Movies in Theaters This Friday, March 28, 2014: Noah, Sabotage, Cesar Chavez, The Raid 2: Berandal, and More
As the great movie month of March (ooo…alliteration) comes to a close, this weekend’s releases are just as good, if not better, than what we’ve already seen this month. In short, they’ll be three wide releases and nine limited ones (including a sequel to a critically-acclaimed film from 2011).
Perhaps the biggest release – and the one I’ll most likely see – is Darren Aronofsky’s biblical epic Noah. Aronofsky has been primarily a psychological thriller guy, but if I had to choose a director to take on the Bible, he’d be right near the top. It helps that Russell Crowe and Emma Watson star in the movie, too.
David Ayer, acclaimed writer and the director of 2012’s End of Watch, releases his first movie of the year (later this year he’ll release Fury). His Arnold Schwarzenegger-fronted action film, Sabotage, will at the least be a fun action film. At most, it’ll be a not-so-mindless surprise.
The final wide release of the weekend goes to Diego Luna’s Cesar Chavez. The biographical film definitely has notable source material, so I’m hoping (fingers crossed) it translates to the big screen. Michael Pena (Shooter) stars in the film and that is, in my opinion, a good thing.
In limited theaters, the one I wanted to mention (and the one I alluded to earlier) is The Raid 2: Berandal. Following The Raid: Redemption, Gareth Evans’ sequel will return Iko Uwais as the rookie cop tries to track down the higher-ups responsible for the events in the first movie.
Quickly, the rest of the limited releases are Blumenthal, Boys of Abu Ghraib, Breathe In, Hide Your Smiling Faces, Locker 13, Mistaken for Strangers, Refuge, and Road to the Open.
Directed by Diego Luna, Chávez chronicles the birth of a modern American movement led by famed civil rights leaderand labor organizer, Cesar Chavez. Torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to bringing dignity and justice to others, Chavez embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle for the rights of farm workers. His triumphant journey is a remarkable testament to the power of one individual’s ability to change the system.
Russell Crowe stars as Noah in the film inspired by the epic story of courage, sacrifice and hope. Directed by visionary filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.
IN “SABOTAGE”, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER LEADS AN ELITE DEA TASK FORCE THAT TAKES ON THE WORLD’S DEADLIEST DRUG CARTELS. WHEN THE TEAM SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTES A HIGH-STAKES RAID ON A CARTEL SAFE HOUSE, THEY THINK THEIR WORK IS DONE – UNTIL, ONE-BY-ONE, THE TEAM MEMBERS MYSTERIOUSLY START TO BE ELIMINATED. AS THE BODY COUNT RISES, EVERYONE IS A SUSPECT.
Celebrated playwright, Harold Blumenthal, has passed away after succumbing to cardiac arrest while laughing at his own joke. Now, Harold’s estranged and jealous brother, Saul, must confront his personal hang-ups in order to deliver himself from an epic bout of constipation. Meanwhile, Saul’s wife Cheryl and son Ethan must grapple with their own personal obstacles through a set of circumstances so improbably ironic, they might as well have been lifted from one of Harold’s plays.
An American soldier deployed at Abu Ghraib finds himself behind the walls of the infamous Hard Site, where he develops a secret friendship with an Iraqi detainee.
As summer turns to fall, music teacher Keith Reynolds (Guy Pearce) privately reminisces about his days as a starving artist in the city. While his wife, Megan (Amy Ryan), and daughter, Lauren (Mackenzie Davies, look forward to Lauren’s final year of high school, Keith clings to those evenings he’s called on to sub as a cellist with a prestigious Manhattan symphony. Megan decides the family should host a foreign exchange student. Sophie (Felicity Jones), a British high school senior, settles in comfortably, but soon challenges the family dynamics. She reinvigorates the impulsiveness of Keith’s personality which ultimately pushes their seemingly perfect family into unfamiliar territory.
Writer/director Drake Doremus, winner of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Like Crazy, reunites with co-writer Ben York Jones and producers Jonathon Schwartz, Andrea Sperling, Steven M. Rales and Mark Roybal for this revealing family drama.
An atmospheric exploration of life and death in rural America, as seen through the distorted lens of youth.
