There are some great movies being released from tomorrow onwards, ranging from delightful rom-coms to action thrillers, and some nice animated featured thrown in the mix as well. Of course, no one can deny that April’s real gem is Thor, the fourth film to be released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is set for release on April 28. Online bookings can be made on www.gsc.com.my and www.tgv.com.my.

March 31
Just Go with it
In Just Go with it, a plastic surgeon, romancing a much younger schoolteacher, enlists his loyal assistant to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, the assistant’s children become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives. This easy-watching flick stars Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.

Hop
A wonderfully executed animated feature, Hop tells the comic tale of Fred (voiced by James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker who accidentally injures the Easter Bunny (Russell Brand) and must take him in as he recovers. As Fred struggles with the world’s worst house guest, both will learn what it takes to finally grow up.

April 7
Rio
Set in the magnificent city of Rio de Janeiro and the lush rainforests of Brazil, Rio is a comedy-adventure that centres on Blu, a rare macaw who thinks he is the last of his kind. When Blu discovers there’s another — and that she’s a she — he leaves the comforts of his cage in Minnesota and heads to Rio. But it’s far from love at first sight between the domesticated and flight-challenged Blu and the fiercely independent, high-flying Jewel. Unexpectedly thrown together, they embark on an adventure of a lifetime, where they learn about friendship, love, courage, and being open to life’s many wonders. Features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Will.I.Am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, Jane Lynch and Rodrigo Santoro.

Source Code
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he’s ever known, he learns he’s part of a government experiment called the Source Code, a programme that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last eight minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack. Also stars Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright.

April 14
Limitless
Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star in Limitless, a paranoia-fuelled action thriller about an unpublished writer whose life is transformed by a top-secret smart drug that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life in this darkly comic and provocative film.

Love and other drugs
Anne Hathaway portrays Maggie, an alluring free spirit who won’t let anyone — or anything — tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with the ladies and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie’s evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love.

April 21
Red Riding Hood
Amanda Seyfried plays Valerie, a beautiful young woman torn between two men — while in love with a brooding outsider, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (Max Irons). Valerie and Peter decide to elope when they learn that Valerie’s older sister has been killed by a werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village — for years, the people have maintained an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly animal sacrifice. But under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped the stakes by taking a human life. Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon’s arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them. As the death toll rises with each moon, Valerie begins to suspect that the werewolf could be someone she loves. As panic grips the town, Valerie discovers that she has a unique connection to the beast-one that inexorably draws them together, making her both a suspect and bait.

April 28
Thor
Marvel Studios expands its film universe with a new type of superhero: Thor. At the centre of this epic adventure is the mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth. Kenneth Branagh directs this fantasy epic which stars Australian actor Chris Hemsworth as the ancient Norse god, Tom Hiddleston as his evil brother Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, a young woman who befriends Thor on Earth, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Thor’s father and king of Asgard.


This article appeared on the Live it! page, The Edge Financial Daily, March 31, 2011.