April movie guide: Super Mario Bros., Renfield, Evil Dead Rise, and more

Who knew that when the Air Jordan sneaker debuted to the public in 1985, it would become a game changing phenomenon, invent sneaker culture, and launch a gazillion dollar industry that combines sports, fashion, and celebrity? Actually, one person knew, Sonny Vaccaro, and he’s played by Matt Damon in Air. Vaccaro signed a young star named Michael Jordan to his first sneaker deal, which led to the creation of the money printing Air Jordan brand. Air also promises to be an underdog story, as Vaccaro must convince Nike co-founder Phil Knight (played by Ben Affleck) to sign a promising player and name a shoe after him. Air is Ben Affleck’s first directing effort since 2016’s Live By Night, his only disappointment in an otherwise solid directing career. The stacked cast—including Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans, and Chris Tucker—and the fascinating possibilities of this behind-the-sneaker story make Air a probable slam dunk. [Mark Keizer]

If any big screen adaptation of the iconic Nintendo video game is going to make us forget the lamentable 1993 live-action version starring Bob Hoskins, it will probably be The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an energetic and colorful CGI-fest produced by Illumination, the folks behind the Minions films. If you’re expecting a full-throated defense of Chris Pratt’s casting as Mario, well, you’re not gonna get it. He does sound weird. But the film looks fabulously fun, as Mario and his brother Luigi try to keep Bowser from destroying the Mushroom Kingdom (spoiler assumption: they do). The voice cast seems up to the task and includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. We’re jumping (and driving and flying) for joy at the prospect of all the Easter eggs, video game references and in-jokes. [Mark Keizer]

For some reason, when hearing about the new thriller On A Wing And A Prayer, in which an air traffic controller helps Louisiana dad Dennis Quaid land a twin engine aircraft after the pilot dies mid-flight, we flashed to Robert Hayes being talked to the ground by a glue-sniffing Lloyd Bridges in Airplane! This film, admittedly, is made of more serious stuff and looks to be quite the white knuckle thrill ride, with a strong family component to up the emotional stakes. Based on a true story from 2009 and co-starring Heather Graham as Quaid’s wife, On A Wing And A Prayer is directed by Sean McNamara, who also directed Soul Surfer, about teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm during a 2003 shark attack. The movies definitely don’t want for hair-raising thrillers that take place on a plane, but On A Wing And A Prayer looks to mine fertile ground by adding faith-based themes to the mix. [Mark Keizer]

You know Paint is going to be hilarious because Owen Wilson’s lead character is named Carl Nargle. Just saying the name Carl Nargle makes you laugh, so already we’re off to a good start. Wilson seems to be channeling the essence, mimicking the voice and rocking the perm of painter Bob Ross, whose public television series, The Joy Of Painting, was a hit during its run from 1983 to 1994. In the film, Carl is Vermont’s top TV painter (he’s got the tricked out van and the adoring female fans to prove it) until a younger painter, played by Ciara Renée, steals his thunder and makes him question his art. Wilson looks to be at his deadpan finest and the script feels like it could be a bone-dry and wickedly funny riff on 1950’s All About Eve. So put down your brush and finish those “happy little trees” later. Paint could be a stroke of genius. [Mark Keizer]

During the early 2000s, there was no way we’d imagine Russell Crowe starring in a film like The Pope’s Exorcist. This supernatural horror tale (loosely) based on the true story of Father Gabriele Amorth, the priest who served as the Vatican’s chief exorcist, probably won’t scale the heights of Gladiator or The Insider. But it does look pretty terrifying and Crowe’s gravelly voice adds basso profundo importance to every line reading. Plus, the film was directed by Julius Avery, whose dark and gritty style enlivened his last two films, Samaritan and Overlord. The movie will certainly draw parallels to 1973’s The Exorcist (director William Friedkin later helmed a documentary, The Devil And Father Amorth, about the same figure) but Crowe’s film doesn’t seem to be aiming that high. Instead, with its dank and foreboding look and supporting performance from the original Django himself, Franco Nero, The Pope’s Exorcist looks to be a solid example of smart historical horror on the order of The Exorcism Of Emily Rose. Let the power of Crowe compel you to see it. [Mark Keizer]

Sure, Chevalier, has all the external trappings of a typical period drama: powdered wigs, fancy accents, lots of violins in the score. But the film, directed by Emmy winner Stephen Williams (Watchmen), looks to put an electric spin on a genre that can be a bit staid. It’s based on the true story of Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner whose talents as a fencer, composer, and violinist allowed him to scale the heights of 18th century French society. Even more intriguing is how Chevalier became up close and personal with some of the key people and major historical events of his era; the film recounts his competition with Mozart, his connection to Marie Antoinette (played by Lucy Boynton) and his involvement in the French Revolution. It sounds like a boisterously satisfying drama that reclaims the legacy of a great and gifted man who succeeded despite the rancid racism of the time. [Mark Keizer]

Writer/director Kelly Reichardt’s films aren’t for everyone, but they should be because they’re about everyone. Her first seven feature films are all wonderful, and her facility for telling deceptively simple, human stories that quietly resonate with deep and universal feeling looks undiminished in Showing Up. Reichardt’s new film co-stars her on-screen muse, Michelle Williams (this is their fourth film together). The five-time Oscar nominee plays a Portland sculptor whose general sense of malaise and difficulty dealing with life’s little indignities keeps her from focusing on her upcoming exhibition. Williams is surrounded by an ace supporting cast that includes her Fablemans co-star Judd Hirsch, The Whale standout Hong Chau, and rapper André Benjamin. But the real star is Reichardt, who’s becoming a brand name director of arthouse jewels bathed in intensely considered emotionality. Do yourself a favor by showing up for Showing Up. [Mark Keizer]

