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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

The top 10 most anticipated movies for spring

To get us through the nasty February weather, we at the Daily Arts Department decided to compile a list of movies whose releases we anticipate with bated breath. So ready the popcorn and Milk Duds, because here are the 10 feature films you won't want to miss this spring. Without further ado:

10. "Kick-Ass" (April 16): Have you ever wanted to be a superhero? Well, you can't be, because you most likely don't have heat vision, and you definitely can't shape-shift into a ham, egg and cheese Hot Pocket. Yet the upcoming "Kick-Ass" tells the story of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), an average, nerdy high school kid who decides he wants to don a suit and fight some crime. Based on the eponymous comic, this film plays off of childhood dreams and hysterical antics.

9. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" (April 23): As a sequel to the Academy-Award winning drama/thriller "Wall Street" (1987), "Money Never Sleeps" picks up 23 years later with the release of former corrupt Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). With his tarnished reputation, Gekko must work with young Wall Street trader Jacob Moore (Shia LaBoeuf) to warn the financial world of the economic crash he fears is looming ahead. Hopefully, LaBoeuf will bring a fresh face to the sequel, as he's quickly proven in the last few years that he is on his way to becoming one of Hollywood's leading men.

8. "Leaves of Grass" (April 2): This comedic thriller follows Ivy League professor Bill Kincaid (Edward Norton) as he returns to his hometown in Oklahoma upon the faked murder of his pot-dealing identical twin brother, Brady. Now that he's left the stability of his life back in the Northeast, Bill somehow finds himself entangled in a scheming, dangerous world of drugs. With a cast including Norton, Susan Sarandon and Keri Russell, and writer-director Tim Blake Nelson, "Leaves of Grass" could turn into the little-indie-that-could for this year.
7. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (April 30): Samuel Bayer has made a name for himself directing commercials and music videos, but he will make his directorial debut in film with the upcoming remake of Wes Craven's classic "A Nightmare On Elm Street" (1984). The knife-handed, murderous antagonist, Freddy Krueger, is getting an even more sinister makeover as Jackie Earle Haley takes over Krueger duties from Robert Englund. With Michael Bay producing, audiences will see whether Krueger can carve up some cash or if this series is mincemeat.

6. "Remember Me" (March 12): In this new romantic drama, Robert Pattinson plays Tyler, a young New Yorker whose brother's suicide has led to a strained relationship with his father (Pierce Brosnan) and a life of not caring. Soon after Tyler unexpectedly falls in love with Ally (Emilie de Ravin), their relationship is tested as they are forced to deal with hidden secrets and tragedy. As much as people may hate to admit it, this being the vampire Edward Cullen and all, Pattinson actually looks like he has some potential in this film.

5. "Greenberg" (March 26): Writer-director Noah Baumbach ("The Squid and the Whale," 2005) offers up another poignant dramedy about Greenberg (Ben Stiller), a snarky, middle-aged guy whose primary pastime is doing nothing. After leaving New York, Greenberg meets another aimless soul, Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig), and the two try to sort out their unsettled lives in Los Angeles. This sharp-witted indie flick looks like it's got just enough biting comedy and well-intentioned sarcasm to make it worth watching.

4. "Date Night" (April 9): Steve Carell plus Tina Fey equals a dynamic comedy duo, as the NBC Thursday lineup can attest. Playing a traditional, suburban married couple, Carell and Fey decide to get a bit dangerous on their night out, and they steal another couple's table at a fancy restaurant. Yet, when they are mistaken as the other couple, the pair goes down a road that includes ruthless gangsters, a psycho cab driver and … Common? This film promises laughs, action and plenty of shirtless shots of Mark Wahlberg. So why not take a date to this flick in April?

3. "Green Zone" (March 12): With his last roles including a South African rugby player and a pudgy, grain-working, FBI informant, Matt Damon returns to a more Jason Bourne-esque character in this action thriller. Director Paul Greengrass returns to war-torn Iraq as Damon sets out on a one-man mission to uncover weapons of mass destruction and kill some terrorists along the way — not to mention the reunion of Damon and co-star Greg Kinnear.

2. "Iron Man 2" (May 7): As the eye-patched Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson hinted at another "Iron Man" (2008) film after the credits of the first film finished rolling. Finally, audiences will get what they have been waiting for as "Iron Man 2" hits theaters in May. With Robert Downey, Jr. returning as Tony Stark, the movie will also feature Mickey Rourke as the Russian villain Whiplash and Don Cheadle as Stark's best buddy, War Machine. Expect more technology, more special effects and more heavy-metal action.

1. "Alice in Wonderland" (March 5): Tim Burton is famous for developing quirky characters and dark, sinister plotlines, so his remake-update of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865) and "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" (1875) will surely be no exception. Burton has once again taken a childhood classic that everyone knows and loves, added his signature twist of eccentricity and given the tale a whole new life. Of course, what would a Burton film be without his right-hand man, Johnny Depp, as the Mad Hatter, and his equally strange and brilliant partner, Helena Bonham Carter, as the Queen of Hearts? One can expect that the pair, alongside co-stars Mia Wasikowska and Anne Hathaway, will have kids squirming in their seats and adults loving the darker side of "Alice in Wonderland."