We had Batman v Superman last month, but the rivalry continues as we see Captain America’s team fighting Iron Man and his crew, a young boy and his father running away from the government, and an icy sibling conflict between two Queens. Mark your calendars.
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HIGH STRUNG
Release Date: 14 April 2016
Director: Michael Damian
Cast: Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Jane Seymour
Rating: PG
Obviously this film is going to get compared to the Step Up films, but if you’re up for a feel-good movie, then this should be it. So a hip-hop violinist meets a classical dancer while busking in the New York Subway. They decide to collab, even though her world is classical and disciplined, and his is improvisational and street smart. They immediately clash, but try to find common ground as they enter a competition that could save her scholarship and prevent him from being deported.
DEMOLITION
Release Date: 14 April 2016
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper
Rating: NC16
When something tragic happens in your life, how do you cope? Do you just wallow in self-pity for a few days and then move on with life, or do you go for a holiday just to get away from it all? Everyone has different coping mechanisms. Jake Gyllenhaal plays an investment banker who recently lost his wife in a car accident. It starts out with a personal letter to a vending machine company (the vending machine didn’t give him his peanut M&M’s), which slowly turns into a series of letters that reveal personal admissions, like his emotional detachment after losing his wife. The letters catch the attention of a customer service rep (Naomi Watts) and from there, they form a connection that helps him rebuild his life, by demolishing his past. How poetic.
HARDCORE HENRY
Release Date: 14 April 2016
Director: Ilya Naishuller
Cast: Sharito Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett
Rating: To be advised (probably gonna be R21)
So a man named Henry wakes up and finds himself in a lab after being revived by a woman who claims to be his wife. But before she can tell him anything (except his name), she gets kidnapped by armed thugs and mercenaries. Now he has to find a way to find this woman and figure out what the hell is happening, all while trying to avoid being killed by pretty much everyone in the city Moscow; except for a mysterious British man who seems to be on Henry’s side. Plot aside, TAKE A LOOK AT THAT CINEMATOGRAPHY. It’s shot entirely from a first-person perspective, just like how you would when you play first person shooters like Doom, Call of Duty and Counter-strike. Very refreshing and something to catch if you’re a fan of those games.
THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR
Release Date: 14 April 2016
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain
Rating: PG13
The cast and director were recently in town for the gala premiere of the film at Universal Studios Singapore (and of course to meet their fans and all). You already know the story of Snow White, but discover the story that came before that in this film. Charlize Theron reprises her role as the evil Queen Ravenna, who betrays her good sister Freya (played by Emily Blunt) with an unforgivable act which freezes her heart and unleashing a power she never knew she had. She retreats to a kingdom far to the north and raises an army of hunstmen as her protectors. Eric (played by Chris Hemsworth) and Sara (played by Jessica Chastain) have been chosen to fight for Freya as the two queens go to war for total domination.
MR. RIGHT
Release Date: 21 April 2016
Director: Paco Cabezas
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Tim Roth
Rating: M18
This film is basically a rom-com with a bang, pun intended. Anna Kendrick plays Martha McKay, a girl who just recently went through a breakup with a cheating boyfriend. She runs into a guy at a store (after bumping a bunch of condoms off the shelf, no less) and realises that she’s falling for what seems like the “perfect” guy. His one flaw? He’s a hitman who kills people that hire him. Yes, as strange as it sounds, we really can’t wait to see how this pans out, though it’s likely they’ll end up together forever and ride into the sunset at the end.
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN
Release Date: 21 April 2016
Director: Patricia Riggen
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Martin Henderson, Kylie Rogers
Rating: PG
We often read about medical mysteries that have been described as miracles. Now you can witness one that’s based on the incredible true story of the Beam family. 10-year-old Anna suffers from a pseudo-obstruction motility disorder; a rare, incurable disease that forces her to use feeding tubes for nutrition. One day, she was hanging out with her sister on the branch of a tree. Suddenly, the branch breaks and she falls three stories, hitting her head. A miracle unfolds in the wake of this, as she is left unscathed and healed from her disease.
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
Release Date: 21 April 2016
Director: Jeff Nichols
Cast: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst
Rating: PG
So Kylo Ren, Zod and Mary Jane decided to come together for a Midnight Special. Just kidding, but the actors who play those characters are in this new sci-fi film written by Jeff Nichols. An 8-year-old boy named Alton is gifted with special powers (we don’t really know what it is but we’re guessing it’s on the same level as X-Men’s Jean Grey/Phoenix), but of course the Federal Government (and somehow some extreme religious sect as well) are after him. His father, Roy, goes all out and risks everything to protect him from these people. We know that “he’s not like us”, but what exactly can he do? The trailer has piqued our interest, and we hope it doesn’t disappoint.
THE BOSS
Release Date: 21 April 2016
Director: Ben Falcone
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage
Rating: M18
Melissa McCarthy teams up with director and husband Ben Falcone for this new hilarious comedy where she plays an industrial titan named Michelle Darnell, who gets sent to prison for insider trading. Once she’s out, she hopes to rebrand herself as America’s latest sweetheart, but not everyone is too keen on forgiving and forgetting what she’s done. So what does she do? Help with her operation manager’s daughter to build – wait for it – a brownie empire. Go figure.
CRIMINAL
Release Date: 21 April 2016
Director: Ariel Vromen
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Costner, Gal Gadot, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman
Rating: NC16
It’s movies like these that spawn conspiracy theories about governments (and vice versa). Although this isn’t really about espionage or treason per se, the film sees an unpredictable and highly dangerous death-row inmate who has been implanted with memories and skills of a dead CIA agent. He’s tasked to finish a mission that requires him to use those skills in order to take down an international terrorist who has the power to fire missiles anywhere in the world at his whim and fancy.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
Release Date: 28 April 2016
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
Rating: To be advised
If you actually analyse the trailers really closely, you’ll be able to catch all the easter eggs that Marvel has been dropping in em’. But if you’re itching to know what they all are, there’s a pretty in-depth 16-minute video that talks about them here. Also, Marvel has been busy uploading small clips from the film that’ll excite you even more, without actually spoiling the film for fans. So the film takes place after The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which caused a lot of collateral damage. Political pressure rises, which forces a governing body to oversee and direct the team to install a system of accountability. This new arrangement causes a rift among the Avengers, resulting in two camps – one led by Captain America (and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference), and the other led by Iron Man (and his decision to support the government).
Image credit: United International Pictures Singapore