Hide Your Smiling Faces vividly depicts the young lives of two brothers as they abruptly come of age through the experience of a friend’s mysterious death. The event ripples under the surface of their town, unsettling the brothers and their friends in a way that they can’t fully understand. Once familiar interactions begin to take on a macabre tone in light of the tragic accident, leading Eric and Tommy to retreat into their wild surroundings. As the two brothers vocally face the questions they have about mortality, they simultaneously hold their own silent debates within their minds that build into seemingly insurmountable moral peaks. Hide Your Smiling Faces is a true, headlong glimpse into the raw spirit of youth, as well as the calluses that one often develops as a result of an unfiltered past.
Locker 13 is a thriller anthology feature film, in the style of ‘The Twilight Zone’, revolving around a mysterious locker 13. It’s the story of Skip (Jason Spisak, Piranha), a young ex-convict who takes a position as a night janitor at an old-west theme park. His supervisor Archie (Jon Gries, Napoleon Dynamite), teaches him the ropes, but more importantly attempts to convey critical philosophical messages through a series of four stories: a down and out boxer (Ricky Schroder, NYPD Blue, Silver Spoons, The Champ) is given the opportunity to become a real golden gloves killer; an assassin (Rick Hoffman, Suits, Battleship) kidnaps three people in order to find out who hired him for his latest hit; a new recruit (Bart Johnson, High School Musical) is initiated into a lodge of fez-wearing businessmen where hazing can take a malevolent turn; and a member of a suicide club (Jason Marsden, Boy Meets World, White Squall) introduces real fear into a man about to jump to his death. The four stories suddenly come into play when Skip is faced with a life-or-death decision of his own.
Hailed by Michael Moore as “one of the best documentaries about a band that I’ve ever seen” and by Pitchfork as “the funniest, most meta music movie since SPINAL TAP,” MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS is a truly hilarious, unusual, and moving film about two brothers, Matt and Tom Berninger.
Matt, the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band The National, finally finds himself flush with success. His younger brother, Tom, is a loveable slacker – a filmmaker and metal-head still living with his parents in Cincinnati. On the eve of The National’s biggest tour to date, Matt invites Tom to work for the band as a roadie, unaware of Tom’s plan to film the entire adventure.
What starts as a rock documentary soon becomes a surprisingly honest portrait of a charged relationship between two brothers, and the frustration of unfulfilled creative ambitions.
Following immediately after the events of THE RAID, RAMA (Iko Uwais) is forced to reinvent himself as an undercover cop in order to provide protection for his wife and child. Working for the anti-corruption taskforce led by the one person he can trust, BUNAWAR, he is given a mission to engage himself as an enforcer for a local mob boss, BANGUN. Finding a way in through BANGUN’s son UCO, RAMA must hunt for information linking BANGUN with police force corruption. All the while, he harbors a dangerous and personal vendetta for revenge and justice that threatens to consume him- and bring both this mission and the organized crime syndicates crashing down.
After their parents abandon the family, a young woman works to take care of her younger siblings.
Struggling after the loss of his wife, the future looks bleak for Jerry McDonald. As a single-parent, tennis has become his only semi-social outlet with his eccentric best friend, Miles, who’s working through anger management with the help of his life coach (Judd Nelson).
Reluctantly, Jerry caves to Miles’ pressure to play in a local tournament that could earn them a once in a life-time slot in an exhibition match at a prestigious national tournament, The Open. But they‘ll have to meet the infamous Gollant Brothers (Eric Roberts and John Schneider) who haven’t lost club champions status for a decade. Let the training begin.
Tyler, Jerry’s precocious 10 year-old daughter, has faithfully accepted that her mom has gone to heaven, but longs to see Dad “happy again”. For Jerry, the thought of finding love is as foreign as winning the tournament, until Tyler asks the looming question, “Do you think you’ll ever get married again?” Encouraged to step out, Jerry gets the guts to talk with Sam, a cute co-worker and new friend. Tyler loves her and it appears things are looking up.
Life is full of twists and turns, and some are hard to overcome. But a second serve is a precious gift, and a double fault can be tragic. For Jerry, Road to the Open is a journey to live again, to love again. For movie goers, it’s a classic underdog story that is waiting to bring smiles and cheers.
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