From what looks good in the trailers is all here in chronological order. This month offers plenty of action, comedy, and a touch of pulp mixed with a slight tug at the heartstrings. There should be something for everyone. And if you manage to rush, you might still be able to catch these films in the theatres before May month approaches.
Furious 7
(April 3rd – Canada/USA)
Director: James Wan / Writer(s): Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson (characters)
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Kurt Russell, Lucas Black, Luke Evans, Djimon Hounsou, Gal Gadot
Synopsis: Dominic Toretto and his mercenary crew must snatch a computer program in the midst of a power struggle between a Somalian terrorist named Jakarde and a shady government official known as Mr. Nobody. Called ‘The God’s Eye,’ the program can turn any technological device into a weapon of war. And to make things more deadly a game changer named Deckard is killing members of Dominic’s crew out of revenge for their part in his brother Owen Shaw’s death.
Opinion: Furious 7 builds on and delivers the goods from its popular franchise. The combination of babes, bullets and souped up cars will appeal to the Kanjo subculture in Japan and just about anyone who has owned or read an issue of Car-Toons. Director James Wan seems to have an eye for the racing culture even though horror has been his bread and butter.
Reports are that this will be the last of the franchise but should the box office prove too lucrative, expect a Furious 8 and a bigger payday for everyone involved.
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!
(April 3rd – USA)
Director: Dibakar Banerjee / Writer(s): Urmi Juvekar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Saradindu Bandopaddhyay (story)
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari, Divya Menon
Synopsis: Dive into college graduate Byomkesh Bakshy’s first adventure as he pits himself against an evil genius of an arch villain determined to make the world his own. Bakshy soon learns about the ins and outs of 1940’s Calcutta with its murder, seduction and political intrigue.
Opinion: Byomeshi is to Bengalis what pulp adventure stories are to North Americans. To Bengalis Byomeshi was an adventurer, a seeker of truth and a hero. Created in 1932 Saradindu’s noir detective’s tales are spun for the big screen for all to see. Being a lover of old Hollywood films my jaw dropped at how well the set designers captured the look and feel of the old masters. Seeing old Calcutta on the silver screen makes me want to don a fedora and seek out some old school adventures.
Manos Sucias
(April 3rd – USA)
Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka / Writer(s): Alan Blanco, and Josef Kubota Wladyka
Cast: Cristian James Abvincula, Jarlin Javier Martinez
Synopsis: Two impoverished fisherman take to transporting a narcotic filled torpedo worth millions of dollars along Colombia’s war torn pacific coast.
Opinion: Wladyka’s debut as a feature film director is being supported by his New York University professor (and filmmaker in his own right) Spike Lee. The desperation to escape utter poverty through sometimes illegal and immoral means will be identifiable to many. The trailer conveys an edge of your seat film where the tension on screen is caused not just of the dangers the two fisherman must traverse but by the growing animosity for each other.
Kakashi To Racket
(April 4th – Japan)
Director: Haruo Inoue / Writer(s): Yasutoshi Murakawa
Cast: Yûna Taira, Karen Ohtomo, Masato Aoki, Mantaro Koichi, Megumi Seki
Synopsis: Aki had thought she left the sport of soft tennis behind when she left Tokyo for a rural island but her new friend Tamako has taken a sudden interest. Both of them will build a tennis court where there isn’t one and Aki will build a bridge to her troubled past.
Opinion: When it comes to lighthearted films filled with a sense of community and friendship, the Japanese know how to make them. This one looks as though it is aimed at pre-teen/teenage girls but the message of the film will hopefully transcend all age barriers.
Ex Machina
(April 10th – USA / April 24th – Canada)
Director: Alex Garland / Writer(s): Alex Garland
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Corey Johnson
Synopsis: A young programmer is selected within a company to spend a week at his CEO’s isolated mountain retreat. Upon arrival he learns the true purpose of his stay, to test and interact with a breakthrough artificial intelligence housed within the form fo a female robot.
Opinion: Sometimes it makes sense to give the screenwriter a chance at directing. With Alex Garland he is the best candidate. I admired his work of 28 Days Later and thought that Dredd was the most underrated films of 2012. Here Garland is in his element and is set to deliver us a solid psycological thriller. Who is the real villain needs to be asked. Is it a robot that humankind will need to fear or one who represents capitalism.
