Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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20 UCW FEBRUARY 5-11, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (84 minutes) made me long for the ghost-finding Kinect disco ball of Paranormal Activity 4. However, at least the series took the focus off of rich White idiots in favor of dealing with low-income Spanish-speaking idiots. The common theme here is that they are always idiots. By the way, this film is apparently not in the direct line of sequels to the first film, it is more of a "cousin" film. It is set in the same world and features the same midwife coven introduced in the third film, but deals with a completely different family. Sort of like how Poltergeist 3 moved from the suburbs to an apartment in the city; this film is also reminiscent of the way that Poltergeist 3 sucked out loud compared to the first two films. Although, that may be my headache talking. In the grand tradition of the Paranormal Activity franchise, not even downing a handful of analgesics before entering the theater was enough to prevent the inevitable migraine-inducing, shaky cam night vision from ruining my night. By the end of the film I couldn't even look at the screen for more than a few seconds at a time. The story begins in June 2012. Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) has just graduated high school and received a video camera as a present. For the next 45 minutes or so the audience is treated to the results of what idiot boys do when they get an expensive toy. To wit — filming each other doing stupid things alá Jackass, then complaining how the first idiot boy "made" the second idiot boy do it. Also, they inexplicably film one boy using his little rat dog as a dance partner, which is totally something teenage boys do. Eventually, strange goings-on lead Jesse to suspect the downstairs neighbor of being a bruja, one of the coolest words for witches in the known world (cooler than thaumaturge but not as cool as strega). He and his friend Hector (Jorge Diaz) witness the valedictorian of their high school (Carlos Pratt) running from her apartment, and then find out that she was murdered. Of course, the moron twins then decide it is a great idea to go check out the apartment where the murder took place, even though it is sealed off with police tape. Oh, and they're going to film it too, just in case the police need some airtight evidence when taking the boys to court on trespassing and evidence tampering. At some point, Jesse notices the demonic bite mark on his arm and shows it to his chick sidekick, Marisol (Gabrielle Walsh). After some subtle Ouija Board action from a Simon (The popular electronic eighties toy that these children of the nineties have inexplicably acquired), Jesse figures out that he has crazy super powers. These powers include attempting to fall on the floor but being held up by an invisible force, throwing thugs across playgrounds, and being very angry. Then there are exciting scenes that involve Jesse and Hector picking up girls and trying to find a reasonably safe place to make out with them. You know what? That apartment where someone got murdered is probably available! It makes much more sense to go there rather than find a deserted park/playground or wait until after everyone is asleep and then sneak into your own room! Of course, this completely terrible idea leads to the discovery of a trapdoor and bizarrely large crawl space containing an altar. Overall, it was better than it had any right to be, for a fifth entry in a series of steadily diminishing returns. If you like the franchise this is worth checking out, but if shaky cam first person movies aren't your thing, this isn't going to change your mind. Did the World Really Need Another? Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. Eight Week Classes Registration February 6 - March 14 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mon. - Fri. Classes begin March 17. Spring II Semester Registration A military friendly school offering more than 190 programs, many available online. FTCC Admissions (910) 678-8473 Three FTCC Campus locations: 2201 Hull Road (Fayetteville) • (910) 678-8400 171 Lake Tree Boulevard (Spring Lake) • (910) 678-1000 Bragg Training & Education Center (Fort Bragg) (910) 678-1050