast and beautiful as the landscapes from every other LotR film.  Although trolls and goblins are featured more as antagonists, they serve the same function as orcs: brutal antagonists that are grotesque looking.  The goblin lair looks eerily similar to and was shot with the same bird’s eye view and dynamic angles as the Mines of Moria sequence.  Gandalf still shows off his intimidating “scolding spell” where his shadow expands and his voice gets super deep and loud so as to get his point across with zero talk-back.  Been there; done that.

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These nasties are fatter than I’m used to.

Screenwriters Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro wrote these elements into the screenplay because they are easy connections for the audience to make with the LotR trilogy which generates familiarity with The Hobbit.  I’m not entirely sure how critical these overt connections are to the story when the setting, environments and ambiance of Middle Earth such as the Shire and Rivendale are themselves so rich and unmistakably LotR that it would have been nice to spend more time exploring Bilbo Baggins, the person, prior to this adventure.  As it is, the audience is given a peripheral glance at the main character’s lineage via Gandalf and the audience is to simply accept that this Hobbit in particular should be more prominent than pursuing a simple existence of peace and serenity.  Bilbo’s motive for eventually risking life and limb for the ragtag group of dwarves is understandable, but not entirely personal.  Unlike Frodo, who carries the burden of the one ring specifically to save the Shire (and Middle Earth by extension); Bilbo is shamed into not being bored anymore.  What we have here is a plot that suffers from stakes that aren’t as high as an army of darkness threatening to conquer all of Middle Earth.  It’s almost like the difference between a space station that blows up planets versus a trade federation blockade.  If the story cannot be written to be more grandiose than it is, an opportunity to make it more personal is ripe for the picking and this simply didn’t happen in The Hobbit.  Yes, yes, we have to get right into the sword fights ASAP, but the action alone didn’t make LotR great.  Why should it be any different for The Hobbit?

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Do they expect me to use this bloody thing?

For all the similarities The Hobbit has with the LotR trilogy, one extremely good thing they share in common is the overall production value that never ceases to amaze with every frame.  The lighting is beautiful, the set pieces are tremendous, the costumes are superb, the weapons look gorgeous, the landscapes are breathtaking and the CG work is clean and seamless.  I give two thumbs way, way up for production designer Dan Hennah, art director Simon Bright and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie.  I didn’t even mind the 3D element of the visual presentation although this effect never comes close to being described as “a vital element to the viewing experience.”  Unfortunately, I seem to have watched The Hobbit at the standard 3D frame rate so I cannot comment on the utter horror that some are expressing over the 48 FPS controversy.  I simply consider myself fortunate for not experiencing something else that may have sullied the film for me because visual style was one of the best aspects of this movie.

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The culinary talents of trolls.

Performances are once again a high point for this fantasy story and it all begins with Ian McKellen as Gandalf.  Although this is meant to be Bilbo’s story, there is no question that Gandalf is the engine and McKellen delivers a carbon copied, heart-warming performance that harkens back to the original trilogy as if it were created yesterday.  He is every bit the grandfatherly sage who oozes charisma and respect which is vital for this kind of story because Gandalf’s character is responsible for a healthy amount of exposition which needs to be relayed to the audience without boredom setting in.  Perhaps the most enjoyable part of McKellen’s performance is his variety of vocal intonation from calm and soothing, to worried and troubled, to enraged and aggressive.

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I’m cuter than Aragorn because I come in bite size.

Bilbo Baggins is initially reprised by actor Ian Holm who played an elderly Bilbo in the original trilogy, but as The Hobbit is a tale of Bilbo’s youth, Martin Freeman assumes the mantle of the protagonist for this tale.  Bilbo is perhaps one of the most unassuming, everyman characters in all of fiction, thus the need to communicate genuine shock and awe at this amazing new world that gets opened up to him thanks to Gandalf, is essential.  Freeman is an excellent choice for this part as his mannerisms (particularly in his face) sell Bilbo far better than any line of dialogue.  Freeman is clearly going for common pragmatism in his approach to this hobbit (as opposed to misty-eyed altruism in Elijah Wood’s Frodo) which produces excellent reactions on his part in scenes where his character acts uncharacteristically brave and Bilbo is stunned at what he just did. 

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Why does everyone take advantage of me?

