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turns this Paranormal Activity into a
more conventional found footage flick.
On the other hand, having an ethnic
cast is a refreshing change for such a
whitewashed franchise. Christopher
???Son of Michael" Landon has written
Paranormal Activity 2, Sand 4; he pep
pers his first stab at directing a PA with
lots of little Easter eggs referencing its
predecessors. Landon also divisively
deepens the mythology, which leads
to a slightly confusing conclusion. PA:
TMO isn???t the best PA flick, but it gets
the franchise back on track before this
fall???s sixth film.
PHILOMENA (PG-13) Journalist
Martin Sixsmith (co-writer Steve
Coogan) picks up the story of the title
character (Dame Judi Dench) who
gave up her son years ago after she
was forced to live in a convent. Often,
the work of two-time Oscar nominated
director Stephen Frears (Dangerous
Liaisons, The Grifters, High Fidelity,
Dirty Pretty Things and The Queen)
finds itself well-received by critics.
The vastly talented Coogan can be an
acquired taste. Nominated for three
Golden Globes???Best Motion Picture,
Best Actress and Best Screenplay.
(Cine)
SAVING MR. BANKS (PG-13) P.L.
Travers (Emma Thompson) meets
with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) himself
during the negotiations for and the
filming of her classic Mary Poppins.
Apparently, the whole story was about
her difficult Australian childhood and
her own dad, who served as the inspi
ration for Mr. Banks. Director John Lee
Hancock last helmed The Blind Side. It
looks like he???s got another crowd pleas
ing hit on his hands. With Colin Farrell,
Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman,
B.J. Novak and Bradley Whitford.
??? THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER
MITTY (PG) Director-star Ben Stiller's
adaptation of James Thurber???s clas
sic short story is an odd duck. Take
Thurber???s simple literary seed and
fertilize it with writer Steve Conrad???s
brand of The Weather Man/ The Pursuit
ofHappyness pablum. The resulting
film pleases on its own and disappoints
as a version of Thurber. Daydreamer
Walter Mitty (Stiller) works at ???Life"
Magazine, which is about to go com
pletely digital, and he has lost the neg
ative of the final cover photo, provided
by a legendary photog (Sean Penn).
Having never done anything, Walter
goes on an impromptu adventure to
Greenland, Iceland and Afghanistan,
mostly to get the attention of a comely
coworker (a cute, pleasantly normal
Kristen Wiig). Stiller's humor never
quite gels with Conrad???s insipid sincer
ity. Stiller???s direction shines, though he
seems to be channeling a sterile, mass
market Wes Anderson. Still, it???s laud
able and creative; everything that the
script is not. Unnecessarily overplotted
and overly coincidental, it glosses over
the complexities of Walter???s adventure.
It should never have been called The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but I still felt
overtly amiable towards the film when
it was over. Though what???s the deal with
Adam Scott???s beard?
TYLER PERRY???S A MADEA
CHRISTMAS (PG-13) The biggest
Madea misfire since Meet the Browns,
A Madea Christmas gives off the whiff
of expired made-for-TV eggnog. Perry's
merrily mischievous matron travels
to Alabama with the worst character
Perry has yet created, Eileen (Anna
Maria Horsford). Eileen???s daughter,
Lacey (Tika Sumpter), is hiding her
new marriage to Conner (Eric Lively),
who is white, and her mother's interac
tions with his likable redneck parents,
Buddy and Kim (Larry the Cable Guy
and Kathy Najimy), are offensively
rude. A Madea Christmas is simply an
ugly movie that would look weak even
against The Hallmark Channel original
holiday fare. Unprofessional acting
(check out the horrendous accents) and
weak writing marked by outdated jokes
about the small town South offend and
disappoint.
WALKING WITH DINOSAURS
(PG) Seventy million years ago dur
ing the Cretaceous period, three
Pachyrhinosaurus pals???Patchi (v.
Justin Long), Scowler (v. Skyler Stone)
and Juniper (v. Tiya Sircar)???grow up
together and struggle to survive. The
film resembles a live action, computer
generated hybrid version of the clas
sic kiddie cartoon, The Land Before
Time. John Leguizamo lends his voice
to narrator Alex, an Alexornis bird
symbiotically bonded with the dino
protagonists. Named for the 1999 BBC
TV documentary series.
??? THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
(R) Director Martin Scorsese is 71 and
has more cinematic vim and vigor than
any younger filmmaker to whom you
wish to compare him. Just see The
Wolf of Wall Street for proof. Leonardo
DiCaprio stars as Jordan Belfort, who
ruled the Bulls and the Bears before the
age of 30. Hopped up on Quaaludes
and cocaine, Belfort and his crew at
Stratton Oakmont (best represented
on screen by Jonah Hill) peddled
penny stocks and defrauded investors
so badly, he ended up in prison for
22 months. Scorsese captures every
debauched moment???hookers, drugs
and dwarf tossing???of Belfort???s life.
DiCaprio will be an Oscar frontrunner
if voters can get beyond the vileness of
Belfort enough to celebrate the actor???s
most physical performance. At three
hours, The Wolf of Wall Street is far
from too long, though some individual
scenes linger too long. Hill proves
his Moneyballlum was no fluke with
another career-redefining turn. How
awesome is it to see Scorsese churning
out still relevant work with a new muse
while his old muse, Robert De Niro, is
mired in crummy comedies like Grudge
Match. This Wolf is one to watch.
Drew Wheeler
47 RONTN
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