In Theatres
Your monthly guide to new releases
By Ingrid Randoja
April 4
LEATHERHEADS (pictured above)
Who’s In It? George Clooney, Renée Zellweger
Who Directed? George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck.)
What’s It About? Clooney studied ’30s screwball comedies to find just the right tone for this flick he stars in and directs. He plays a 1920s pro football player-coach who drafts a popular college star and WWI hero (John Krasinski) to play for his struggling team. However, a nosy newswoman (Zellweger) thinks the war hero is a phony and sets out to expose him.
SHINE A LIGHT
Who’s In It? The Rolling Stones
Who Directed? Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
What’s It About? In the autumn of 2006, the Rolling Stones invaded New York’s famed Beacon Theatre to play a concert in front of friends and director Martin Scorsese’s 16 movie cameras. Scorsese’s documentary captures the intense behind-the-scenes shooting preparations and the concert itself, which includes guest appearances from Jack White, Buddy Guy, Christina Aguilera and audience member Bill Clinton.
NIM’S ISLAND
Who’s In It? Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster
Who Directed? Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin
What’s It About? Eleven-year-old Nim (Breslin) lives on a secluded tropical island with her scientist father Jack (Gerard Butler) and an assortment of animal pals. There’s no TV, so she reads a lot and is a big fan of the series of books by reclusive writer Alexandra Rover (Foster). So when Jack goes missing while conducting an experiment, Nim calls on Rover (Foster) to make the perilous journey to her island and help find her dad.
THE RUINS
Who’s In It? Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone
Who Directed? Carter Smith (debut)
What’s It About? This adaptation of author Scott Smith’s thriller sees six twentysomething tourists leave the safety of their Cancun resort to hike into the Mexican jungle and check out the ruins of an ancient Mayan temple where human sacrifices were once performed. However, the temple isn’t a relic, it’s a working operation, and these turistas experience a vacation to die for.
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS
Who’s In It? Norah Jones, Jude Law
Who Directed? Kar Wai Wong (2046)
What’s It About? A kiss from New York City café owner Jeremy (Law) sends the brokenhearted Elizabeth (Jones) on a journey across America, during which she meets a collection of other romantically challenged folk. From the nice-work-if-you-can-get-it department: the kissing scene between Law and Jones took more than 150 takes.
April 11
SMART PEOPLE
Who’s In It? Ellen Page, Dennis Quaid
Who Directed? Noam Murro (debut)
What’s It About? Page follows her Oscar-nominated turn in Juno with another role as a lippy teen, in this case the conservative daughter of a self-absorbed college prof (Quaid) dealing with a medical condition and the arrival of his freeloading brother (Thomas Haden Church).
PROM NIGHT
Who’s In It? Brittany Snow, Johnathon Schaech
Who Directed? Nelson McCormick (For Which He Stands)
What’s It About? It used to be spiking the punch and wearing flats were the worst prom-night crimes you could commit. But in this horror pic, a psychotic killer stalks the girl of his dreams (Snow) to the hotel hosting her high school prom and promptly begins to pick off her BFFs and totally ruin her special night.
STREET KINGS
Who’s In It? Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker
Who Directed? David Ayer (Harsh Times)
What’s It About? Writer/director Ayer’s obsession with corrupt L.A.P.D. cops — he wrote Training Day, and wrote and directed Harsh Times — continues with this flick about a veteran L.A. officer (Reeves) framed for a murder.
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA
Enjoy performances from New York’s renowned Metropolitan Opera. Check Cineplex.com for a list of participating theatres and to buy tickets.
La Bohème (Puccini)
Live: Saturday, April 5, 1:30 p.m. EST
Tristan und Isolde (Wagner)
Encore: Saturday, April 12, 12:30 p.m. EST
La Fille du Régiment (Donizetti)
Live: Saturday, April 26, 1:30 p.m. EST
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Al Pacino in 88 Minutes
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April 18
88 MINUTES
Who’s In It? Al Pacino, Neal McDonough
Who Directed? Jon Avnet (Red Corner)
What’s It About? A psychiatrist (Pacino) who helped convict a
serial killer (McDonough) gets a phone call on the eve of the execution
telling him he has 88 minutes to live.
PATHOLOGY
Who’s In It? Milo Ventimiglia, Alyssa Milano
Who Directed? Marc Schoelermann (debut)
What’s It About? A group of med students with way too much time
on their hands compete to see who can figure out the best way to kill a
person without getting caught.
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THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
Who’s In It? Michael Angarano, Jet Li
Who Directed? Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little)
What’s It About? When an American teen (Angarano) finds an old samurai sword in a pawn shop he’s whisked back to ancient China, where he’s mistaken for a monk and joins a group of warriors journeying to free the Monkey King (Li). What do you need to know about this movie? It marks the first time martial arts legends Li and Jackie Chan appear together in the same film.
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
Who’s In It? Jason Segel, Kristen Bell
Who Directed? Nicholas Stoller (debut)
What’s It About? Poor Peter (Segal). Sarah (Bell) — his TV-star girlfriend — dumps him and hooks up with an English rock star. To console himself, Peter heads to Hawaii where he just happens to be staying at the same resort as his ex and her new beau.
April 25
HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY
Who’s In It? Kal Penn, John Cho
Who Directed? Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
What’s It About? Picking up where Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle left off, this sequel finds stoner pals Harold (Cho) and Kumar (Penn) being mistaken for terrorists and whisked away to America’s most notorious detention centre. See Kal Penn and John Cho interview.
BABY MAMA
Who’s In It? Tina Fey, Amy Poehler
Who Directed? Michael McCullers (debut)
What’s It About? Kate Holbrook (Fey) is 37, successful, single and wants to have a baby. When she discovers there’s very little chance she can have one of her own, she hires the brassy Angie (Poehler) to be her surrogate mother. However, Kate didn’t expect the unkempt Angie to move in with her and turn her anal existence upside down.
DEATH DEFYING ACTS
Who’s In It? Catherine Zeta-Jones, Guy Pearce
Who Directed? Gillian Armstrong (Charlotte Grey)
What’s It About? Harry Houdini (Pearce) believes a Scottish psychic (Zeta-Jones) can communicate with his dead mother, but the magician’s entourage believes she’s a fake and is manipulating him. Based on true events that took place in 1926 while Houdini was travelling across the U.K.
THEN SHE FOUND ME
Who’s In It? Helen Hunt, Colin Firth
Who Directed? Helen Hunt (debut)
What’s It About? Actor Helen Hunt makes her writing/directing debut with this dramedy about an elementary school teacher (Hunt) whose life unravels when her husband (Matthew Broderick) dumps her, she meets her birth mother (Bette Midler), falls for a single dad (Firth) and sets out to have a baby. See Helen Hunt interview.
April 27
WWE-PAY-PER-VIEW
Backlash
Look for WrestleMania grudge matches to get ugly at this year’s Backlash! Check Cineplex.com for a list of theatres where you can watch it live, and to buy tickets.
May 9
SPEED RACER
Who’s In It? Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci
Who Directed? Larry and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix Revolutions)
What’s It About? Hirsch plays Speed, the world’s top race car driver, who discovers that races are being fixed. So he and girlfriend Trixie (Ricci) set out to expose the corruption. See Christina Ricci interview.