The supporting cast, however, is somewhat of a disappointment to me.  No, this criticism does not apply in one instance to Andy Serkis whose continued performance as Gollum is masterful, creepy, amusing and sly.  It does directly apply to the primary antagonist or rather the lack of a singular identifiable threat.  Certainly, Gollum is the one ring’s initial bearer and an obstruction in Bilbo’s path, but he isn’t particularly nefarious due to the sympathetic manner he is presented on the screen.  The orc lord that hunts the dwarven expedition is about as cookie-cutter as monsters get and reminds me of the utter irrelevance of every orc that came before in the original trilogy.  The exact same thing can be said of the Goblin King.  Although this film does contain an appearance from Saruman, he isn’t quite the evil bastard he becomes. 

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Is precious the MVP of this film?

I simply did not care for any of the dwarven companions.  It has less to do with their independent performances and more with the fact there are so many of them with so few lines and equally rare opportunities to be relevant on screen. The original “fellowship” had far fewer members with a more diverse racial composition which is indispensable for the audience’s ability to identify and compartmentalize each character’s contributions.  The one shining spot was the group’s brief performance of “Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold” in Bilbo’s house which was eerily warm and a nice addendum to the CG, fantasy and violence.

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The mountains are lovely, dark and deep.

The Hobbit is a very good film, but mark my words.  Not one of these Hobbit films will equal the greatness of any individual chapter of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Taking one book and spreading out the plot thin enough to accommodate three films may be an adaptation strategy that pays off in the future, but not for this prequel trilogy and especially not if Peter Jackson is hell bent on presenting it in the same form as the originals.  I realize that the story is building up to an epic confrontation with Smaug the dragon, but as spectacular as I’m sure that sequence will be, the audience needs something else to peak our interests in the meanwhile.  So many film franchises these days are featuring large casts with marquee actors filling out the roster and the method of balancing story with character seems to be the real trick to making good films versus great films.  Only time will tell if the story of The Hobbit will step up its game with The Desolation of Smaug set for release this coming December.

The Legend of Lincoln

A Film Review of Lincoln

By: Lawrence Napoli

To quote fictional President Andrew Sheperd, “America isn’t easy.  America is advanced citizenship.  You gotta want it bad.”  Of course, the most common perception of “citizenship” in today’s America is layered with apathy, entitlement, conspiracy, cynicism and a general opinion of “my vote doesn’t count.”  It’s easy to presume that this zeitgeist has always existed through the course of American history, but if we are to presume any historical accuracy of a film such as Lincoln (and the impressive list of institutions at the end of the credit scroll certainly suggests it), I would have to disagree with that statement.  One key difference between the Civil War era and today was the existence of bold and true leadership in the past.  Few American politicians are recognized in a positive light for any reason and fewer still are noted as such in the course of their active civil service.  This film, however, is clear about identifying the genuine love and respect for Abraham Lincoln within the remaining union by his constituents and opponents respectively.  Make no mistake, politicians of yesteryear are portrayed as no less agenda-affiliated, arrogant and underhanded as they clearly are today, but there was and will never be “another” Abraham Lincoln as this individual’s resolve, intelligence, charisma and presence places him above and beyond the eternal rat race that is American politics.

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The man, the myth, the legend.

Lincoln’s script was penned by Tony Kushner which is partly based on the novel Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln written by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  The story is a biopic period piece that centers on the presidency of Abraham Lincoln during the time preceding the passage of the 13^th Amendment to the American constitution and the formal end of the Civil War.  Although the story does center on Lincoln, the president – Lincoln, the man; it is also happens to be a very thorough observation of the day to day operations of the federal government at the time.  As much as Lincoln has been historically identified with emancipation, this film acknowledges the efforts of several others to help make that a political reality.  This film is an exquisitely executed dialogue driven drama, but viewer beware.  This film severely lacks action so those who can’t lock into a 2.5 hour session of verbal sparring may be turned off, yet this fact really doesn’t hurt this film due to the strong performances by the entire cast.  The most powerful element of this story is the portrayal of Lincoln himself.  His history and legend is undeniable, but his portrayal as a grounded human being, humble and grandfatherly infuses Lincoln’s legacy with the essence of real world heroism that turns him into one of the truly super human beings in the history of humanity.  As horrible as this point in American history was, this film showed it wasn’t completely devoid of merit.

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Troubling times to say the least.

