Four wildly different films land on DVD and Blu-Ray this week that promise something for everyone. There’s the Oscar-bait film, Moonrise Kingdom, the Adam Sandler brash comedy That’s My Boy, the animated hit Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and the horror found footage flick Chernobyl Diaries.

Madagascar 3 Europe’s Most Wanted: Chris Rock, Ben Stiller and the entire Central Park Zoo expatriates are back and this time they have gone from Africa to Europe and have never been closer to getting home. This time out the addition of Frances McDormand is a stellar treat as a French animal officer who is just so devilishly evil. Bonus features abound with the highlights being High Flying Fun -- Big Top Cast, and the Mad Music Mash-Up. Plus the deleted scenes are a don’t miss… especially the Melman Picks a Circus Act clip.

 

Madagascar 3 Featurette

That’s My Boy: Sandler stars in his first R-rated comedy in years and the results are somewhat hilarious. The tagline says it all: The story of a child, and his son. Andy Samberg is the son that Sandler’s character had while still a young teenager to a teacher in a scandal that sent her to jail. Upon Samberg’s eighteenth birthday, he leaves his immature father behind. When Sandler’s character winds up on hard times, he looks up his successful son… and hilarity ensues. Highlights of the bonus features are (surprisingly) the gag reel and five deleted scenes. Three featurettes also take Sandler and Samberg fans deeper into the silliness, including Who Are All these People?, Greetings From Cape Cod and Classy Rick’s Bacon and Leggs.

 

That's My Boy Red Band Trailer: Wedding Crasher

Moonrise Kingdom: Wes Anderson’s triumphant return should get some Oscar love, hopefully a Best Picture nod. It was one of Movie Fanatic’s best of 2012 so far and now that it’s out on Blu-Ray and DVD, a whole new audience should discover this modern masterpiece.

 

Moonrise Kingdom: Bill Murray Featurette

Chernobyl Diaries: The creator of Paranormal Activity, Oren Peli, has crafted a new found footage horror experience. This time out he takes audiences to the far reaches of the former Soviet Union and an extreme tourist group of young men and women who want to visit the site of the worst nuclear disaster in human history. When their car leaves them stranded, they find out they are not alone. The Blu-Ray and DVD include an alternative ending that for those who enjoyed the theatrical version will provide an additional treat. Also a blast is the infomercial for the extreme tourism business one of the characters owns.

 

Chernobyl Diaries TV Spot

Halloween was the 1978 film that introduced us to the psychopath serial killer named Michael Myers. His character had murdered his mother when he was a child, and now on the eve of Halloween, Myers has broken out of his institution and is seeking to extol terror on the citizens of the quiet community of Haddonfield.

The flick is one of the scariest of all-time and has been remade, but will never be truly as terrifying as when audiences first laid their eyes on one of cinema's great villains. The movie also gave us some terrific and terrifying movie lines. Check out some of our best Halloween quotes.

Sheriff Leigh Brackett: It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare. | permalink

Dr. Sam Loomis: I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil. | permalink

Tommy Doyle: Laurie, what's the boogeyman?
Laurie: There's no such thing. | permalink

Dr. Sam Loomis: I- I- I watched him for fifteen years, sitting in a room, staring at a wall, not seeing the wall, looking past the wall - looking at this night, inhumanly patient, waiting for some secret, silent alarm to trigger him off. Death has come to your little town, Sheriff. Now you can either ignore it, or you can help me to stop it. | permalink

Lindsey Wallace: I'm scared!
Laurie: There's nothing to be scared of.
Tommy Doyle: Are you sure?
[Laurie nods]
Tommy Doyle: How?
Laurie: I killed him...
Tommy Doyle: [shouts] But you can't kill the boogeyman! | permalink

Dr. Sam Loomis: You've fooled them, haven't you Michael? But not me. | permalink

Mr. Peter Myers: [Mr. Peter Myers takes off the clown mask] Michael? | permalink

The first round of the Tournament of Movie Fanatic Horror Bracket comes to an end today, as we present the final matchup of the round! All the polls are open for one more day, so click the links to vote for The Exorcist vs. 28 Days Later, The Shining vs. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Thing vs. The Sixth Sense, Scream vs. Friday the 13th, Rosemary's Baby vs. Misery, The Evil Dead vs. Poltergeist, and The Ring vs. American Psycho.

