Hollywood Releases Preview – April, 2011
by HELEN GEIB
Hollywood’s offerings for April bear the now-familiar stamp of unoriginality. It’s the new multiplex rhyme: sequel, remake, adaptation, dramatization, parody. Strictly speaking some of the films are original stories, but even there the stories will look pretty familiar to the frequent moviegoer.
However, that doesn’t mean nothing on the list looks worthwhile. Not all sequels et seq. are born equal.
My weekend picks (full releases list at the end):
April 1 Source Code
Sci-fi thriller with a nifty, albeit not-original premise. I do enjoy a good time travel conundrum, and when you add in a train…. Jake Gyllenhaal is the hero who wants to change the past to avert a fatal explosion but can only go back in time a few minutes, Michelle Monaghan plays the passenger he falls for, and Vera Farmiga is in the control room.
April 8 Hanna
Director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) turns his hand to thrillers. Saoirse Ronan is the teenage heroine brought up in isolation and trained as a killer by her father, Eric Bana is the possibly demented/possibly knows what he’s about dad, and Cate Blanchett is the face of the pursuing shadow intelligence agency.
April 15 [intentionally left blank]
April 22 [intentionally left blank]
April 29 Fast Five
The still above says almost everything about why I can’t wait for the latest installment of the Fast and the Furious series. If Dwayne Johnson was pictured, the still would say it all. The film was helmed by Justin Lin, who also directed entries three and four.
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Release Schedule:
April 1 – Hop, Insidious, Source Code
April 8 – Arthur, Hanna, Soul Surfer, Your Highness
April 22 – Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, Water for Elephants
April 29 – Fast Five, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, Prom
