If this is what April's releases look like, the summer blockbuster season is going to be almost too much to handle! With Clash of the Titans, Kick-Ass, The Losers and the return of Freddy Krueger on deck, the wall-to-wall action is sure to keep the theaters filled this month. Check out the full lineup below!
Clash of the Titans
Release Date: April 2, 2010
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton
Rating: PG-13
Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 mythical adventure film about the myth of Perseus. To win the right to marry his love (Andromeda) and fufill his destiny, Perseus must complete various quests and battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the Princess Andromeda. The special effects creatures in the 1981 film were created by stop-motion FX master Ray Harryhausen.
CraveOnline's Call: 300 meets Lord of the Rings? Not really, but visually you're not too far off the mark from this high-ambition remake of the 1981 classic. No claymation this time around; Sam Worthington leads a star-studded cast through what's sure to be the most visually dazzling film since Avatar. Hell, our tickets were bought the moment the Kraken was unleashed.
The Warlords
Release Date: April 2, 2010
Director: Peter Chan
Starring: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro
Rating: R
Set in the midst of war and political upheaval during the Taiping Rebellion of the 1860s, WARLORDS stars Jet Li as General Pang, who barely survives a brutal massacre of his fellow soldiers by playing dead, and joins a band of bandits led by Er Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). After fighting back attackers from an helpless village, the three men take an oath to become “blood brothers,” pledging loyalty to one another until death, but things quickly turn sour and the three men become embroiled in a web of political deceit, and a love triangle between Pang, Er Hu and a beautiful courtesan (Wu Jing-Lei).
CraveOnline's Call: Wasn't this released like three years ago everywhere else in the world? Yep. But love triangles, political crisis and samurai ass-kicking are bound to make it an interesting watch, regardless of release date.
Leaves of Grass
Release Date: April 2, 2010
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Starring: Edward Norton, Tim Blake Nelson, Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss
Rating: R
Bill Kincaid, a college classics professor (Norton) is lured home from the Ivy League to the backwoods of Southeastern Oklahoma by his identical twin (also Norton), a hedonistic, pot- smoking career criminal. Kincaid finds that Plato and Marcus Aurelius have ill-prepared him for dealing with a gang of homicidal yokels.
CraveOnline's Call: Anyone who's paid attention to Norton's career knows that he shines most brightly when playing two different characters. This one looks hilarious, uncomfortable and offbeat enough to put asses in seats. Check it out.
Why Did I Get Married Too?
Release Date: April 2, 2010
Director: Tyler Perry
Starring: Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal
Rating: PG-13
Four couples reunite for their annual vacation in order to socialize and to spend time analyzing their marriages. Their intimate week in the Bahamas is disrupted by the arrival of an ex-husband determined to win back his recently remarried wife.
CraveOnline's Call: Unless you're in your thirties/forties and questioning your direction in life, or you're a Janet Jackson superfan, skip this action until it's Netflix material. There's too much awesome this month to get hung up on midlife-crisis married comedy - unless you've got a girlfriend.
Kick-Ass
Release Date: April 16, 2010
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Lyndsy Fonseca, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Rating: R
Kick-Ass tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name -- Kick-Ass -- assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. There's only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers.
His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, is hunted by assorted violent and unpleasant characters, and meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes, including an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo, Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage).
CraveOnline's Call: What more could you ask for than a twisted, funny, high-octane adventure about a bunch of kids who decide to become superheroes, despite having no superpowers? We've been all over this since before it went into production. You should be, too.
The Joneses
Release Date: April 16, 2010
Director: Derrick Borte
Starring: David Duchovney, Demi Moore, Amber Heard, Gary Cole
Rating: R
The story, a social commentary, centers on a picture-perfect family that moves into a suburban neighborhood and immediately becomes the toast of the town, loved and envied by all. But the reality is they are a commissioned fake family put together by a marketing company as a way to introduce new luxury-level products to neighborhoods around the world.
Duchovny plays the fake father, a man undergoing a crisis of confidence because he is living a lie. Moore is the mother, a career-driven woman who struggles with her growing feelings toward her fake husband. Heard plays the fake daughter who is trying to seduce her fake dad while looking for a rich man. And my goodness, is she stunning.
CraveOnline's Call: This movie is a twisted social commentary that can't seem to decide between being a comedy and a drama. The laughs come easy early on (as does the eye candy, with the gorgeous Amber Heard getting nude in a seduction scene), but when things take a dramatic turn the film has trouble finding its stride again. All the same, a good flick well executed. Moore and Duchovney play well off one another.
