March 29, 2014
Spring Movie Preview :: Profiles of 19 New Releases
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 7 MIN.
The sun is shining, the weather is beautiful...you may not think that spring is a good time to enjoy movies.
But you can still enjoy a beautiful spring and see one movie a week, right?
That would be a good choice especially considering there are so many great selections to choose from this spring!
I've taken the time to profile 19 new releases that will be screened at theaters in the coming months.
Included on the list: "Godzilla," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "X Men: Days of Future Past," and more! Read on...
MARCH
It Felt Like Love
A coming-of-age drama which exudes shades of "Little Darlings." A fourteen-year-old decides to gain more attention for herself by giving up her sexual innocence even though she doesn't want to. In her quest for attention, she finds that she is putting herself in great danger.
Starring: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Nicolas Rosen
Release Date: March 21 (limited), March 28 (wider release)
Noah
Russell Crowe brings the story of Noah and his Ark to life in this action-filled drama. God chooses Noah to save the world and the life on it when a monstrous flood threatens the security of everyone and everything.
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Logan Lerman, Nick Nolte
Release Date: March 28
Refuge
A couple dies in a horrible accident, and their oldest daughter is left to raise the two younger children. After a chance meeting in a bar, the woman puts all her faith in a stranger, and this mysterious stranger helps her build a better life for her siblings.
Starring: Krysten Ritter, Brian Geraghty, Logan Huffman, Madeleine Martin
Release Date: March 28 (limited), April 4 (expanded)
Sabotage
A Drug Enforcement Administration task force attacks a safe house linked to a prominent drug cartel. This battle in the War on Drugs has been won by the DEA... or has it? Slowly but surely, members of the task force are being killed and it is up to the leader to solve the mystery.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olivia Williams, Mireille Enos, Sam Worthington, Harold Perrineau, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Max Martini, Josh Holloway
Release Date: March 28
APRIL
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
In this installment of the film franchise, Captain America joins up with the Black Widow to expose a conspiracy that has taken down a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague in the ensuing collateral damage. Captain America, the Black Widow, and the Falcon come together to fight a new enemy - the Winter Soldier.
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders
Release Date: April 4 (in 2D and 3D)
Draft Day
A football general manager has the opportunity to turn around the fortunes of the struggling Cleveland team, but his work and personal lives clash when he is confronted with the task of picking the best player with the number one draft pick - will he make the right decision?
Starring: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Burstyn, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Chadwick Boseman, Sean Combs
Release Date: April 11
Oculus
A woman is determined to prove her brother's innocence even after he has served a prison term for killing their parents. She is convinced that an antique mirror in their old home let out a supernatural evil that was responsible for the murders. She believes she has been proven right when other murders are linked to the mirror.
Starring: Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff, Brenton Thwaites, James Lafferty
Release Date: April 11
Transcendence
A doctor who is on a neverending quest to perfect artificial intelligence becomes his own worst enemy. His thirst for knowledge becomes unquenchable and morphs into a God-like grab for power. His wife and friend, also doctors, are the only ones who might be able to rein him in.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Morgan Freeman
Release Date: April 18 (in 2D and IMAX)
Brick Mansions
A cop, a civilian and a drug lord cross paths and are forced to work together in a dystopian version of Detroit. A plot to end all plots can spell certain death for this wasteland, that is, if these three don't stop the devious plan in time. Starring Paul Walker in a posthumous release.
Starring: Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA
Release Date: April 25
The Other Woman
A woman is heartbroken to find that her boyfriend is already married! She later meets his wife, and surprisingly they get along very well. When the wife finds out that her husband cheated on her again, the two women team up with the new mistress and get revenge on their no-good man!
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Taylor Kinney, Nicki Minaj
Release Date: April 25
MAY
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Peter Parker is his name by day, Spider-Man is his name by night. The web-throwing Spider-Man has a duty to save the people of New York City from the evil Oscorp, all the while having to fend off the machinations of Electro. Meanwhile, Peter Parker's love story with the beautiful Gwen continues.
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field
Release Date: May 2 (in 2D, 3D and IMAX)
Walk of Shame
Anchoring the TV news is a dream for Meghan, and she'll get her dream, as long as she makes it to her agent's office by 5 p.m. Abandoned by her one-night stand and with no money, ID or phone, she has to get to the office and grab her dream in the most awkward walk of shame ever!
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Gillian Jacobs, Bill Burr
Release Date: May 2
Neighbors
A young couple, with a newborn baby, settle into their new home, but they find that their first home is anything but peaceful when they are rudely awakened to the fact that they bought property next to a college's fraternity house.
Starring: Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne
Release Date: May 9
Godzilla
The epic 1950s movie franchise gets a 2014 update. The "world's most famous monster" does battle against monsters borne out of scientific hubris gone awry. The future of humanity as we know it depends on who wins the battle ahead.
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston
Release Date: May 16 (in 2D, 3D and IMAX)
Blended
This is the third movie pairing for Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, after "The Wedding Singer" and "50 First Dates." Two single parents (Sandler, Barrymore) go on one date and can't stand each other. Through a comedy of errors, both adults and children sign up for the same vacation and are forced to share a suite in remote Africa for an entire week.
Starring: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Joel McHale, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon, Jessica Lowe, Terry Crews, Dan Patrick
Release Date: May 23
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Everyone knows the butterfly effect...change the past and the whole world changes. In this installment of the X-Men franchise, the adult superheroes must team up with their younger selves from the "First Class" film in order to save the future...by changing the past.
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry
Release Date: May 23
JUNE
Edge of Tomorrow
Aliens attack Planet Earth and and an Army officer is thrown into a suicide mission that kills him nearly instantly. However, he is trapped in a time warp and the circumstances leading up to his death replay over and over, and with each successive battle, he comes closer to actually winning and saving his life.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Jeremy Piven, Ciaran Hinds
Release Date: June 6 (in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D)
The Fault in Our Stars
Based on the bestseller by John Green. Two teenagers who are wise to the world, yet jaded at the same time, find comfort in one another and fall in love due to their many similarities. One particular similarity is surprising: They both have cancer and they first meet at a support group.
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Willem Dafoe, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell
Release Date: June 6
22 Jump Street
Picking up after the point where "21 Jump Street" (the remake of the '80s TV series) left off, the two undercover cops (Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum) accept one more assignment, this time posing as college students. It quickly becomes evident that they must grow as people before they can come close to closing their case.
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Amber Stevens, Craig Roberts
Release Date: June 13
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.