Today we bring you one of the most beloved horror movies of all time, and the movie whose name honors the very holiday we're doing this for: Psycho vs. Halloween. Scroll down to read about these films and cast your vote, then check out the update bracket below!

Psycho: Considered one of the best films from one of the best directors of horror and thriller ever, Psycho shocked and terrified audiences, critics, and studios alike. Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins give knock-out performances as wayward traveler and psychotic hotel manager Marion Crane and Norman Bates. Full of iconic horror images, Psycho has spawned three sequels, a remake, and an upcoming movie following Alfred Hitchcock's making of the film, Hitchcock. Psycho reminds movie-goers even today about the disturbing depths of the human psyche, making it a truly terrifying film. Check out our Psycho quotes page for more.

vs.

Halloween: In 1978 audiences went on a journey with Michael Myers and experienced a horror film unlike any other. The click made a scream queen out of Jamie Lee Curtis -- much like her mother was before in Psycho. Poor Myers, a man who had been institutionalized since he was a child and instead of making his mental troubles better, that experience seems to have turned him into one of the most brutal psycho killers in screen history. The young man was put in an institution for killing his mother and 15 years later on the night before Halloween, Myers breaks out to cause more terror to the tiny hamlet of Haddonfield. Check out our Halloween quotes page for more.

Which horror movie is better?

Check out this new featurette for Playing for Keeps, featuring interviews with the cast:

 

Playing for Keeps Featurette

Gerard Butler plays a former soccer player with a troubled past, who tries to reconnect with his family by coaching his son's soccer team. The only trouble is that he finds it hard to resist the come-ons from his players' moms.

Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Judy Greer (Carrie), Noah Lomax, and Dennis Quaid (What to Expect When You're Expecting) also star.

Playing for Keeps is directed by Italian director Gabriele Muccino. It will be released December 7.

With the world celebrating James Bond's 50th Anniversary, and Skyfall hitting theaters next month, Movie Fanatic is happy to announce an exclusive James Bond giveaway!

Bond themes have always been praised for their timeless sound, and Adele's Skyfall theme has already made a splash on the internet. With that in mind, Movie Fanatic is giving away the new CD set Best of Bond... James Bond. The album features all the Bond themes through Quantum of Solace, as well as other memorable score selections from the films.

One lucky grand prize winner will win a copy of the CD plus a limited edition poster. One runner up will win a poster. Scroll down to find out how to enter for your chance to win.

The Best of Bond... James Bond CD features the themes of every James Bond movie. What's your favorite Bond film of all time?

All you have to do to win is...

1. FOLLOW @MovieFanatic on Twitter.

2. RETWEET this tweet along with the title of your favorite Bond film. Make sure you include "@moviefanatic" and a link to this post in your tweet, so we can see it.

Be sure to follow us so we can contact you if you're the winner. One lucky winner and one runner-up will be selected at random on Wednesday, October 24. Good luck!

Since Lost went off the air in 2010, Matthew Fox has been a busy actor. He's back on the big screen as Picasso, the most evil of villains in Alex Cross, to the hero played by Tyler Perry. Fox tells Movie Fanatic about the joy of cinematic evil in our exclusive video interview. "That saying that it's more fun to play villains than heroes has proven true for me," Fox said.

Fox also dishes how far to take the villainy without it becoming cartoony. "I wasn't interested in playing a villain that was chewing up scenery and over-the-top," Fox added. "I had this opportunity with Picasso where I wanted to base him in a reality of his own motivations that are very real and concrete."

The actor is also set to star in the upcoming page-to-screen effort World War Z. Oh boy, is it clear that Fox is thrilled for audiences to check out the zombie chronicle story based on the bestseller. "I absolutely love that book," Fox admitted and smiled broadly. Check out what else he had to say about the upcoming thriller starring Brad Pitt!