Director Steven Spielberg once again showcases his knack for dramatizing American history in a way that is interesting, relatable and entertaining, but the one element that sells all of his films beyond the special/visual effects, costumes, sets and production value, is the performance.  Spielberg gets maximum effort from his actors and you can point directly towards his ability to communicate and empower even those who may have bit parts to produce signature performances.  Even the most arrogant, ignorant and clueless graduate of UCLA film school could direct Daniel Day-Lewis in his or her sleep, but very few seasoned professionals could get something special out of Sally Field, whom I initially thought was a complete miscast for the role of Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln.  Spielberg shows his passion for the subjects he researches and it reflects in his casts’ performances which impacts the outcome of the final cut of his films.  His work proves that there is a significant difference between directors and auteurs.

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True blue Union soldiers.

The cast of Lincoln demonstrates what a roster of seasoned veterans can do when they are all focused on the task at hand.  I must begin with Sally Field as Mrs. Lincoln who hasn’t wowed me in anything since her performance in Forest Gump back in 1994.  Her rendition of Mary tip-toed around her historic turbulent relationship with Abraham by consistently maintaining the character’s maternal passion for her children as well as her intellectual confidence by holding her own with her husband’s coworkers amidst the business of government.  David Stratharin is one of my favorite actors and his portrayal of Secretary of State William Seward was that of a true brother in arms with Lincoln equally devoted to his ideals and the effort required in reunifying the United States.  James Spader delivers another smarmy yet poignant performance as the obscure lobbyist WN Bilbo.  You’ll remember Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger and Rorschach, but he delivers a very dignified performance as Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacy (P.S. Jackie bears a frightening facial resemblance to this man).  And of course, who can ever forget to mention Tommy Lee Jones in any production let alone his performance as Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln.  I am happy to report that his flaccid performance in MIB III is not repeated here as his ability to shift status as Lincoln’s antagonist and uneasy ally proves that he’s still very much engaged in the Hollywood acting game.

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I am NOT over the hill!

The Academy can give Daniel Day-Lewis the Oscar for best actor in a leading role right now.  As much as I eagerly anticipate Les Misérables and earmark it as the best film of the year before having seen 1 second of it, no one will approach this man’s performance as Abraham Lincoln.  Sometimes the Oscar is given to a great actor.  Sometimes it’s given for the performance of a great role.  However, the combination of a great actor producing a great performance in an iconic role would be downright criminal to be recognized as anything less than the best.  Abraham Lincoln may have always been known as a great man, but Daniel Day-Lewis reminds us of his humanity, intelligence and humility (and NOT his fictional abilities as a vampire hunter).  For one brief instant in time the audience is given an intimate window of the past and Abraham Lincoln is as real as he has ever been portrayed on film.  Daniel Day-Lewis may not be as marketable as the likes of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, but his ability as a thespian makes him a clear cut above the rest.

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Give him the Oscar; NOW, NOW, NOW!

Lincoln is one of the best films of 2012.  History junkies may find themselves in fantasyland while watching this film.  Most Americans will be moved by an exceptional recreation of one of the most dramatic and dangerous moments in American history.  Some who still identify with Confederate culture may be incensed by this film’s existence, but should not feel disrespected by how the Confederacy is portrayed.  Anyone interested in experiencing a cinematic period piece will be satiated by fine writing, directing, acting, historical accuracy and production value.  Lincoln is the furthest thing from the concept of a “popcorn film,” but it is very fulfilling and fully solidified Abraham Lincoln in my mind as the greatest American, ever.

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Trust me, this is not the scene you think it is.

The Universal Human Experience

A Film Review of Cloud Atlas

By: Lawrence Napoli

What does it mean to be human?  Every person in history has struggled with this question in some way shape or form.  What links us all is the human experience: we eat, sleep, see, feel, hear – we are aware of ourselves and our environments and culminate everything our bodies take in via thought and from that the individual exudes behavior.  However, people are not the same and individuals change as constantly as time, but it still makes one wonder.  With this fundamental truth that binds us together, why do human beings do terrible things to each other?  This rumination may be a tad heady for a common film review, but Cloud Atlas is a film that attempts to comment on the (ever-evolving?) state of humanity and being aware of this philosophical perspective is the key to appreciating and understanding this movie. 

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We’re all in this together!

