Popcorn Pick- April 2012

Ah, the awkward spring season continues. This month brings us the usual mixed bag of comedies and thrillers while we count off the days until summer. I will use this month to catch up on the movies I haven't watched yet, while just tasting the local cuisine of what's out currently. Of course, for those who still go to the movies regularly, even in this hard-to-define month of April, here are my picks, as usual.

Wednesday, April 4th
Titanic 3D

Now, before you say anything, this is no run-of-the-mill 3D re-release. James Cameron (writer, director, producer, and co-editor) is the man who revolutionized the 3D craze with Avatar. He's also the man who has the two biggest movies of all time. So if he wants to re-release his other big epic movie with a conversion to 3D, you know he isn't half-assing it. (I'm looking at you, George Lucas!) Bonus points if you see it in IMAX.
To coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the actual sinking of the ship, the 1997 Best Picture winner is getting a facelift into the third dimension, sans any director's-cut-like changes or extensions. A young Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet star as passengers on the ship who fall in love despite differences in class, and must band together to survive when disaster strikes.
The movie has gotten a bad rap in the years since it's come out, but not from me. It remains one of my all-time favorites, because I believe it to be one of the all-time best.
(Now, what about the movie that's actually new that's coming out this week, American Reunion? Calm yourselves, I haven't forgotten it. See below.)

Friday, April 13th
The Cabin in the Woods

Everyone who's a fan of Joss Whedon has been aware of this film and has been waiting for it for some time. This movie got shelved for years because of MGM's financial troubles, and is finally seeing the light of day. In the vein of the Scream movies, this is a horror/comedy that borders on self-parody. It features the old plot of a group of teenagers going out into a cabin in the middle of nowhere for a drunken sex-filled vacation and end up being killed off one by one by an unknown menace. Beyond that, though, the plot is being kept tightly under wraps, which means that it goes through many twists and turns. A fine ensemble cast is led by Chris Hemsworth (Thor).








Friday, April 20th
American Reunion

There's no good movies opening this week (with the possible exception of the ensemble romantic comedy Think Like a Man), so go see this comedy sequel instead, which actually opens Friday, April 6th. The fourth theatrical movie in the American Pie series, this film reunites the entire original cast for their ten-year high school reunion. Jim, Oz, Kevin, Finch, and Stifler reflect on where their lives have gone and how it differed from what they imagined it to be. The usual raunchy humor is back, as is Jim's lovable doofus dad, but no maturity is to be found among this group of grown-ups. The ensemble cast includes Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott, and Eugene Levy.








Friday, April 27th
The Five-Year Engagement

Yet another R-rated comedy, as if people ever get tired of them! This one stars Jason Segel and Emily Blunt as a couple who get engaged but keep putting their wedding off while their lives get in the way. A potential one-joke idea is given the Apatow treatment with wry observations on men and women, sex, and family. And lately, Segel can do no wrong.












Other movies coming out this month I neglected to mention include The Three Stooges (looks awful) and The Raven (looks exciting but dumb). At any rate, the summer movies start in the first week of May, which is where my calendar is marked. See you then!