April will bring us quite the variety. A few blockbusters – one named Captain America: The Winter Soldier – as well as some sci-fi/horror and chick flicks. There’s something for everybody this month.
April 4 – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Stan freakin Lee
This is the second story for Captain America and the third story since Avengers. Cap is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. as an official agent and we finally get to see Steve Rogers in modern times by himself. The big question I have going into the film is who is in the casket they keep showing? As far as I’ve seen they haven’t explicitly said in the previews who the Winter Soldier actually is; although, IMDb does list Bucky and Winter Soldier being played by the same actor. It should be no surprise who the Winter Soldier is by this point, but considering the Mandarin and Extremis B.S. that was Iron Man 3, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made it someone else. This film will be directed to comic book fans as well as people who have begun to follow the films since Marvel decided to unify its movie universe. I’m sure that this will shape up to be a great film and I am not only excited to see the Winter Soldier in action, I am pretty excited to see the film adaptation of Falcon. – Robert
April 4 – Afflicted
Starring: Derek Lee, Clif Prowse
This film is about two friends who travel the world. After one of them hooks up with a mysterious girl, he begins getting these weird powers. Eventually, things take a turn for the worse and it becomes this really creepy – you guessed it – affliction. Just by the way it’s filmed, it feels so much like Chronicles, but without the lame adolescent meltdown aspect. The disease/affliction thing is kinda interesting, but there’s something about Affliction that just feels like it’s been done before. Luckily, the chemistry between Lee and Prowse is believable and the effects are neat. Chances are, if you enjoyed Chronicle, you’ll like this movie, too. However, if you’re not seeing Captain America on this weekend, you’re not doing it right. – Sheirf
April 4 – In the Blood
Starring: Gina Carano, Cam Gigandet, Danny Trejo, Luis Guzmán
The woman passed up to play Wonder Women (still bitter), Gina Carona, is thankfully headlining In the Blood – coming out this week. It’s a nice turn on dark-mysterious-man with dark past who must save his romantic interest. I’m a big fan of turning cliché upside down and this movie looks like it will deliver. Ava, played by Gina Carona, is on vacation with her husband. He gets abducted and it’s up to Ava to save him. Ava and her badass MMA skills tracks down her husband’s attackers while uncovering a conspiracy in the middle of seeming paradise. It has a very Far Cry-like vibe going on. In general, these kinds of movies aren’t my cup of tea, but watching the preview was entertaining enough. I can appreciate and enjoy a woman kicking some major ass and I have this guilty pleasure for MMA fighting. It looks like it has the potential to be a solid movie and spark others to make movie that mess with conventional plot templates. – Jené
April 11 – Under the Skin
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, some other people I don’t care about
I can’t think of an easier way to sell tickets to a movie than to put a half-naked picture of Scarlett Johansson on the poster. This sci-fi tale is about an alien in human skin who travels the country of Scotland, seeking for men to prey upon. By prey upon, I mean make sweet, sweet love to them before filling their body with some weird black embalming fluid, harvesting them for who knows what. I’m not sure how that’s a bad thing, but I sure am determined to find out. It’s based off a Michael Faber novel of the same name – and from what I’ve read about the book, things get even weirder later. To make the premise even creepier, it turns out a lot of the conversations in the movie were unscripted talks ScarJo had with random non-actors who didn’t know who she is. It sounds wildly inane, but did I mention a half-naked Scarlett Johansson? – Sherif
April 11 – Oculus
Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Karen Gillan, Garrett Ryan, Annalise Basso, Katee Sackhoff
A new and interesting horror film staring two female nerd heroes with Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) and Karen Gillan (Doctor Who). This film is about a brother and sister who are haunted by an entity in an antique mirror. They believe this entity caused their father to kill their mother which made the son shoot the father. It is based off of a short film the director and co-writer made back in 2006. Quite possibly the most interesting thing about this film is that it is made by WWE Studios. Normally the films this studio makes are along the lines of the upcoming films Jingle All the Way 2 with Larry the Cable Guy (gross…), and the reboot of the Leprechaun film series with the wrestler Hornswaggle (what is Leprechaun without Warwick Davis?). So, it was surprising to me to be interested in this project knowing that. This film is obviously aimed towards adult fans of horror films. I hope more people will see it as it is very much an original idea and not a cookie-cutter gorefest like so many horror films these days. – Jacob
April 11 – Rio 2
