Before the blockbuster season kicks off in May, April is the lull before the storm with less high profile releases.April sees a mix of genres including music themed pictures, romantic comedies, animation and action movies all making it to the big screen this month.
Funny Games
Parents Anna (Naomi Watts) and George (Tim Roth) and their young son Georgie (Devon Gearhart) are a well to do family on vacation in a lake house.But the holiday turns into a nightmare when the family are taken hostage by Peter (Brady Corbet) and Paul (Michael Pitt) two young, articulate, white gloved sociopaths.The family are subjected to both physical and mental torture as the hostages takers play a series of games with the terrified captives.The director of the original movie Michael Haneke is once again back behind the camera in this English speaking version which is said to be an exact shot for shot remake.
Funny Games stars Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Devon Gearhart, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, and Siobhan Fallon.
Funny Games is released 4th April.
Son of Rambow
It all begins in 1980s Britain, when young Will Proudfoot, raised in isolation among The Brethren, a puritanical religious sect in which music and TV are strictly forbidden, encounters something beyond his wildest fantasies: a pirated copy of Rambo: First Blood.
His virgin viewing of the iconic thriller blows his mind and rapidly expanding imagination wide open.
Now, Will sets out to join forces with the seemingly diabolical school bully, Lee Carter, to make their own action epic, devising wildly creative, on-the-fly stunts, not to mention equally elaborate schemes for creating a movie of total commitment and non-stop thrills while hiding out from The Brethren.
But when school popularity finally descends on Will and Lee in the form of, oui, the super-cool French exchange student, Didier Revol, their remarkable new friendship and precious film are pushed, quite literally, to the breaking point.
Starring: Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Jules Sitruk, Charlie Thrift, Jessica Stevenson, Neil Dudgeon.
Son of Rambow is released 4th April.
Release of the Month
Leatherheads
Oscar® winners George Clooney and Renée Zellweger match wits in Leatherheads, a quick-witted romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America's nascent pro-football league in 1925.
Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums.
But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks.
The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country's attention.
Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), America's favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field.
his new champ is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) aims to prove that's the case.
A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter's war story. But while she digs, the two teammates start to become serious off-field rivals for her fickle affections.
As the new game of pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams.
Finding that love and football have a surprisingly similar playbook, however, he has one maneuver he will save just for the fourth quarter...
Starring: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski, Stephen Root, Wayne Duvall, and Pete Gerety.
Leatherheads is released 11th April
Shine A Light
In autumn 2006 the Rolling Stones gave two concerts at Beacon Theatre in New York.
Here, in the 2,800-seater old Broadway theatre that opened in 1928, we encounter living legends Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts.
Before an enthusiastic audience that includes Hillary and Bill Clinton, the Stones present their hit songs as well as less known numbers.
Guest appearances include Christina Aguilera, blues legends Buddy Guy and Jack White
Shine A Light is a Rolling Stones documentary by Martin Scorsese that focuses on the two concerts from the group's current "A Bigger Bang" tour as well as historical and contemporary behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.
Shine A Light is released 11 April.
Fool's Gold
Ben "Finn" Finnegan is a good-natured, surf bum-turned-treasure hunter who is obsessed with finding the legendary 18th century Queen's Dowry--40 chests of exotic treasure that was lost at sea in 1715.
In his quest, Finn has sunk everything he has, including his marriage to Tess Finnegan and his more-rusty-than-trusty salvage boat, "Booty Calls."
Just as Tess has begun to rebuild her life, working aboard a mega-yacht owned by billionaire Nigel Honeycutt, Finn discovers a vital clue to the treasure's whereabouts.
Certain that his luck will change with the newfound information, Finn maneuvers himself aboard Nigel's yacht and, using his good-natured charm, convinces the tycoon and his Blackberry-wielding, celebutante daughter, Gemma, to join him in the pursuit of the Spanish treasure.
Against Tess' better judgment, the search rekindles her love... of discovery. But they are not the only ones after the treasure. Finn's mentor-turned-nemesis Moe Fitch has also set out to claim the prize. Let the treasure hunt begin...
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Roger Sciberras, Donald Sutherland, Ewen Bremner
Fool's Gold is released 18th April
Street Kings
Tom Ludlow, a veteran LAPD Vice Detective, sets out on a quest to discover the killers of his former partner, Detective Terrance Washington.
Captain Wander's, Ludlow's supervisor, duties include keeping him within the confines of the law--and out of the clutches of Internal Affairs Captain Biggs.
Ludlow teams up with a young Robbery Homicide Detective to track Washington's killers through the diverse communities of Los Angeles.
Their determination pays off when the two detectives track down Washington's murderers and confront them in an attempt to bring them to justice.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Jay Mohr
Street Kings is released 18th April
Persepolis
The coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution.
We meet nine-year-old Marjane when the fundamentalists first take power--forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands.
The story then follows her as she cleverly outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden, while living with the terror of government persecution and the Iran/Iraq war.
Then Marjane's journey moves on to Austria where, as a teenager, her parents send her to school in fear for her safety and, she has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape.
Marjane eventually gains acceptance in Europe, but finds herself alone and horribly homesick, and returns to Iran to be with her family, though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society.
After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses.
At age twenty-four, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran.
She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past.
Starring: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian and Gabrielle Lopes Benites.
Persepolis is released 25th April
Stop Loss
Decorated Iraq war hero Sgt. Brandon King makes a celebrated return to his small Texas hometown following his tour of duty.
Brandon tries to resume the life he left behind with the help and support of his family and his best friend, Steve Shriver, who served with him in Iraq.
Alongside their war-time buddies, Brandon and Steve try to make peace with civilian life. Then, against Brandon's will, the Army orders him back to duty in Iraq.
This upends Brandon's entire world. The conflict into which he is thrown tests everything he believes in: the bond of family, the loyalty of friendship, the limits of love, and the value of honor.
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Timothy Olyphant, Ciaran Hinds
Stop Loss is released 25th April
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw