I like to imagine that we are prepared for the encounter with mass media by dreaming. Whatever supposed neurological function it may perform, it certainly allows a notion of experience which transcends concepts of an empirical reality. And so to the mass media teach us what is reality; could you follow the action in your first Hong Kong action flick? Was it something you learned?

So it is with the The Blair Witch Project. At least a decade of video verite, of Cops and OJ and the Gulf War, leads us to a new sort of suspension of disbelief, something nearly overwhelming, something which made me shake. The aesthetic side clicks, primarily the excellent sound work and the twisted stick totems. Much better than a sanitized, perfectionist-driven Star Wars; one hopes it will not turn into Twin Peaks.