Returning to the Bloor for it's first big screen appearance in Toronto since 2010, NY Export: Opus Jazz is a dazzling dance film you probably wouldn't believe was made by one of the co-directors of Catfish and the last two Paranormal Activity films and the cinematographer of Martha Marcy May Marlene working together. It's a real hidden gem and a true big screen dance experience.
We talk to ReFocus Film series founder Jeff Wright - who screens the coal black comedy See You Next Tuesday at 9pm on Thursday, August 29th for free with a director and star Q&A at Toronto's Revue Cinema - to talk about he formation of the series, his booking process, his amazement at how series alums have seen their careers take off in recent years, why the series is free, the film that got away from him, and, of course, his most recent selection.
Stepping away a bit from elements that made the previous entry in the franchise an entertaining one, the strain really begins to show in Paranormal Activity 4.
Filled with the requisite amount of jump scares the haunted house sub-genre demands, Paranormal Activity 3 delivers the goods in an interestingly different manner than its two predecessors and in a way that will leave fans of the micro-budget horror series clamouring for a fourth entry. Not everything adds up perfectly, but the one thing that many people will deride it for doing is actually the biggest strength of the film: hinting at a possibility that the series might be ready to go in a more interesting direction. In this respect the film is certainly an improvement over the second film and in many ways it manages to be superior to the original.
