In “Scream 4,” the recently-released thriller directed by Wes Craven, a publicist refers to Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) as a “victim for life.” For Prescott, who was attacked and nearly murdered in the original “Scream”  trilogy, the characterization rings true. In “Scream 4,” victimhood and the publicity that accompanies it are major themes as a new killer emerges in Woodsboro, the site of the original murders.

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On a publicity tour to promote her new book “Out of Darkness,” Prescott returns to Woodsboro where she reunites with former tabloid reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Weathers and Riley are married and while the former is writing a novel, the latter spends his time as the town sheriff. Even before Prescott starts signing books at a local store, a new killer has already struck. That killer is soon hunting down some of the local teenagers and trying to murder Prescott.  

As I previously noted, I enjoyed the original “Scream” trilogy. Like a lot of horror movies, the series features a lot of violence and gore but the stories are well-told. The trilogy was created to serve a certain audience and they do that well. While “Scream 2” was the best of the original trilogy, “Scream 3” was the weakest. “Scream 4” should be rated beneath the original two “Screams” but above “Scream 3.”

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After more than a decade, the long-awaited fourth entry in the “Scream” catalog arrives in theaters this weekend. The original “Scream,” which was released in 1996, launched this suspenseful series about a woman named Sydney Prescott who is being hunted down by a killer wearing a ghost-face mask. In preparation for “Scream 4,” I pulled out my VHS copies of the first three movies and watched the trilogy this past weekend.

As a long time fan of the series, I am hoping that “Scream 4” is more like the first two installments rather than the inferior third.

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Scream (1996): I was thirteen-years-old when the first “Scream” was released so I didn’t see it in theaters. However, after hearing about it a few years later, I was excited to watch it and loved its mix of suspense and witty humor. “Scream” starts out with a seemingly innocuous phone call that turns deadly for a high school teen (Drew Barrymore), who is murdered in her own front yard. It is eventually revealed that the killer’s main target is Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), whose mother had been murdered a year earlier.

If you like slasher films, the first “Scream” is a great one with self-referential humor and characters who understand the horror genre even as they are being hunted by a killer themselves. Henry Winkler has a neat role as a high school principal but the biggest scene-stealer in the movie is Courteney Cox, who appears as the despicable and manipulative television reporter Gale Weathers. (more…)

The Golden Globe nominations were released last week. As usual, many of the television categories were dominated with long-running programs. However, a few new shows received welcome nominations, a boost that could lend more credibility to these freshmen programs. 

“Glee” was one of the new major nominees for the Globes, earning a nomination in the “Best Television Series: Musical or Comedy” category.  As I noted in a review of the program, “Glee”  revolves around a high school glee club.  Even though the show has stumbled a bit throughout this season, it has still emerged as as a entertaining and worthy hit. I was glad it got some attention from the Globes. The most obvious nomination for the program went to Jane Lynch, whose role as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester is one of the highlights of the program. Other nominations for the show went to Matthew Morrison, who plays the glee coach, Will Schuester, and Lea Michele, who plays the overzealous singer Rachel. (more…)

On ABC’s “About the Show” web page for the new show “Cougar Town”, the executive producer of the program notes that “you only get one chance to experience your 20s. Even if it’s when you’re 40 something.” That, in short, is a brief synopsis of the new Courteney Cox comedy that follows a divorced mother who starts to date younger men. I recently watched the last few episodes of the program and although I found some potential in the minor characters on the show, the program is crippled by a weak main story line and its overall coarseness.

In the program, Cox’s character Jules Cobb is a real estate agent who has recently started dating men in their twenties who are only a few years older than her son. Her dalliances with these men and her coming to grips with her age compose the overall plot of the program. In her daily life, Cobb is surrounded by an offbeat set of characters including her neighbor across the street, her young assistant at work and her ex-husband. (more…)