Atlantic Ave Magazine - April 2017

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entertainment ║ gotta see
By skip sheffield
Gotta See
Charlize Theron
“the fate of
the furious”
April 7
With the title “The Case for Christ,”
it comes as no surprise this is one of
those faith-based movies, but it is being
released to 1,200 theaters nationwide.
The screenplay, by Brian Bird (“Not
Easily Broken”) is based on a book by
Chicago Tribune investigative reporter
Lee Strobel, whose wife Leslie’s newfound
Christian faith prompted him
to use his reporter’s skill to disprove
the claims of Christianity. The cast includes
Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen,
Faye Dunaway and Robert Forster.
“Smurfs: The Lost Village” should
be fairly self-explanatory. OK, it’s an
original story about those lovable blue
computer-animated characters. Smurfette
(voice of Demi Lovato), Brainy
(Danny Puda), Clumsy (Jack McBrayer)
and Hefty (Joe Manganiello) set off
through the Forbidden Forest filled
with magical creatures to find the Lost
Village before evil wizard Gargomel
(Rainn Wilson) does. Mandy Patinkin
voices Papa Smurf.
“Going in Style” is a remake of the
1979 movie about three oldsters who
pull off a daring bank heist. This time
around it’s Morgan Freeman as Willie,
Michael Caine as Joe and Alan Arkin as
Al. Ann-Margaret makes an appearance
as Annie, a grocery cashier who fancies
Al. Christopher Lloyd plays their lodge
buddy Milton and Matt Dillon is an FBI
agent. Ted Melfi and Zach Braff direct.
April 14
“The Fate of the Furious” is a sequel
to the never-ending “Fast & Furious”
franchise. Also known as Fast 8,
the movie brings back Vin Diesel (also
a producer) as Dom, who is seduced
back to the shady side by a mysterious
woman (Charlize Theron), dragging
along his buddies Jason Statham,
Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez,
Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris on a chase
that will take them from Cuba to New
York City to the arctic Barents Sea. Diesel
says this is the beginning of a trilogy
that will finally end the series after
ten films.
“Spark” is a 3-D animated film about
a wisecracking teen (Jace Norman) living
on a planet abandoned but for his
friends Chunk and Vix. Thirteen years
previously power-mad General Lhon
seized control of the planet and wiped
out Spark’s family. Now Lhon wants to
destroy the universe, and only Spark
can stop him. Additional voices are
by Hilary Swank, Susan Sarandon,
Patrick Stewart and Jessica Biel.
April 21
“Unforgettable,” that’s what
you are. Nat King Cole had a hit
with that song, but in this case it’s
a thriller. Hell hath no fury like
that of a woman scorned. Geoff
Stults is David, newly married to
Julia (Rosario Dawson) who has
a daughter Lilly (Isabella Rice).
David has an ex-wife named
Tessa (Katherine Heigl) who
does her best to destroy everyone’s
happiness. Producer Denise Di Novi
makes her directorial debut.
See pandas up close and personal
in the DisneyNature film “Born in
China.” In addition to a mother panda
and her cub, we follow a 2-year-old
golden monkey who feels displaced
by a baby sister, and an extremely rare
snow leopard mother and her two cubs
surviving in a harsh and cruel environment.
Snow leopards have never been
documented as closely as in this film.
Cue the accents. “Free Fire” is set
in 1970s Boston. Brie Larson stars as
Justine, a shady American business
woman who with wise-cracking partner
Ord (Arnie Hammer) is setting up a
black market arms deal with Chris (Cillian
Murphy), an IRA buyer and a South
African gun runner (Sharlto Copley).
What could go wrong? Be assured there
is a battle royale finale. Ben Wheatley
(“High Rise”) wrote and directs.
APRIL 28
“The Circle” is the name of a Silicon
Valley hi-tech firm where a young woman
named Justine (Emma Watson) finds
work. The company is led by visionary
Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) who
is conducting experiments that push
the boundaries of privacy, ethics and
personal freedom. The late Bill Paxton,
John Boyea, Karen Gillan and Patton Oswalt
co-star. James Ponsoldt (“The End
of the Tour”) directs and co-wrote.
First it helps to be Latin. Eugenio
Debez stars as the title character,
Maximo, in “How To Be A Latin Lover.”
Maximo has made a career of romancing
wealthy women. He finally
lands and marries an older woman.
Twenty-five years later he is spoiled
and bored and tired of waking up with
an 80-year-old woman. Surprise, she
dumps him for a newer model and
Maximo is forced to move in with his
estranged sister Sara (Salma Hayek)
and her young son Hugo in their tiny
apartment. Maximo works to land the
widowed billionaire grandmother of
Hugo’s girlfriend. The cast includes
Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch,
Rob Riggles and Renee Taylor.