Date Night
Release Date: April 9, 2010
Director: Shawn Levy
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg
Rating: PG-13
Dragged down by the daily grind, suburbanites Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire (Tina Fey) try to put the spark back in their marriage by visiting a trendy Manhattan bistro. They get more than they bargained for when a case of mistaken identity hurtles them into an incredible adventure involving corrupt cops, a mob boss and a crazed cab driver.
CraveOnline's Call: With the combined star power of Fey & Carell, it seems as if they'd kick down any box office competition with a killer married-couple comedy. Unfortunately, based on the trailers we're on the fence with this one. Maybe it's the script, maybe it's the director.... it's too early to tell at this point, but something seems off with Date Night. Here's hoping we're wrong.
No One Knows About Persian Cats
Release Date: April 23, 2010
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Starring: Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad
Rating: NR
A vibrant and eye-opening look at the underground indie music scene in Tehran, PERSIAN CATS follows young singer Negar and her musician boyfriend Askhan, who attempt to form a rock band after being released from prison. Forbidden by authorities to play in Iran, and dreaming of performing in Europe, they plan their escape. The necessary paperwork proves impossible to come by legitimately, so they team up with Nader, a fast-talking music promoter, who may be able to provide the connections they need. With passports and visas being made to order, the trio trawl the Tehran underworld, listening to local rockers, metal-heads, rappers, singer-songwriters, musicians of every sort - all of whom will go to any length to perform their music. But with deadlines looming and authorities on their heels, their hopes of completing their mission may soon be shattered.
Shot in secret and featuring extraordinary performances by real underground musicians (it is estimated there are 2,000 illegal bands in Tehran), NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS is both a serenade to and an indictment of the former hometown of Ghobadi and a vital celebration of an entire generation of Iranians striving towards personal and creative freedom.
CraveOnline's Call: You owe it to yourself to check out this gripping tale of a world far outside the familiarity of our own. The risks they took to make this film - as well as those taken daily by people simply wanting to play their music and have it heard - are understood in the finished product. Enrich your own sense of awareness. You won't regret it.
The Losers
Release Date: April 23, 2010
Director: Sylvain White
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba
Rating: R
An explosive tale of double cross and revenge, "The Losers" centers upon the members of an elite U.S. Special Forces unit sent into the Bolivian jungle on a search and destroy mission. The team--Clay, Jensen, Roque, Pooch and Cougar--find themselves the target of a lethal betrayal instigated from inside by a powerful enemy known only as Max. Presumed dead, the group makes plans to even the score when they're joined by the mysterious Aisha, a beautiful operative with her own agenda. Working together, they must remain deep undercover while tracking the heavily-guarded Max, a ruthless man bent on embroiling the world in a new high-tech global wa.
CraveOnline's Call: They had us at "explosive tale of double cross and revenge". This one will tide us over until The Expendables, but looks like more than just an appetizer for the action-king collective. We're there.
I Love You Phillip Morris
Release Date: April 30, 2010
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Regua
Starring: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann
Rating: R
Based on a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter Steve McVicker, the fact-based film casts Carrey as Steven Russell, a married father whose exploits landed him in the Texas criminal justice system. He fell madly in love with his cellmate, who eventually was set free, which led Russell to escape from Texas prisons four times.
CraveOnline's Call: It's been a while since Jim Carrey's really knocked the funny out, and this strange bird may be his redemption. Carrey as a married man who falls in love with Ewan McGregor in prison? I think we can get down with that weirdness.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Release Date: April 30, 2010
Director: Samuel Bayer
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner
Rating: R
Nancy Thompson (Langenkamp) is suffering from violent nightmares about a badly burned man wearing a glove made of knives. She quickly learns that this man – child molester Freddy Krueger - is also terrorizing the dreams of her friends and boyfriend, Glen (Depp). As they begin to die one by one in their sleep, Nancy learns, that years prior, the parents of Elm Street burned Krueger alive - and now Freddy is back to claim their children's lives as revenge! As the teenagers of Elm Street fight to stay awake, Nancy must save their lives and her own by bringing Freddy out of their dreams and back into the real world to destroy him forever.
CraveOnline's Call: At first we were skeptical - who could possibly fill Robert Englund's shoes? The answer is Jackie Earle Haley, a man so thoroughly creepy and captivating on camera that we're suddenly foaming with anticipation to see what he'll do with the role. If Bayer's remake is any good, this could be the start of a new era for Freddy Krueger.
