Weekend Movie Trailers and Reviews: Paranormal Activity and High-Octane Musketeers

We were having a good run for a while, weren't we? With "Moneyball," "Dolphin Tale," "50/50" and "Real Steel," we were finally seeing some original movies. But last week we got "Footloose" and "The Thing," and this weekend isn't any better in terms of original stories. But don't worry: it isn't all bad.

Paranormal Activity 3

Rated R, 84 mins.

If you've seen the first two "Paranormal Activity" movies, you know what to expect from the third installment in the series: documentary-style filming with some low-budget but effective camera tricks to rustle up some scares. But here's what's special about "Paranormal Activity 3": one, it's a prequel set in the 1980's, and two, it's directed by the guys who did "Catfish."

What does that mean? According to early reviews, it means you can expect a slightly different style of scares, including a few more jolts. You can also expect a little more humor and character development than in the other two installments in the series.

Rotten Tomatoes has "Paranormal Activity 3" at a solid 78% among critics. They note that there's a lot of the same stuff that we've seen before, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

See it if: Grainy film footage gives you the heebie-jeebies.

The Three Musketeers

Rated PG-13, 102 mins.

Making a movie out of Alexandre Dumas' famous tale of swordplay isn't anything new, but the way this newest movie version does it is definitely different. A quick look at the trailer will confirm that point: there's a CGI flying ship, loads of multi-fire cannons, slow-motion fighting, and Milla Jovovich sliding on the floor underneath some kind of booby-trapped hallway. I don't remember any of that from the book, do you?

The film comes from Paul W.S. Anderson, whom you might know as the director of "Alien vs. Predator" and "Death Race." So it's pretty clear what you should expect going into this one: lots of overblown action, and not much else.

Rotten Tomatoes has "The Three Musketeers" at only 23% among critics, who are calling it "dopey" and asking, "What the hell?!"

See it if: Previous versions of "The Three Musketeers" just didn't have enough steampunk in them for your tastes.