Cloud Atlas is not a film for everyone as there are three aspects of this production that may turn off the average member of the audience: 1) there are 6 separate plots occurring simultaneously, 2) the action is very light and 3) attentiveness and intellectual engagement is a must.  Having said that, this film succeeds in accomplishing some of what it sets out to do while coming up short in presenting cohesiveness in a 3 hour film adapted from a 544 page novel by David Mitchell.  The screenplay was written by Tom Tykwer and Lana and Andy Wachowski and it attempts to translate the 6 stories in a synchronous, narrative format.  This film is not like Pulp Fiction where the beginning, middle and end are completely out of order.  The confusion in the script may come from the viewer’s ability to retain progression in each story up to a point and then repeat 5 other times before it picks up again in the first story.  This happens for the duration of the film until each plot resolves in a well balanced and timed progression.

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Tom Hanks, the villain.

The fact that each story is very different can be a bit of a double edged sword in that it provides wonderful variety, but some stories will be much more compelling than others.  Character development comes up fairly weak as well because every actor plays different roles in each story, so be prepared to see Tom Hanks as both the hero and villain with differing levels of intensity.  Being a dialogue driven film, this script maximizes creativity in its exposition to get right into the drama of each plot immediately, but this leaves the burden of generating spectacle on the shifting set design and scenery due to the aforementioned lack of action.  No single plot can be identified as the marquee tale of Cloud Atlas as they all have completely different agendas and political/philosophical undertones to them, but they equally involve the struggle of people, circumstance and the time in which they live.  The true strength of this story is showing that despite the ever shifting perspective of good and evil as a result of time and circumstance (thank you Obi-Wan Kenobi), individuals will always take sides as a result of their unique thoughts and interpretations of the human experience.  It is perhaps this observation which explains humanity’s affinity for conflict.

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Neo-Seoul Korea in the year 2144 accounts for the majority of the action.

Cloud Atlasis a film that has no major film studio affiliation and despite that, it still garnered a budget of just over $100 million dollars through various independent finances.  As such, this budget afforded Cloud Atlas a very impressive, professional and hi-fidelity look to compliment its equally high browed themes.  The production design of each respective story is wrought with unique color palates, background detail, interesting costume choices and efficient use of visual effects that makes this overall film seem like it was budgeted for far more than originally allocated.  When one factors in the excellent performances from every featured actor: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Wishaw, Keith David and James D’Arcy, this film ceases to amaze when it comes to raw production value.  This is the first film I have ever seen that truly combines the period piece genre with sci-fi in a way that was completely serious, dramatic and complimentary to the script. 

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Moments of drama, moments of wonder.

Every actor’s performance is respectable throughout Cloud Atlas.  Since character status, role and relevance is constantly shifting, it is impossible for me to evaluate performance the way I normally do.  Hanks and Berry provide anchor performances for every character they play which allows the audience to connect with their characters most easily since they are the two biggest names attached to this cast.  My standout performances had to be Ben Wishaw’s Robert Frobisher (the true composer of The Cloud Atlas Sextet), Hugo Weaving’s Nurse Noakes (who channels Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest perfectly) and Ketih David’s Joe Napier (whose demonstrative voice and stature makes Shaft look like a baby in comparison).  The two names that are most easily forgotten in this film are that of Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant who, like the rest, provide fractal roles in several of the individual stories, but whose performances could have been easily replaced by any other actor.    

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Keith David’s a bad mother … SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

Cloud Atlas is a very good film for the viewer that is up for some intellectual stimulation.  It is an entertaining film, but nowhere near the popcorn blockbusters of the summer.  It features several moments of high drama (like Sonmi-451’s final speech to the world) and moments of levity (Timothy Cavendish’s escape from a nursing home).  This film is a serious contender for all the production design categories of the Academy Awards, but is a pretender to the crown of best film overall.  Its tagline of “Everything is connected,” may be thematically correct, but does not execute as seamlessly on the big screen due to the time restrictions for each tale.  More time would have allowed for more parallels, but then this film is already 3 hours long.  Before this rather exceptional fall season of must-see films truly commences, Cloud Atlas is a great appetizer to the upcoming visual feast.

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Oh Hugo, why do you have a perfect villain’s face?

Been There, SAW That: Is Paranormal a Fatigued Franchise?

