Afraid to go to sleep – Paranormal Activity hits US cinemas
It’s the surprise hit of the year. Audiences across the US are afraid to go to sleep after watching a horror film made by Israeli filmmaker Oren Peli. The low budget movie reportedly cost just $11,000 to produce, but reviewers are calling it the most scary film ever made. Think Blair Witch Project, only worse.
The movie, Paranormal Activity , was filmed in 2006 over a seven-day period. It was set in Peli’s own suburban tract home with a crew of just three including his then-girlfriend Toni Taylor, and best friend (also Israeli) Amir Zbeda.
The film was released in fewer than 200 theaters, but raked in $7.1 million in one weekend – a record for a limited release film.
The film, about a couple who think their house is haunted, has now been picked up by Paramount Pictures . It bills itself as “the first-ever major film release demanded by you.”
Peli is not your usual blockbuster movie type director. He dropped out of school at 16, to set up his own software company. Three years later he immigrated to the US with Zbeda and began work developing animation and video game programs.
He got the idea for the film when he moved into a new home and found the sudden quiet of suburbia disturbing. The house was new and still settling, and at night he could hear the house shifting and groaning.
He wrote a script, fixed up his house a bit, held a casting session in Hollywood, and hey presto, shot a movie. He edited it on his own home PC, and then submitted it to Screamfest – a boutique festival for cult horror in LA.
The film was released in September with limited late-night showings at just 13 college towns, but the ball started rolling and the film became a web sensation on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Critics also jumped on board giving excellent reviews.
Originally Paramount planned to reshoot the film with better-known actors, but studio heads – including Steven Spielberg – decided it could stand as it was, with only a few tweaks.
Peli is now onto his next movie, a thriller called Area 51, but in the meantime Paramount Pictures releases Paranormal Activity at cinemas across the US on Friday. Get ready for some sleepless nights.
A new driver in the house
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life
I recently posted a status update on my Facebook account announcing that my 17-year-old daughter had passed her driving test, and we were now a four-driver family. The reactions were interesting – most of the Israeli responses were enthusiastic ‘mazal tovs’ while most of the American reactions were tempered with ‘oh dears’ and ‘why are you Israelis so happy, there’s another teen driver on the road.’
Well, we are quite happy for her, especially since it was her third test. That’s no reflection on her driving, as most young drivers here fail repeatedly at the hands of the driving instructors, who seem to follow their whim as to what the criteria is on a given day. It’s a wonder that Israeli drivers are as reckless and undisciplined as they are considering how much more difficult it is to acquire a license here than in the West.
After the first two tests, and 28 lessons with an instructor, we had to tell her she was on her own, and if she wanted another test, she’d have to finance it herself. Which she did, which I’m sure added to the satisfaction of the moment for her.
The other reason we’re not upset at all, is that despite having four drivers, we only have one car. So realistically, her actual driving time isn’t going to amount to much for the time being. Plus, she’s required to drive with a parent in the car for the first year. So, despite the young driver, we’ve still got her at arms’ length for a while.
Of course, it would be nice to be able to send her to the makolet for some milk and bread, or take her brother to his guitar lesson. But by the time she’ll be able to do that, she’ll be in the army – where maybe she’ll learn how to drive a tank.
Fashion in a global world
I imagine for Israeli fashion designer Mirit Weinstock it must be a blast. In a new project on her internet site, she invited her customers worldwide to send in photographs of themselves wearing her clothes.
Fashion becomes real - Mirit Weinstock as worn by New Zealander Daryia Bing.
It’s probably the ultimate accolade for a designer. Rather like a journalist feels when they see some stranger out on the street not only reading one of their articles, but actually commenting on it.
It also actually makes for pretty compulsive viewing to anyone with a vague interest in fashion. Since the website was launched at the end of January, women from over 30 countries have sent in self-portraits of themselves wearing items from Mirit’s collections.
The nice thing about seeing the same clothes on different people from around the world is that they look SO different. In our global world, people often complain that we all wear the same clothes from the same chains, and that we are losing our individuality.
But as Weinstock’s site, Miss Mi, proves, when someone in Italy puts on a Mirit Weinstock jacket, they don’t look the same as the woman from Sweden, or Israel.
It’s a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed. In a recent interview, Weinstock said: “What interests me is the girl’s fantasy, or the way she views herself. Their interpretation of my fashion is fascinating to me. I take pleasure in seeing how each one is taking it to a place of her own. They often wear the garments in ways that I had not imagined when designing them, which is inspiring!”
Thirty-two-year-old year old Weinstock has been in the fashion business seven years. A Shenkar graduate, she interned at the Alexander McQueen fashion house in London and later joined Maison Lanvin, one of the leading fashion houses in Paris.
She returned to Israel in 2004 and set up her own label of ready to wear fashion, designing out a studio located in Jaffa’s flea market. She launched her first US collection in 2006 and now sells in stores across the US and Europe.
Weinstock came up with the idea for Miss Mi, when she was browsing Flickr one evening. She saw the pictures there and decided to find five women from all over the world to take pictures of themselves in her new spring collection.
She found the participants on Flickr and Facebook, sent them a package of five of her garments and asked them to do self-portraits, expressing their own personal take on the garments. She then used the pictures for her spring catalogue.
Since then, the idea has grown into Miss Mi. Weinstock says the project isn’t just about clothes, it’s about creating a community of women from all over the world, who share their pictures, thoughts, favorite web sites. Etc. etc.
It’ll be interesting to see if other fashion designers pick up on this new marketing tool.
“Getting Back in Touch” via Facebook – Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants
Filed under: A New Reality, Immigrant Moments, Life, Pop Culture, Technology
Lately, my wife Jody and I have spent a lot of time getting in touch with old friends via Facebook. It started when I received a friend request from Larry. Larry and I were best buddies growing up. But after I moved away, we fell out of touch. I’ve looked for him from time to time via Google but never found any contact information. It had been 20 years since I last spoke with him. But through the wonder of social networking, we’re back in contact.
Larry connected me to another high school friend who connected me to a college colleague. It’s been a blast.
And it got Jody and I thinking: What if there had been a Facebook when we were teenagers some 30+ years ago. The whole concept of “getting back in touch” with old friends as we are doing now simply wouldn’t exist. We’d be connected from the start and would stay that way (unless we were “unfriended” for some unforgivable offense).
As we shared status updates, we’d always know what achievements the high school jock had attained, or what type of relationship an old flame was in (undoubtedly “it’s complicated”).
That’s the difference between us old fogeys and the “digital natives” – a term from the book Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives by John Palfrey, director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society – to describe young people born after 1980 for whom the Internet was already a given by the time they hit surfing age.
Lev Grossman at Time Magazine wrote a funny piece this week that echoes what I’m saying. He lists a number of reasons why social networking tools such as Facebook are even better for “digital immigrants,” as Palfrey refers to us, who didn’t grow up with social networking. Among his conclusions:
1. We’re no longer bitter about high school. Digital natives may be “hung up on any number of petty slights,” Grossman says, but when a person who insulted us way back when asks to friend us today, we say sure. Because we’re bigger than that now.
2. Facebook isn’t just a social network; it’s a business network. Sure, LinkedIn may “officially” be the professional social media tool, but it’s Facebook, with its 175 million users (and counting), where we make most of our work connections.
3. Facebook lets you share pictures of your children. Digital natives may be snapping shots of friends at school or the beach, but we’re just kvelling by posting albums of our grand kids.
4. Facebook means you don’t have to remember e-mail addresses. Just log on and search. You never have to leave the walled garden.
5. We’re more careful about our privacy. You won’t see us posting half-clothed drunken pictures of ourselves at a fraternity party that may lead to a potential employer, looking to vett a job candidate via Google, to disqualify us without even getting to the interview.
Indeed, the relationship to privacy is probably the biggest difference between digital immigrants and natives, the latter of whom have no problem living their lives entirely in public.
For example, my teenager daughter last night bemoaned the fact that her grandparents asked about her new boyfriend. “That’s my private business,” she wailed. “They have no right going there.”
“But you posted it all in your status for everyone to see!” I countered. She stormed out of the room.
Now, in a controversial move that had the blogosphere up in arms this week, Facebook tried to quietly change its Terms of Service to so that if a member quits the site, his or her content will no longer be deleted.
Peace now, or later?
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, War
Whether it's the right move or not, Israeli society is open to debate on whether the Gaza campaign should continue.
In fact, Haim Oron, the leader of Meretz, the flag bearer of the Zionist Left, spoke out in favor of a military operation in Gaza to stop the Hamas rocket attacks on the South. But now, two weeks into the campaign, the general support for the operation is being frayed. And last night marked the first demonstation by Peace Now and Meretz against the continuation of the campaign.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
“Even though we supported initiating the operation after Hamas broke the cease-fire, now we are saying enough,” Meretz head Haim Oron said at the rally. “A cease-fire must be reached now. We must do everything possible to reach a peace agreement under the umbrella of the Arab League. Only an agreement between us and the Palestinians can end terror.”
Peace Now expressed understanding for the operation when it began, but started calling for a cease-fire six days into the fighting. “Calls for a cease-fire are not anti-IDF,” Peace Now secretary-general Yariv Oppenheimer said at the rally. “We just don’t want the soldiers to lose their lives in an operation that should not be continuing. The Left was divided at the start of the fighting. But when the choice is between staying in Gaza for years or leaving now, it is clear what we support.”
As caualties mount, the IDF prepares a ‘phase three’ of its offensive which will likely take troops farther into Gaza toward Gaza City, and efforts intensify to find a formula that will enable both Israel and Hamas to accept a cease-fire, the calls for a withdrawal will likely increase.
And the debate is intensifying too. A weather vane of public opinion, Facebook is full of back and forth whether the status report that many supporters of the IDF efforts have adopted, which tracks each Kassam that falls on Israel, is ‘jingoistic’. And there have also been reports of a similar status report on the other side labeled ‘body count’ which marks each Palestinian fatality at the hands of the IDF.
Friends by any definition, are turning on each other with increased exasperation and lack of understanding for the other side. Self-criticism has long been a tenet of the Israeli way of life, and now is certainly no time to stop. It keeps us in check, reminds us that we, as a people, abhor war and killing, and sets us apart from our enemy, which doesn’t seem to have any internal debate or qualms about the suffering and death it causes.
A new year
I was sitting this morning, checking out the status reports of my friends on Facebook, and thinking about the New Year, and the situation in the South.
The American friends were mostly writing about going to dinners, New Years resolutions, travelling, being cold, or referring to some other aspect of New Years and winter revelry. The Israeli friends were mostly alluding to the war in some fashion.
But that’s not to say that people here are fixated on Operation Cast Lead. My daughter reports that downtown Jerusalem was packed last night for ‘Sylvester’ celebrations, the endearingly nerdy way Israelis refer to New Years Eve, while thinking they’re being cool.
So we have a situation that, like the rest of the world, Israelis are out partying despite what’s going on in the south of the country. And when you stop to think about it, what’s going on in the south of the country is just mind-boggling. According to news reports last night, 600,000 Israeli citizens are within range of Hamas rockets and Kassams.
A Home Front commander was on TV advising residents of Beersheva, Sderot, Ashkelon and other southern communities not to gather for New Years Eve parties last night out of fear that a well placed rocket could cause major casualties. A couple that was getting married on New Years Ever in Beersheva changed the venue at the last minute for that very reason to the safer confines of Rehovot.
How long can we – meaning the people of the South and the country at large – endure this kind of situation? Well, for quite a while actually, as the Second Lebanon War in 2006 displayed. Israelis are quite resilient, and we realize that the pre-war situation, when it was just Hamas attacking us, is unacceptable.
But it would be nice if someone was telling us what’s going on, and providing the residents of the South with some encouragement and guidance during this unfathomable situation.
Why haven’t Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, or Ehud Barak or Tzipi Livni, given a ‘State of the Union’ address, particularly the residents of the South, and told them ‘listen, this is going to get bad, you’re going to get bombed and it’s going to be unpleasant and dangerous. But we’re doing this to disable Hamas from being able to fire rockets at you ever again.”
