Monthly Movie Preview – April 2010 April is a delicate time of year for the movie industry. The skies are returning to their beautiful shades of blue, the grass is getting green again. Everyone’s thoughts are turning to the summer so studios have to start bringing out their A game to keep audiences interested. Yet they don’t want to peak too soon before they head into blockbuster season. Therefore, April is the perfect time for the action movie, both the more understated ones, such as this month’s The Losers (although understated action movie sounds like an oxymoron) as well as some of the bigger budget ones that may not have the special effects or star power to graduate to the big leagues of the summer blockbuster.
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April 2
Movie of the Week
Clash of the Titans
The Stars: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes
The Plot: Perseus (Sam Worthington) finds himself stranded as a mortal trying to prevent a war between the gods Zeus (Liam Neeson) and Hades (Ralph Fiennes).
The Buzz: Sam Worthington, fresh off of the year of Avatar, may have another blockbuster hit on his hands with this one. The trailers look promising for fans of special effects and PG-13 violence.
The Others:
The Last Song (Opens Wed.) - Miley Cyrus, Greg Kinnear, Liam Hemsworth
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too - Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott
April 9
Movie of the Week
Date Night
The Stars: Steve Carrell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg
The Plot: An ordinary married couple have their date night (get it? It’s the title of the movie!) rocked in a case of mistaken identity.
The Buzz: Imagine Get Smart part 2 and you probably have the picture. I’m still hopeful for this one and with the likes of Steve Carrell, who’s proven he can handle the action comedy. Plus, Tina Fey is never a bad thing in my mind.
The Others:
The Runaways - Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Alia Shawkat
Letters to God - Robyn Lively, Jeffrey Johnson, Bailee Madison
April 16
Movie of the Week
Kick-Ass (read Bayer's SXSW review of Kick-Ass) The Stars: Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moretz, Aaron Johnson
The Plot: A determined high school student decides to become a superhero despite having no qualifications for the job.
The Buzz: This movie looks like a must-see for fans of the comic book movies. Even though I’m not a Nicolas Cage fan, I’ll put that aside for this one. I’m not expecting a masterpiece by any means, but this movie looks like it’s got underdog potential, much like last year’s Zombieland.
The Others:
Death at a Funeral - Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, James Marsden
April 23
Movie of the Week
The Losers
The Stars: Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans
The Plot: A team of black ops operatives are left for dead, but of course, they do not die. This is followed by your standard revenge flick.
The Buzz: So I can’t help but imagine Kill Bill with a lot more people. Sure, I know Tarantino didn’t create the genre, but it’s freshest in my mind. The cast seems pretty solid and the trailer looks at least entertaining. Plus, to be honest, it was either this or The Back-Up Plan.
The Others:
The Back-Up Plan - Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin, Melissa McCarthy
Oceans - Pierce Brosnan (Narrator)
April 30
Movie of the Week
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Katie Cassidy, Kyle Gallner
The Plot: A group of teens are being killed in their dreams by the nightmarish Freddy Krueger… again.
The Buzz: It’s hard for me to be anything but hopeful about this reboot. I was let down by last year’s Friday the 13th but that doesn’t hold the sentimental value that the original Nightmare has in my heart. Jackie Earle Haley is usually the best part of bad movies so I’m at least counting on him to deliver and horror veteran Katie Cassidy holds some promise as this film’s scream queen.
The Others:
Furry Vengeance - Brendan Fraser, Ken Jeong, Brooke Shields