“Lean On Pete”
Cast: Charlie Plummer, Travis Fimmel, Steve Buscemi
Synopsis: A homeless teen in Oregon whose best friend is a failing racehorse sets off on a difficult journey to find his only known relative.
What You Need To Know: The phrase “they don’t make movies like this anymore” is an overused one, and one I loathe to utter, but it’s difficult to leave Andrew Haigh’s latest contemplative and sorrowful drama “Lean On Pete” and not be full with a sense of want for this type of film. Carrying over the finesse he established with “45 Years” but with the untethered heart of “Weekend,” Haigh continues to prove himself as one of our finest working directors. Bound to leave you a touch broken hearted as our critic put it, “It’s saved from all-out depressiveness by Haigh’s compassion, which cradles the characters within their often desperate situations.”
Release Date: April 6th
“The Endless”
Cast: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Tate Ellington
Synopsis: Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group’s beliefs may be saner than they once thought.
What You Need To Know: Having premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, “The Endless” shows the return of director paring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead both appearing in front of the camera as well. While it picked up some buzz at its premiere it’s been hitting the festival circuit for the past year. Definitely existing in its own space, “The Endless,” as reported by our critic who saw it at last years BFI Film Festival, is an original and ambition addition to the horror genre. While it doesn’t succeed at every level, there’s something winsome about watching burgeoning talents take such wild leaps, with our critic saying, “…I’d probably rather watch a failure that swung for the fences than a playing-it-safe success, and there’s more than enough ideas, images, and scenes here to make it worthwhile.”
Release Date: April 6th
“Rampage”
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Synopsis: Primatologist Davis Okoye shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent gorilla who has been in his care since birth. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry transforms this gentle ape into a raging monster.
What You Need To Know: Never call to question the power of Dwayne Johnson’s immense charisma because only he could make a film about a human and a genetically enhanced gorilla fighting monsters sound semi-appealing. If not appealing, at the very least it’s the type of film that may catch your eye when channel surfing and seeing it inevitably wind up on FX. By seeing this film you’re putting a lot of faith on Johnson’s ability to sell a film and with “Jumanji” and “Baywatch” as two of his most recent films, it’s been something of a mixed bag. Regardless, if you’re the type drawn to mayhem and madness all led by monstrous CGI creations, “Rampage” may be for you. And hey, it could surprise us all (“San Andreas” also directed by Brad Peyton seemed to have some supporters) and I’ll end up feeling ridiculous for thinking the first poster for the film was a joke. Crazier things have happened.
Release Date: April 13th
“Zama”
Cast: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lola Dueñas, Daniel Veronese
Synopsis: Based on the novel by Antonio Di Benedetto written in 1956, on Don Diego de Zama, a Spanish officer of the seventeenth century settled in Asunción, who awaits his transfer to Buenos Aires.
What You Need To Know: Difficult, beautiful and cruel, is what our critic called director Lucrecia Martel’s latest film “Zama,” a far cry from an easily digestible viewing experience. Mixing imagery that evoke classical films with a harsh, modernist, twist, it’s another display of enthusiastic ambition. Our critic who saw it at last years Venice Film Festival thought as much, saying “…if you find a way to crack open its forbidding, austere exterior, there is treasure to be found, or at least something that sparkles, beautiful and cruel, like the spiky insides of a geode.”
Release Date: April 13th
