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Film Notes - April
By Angela Yeager
from Salem Monthly, Section Screen
Posted on Sat Mar 31, 2007 at 08:43:31 PM PDT

April is looking pretty scary, with bad thrillers, generic action flicks starring people you've never heard of, and movies starring Ice Cube and Jamie Kennedy. It's a good thing that we have the Salem Film Festival April 20-22 as a bright shining light in this time of darkness, or some of us film fans may have to take drastic steps. You know, like staying locked in our homes with DVDs of films by Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman to keep us warm and safe from things like "Kickin' It Old Skool." My suggestion would be to take in the spring air and bloom of nature, check out the film festival, and avoid the multiplexes at all costs. But if you must venture to the movie theaters, choose carefully. After all, life is short and do you really want to use up precious breathing time on a movie starring WWE star Steve Austin ("The Condemned," which opens April 27)? I didn't think so.
Here are some April releases:

"Grindhouse" (April 6) (Grind House Trailer) - This should bring all the big geeks out in droves. Directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino team up for a double-feature of exploitation films, complete with fake movie trailers in between the two films. Tarantino's contribution is "Death Proof," about three ladies out on the town being stalked by Kurt Russell and his killer car. Rodriguez directs "Planet Terror," which stars Rose McGowan as a hot chick battling flesh-hungry zombies.

"Perfect Stranger" (April 13) (Perfect Stranger Trailer) - What a "perfectly" forgettable title for a movie. Halle Berry plays an investigative reporter who goes undercover to discover the truth about a friend's murder. To accomplish her goal, she starts an online relationship with powerful businessman Bruce Willis. Didn't they already do this movie, a dud called "The Net"?

"Hot Fuzz" (April 20)  (Hot Fuzz Trailer)- From those guys who brought you the fantastically funny "Shaun of the Dead" is a comedy about a cop who goes to a boring small town, only to find that crime is heating up. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg slayed with their homage/satire of zombie movies, now they take on the buddy cop genre. I can't wait.

"The Nanny Diaries"(April 20) (The Nanny Diaries) - Scarlett Johansson gets all warm and cuddly (?!) as a college student who goes to work as a nanny for a rich New York family. Personally, I like it better when Ms. Johansson is steaming up the screen as a femme fatale ("Match Point") or as a bored indie kid ("Lost in Translation"), but it will be interesting to see her in a light comedy.

"Vacancy" (April 20) (Vacancy Trailer) - Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale are a young married couple who become trapped in a creepy, out-of-the-way motel and... find out they are stars of their very own slasher movie.

"The Invisible" (April 27) (The Invisible trailer) - This remake of the Swedish film "Den Onsynlige" stars Justin Chatwin (yeah, I don't know who he is either) as a
teen who has to solve his own murder by communicating with the living. It's been described as "Brick" meets "Ghost," which sounds pretty horrible any way you look at it.

"Next" (April 27) (Next trailer) - Once upon a time, Nicolas Cage was a promising young actor who made daring movies with an edge. Alas, that time has passed and for many years now, he has made mainstream slop where he wears unconvincing hair pieces. In this sci-fi action movie, Cage plays a man who can see into the future and must use his ability to try and stop a terrorist attack. Yawn. May I suggest instead of bothering with this you just rewind in time and take in a DVD viewing of "Leaving Las Vegas," "Raising Arizona" or "Red Rock West"?

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