The Times

Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: the Scene

The Fourth Kind? More like the fourth crime. First, the original radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds," which caused ratings for the radio station to skyrocket. Second, The Blair Witch Project, was it real, was it fake, was it worth it?

Third, The Blair Witch Project II, okay even most sequels are overdrawn, but a sequel to a movie that flopped over its own shoelaces?

Fourth, The Fourth Kind. Do me a favor... save your dollars. This movie is seriously lacking good judgment by the producers, but packs Emmy-bound acting skills by the "reenactment" actors and Jovovich.

I don't know what to write about this movie; after all this is a review and, as such, I must give you both the factual and opinionated sides of the story, right?

According to promotional material handed out by Universal Studios, this movie is based around Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich, the Fifth Element) and her research and treatment of traumatized abduction patients in Nome, Alaska.

According to those same materials, this movie utilizes both original and re-enacted footage of actual case studies, and the personal biases of the law enforcement agencies in that area. The movie follows patients and the community during their encounters and post-encounter lives.

Do you remember the Blair Witch Project? And the controversy that followed? Well soon you might forget, because the controversy surrounding The Fourth Kind has already surpassed that. And the movie has not even been released yet.

The Internet swarms with people looking for the doctor in the movie, Abigail Tyler, which is claimed to be her real name, and Tyler's "missing" daughter, as mentioned by Jovovich and writer/director Olantunde Osunsami, during the end credits.

Scary? I wouldn't go that far. I have yet to witness a scary PG-13 movie, although it does have a good "surprise" factor.

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