 

Matthew Fox Exclusive Interview

This summer we reported that there will be no Bill Murray in Ghostbusters 3. It's a piece of news that most fans met with despondency. Despite that fact, however, the long-awaited threequel is moving forward.

Men In Black 3 writer Etan Cohen is re-writing the script, and Deadline has reported that Ivan Reitman plans to shoot the film in the summer of 2013.

As previously reported, the film will see the old team--or at least Dan Aykroyd (The Campaign) and Harold Ramis--growing incapable of performing the job and passing the buck to a new generation of Ghostbusters.

Despite the lack of Murray, are you excited about the third film? Who do you think should be the new generation of Ghostbusters? Let us know in the comments section!

Once you've gone red band can you really ever go back? Two weeks after the Movie 43 red band trailer dropped, we now have the normal, every-day green band trailer. There are a lot of cuts off of presumably dirty words on to silly reactions or people saying "you know what." Take a look:

 

Movie 43 Trailer

Movie 43 is a collection of 25 comedy segments from multiple directors, with a gigantic cast of seasoned comedians and serious actors alike. They include Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Anna Faris, Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Hugh Jackman (Rise of the Guardians), Justin Long, Johnny Knoxville, Aasif Mandvi, Jack McBrayer, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Seann William Scott, Tony Shalhoub, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Matt Walsh, Patrick Warburton, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet.

The directors include Peter Farrelly, Bob Odenkirk, Brett Ratner, and Elizabeth Banks. It will hit theaters January 25, 2013.

Christoph Waltz is Dr. King Schultz in the new character poster for Django Unchained. It seems to be an international poster, given the "2013" date at the bottom. Take a look:

The movie stars Jamie Foxx as a freed slave named Django who is recruited by a bounty hunter to help him find his targets, as he is the only person who has seen them. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a plantation owner named Calvin Candie.

Kerry Washington, Don Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers), Anthony LaPaglia, Franco Nero, and Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street) also star.

Quentin Tarantino directs the film, which will premiere Christmas Day (not 2013, don't worry). Watch the Django Unchained trailer for more.

Movie Fanatic has scored an exclusive trailer for the upcoming animated feature A Liar’s Autobiography. The story follows the late Monty Python alumnus Graham Chapman and features the voice work of fellow Monty Python members John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.

 

A Liar's Autobiography Exclusive Trailer

Although Chapman passed away in 1989, he was always the cleverest of Python members and did his mates a favor by recording his autobiography -- fittingly called A Liar’s Autobiography, and the stage was set for the film. The surviving Python members were then able to turn it into an animated movie in the Python vein of animation -- like in Monty Python and the The Holy Grail -- that takes audiences through his life story. To quote the movie’s description, “He was born. He went to Cambridge and met John Cleese. He smoked a pipe and became a Python.”

Producers are clear that this is not a documentary and not a Monty Python film. In fact, the movie is a unique take of Chapman describing his life. But given Python’s tradition of bucking, well, everything… look for A Liar's Autobiography to include insight such as what Cleese said at Chapman’s funeral. “He is a freeloading bastard.”

Sounds like one funny autobiographical flick. A Liar’s Autobiography premieres on EPIX November 2 at 10 p.m. EST.

There's a man going around taking names. His name is Brad Pitt. Take a look at the new French trailer for Killing Them Softly, featuring a song from Johnny Cash:

 

Killing Them Softly International Trailer

Pitt (Moneyball) stars as Jackie Cogan, an "enforcer" who investigates the heist of a mafia card game. Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta (Field of Dreams), Scoot McNairy (Argo), and Sam Shepard also star.

The film is set in New Orleans, and based on the novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins.

Andrew Dominik wrote and directed the film, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year. It will hit theaters November 30.

Cloud Atlas leaps to the screen October 26, based on the bestselling and epic novel by David Mitchell. The film is among the most ambitious Movie Fanatic has ever seen and now we’re showing off our love for the film by offering our readers an exclusive Cloud Atlas prize pack.

The Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, James D’Arcy, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant starring film will marvel you with its scope, as will the following prizes:

The Cloud Atlas Soundtrack – Available Oct. 23

Movie Fanatic is giving away to one grand prize winner a black leather journal with debossed title treatment, a Cloud Atlas soundtrack CD, a Cloud Atlas tee and Cloud Atlas novel. The runner-up will take home the Cloud Atlas tee and the Cloud Atlas novel.

Cloud Atlas opens with special midnight screenings Thursday, October 25 and starts everywhere Friday, October 26.

The New York Times bestselling book, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

All you have to do to win is…

1. FOLLOW @MovieFanatic on Twitter.
2. RETWEET this tweet along with the title of your favorite Tom Hanks movie that he starred in or directed. Make sure you include @moviefanatic and a link to this post in your tweet, so we can see it.

Be sure to follow us so we can contact you if you're the lucky winner. Our grand prize winner and runner-up will be selected at random on Monday, October 26. Good luck!
                 
Don’t forget to visit the Cloud Atlas official site for more on the new film that also stars John Goodman, Bryan Cranston and Alan Arkin. And to further stay in the loop with the film, check out the Cloud Atlas Facebook page and follow @wbpictures.

Be sure to enter now as the sweepstake runs through October 26.

You can also sign up for Warner Bros. special offers, updates and more at:

Cloud Atlas Official Synopsis:

From acclaimed filmmakers Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, and Andy Wachowski comes the powerful and inspiring epic Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell.

Drama, mystery, action and enduring love thread through a single story that unfolds in multiple timelines over the span of 500 years. Characters meet and reunite from one life to the next. Born and reborn.

As the consequences of their actions and choices impact one another through the past, the present and the distant future, one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

Everything is connected.

Academy Award winners Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, Forrest Gump) and Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball) lead a stellar international cast that also includes Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (Iris), Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David and David Gyasi, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) and Hugh Grant. Each member of the ensemble appears in multiple roles as the story moves through time.

The film is written for the screen and directed by Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski. The Wachowskis previously teamed as writers/directors of the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy; Tom Tykwer won an Independent Spirit Award and earned a BAFTA Award nomination as the director/writer of Run Lola Run, and more recently directed the award-winning thriller Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

Based on the celebrated best-selling novel by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas is produced by two-time Oscar nominee Grant Hill (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life), three-time BAFTA Award nominee Stefan Arndt (The White Ribbon, Goodbye Lenin!, Run Lola Run), Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, and Andy Wachowski. Philip Lee, Uwe Schott and Wilson Qiu serve as executive producers, with co-producers Peter Lam, Tony Teo and Alexander van Dülmen, and Gigi Oeri as associate producer.

The creative filmmaking team includes directors of photography John Toll and Frank Griebe; production designers Uli Hanisch and Hugh Bateup; editor Alexander Berner; costume designers Kym Barrett and Pierre-Yves Gayraud; and visual effects supervisor Dan Glass.

The music is composed by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Cloud Atlas Production/X-Filme Creative Pool and Anarchos Production, in association with A Company and ARD Degeto, Cloud Atlas. The film will be distributed in North America, the UK, France, Spain, Australia and Japan by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Concurrently with its North American release in standard theaters, Cloud Atlas will appear in select IMAX theatres, digitally re-mastered into the IMAX format.

It will be released in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland by X Verleih; in China by Dreams of the Dragon Pictures; in Hong Kong by Media Asia Group; in Singapore and Malaysia by Ascension Pictures; in Korea by Bloomage Company; in Taiwan by Long Shong Group; in Russia and Eastern Europe by A Company; and in other territories through Focus Features International.

Cloud Atlas is rated R by the MPAA for violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use.

Opening nationwide on October 12, 2012, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Cloud Atlas Prize Pack Release and Indemnification:

By entering the sweepstakes, entrants release and hold harmless Warner bros. Entertainment Inc. and each of its respective parents, divisions, affiliates, subsidiaries, agents and advertising agencies (collectively,  “WBEI” ) from and against any and all losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from the sweepstakes or participation in any sweepstakes-related activity (including without limitation the removal from the site of, or discontinuation of access to, any materials), or resulting directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize awarded in connection with the sweepstakes, including without limitation personal injury, death, and/or property damage, as well as claims based on publicity rights, defamation, and/or invasion of privacy.