But no, nothing. It’s all implied that we – the government and the army – are going to do what’s neccessary, and you – the people – will only have to be told things on a need to know basis. We may be great fighters – although between the Lebanon War and our current inability to stop Hamas, that assumption is being challenged – but we’re terrible communicators.
Imagine the United States attacking Mexico in order to prevent a constant barrage of missiles from Tiajuana onto San Diego, and nobody from the government from the President on down addressing the people of San Diego and warning them that it’s going to be getting a little rough, but we have your backs covered.
Anyway, that’s what I get for checking status reports on Facebook. I guess if I was going to write a New Year’s wish for 2009 on my own status report, it would be that, instead of rockets, peace and quiet begin raining down on the South of Israel.
Pizzabook
Filed under: Food, History and Culture, Life, Nostalgia Sunday
A vintage shot of the old Richie's Pizza on Jerusalem's King George Street.
We’re talking pizza here – Richie’s Pizza – a Jerusalem landmark for most of the 1970s and 80s. For anyone travelling through the city, whether it be student on year-long or short-term programs, backpackers, or new olim, Richie’s was the mecca for contact.
Towering over its reputation for lousy pizza was its amazing bulletin board, where appointments were made, travelling partners to Katmandu were found, Lebanse hashish was scored, and dates were initiated.
While I only stopped by there as an outsider once or twice, my friend Alan worked there for a few months as a pizza maker while on a six-month college program in 1979. And he can vouch for all of the above, not to mention gaining the perks of some impromptu ’social networking’ of his own with members of the opposite sex.
It was quaint, and sometimes ineffective (many a romance was stymied by the bad timing of a note at Richie’s falling by the wayside or being hidden just before its hoped-for recipient entered the joint), but it was alot more personal and exciting than sitting at a computer keyboard and typing a message.
Richie’s – which closed its doors on King George St. in 1990 – came up in the context of a recent gathering of a new organization called Amuta 2.0, an initiative that helps local nonprofits take advantage of new technologies. Lisa Barkan, Amuta 2.0’s director explained to The Jerusalem Post things have evolved from Richie’s cork board to Facebook.
“For today’s generation, [social networking site] Facebook is the wall of Richie’s Pizza,” she continues. “It’s like your own private bulletin board. And you don’t have to be in Jerusalem to read it.”
But of course, in today’s mash up, you can have the best of both worlds. Facebook now has its own ‘I Remember Richie’s Pizza’ page. So now, old timers can reminisce about the good old days in Jerusalem, and they won’t even get the indigestion endemic with eating at Richie’s.
Shana tova u’metuka
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Religion
There’s no question that Rosh Hashana cheer is in the air, whether it’s signing off of every conversation with a Shana Tova salutation, wishing a Shana Tova to each clerk, salesperson or person that one meets, and the number of Shana Tova emails — not to mention the round challahs and apples and honey gifts on Facebook — that are arriving in the email inbox.
The streets are crowded with people, shopping all the time, for food, gifts, last-minute outfits, and the planners who are already picking up decorations for their sukkah.
What I always like about Rosh Hashana in Israel, as well as Yom Kippur and Sukkot (and all the rest of the calendar year, for that matter), is that they are holidays for everyone, secular or religious. Sure, some of us spend a lot of time in synagogues during this month-long holiday period, thinking about personal repentance and ancient piyutim, and that’s our choice. Many don’t. But nearly everyone in Israel is celebrating in some way, sharing special meals with family and friends, buying “shay l’chag“, holiday gifts for one’s hairdresser, accountant, travel agent or clients, cleaning up the house and yard before the onslaught of guests, and thinking of creative ways to use honey or new fruits.
I suppose that for me, it comes down to the fact that no matter how many years I’ve been living here, I still derive a little thrill at how different it feels to celebrate one’s new year in September rather than January. It feels different to say Shana Tova U’Metuka, rather than Happy New Year. It feels different to toss around pomegranate seeds, rather than glitter at midnight.
So here’s to a happy new year for all Israelity readers and bloggers, and finding your kind of celebration. Sweetness and happiness in 5768.
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