Spring Film Guide: April 2012

Well March is over, and actually produced five movies–21 Jump Street, Friends with Kids, Jeff Who Lives At Home, The Hunger Games AND Silent House— that I sincerely enjoyed. That puts a lot of pressure on April to deliver and I can’t really see it providing me many movies to compete with last month, but I’ll give my two cents anyway.

• Titanic 3D (on the 4th) – We’ve all seen and mostly loved this movie when it came out 15 years ago. I would love to see this in theaters since I missed the first time, except for that pesky problem of 3D. Hopefully it is well done, because I’m not sure I will be able to resist seeing this while it’s re-released.
• American Reunion – If you are a fan of the series, you should really enjoy this. It holds up well as a comedy in general though. Read my review HERE.

• The Cabin in the Woods – Several things ensure my excitement for this movie: 1. The trailer is pretty out there and I am incredibly curious about what is going on 2. Joss Whedon’s involvement has some clout in my book 3. What the heck is Richard Jenkins doing in this movie? I plan to find out.
• Lockout – The trailer for this is completely ridiculous in the opposite way of The Cabin in the Woods. Maybe it’s that the voice narrating the trailer sounds mocking, or that the concept seems like a joke, or that it seems to take itself a bit to seriously. Yeah, it’s definitely all of that.
• The Three Stooges – Sometimes movies look so heinously awful that I only use one sentence to dismiss it.

• Chimpanzee – I never really caught on to this whole nature documentary thing. I’m not sure I’ve seen any since I went to the Maryland Science Center (which rules) as a kid. But you should take your kids to see this because their brains are rotting.
• The Lucky One – The concept of this movie is really off to me. Zac Efron plays a hunky marine who tracks down this chick from a picture he found in Iraq to tell her that she saved his life somehow. But instead of telling her that he just works his way into her life and they fall for each other, etc. I mean it’s cute at first I guess but it’s also beyond contrived. I would expect no less from Nicholas Sparks.
• Think Like A Man – This movie is based on and shamelessly features the Steve Harvey book Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man. Considering that book features some of the most terribly written, misogynistic advice I have ever read, I will definitely not have anything to do with this film. Also, it stars Chris Brown. Come on now, I have principles!

• The Five-Year Engagement – Of course, the movie I am most looking forward to most comes out the last week of April. The trailer cracks me up, and it features a host of people that I dig (Jason Segel, Alison Brie, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Mindy Kaling) with a premise I can get behind. I cannot wait!
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits – This stop-motion film in 3D is by the creators of Wallace & Gromit. Not really up my alley, but it’s probably pretty good for a kid’s flick, and it has good timing, releasing weeks apart from the closest animated movie in either direction.
• The Raven – The re-imagination of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories inspiring a serial killer leading him to investigate the culprit is much more interesting than a standard biopic. My expectations might not be sky-high but I am intrigued, and the fact that it takes place in FTS’s hometown of Baltimore makes me feel obligated to give it a fair shot. A few months ago Will had the opportunity to interview the director of this film along with star Luke Evans, which you should check out here.
• Safe – Jason Statham stars in yet another unmemorable action movie. The plot doesn’t impress and none of the action seen is stylized or original enough to make me want to see more.