A Film Review of Paranormal Activity 4

By: Lawrence Napoli

I used to be a big believer in the Paranormal Activity franchise because the first film presented a unique take on the haunting genre by melding it with the visual style of “found footage.”  The second film really expanded on this story’s mythos in its attempts to dig up the family history of the Katie and Kristi sisters.  Then the third film came along and took a step back to revisit the literal past of the sisters as pre-teens that basically confirmed everything that the second film postulated.  This brings us to the present day and Paranormal Activity 4 which certainly delivers some new tricks to the trade of visual effects and “authentic” surveillance footage, but grinds the progression of the overall story to a screeching halt.  Evil sister Katie is still up to no good with a child we presume is Hunter who both happen to be set up in a brand new neighborhood and the audience will never be told or shown how or why.  It is clear that the Paranormal franchise has resolved itself to max profits by saturating its sequels with fluff; not entirely unlike a certain Saw franchise that deployed 6 sequels that declined in quality yet were dirt-cheap to produce.

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So mom, we totally got weird things happening around here.

Writer Chad Feehan joins PA veteran Christopher Landon in scribing a tale that makes no real attempt to connect to the narrative established in any of the previous films.  Simply carrying over the primary antagonist and dropping her in a completely new environment with no explanation how she got there is confusing to anyone who is familiar with the saga.  Sure enough, series mainstays like authentic and believable dialogue in addition to unassuming yet ever-threatening environments play to this film’s strengths, but none of it stands on its own as we’ve all seen this before.  It is so easy for horror franchises to fall into the whole auto-tuned, remix trap because to a large extent, the audience secretly covets the predictability as well as the same old gags that got people hooked in the first place (although the allure of mailing-it-in on the creativity front is perhaps more seductive).  The franchise fatigue of been-there/SAW-that shows at the box office as PA4’s money total is way behind its predecessor’s sales.  Needless to say, the much coveted word of mouth praise for these types of thrifty horror films isn’t there primarily because the story just isn’t there. 

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I’m used to appearing in other people’s houses.

I don’t mean to take anything away from the neat ideas the writers and directors came up with to keep the presentation of this film somewhat fresh.  Instead of camcorders, the protagonists rely on cell phones and laptop webcams to provide the handheld and static perspectives of the twisted events surrounding yet another seemingly innocent suburban family.  Once again the visual effects of ghostly apparitions and surprise scares are integrated seamlessly by effects supervisor Eddie Pasquarello.  Without question, the highlight of this film (effect-wise) is any scene that features the night vision exposed motion tracking dots of the Xbox Kinect in the family room.  Even scenes where nothing actually happens are creepy enough to heighten the suspense of the moment which primes the audience for very decent chills when something does.

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I guess demons can enjoy Just Dance 4 like the rest of us. 

Horror films traditionally do not feature award winning performances and guess what?  Paranormal Activity 4 isn’t breaking that trend any time soon.  Of course, the very format of this film doesn’t exactly give any actor the opportunity to succeed.  Seldom is the case that anyone is in front of the camera long enough for the audience to read into the character’s expressions or emotions.  Often is the case where the actors are asked to do absolutely nothing during a scene in order to build suspense.  The entire cast does its job by presenting a well off, suburban family that isn’t entirely close, but not coming apart at the seams either.  The one standout has to be the young actress Kathryn Newton’s performance as the older sister, Alex because she happens to be featured more often than any other member of the cast.  Clearly, she is a very attractive girl that maintains the burden of making any kind of connection to the audience by conveying sheer terror and/or concern in what her character experiences.  Yes, PA4 continues to promote the significance of female characters over males (once again, a jerk of a boyfriend is featured in Matt Shively’s rendition of Ben).

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Why are all children creepy and evil in these movies!?

Let’s not mince words: Paranormal Activity 4 is another fun little “found footage” horror flick, but clearly a step in the wrong direction of franchise fatigue.  The audience is clamoring for a new perspective on this tiring formula.  For instance: who is collecting all this footage to designate the respective nights where “incidents” occur?  Where are the police amidst all these unexplained murders all these years?  If the K&K sisterly coven is real, is there no entity of holy and/or paranormal police to deal with these malevolent groups?  There is so much potential to warp the Paranormal formula to truly do the unexpected and feature a brand new perspective on these events which would revitalize the narrative and actually justify another sequel.  A fifth Paranormal Activity has been confirmed for next year in addition to a spinoff that will feature a Latin flavor to it.  Expanding the brand name is good so long as the fundamentals of fiction are being adhered to.  However, if remixing, retooling and rebooting is the engine of expansion, the audience will be sure to send a clear and expedient message that the “same old” isn’t worth anyone’s time or money.