LUCIDMEDIA

Spring Movie Preview 09

Written by Adam A. Donaldson Friday, 20 March 2009 13:21

Spring officially arrives this Friday, and now lies a six week, twiddle-our-thumbs wait for the summer movie season to begin, right? Not quite, my friend. There does indeed seem like there’s some good stuff in the offing for the next few weeks. Please consult the calendar below.

March 20th

Duplicity – Julia Roberts and Clive Owen play duelling spies that decide to join forces in a get rich quick scheme. Sure to be a good one from Michael Clayton maker Tony Gilroy.

I Love You, Man – Paul Rudd tries his hands at bromance with Jason Segel, as Rudd plays a platonically-speaking ladies man looking for a best man to stand up with him at his wedding.

Knowing – Nicolas Cage tries to play it cool in Alex Proyas’ conspiracy thriller that looks like it might be good if Cage’s Fu Manchu zaniness can be contained long enough to get a performance.

12 – A Russian adaptation of Reginald Rose's play, Twelve Angry Men and a remake of Sidney Lumet's film of the same name. (Limited)

March 27th

12 Rounds – Wrestler John Cena continues to try and build himself a rep as a big time action star by playing a New Orleans cop matching wits with a killer he put away. It’s basically a different spin on Cena’s last film The Marine.

Monsters vs. Aliens – It’s Monsters! Fighting Aliens! In 3-D! Come on. What about the voices of Stephen Colbert as the President and Kiefer Sutherland as the deranged General? There you go.

Adventureland – James is a recent college grad that has to – gasp – get a crappy summer job to play for grad school! Of course his summer at an amusement part is fraught with life changing consequence.

The Haunting in Connecticut – Based on the supposedly true story of a family’s supernatural encounter in Southington, CT.

Assassination of a High School President – It’s All the President’s Men set in a high school as an enterprising student journalist finds himself deeper inside the rabbit hole of school politics as he searches for the person that stole the answers to the SATs.

Sunshine Cleaning – A film about the spirit of entrepreneurship in difficult financial times as a pair of sisters start their own crime scene clean-up business to afford school tuition. (Limited)

April 3th

Fast & Furious – Because you demanded it! Original cast members Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster re-unite for the fourth outing of this franchise.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil – After winning acclaim at the Toronto and Sundance festivals, the true story of Canadian heavy metal pioneers Anvil will finally be seen by a wider audience, if not a wide one. (Limited)

Fanboys – I guess after its U.S. release back in February, Canadian fan boys will finally be able to check out Fanboys. Click here (http://www.lucidforge.com/film/16/1830-Fanboys-2009.html) for Lucid Forge’s already posted review. (Limited)

Hunger – The acclaimed first film by Steve McQueen (no relation) painstakingly brings to life the final six weeks of Irish republican Bobby Sands who protested the legal status of himself and other prisoners by going on a hunger strike. (Limited)

April 8th

Dragonball Evolution – Fingers crossed, because this could be the launch of a whole wave of live-action, anime-based films. Shia LaBeouf and a CGI Pikachu in Pokemon! Paris Hilton as Sailor Moon! Keira Knightly and Gerard Butler in Hellsing…

April 10th

Hannah Montana: The Movie – Disney once again shoots fish in a barrel by bringing the adventures of Jem the Next Generation to the big screen, where the chanteuse will have to choose between fame and normalcy. But she’ll probably choose both.

Observe and Report – Would it be forward to suggest that given the trailer, this will be everything that Paul Blart: Mall Cop should have/could have been? Except with Seth Rogen and, uh, good? Time will tell.

Case 39 – Another evil kid horror film starring Renée Zellweger as the one that mistakes maliciousness for innocence.

The Informers - Reuters described the story thusly: "seven stories taking course during a week in the life of movie executives, rock stars, a vampire and other morally challenged characters", set in 1980s Los Angeles. Unfortunately though, IGN says that the undead subplot has since been snipped. (Limited)
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh – Michael Chabon’s story about love and crime in the Steel City is adapted for the big screen by Dodgeball maker Rawson Marshall Thurber. (limited)

April 17th

Crank 2: High Voltage – Apparently Chev Chelios didn’t die at the end of Crank as he said, and is now back in fighting form and looking for the guys that took his heart. The gag? He’s got an artificial heart that he has to constantly juice to keep going.

State of Play – Russell Crowe plays a reporter trying to help friend Ben Affleck prove his innocence as Affleck’s Senator finds himself in the middle of a Gary Condit-like scandal. Co-stars Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren.

17 Again – Zac Efron is inexplicably the young Matthew Perry in this reverse Big.

Sugar (2009) – Filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson) delve into the life of a talented Dominican baseball player that begins to question his drive to stardom just as he’s on the brink of making the majors. (Limited)

April 22nd

Earth – From “Disney Nature” comes a documentary about life on Earth, just in time for Earth Day. The marketing reps for the House of Mouse do it again.

April 24th

Fighting – Channing Tatum plays a street tough that wants to live large by using his God given gift for brawling. A new film from the guy who saw Never Back Down and said I can do that.

Obsessed – This entry into the Fatal Attraction claim to fame slot finds an office temp (or make that temptress) that becomes… you know, with one of the financiers. Beyonce Knowles co-stars as the affronted wife, and if you’ve seen the trailer, you know how it ends.

The Soloist – Based on a true story, Robert Downey Jr. plays a reporter that helps a homeless musician played by Jamie Foxx turn his life around.

Three Monkeys – This Turkish film about a family suffering a communications break and their struggle to get through tough times was Turkey’s entry for the Best Foreign Film Oscar this year, and director Nuri Bilge Ceylan was a winner at last year’s Cannes Festival. (Limited)

May 1st

X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Filled with more mutants than you can shake Gambit’s staff at, Wolverine features Hugh Jackman’s return as the crazy Canuck and reveals the X-Men bad boy’s origins. With Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth, Danny Huston as Stryker, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Taylor Kitsch as the card-throwing Cajun.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – Matthew McConaughey plays against type as a Peter Pan syndrome stricken lothario that has an Ebenezer Scrooge like epiphany that he’s a jerk. Jennifer Garner plays the object of his affection.

Three Blind Mice – From last year’s Toronto International Film Festival is this tale about three navy officers dealing with issues both subtle and gross while on leave in Australia before being shipped to the Gulf. (Limited)