Limitation of liability:

In no event will the WBEI be responsible or liable for any damages or losses of any kind, including without limitation direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, arising out of any access to and/or use of the sweepstakes site, the downloading from and/or printing material downloaded from the sweepstakes site, the removal from the sweepstakes site of, or discontinuation of access to, any materials, or the acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of, or any harm resulting from the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of, or participation in, any prize awarded in connection with the sweepstakes. Without limiting the foregoing, the sweepstakes, all prizes, and all materials provided on or through the site “are provided as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

So far, we've seen fake Fix-It Felix, Jr. commercial and a fake Sugar Rush commercial. Now, a new fake commercial has dropped for the third (and final?) pivotal fake video game from Wreck-It Ralph. Check out the Hero's Duty ad below (heh-heh, "duty"):

 

Wreck-It Ralph Hero's Duty Commercial

John C. Reilly voices Ralph, a villain from an arcade game who gets tired of always being the bad guy. When he abandons his game and travels across the arcade world in search of a new identity, he throws everything into chaos.

Jane Lynch (Role Models), Sarah Silverman, and Jack McBrayer star as the characters in the various games. Alan Tudyk (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Dennis Haysbert, Mindy Kaling, Adam Carolla, Horatio Sanz, Rachael Harris, Ed O'Neill, and Skrillex also lend their voices.

Wreck-It Ralph will premiere November 2.

Above all else, because the man Oscar nominee John Hawkes portrays in The Sessions meant so much to so many, he wanted to channel the essence of Mark O’Brien as best he could. “I wanted to bring a recognizable person to those who have survived him and knew him, so that they can hopefully see something of their family member or friend in what I had done,” Hawkes said to Movie Fanatic of his role in the film that also stars Helen Hunt and William H. Macy.

The true story of the poet and polio survivor who spent his life constrained to a gurney and most of his day in an iron lung has made its way to the big screen in The Sessions. The film covers the last several remarkable years of a remarkable person as he discovers his sexuality, but also the love of his life. Hawkes’ O’Brien visits a sex therapist, played by Hunt, who helps him… in her words, “Love the body God gave us.”

Given his constraints, Hawkes had to give his entire performance in terms of emotion solely with his face and at the same time, replicate the twisted frame that O’Brien had to live with, even though Hawkes is clearly perfectly healthy. Needless to say, it was a classic moment of experiencing pain for one’s art.

“Every day, I would try to get my spine realigned, somewhat. Because the script says that Mark’s spine is so horribly curved, I tried to help conceive of and design a soccer ball-sized piece of foam and laid it halfway under the left side of my back. That gave my spine a great curve. Mark’s limbs were also twisted in a very specific way,” Hawkes said.

Most actors may be tempted to overact with one’s face, something Hawkes was keenly aware of. “I wanted to make the physicality so ingrained in me and so second nature that I wouldn’t think of it when the camera rolled and would just do what an actor does, every time out. I would forget that I was horizontal,” Hawkes recalled. “It’s a hard film because he’s horizontal! I’m not a martyr or masochist, but when the script says that your spine is horribly curved, you can’t just lie flat on your back and pretend.”

Contorting his body for scenes was perhaps the easier half of his physical challenge. He had to film many moments in the film stuck inside an iron lung that essentially kept the real O’Brien alive. Some claustrophobia could be easily understood.

“It was difficult to be in the iron lung for long periods. It was a production to get in and out of it, so rather than come out sometimes, I agreed to just stay in the position I was in, inside the iron lung, while they moved the lights or changed the camera position,” Hawkes said.

The actor is quick to point out his discomfort was nothing compared to what real people who experience this type of disability live through each day. “It was painful and it was difficult, but I’m not here to tell you that I did the impossible, or anything, by any means.”
 
Many performers have told Movie Fanatic over the years that portraying a real person is more difficult than one that is pure fiction. For Hawkes, the reasons are vividly different.

“It’s true, but it’s not for that reason. It was not because I felt constrained. In fact, I didn’t have to write a backstory. Mark’s autobiography was the backstory,” Hawkes said and laughed.

The real weight of responsibility with The Sessions, he said, is to do honor to the person he’s portraying in terms of the people who actually knew him. “That is particularly true if you’re playing a contemporary character. It’s a good kick in the pants to keep focused and doing your best,” Hawkes added. “That’s the first audience for me. If they get it, it’s a great relief and whoever else gets it is fine.”

Today is the final day to vote in the first round of the Tournament of Movie Fanatic Horror Bracket! Who do you think should move on to round two, and vie for the title of Best Horror movie ever? Check out the complete bracket, then cast your votes below. Winners will be announced tomorrow!

The Exorcist vs. 28 Days Later: Which Horror Movie is Better?

Rosemary's Baby vs. Misery: Which Horror Movie is Better?

The Ring vs. American Psycho: Which Horror Movie is Better?

The Thing vs. The Sixth Sense: Which Horror Movie is Better?

The Shining vs. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Which Horror Movie is Better?

The Evil Dead vs. Poltergeist: Which Horror Movie is Better?

Psycho vs. Halloween: Which Horror Movie is Better?

Scream vs. Friday the 13th: Which Horror Movie is Better?

Warner Bros. is moving forward with The Justice League movie, with an eye towards a Summer 2015 release, according to an article in the LA Times. If that season and year sound familiar, it's because The Avengers 2 has a release date of May 1, 2015.

A draft of the script has been written, and is rumored to include Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and The Flash. Whether or not the film will tie into the worlds of the upcoming Man of Steel, Christopher Nolan's Batman series that culminated in The Dark Knight Rises remains to be seen.

The studio does, however, plan to use the film as a springboard for individual superhero franchises, much in the way Disney has down with The Avengers.

A director has yet to be attached to the DC Superhero Team, though names like Ben Affleck and The Wachowskis have been thrown around. Who would you like to see direct the film? Let us know in the comments section below!

Ed Burns and Rachel Nichols share more than a police partnership in Alex Cross, the duo are budding lovers. The pair sat down with Movie Fanatic recently for an exclusive video interview where they dished what was the best part of working with the other. "We immediately clicked," Burns said and laughed.

"The first day we worked together was for a love scene and I'm in boy shorts and a nude bra," Nichols added. Guess it helps that they got along! 

 

Ed Burns and Rachel Nichols Exclusive Interview

The pair also dish what their favorite cop movies are, as well as what it was like to have a man in Tyler Perry as a co-star in the James Patterson page-to-screen effort who knows not only what it is like to be a fellow actor, but also to have a highly successful career as a writer, director and producer.

"That's part of the reason why he was a perfect choice for the part," Burns said. "Alex Cross in the book is a big guy, a smart guy and a serious guy. Tyler Perry is all of those things."

The fourth installment in the Paranormal Activity franchise is by far its most modern. The Movie Fanatic Paranormal Activity 4 review can state that rarely has the series utilized modern technology as wizardly as they do in their latest.

 
The first film formally ushered in the era of the found footage film with its use of security cameras and hand-held cameras that were beginning to be the norm. It’s hard to believe it’s only been five years since that first film changed everything as it shocked the world to go from a filmed on someone’s dime to international blockbuster. Yet, technology has changed rapidly since then and Paranormal Activity 4 effectively incorporates much more that captures our lives than a simple hand-held camera.

Paranormal Activity 2 was a true sequel to the first and utilized similar technology while the third film took audiences back to the 1980s to show how the Activity started and was brilliant in its showcasing the beginning days of videocassettes and home movies.

With Paranormal Activity 4, series creator Oren Peli and the film’s directors (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who also helmed Paranormal Activity 3) still use home security cameras and handheld video cams, but also smartly employ the fact that every phone has a camera while each laptop out there now too possesses a camera and most teens (the main subject of our fourth film) spend hours video chatting. Also, our main family in the film owns a Microsoft Kinect and its ability to see physical movement in the dark is one of the scariest parts of the film! 

