Although the vaccine rollout is underway in America, most studios still aren’t eyeing a big return to theaters quite yet; just as many of us would rather not risk our lives to see some Hollywood popcorn—no matter how much we miss it—Hollywood doesn’t seem too keen on risking a box office flop. Which means that April’s one major blockbuster, Mortal Kombat, is going to HBO Max as well as theaters. Otherwise, it’s the usual mix of tentative theatrical rollouts and streaming/digital premieres, with Netflix leading the latter crop with a new Melissa McCarthy vehicle, while Amazon offers some Tom Clancy action you can watch from home. Keep reading to find out what’s coming to a living room—and, yes, some theaters—near you. And before trekking out to see a movie on the big screen, please read up on the health risks.
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“But what will happen when they discover that they only have enough life support for three crew members?”I hope their rocket looks like the one from Tintin too. It’s bad ass.
It doesn’t at all :
That background explanation makes the movie look a lot better than the trailer makes it seem.
That sounds like “The Cold Equations”.
Literally my first thought.
Literally the first thought of everybody who’s ever read it.
I forgot the title, but I still instantly thought of the story.
Yay, I’m unique just like everybody else 😛
aka “Redundancy and OSHA Don’t Exist in the Future.”
Exactly what I thought of. Bingo.
“Evan Spiliotopoulos, best known for largely anonymous screenwriting work on Disney’s live-action Beauty And The Beast and the Dwayne Johnson .”Ooof, that’s not a great CV.
Hence the trailer’s ever reliable “from the producer of”. Which always, always translates as “run away”.
It’s slightly better than “From the studio that brought you…” but not by much.
I’m here to defend the honor of “Hercules” which I think is actually a very fun and lively action movie that defied my bottom of the barrel expectations.
In all honesty I kinda hope that studios keep releasing their movies to streaming on day one… It lets me avoid annoying theater goers and also let’s me pee when I feel like it by hitting pause rather than waiting for a lull.
It should be noted in defense of Tom Clancy that his novel “Without Remorse” doesn’t motivate Clark (then “John Kelly”) via fridging his wife. Instead it’s a prostitute killed by her drug-dealing pimp he’s getting revenge for.
Judging by the trailer, this adaptation seems to be a similar setup to Netflix’s version of The Punisher.
Such a more complex, rarely done story too.Tom Clancy was a fantastic author.
Amanda Seyfired has got some major depth as an actress which I think people overlook.
First Reformed!
Thunder Force looks great, he said, eyes flitting nervously to his family being held at gunpoint just out of camera range.
I believe it was a “boaking” accident.
Thunder Force looks worse than stepping in cold cat puke in my bare feet in the dark – and there is a Lego hidden in that hairball.
A year ago me would be shocked to think the phrase South Korean revenge movie would fill me with joy, but here we are. I have spend the Covid year developing a deep love of Asian dramas and discovering that revenge dramas are perfect for a girl who just wants to be able to root for villains without having them lose out to insipid heroes or be made to feel guilty. I am definitely looking forward to Night in Paradise.
I too have gone deep into Asian cinema in lockdown with deep dives into Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cinema. Some really wonderful, and wonderfully deranged) stuff. Any gems you found you really dug?
I’ve been doing more TV than movies. Mostly Chinese and Korean, because I was already into Japanese. Along with the revenge thing, I also realized during lockdown that Sun Wukong is my favorite character of all time, so I’ve been watching every adaptation of Journey to the West I can get my hands on. That’s an alternately wonderful (Korean Odyssey) and masochistic (Alakazam, Immortal Demon Slayer) pursuit.
As for surprise gems, the movie Let the Bullets Fly has to be tops. It’s on Hoopla for free, if you have it from your library. I loved it for reasons that would probably take me an hour or afternoon to properly explain, but I’ll try to hit the highlights. It’s a black comedy, which I love, and the closest thing to a hero is a bandit leader, so I get to root for a villain. It has funny, over the top violence, snappy dialogue and Chow Yun Fat clearly having a whale of a time chewing all the scenery he can find. And above all of that, it’s written, directed by and stars Wen Jiang, and it feels like a true auteur film. That’s what is really hard to explain, so I’ll just say it’s clear this film could never have come out of a major studio process.
I could give you a few good Chinese revenge TV shows if you really want, but this is already too long.
I’ve not gotten into any Asian TV really yet outside of the outstanding Korean “Kingdom” which I love. I’ve been eyeballing “Miss Sunshine” because Lee Byung-hung and Kim Tae-ri is just too good. I’ve also found myself getting into some anime for the first time, but that’s a whole other thing.I haven’t seen Let the Bullets Fly but I’ll add it to my list. The only Hong Kong proper I watched was “Drug Trade” (which freaking rocked) and the classic “Infernal Affairs.” The Korean “Masquerade” is a pretty great period film I don’t hear talked about a bunch, and even though it blew up I’ll stan for the Japanese “One Cut of the Dead” until the end of time.
Between Infinity Train S4 being missing off the April TV
premieres
article, Over the Garden Wall being missing off the HBO Max miniseries
article, and now The Mitchells vs. the Machines being missing off this,
I’m gonna start to think you just don’t care for animation altogether.Shiva Baby looks pretty cool, though.
I’m not 100% sure but I think Mitchells vs. Machines actually (finally) announced its confirmed release date well after this was written. Netflix has a sometime habit of dropping a full trailer and an actual release date all at once.
That’s fair! I think they released the date announcement like a week before the trailer, but they did cut it pretty close anyway.
The book Ghetto Cowboy is quite good. No idea if the movie will be, but I hope so!
Fat superhero girls? It’s like a liberal’s dream!!!
“A Field In England comfort zone”, you say? My brain rebels at the idea that AFIE is anyone’s comfort zone – even Ben Wheatley’s!
I loved the Mortal Kombat films for their simple enthusiasm (and Christopher Lambert’s Raiden). Mostly I liked them because they weren’t all bloody.