This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison for the new releases for October 19-21, 2012
By Curt David
October 19, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Even I don't find myself believable in this role.
New movies are released into theaters every weekend. How do you decide which movie to watch? Some people could pick a movie based on the title (Surprisingly, The Lion in Winter, Lionheart, Secondhand Lions, Lions for Lambs, and The Lion King all have different genres). Some people watch trailers (misleading), some people listen to their friends (friends can be idiots), and some people only go to the movies if their Hollywood crush is on the screen (My alphabetical actress crush list... O is for Cheri Oteri).

More likely than not, each weekend there is a movie that you have never heard of in the theaters. I'll save you the hassle of researching every movie by comparing the new releases for each weekend in this column. Then, I'll tell you which movie to watch.

For the weekend of October 19th, the new movies in wide release are Alex Cross and Paranormal Activity 4.

Alex CrossParanormal Activity 4Winner
(1 Point Per Category)
Clearest TitleGuessing this is one of those movies named after the main character.Guessing this is one of those movies that is a sequel to Paranormal Activity. And by sequel I mean quadruel. That title alone is so clear it guarantees the movie millions of dollars. Point.
Best Genre
and Rating		Thriller
Rated PG-13 for violence including disturbing images, sexual content, drug references, language, and nudity. 		Horror
Rated R for language and some violence/terror. 		Different movies, different ratings- same 1/2 point each.
Cleverest Tagline
(out of 5 stars)		Don’t ever cross Alex Cross

1/5 - I usually love funny or cheesy taglines, but this one didn’t do it for me.		All the activity has led to this...

3/5 - Play on title, and makes it sound epic.		This answer won’t be curt, but Curt is going to give the point to Paranormal Activity 4.
Best Part of TrailerMatthew Fox as a creepy villain sold me on this movie. Quite out of character!Meh. It seemed like I saw this trailer three other times before. I never really watched Lost but Matthew Fox seemed nice. Have you seen this trailer? Automatic point for Alex Cross.
Coolest Lead ActorTyler Perry from the Madea movies and Why Did I Get Married?Katie Featherston from the first three Paranormal Activity movies. Tyler Perry is very talented and very cool. He’ll win this point.
Best CastMatthew Fox (Lost), Rachel Nichols (G.I. Joe), Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan), and John C. McGinley (Scrubs)No one I could recognize (yet)Alex Cross’s cast list is nothing to sneeze at. Another point.
Best Street Cred
For the Production		Director Rob Cohen has also directed Dragonheart, The Skulls, and The Fast and The Furious.Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman also directed Paranormal Activity 3. The directing duo is currently earning street cred, but Rob Cohen will win the point this week.


So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, Alex Cross scores 4 and 1/2 points and Paranormal Activity 4 scores 2 and 1/2 points.

You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if you want to see a horror movie because it’s October, feel free to watch Paranormal Activity 4. However, if you are still on the fence, please read the following conclusions from the scientific data gathered in this column.

Conclusion 1: On paper, Alex Cross is the best movie to watch this weekend.
Conclusion 2: The Morning Latte skit with Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, and Brittany Spears is one of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches of all-time.
Conclusion 3: Rachel Nichols and I go way back (season 5 of Alias)