Kill Me Three Times
(April 10th – USA)
Director: Kriv Stenders / Writer(s): James McFarland
Cast: Simon Pegg, Teresa Palmer, Alice Braga, Luke Hemsworth, Sullivan Stapleton, Callan Mulvey, Bryan Brown
Synopsis: Three Tales of revenge, blackmail, and murder that all involve professional hit-man Charlie Wolfe after a botched assignment.
Opinion: Kill Me Three Times feels alot like Pulp Fiction. In fact it feels like a Australian take on a Tarantino film. Pegg chews the scenery as a hitman who manages to give a smile or crack a joke even at the most morbid of times.
Barefoot To Goa
(April 10th – India)
Director: Praveen Morchhale / Writer(s): Praveen Morchhale and Chetan Itape (associate writer)
Cast: Sonu Chourasia, Ajay Chourey, Farrukh Jaffar
Synopsis: Two children set out on a journey to see their ailing grandmother who their parents have all but abandoned.
Opinion: I enjoy family films that can be brutally honest while stil tugging at the heartstrings. Barefoot To Goa appears to be such a film. Sometimes children can keep their perspective when adults have lost sight to what is important in life. This may be the underdog of the year.
Vampire In Love
(April 17th – Japan)
Director: Mai Suzuki / Writer(s): Mai Suzuki
Cast: Ekin Cheng, Mirei Kiritani, Summer Meng, Seichi Tanabe
Synopsis: Kiira appears like any other ordinary girl, who likes to play with her friends and dreams of becoming a world reknown baker. But she has a secret she has been hiding and she hasn’t even told her childhood Tetsu she’s a vampire. After losing her parents at age 12 Kiira is shuffled off to relatives and loses contact with him.
Now eight years later, Tetsu walks into the bakery where Kiira is working part-time. Excited to see her childhood crush she starts to develop adult feelings for him. But what of her secret? Can Kiira have a life with Tetsu without revealing she is a vampire?
Opinion: This looks to be a film that couples can see without leaving the male part of the relationship feeling alienated. As a guy it would pain me to be dragged to a vampire/human relationship film where the actors have wind blowing throw their hair. Twilight appears to have no influence on Suzuki’s work. What the end result might be is a light-hearted romance with the subject of vampirism being just one of those bumps on the road to marital bliss. And that is fine by me.
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll
(April 22nd – USA)
Director: John Pirozzi
Synopsis: This documentary tracks the paths of Cambodian music before its eventual merge into rock and roll. Interviews with surviving musicians from before Khmer Rogue are accompanied by archival footage of the music scene that was nearly destroyed with the killing of over 2 million people.
Opinion: This is an important documentary and one that should be treasured. Pirozzi has provided us with a look into one of the most happening hotspots in Asia. I’ve been previously aware of the music scenes of the 1960’s in Japan and China but I was completely ignorant of any such scene in Cambodia. Depending on how the subject is approached, the documentary could become a valuable learning tool.
Ryuzo And The Seven Henchmen
(April 25th – Japan)
Director: Takeshi Kitano / Writer(s): Takeshi Kitano
Cast: Tatsuya Fuji, Masaomi Kondo, Akira Nakao, Toru Shinagawa, Ben Hiura, Yoshizumi Ito, Ken Yoshizawa, Akira Onodera, Ken Yasuda, Kenichi Yajima, Atom Shimojo, Masanobu Katsumura, Hisako Manda, Takeshi Kitano, Fumika Shimizu
Synopsis: Ryuzo and his 7 former henchman and all retired Yakuza and have now resumed their lives as members of Japan’s elderly population. Ryuzo becomes a victim of a Phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men to reform their gang.
Opinion: One might think Furious 7 was to be my most anticipated film of April but no, this is the film I am most excited to see. Takeshi Kitano is one of the most respected filmmakers, actors and artists (he is a painter). His films Kikujiro (1999) and Outrage (2010) are just two of his best works.
The film is loaded with a who’s who of both familiar and famous Japanese film actors (some who have played Yakuza in previous movies). Kitano’s latest venture may be influenced by the spaghetti westerns, namely those starring Clint Eastwood (as hinted by the notes from the theme song The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). From my point of view, it could also be revisiting the Magnificent Seven which was the American version of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. However I look at it has all my favourites rolled into one. I just wish I could be in Japan for the first showing.