The film’s opening moments set up the series from its origins and remind us of how when we last saw Katie, she and her nephew Hunter disappeared after Katie killed her sister and her family. Audiences are then taken through today (well, 2011) where we find ourselves in a Nevada suburb. Kathryn Newton is Alex, a teen who spends much of her time when she’s not at school on her computer video chatting with her BFF, also named Alex (Matt Shively). 

One day their neighbor has to go to the hospital and her mysterious son, Robbie, comes to stay with them for a few days. Yes, the Paranormal Activity begins. Soon after, Alex is so freaked out by the little boy who wanders the house at night that she implores her friend to have every computer in the house set to record everything. It is there that we are taken into the horror, but unfortunately, it simply takes too long to get there.

The scares, in the first act, are mostly senseless jolts caused by the family’s cat walking across the plane of view of a computer camera. In the second act, they are more frequent and a little more fearful, but still don’t pack the punches that were achieved in the first two acts of the first three films.

Yet, Paranormal Activity 4 does build to one of the most frightening conclusions we’ve ever seen on screen. And for that, it is worth going through the motions to get to the terror of the film’s final ten minutes.

Tyler Perry has made a career out of playing characters that he wrote and directed. Alex Cross not only allows the prolific talent to stretch as a thespian by tackling a role that he did not conceive, it also gives Perry the opportunity to break into a whole new genre of film -- the action thriller.

Perry plays the title character in the latest page to screen effort by blockbuster author James Patterson. It is a role that Morgan Freeman made famous in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. But, this is more of the “real” Cross that Patterson imagined. Cross is large in height and personality, brilliantly smart and one with a young family. Perry fits the role like a “T” and in Alex Cross, it is that family that will send the Cross character to the edge of what he is legally and morally allowed to do in the vein of seeking justice.

Director Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, xXx) certainly knows how to wield his camera in an action scene. With Alex Cross, he has to add another aspect to the action equation: It has to be cerebral. The Cross character is a PhD. and as such Perry can channel his character's smarts while chasing down Picasso (Matthew Fox). The action sequences crackle with electricity because of that fact and we hope that Cohen and Perry get a chance to do their dance again.

Speaking of Fox, the actor chews the scenery with panache and power. His portrayal of the villain as a man driven by the joy of inflicting pain while matching Cross’ smarts with quotes from Confucius is a study in acting complexity. Picasso inflicts his pain with such equal carelessness and joy -- it is the definition of terror. You could say that he’s met his match with Cross, but the opposite could be equally as true.

Ed Burns and Rachel Nichols are Cross’ subordinates. And both are fine in their roles, but they seem like periphery characters that aren’t utilized as much as they could be. That could be that they are added into the story and not “real” characters from Patterson’s books. The duo are in a romantic relationship that Cross sees as a hindrance to their being able to do their jobs on his team. Yet, that never is fully realized onscreen to the audience and that element honestly falls flat.

One of the biggest joys of Alex Cross is witnessing Cicely Tyson as Cross’ mother. She is the classiest of acts and only adds to that reputation with her role as maternal influence and moral compass for Perry’s character.

By the closing credits, given what Patterson envisioned for his brilliant detective versus what filmmakers gave us with the Freeman films, we hope to see more of Perry in the role. Alex Cross is a decent, albeit slightly uneven start to what could be one heck of a franchise.

The first round of the Tournament of Movie Fanatic Horror Bracket has come to a close, and we have our winners! Scroll down to see who you voted in to the second round, then check out the updated bracket below!

The 1st seed The Exorcist beat the 8th seed 28 Days Later 73.5% to 26.5%.

The 5th seed Misery just eked out an upset of the 4th seed Rosemary's Baby 54.2% to 45.8%.

Many of the matchups were incredibly close, and this was one of the closest! The Ring won out to American Psycho 50.8% to 49.2%

The Sixth Sense upset The Thing 54.5% to 45.5%

In what may be the most shocking upset of the entire round, Jamie Lee Curtis and the 6th seed Halloween  beat out her mother Janet Leigh and the 3rd seed Psycho 60.2% to 39.8%!