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg (Blu), Anne Hathaway (Jewel), Leslie Mann (Linda), Jemaine Clement (Nigel), Jamie Foxx (Nico), Tracy Morgan (Luiz), and will.i.am (Pedro)
Rio 2 is the sequel to the successful film Rio. This time the film takes the macaws Blu and Jewel to the amazon to try and find other parrots of their species as they thought they were the last two on earth. This journey leads them to meet Jewels father and some of her childhood friends. Along the way they run into the villain from the first film, Nigel the Cockatoo, whom tries to enact revenge upon Blu and Jewel by finding new lackeys in a dart frog, Gabi, and an anteater, Charlie. The great original cast is back with . The great original cast is here, and this time, a couple other great voices are added with Kristen Chenowith (Gabi), Wanda Sykes (Chloe), and Jane Lynch (Alice). This is the only film other than Ice Age from Blue Sky Studios that has warranted a sequel, so it is guaranteed to be a great film for the kids and family, as well as any fan of animation and beautiful scenery. – Jacob
April 18 – Small Time
Starring: Dean Norris, Christopher Meloni, Devon Bostick, Bridget Moynahan
This movie was described as a “Drama” on IMDb, but judging by the preview, it looks like it will be hilarious. With Christopher Meloni and Dean Norris in the lead, it certainly has a solid leading cast. It seems like it will be a limited release or something because I didn’t see very much in the way of information about this movie other than a cast list and a short, but sufficient, preview. The movie is about a boy deciding to skip college in order to become a used car salesman. This might sound pretty cliché, but I am sure that it will include some solid life lessons, as well as plenty of used car salesman hijinks that ensue. Since this doesn’t seem like a very big release, it doesn’t seem like it is meant for the big theaters but who knows. I think anyone who can appreciate the humor of Hank from Breaking Bad will appreciate the humor here. I am genuinely interested to check this out after watching the preview. – Robert
April 25 – Brick Mansions
Starring: David Belle, Paul Walker, RZA
I didn’t even have to make it half way through the preview before I realized that this was a remake of a French film called Banlieue 13 or District B-13. This film stars David Belle, who is the creator of Parkour. It also is supposed to be one of the last films that Paul Walker is starring in. It’s a shame because the actor he is replacing from the original is a much better actor and is a great martial artist, as well. I will probably go see this but I can’t honestly see this being better than the original. I would recommend everyone to rent the original as it isn’t hard to find and while you are at it, pick up the sequel called District B-13 Ultimatum. This is directed towards people who like action as well as crazy stunts. This film is sure to be full of both with David Belle at the lead. The only possible saving grace I can see for this film is that it was written by Luc Besson who did The Professional, so there is that. – Robert
April 25 – Transcendence
Starring: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Kate Mara
This film is something I have thought about many times and had many discussion with friends about. It is about a terminally ill scientist who uploads his thoughts and mind into a computer to live after death, which ultimately gives him too much power and he becomes an unstoppable force. The idea is both terrifying and yet could be an answer of how to live forever, which may seem cool to others. The film stars Johnny Depp as the scientist going through the procedure. The supporting cast includes many great actors as well including Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, and Paul Bettany. The film looks very interesting and yet to me it also is an idea that has haunted my dreams for years. I feel this film is targeted to the teen to adult range and even the future generation who are kids now as it shows us the true problems of having technology not just being a huge part of our lives, but it becoming our lives itself. – Jacob
April 25 – The Other Woman
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kate Upton, Nicki Minaj,
Oh goodie another female comedy surrounding how their man’s gone and done them wrong. Where have I seen this before, oh right, The Frist Wives Club. And judging by this movie trailer, I’m going to go ahead and say it – First Wives Club did it better. In this movie, three women find out they are dating/married to the same man. They meet, become friends, and then exact their revenge. I’m not going to hold my breath for this movie. They story isn’t new and has been rehashed ad nauseum and marketed as comedy. Lets get hammered, puke, talk about dicks. Oh and man boob, because turning into a woman is so funny… haha I’m becoming emotional because being a woman is such a joke. Eye roll. I wonder if it even passes the Bechdel test. Sure, it’s a cast of women, but do any of them have a conversation not pertaining to their romantic entanglements? In all, the trailer doesn’t do it for me and I’m not going to waste my money. Maybe when it’s out on prime time I’ll watch it when I have nothing better to do with my life. This movie screams C movie Netflix gold. – Jené
Written by Jacob Robinson, Jené Conrad, Robert Michael and Sherif Elkhatib
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