No one can blame the younger generation if they feel powerless to affect meaningful change in the crappy world they’ve been handed by the planet’s older stewards. In How To Blow Up A Pipeline, eight diverse young folks converge on a West Texas town to perpetrate an explosive act of climate change activism. The film, which was quite the attention-grabber at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, is based on Andreas Malm’s book of the same title. It looks to be an eco-conscious, ticking-clock thriller where the idea is not to defuse a bomb, but to detonate the one that’ll severely disrupt the flow of oil right before Christmas. Op Ed articles about climate change, properly channeled youthful idealism and violence as a means of effective activism are guaranteed. [Mark Keizer]

In One True Loves, Emma (Phillipa Soo) and Jesse (Luke Bracey) are an Instagram-perfect couple, but after Jesse disappears following a helicopter crash and is presumed dead, Emma moves on with her life and falls in love with Sam (Simu Liu). Four years later Jesse returns, very much alive, forcing Emma to choose between her two loves. We’re not sure what Jesse’s explanation is for being incommunicado for four years, but it better be somewhat believable or the whole premise for this romantic-pickle fantasy (two great guys love you!) directed by Andy Fickman falls apart faster than you can say “plot device.” That said, Luke Bracey is one of our go-to romcom hunks of the moment (see: Holidate and Maybe I Do) and Simu Liu is a big-deal name thanks to Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. [Robert DeSalvo]

If Universal is going to reboot the Dracula series, you might as well let Nicolas Cage sink his teeth into the role of the original vampire, right? Directed by Chris McKay, Renfield is a horror-comedy starring Nicholas Hoult as the tormented servant of Count Dracula/Vlad the Impaler (Cage). You can see from the trailer that the movie leans into the humor of the situation as an unrestrained Cage goes “full Cage” in the role. The Renfield trailer has gotten a lot of laughs from audiences in theaters once Cage pops up, so hopefully fans have as much fun watching the film as Cage seemed to have making it. [Robert DeSalvo]

If you can get beyond the stereotype of every Italian movie family having ties to the Mafia, there’s fun to be had in the action-comedy Mafia Mamma. Toni Collette stars as Kristin, a woman who travels to Italy to attend her estranged grandfather’s funeral. She soon discovers that grandpa was a mob boss whose final wish was for his last living relative, Kristin, to take over the family business in Calabria. Mafia Mamma is directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the woman behind tween and teen-friendly fare such as Twilight and Red Riding Hood, so don’t expect The Godfather, Goodfellas, or even Married To The Mob. Collette and Monica Bellucci seem to have some real comedic chemistry in the trailer, however, so we’re hoping that the movie, which was filmed in Rome, finds a fresh approach to some familiar tropes. [Robert DeSalvo]

The next film by Ari Aster—the director of Hereditary and Midsommar—is Beau Is Afraid, a comedy-horror project starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular anxious man. After his mother dies, Beau embarks on a surreal odyssey back home during which, as the title promises, he looks very afraid. This fantastical-looking movie filled with dreamlike (or maybe nightmarish?) special effects has a large supporting cast that includes Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, and Parker Posey. Horror fans consider Hereditary one of the scariest movies of all time, and Midsommar has also become a cult favorite. Can Aster go three-for-three with Beau Is Afraid? [Robert DeSalvo]

After years of making films about drunken Cockney street brawlers, haughtily attired killers and, for some reason, Sherlock Holmes, director Guy Ritchie must want some respect with his new film because he’s put his name in the title. In Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a soldier in Afghanistan whose life is saved by a local interpreter (Dar Salim). After returning home, he learns that the interpreter’s life is at risk, so he heads back to Afghanistan to rescue him. The most intriguing aspect of The Covenant, excuse us, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, is wondering why Ritchie would chuck everything we love about his films to tell this particular story and whether he can avoid falling back on stylistic crutches like Dutch angles and speed ramping. Either way, any story about honorable men keeping their promises works for us. Plus, Gyllenhaal is never bad and Ritchie should, at the very least, rain down the muscular action. [Mark Keizer]

April is the beginning of a long-overdue re-appreciation of author Judy Blume, whose frank, humorous, and honest books have helped generations of school-aged kids learn about love, sex, puberty, and other strange and confusing adolescent issues. First comes Judy Blume Forever, Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok’s documentary charting Blume’s journey from childhood to the publication of her first novel in 1969 to today, when her place in the writer’s Hall of Fame is secure but she still finds herself fighting book banning and censorship. Featuring interviews with her contemporaries, celebrities like Molly Ringwald, Lena Dunham, and Samantha Bee, and young readers, Judy Blume Forever reminds us how important she was to millions of pre-teens and teens who had nowhere to turn for information on their changing bodies except for the books of a New Jersey-born wife and mother with a masterful ability to express and explain exactly what they were feeling. [Mark Keizer]

The last time Chris Evans and Ana de Armas starred in a big-budget action adventure for a streaming service, the result was Netflix’s lamentable The Gray Man. Now they’re trying it again, this time on Apple TV+, with Ghosted. The film, in which presumably no edit, quip, fight, flirt or hard-driving music cue will be spared in the name of entertainment, features Evans as a typical, aw-shucks dude head over heels for the mysterious de Armas, who turns out to be an ass-kicking secret agent. Ghosted is directed by the not-bad journeyman Dexter Fletcher, who also gave us Bohemian Rhapsody (uncredited) and the Elton John biopic, Rocketman. While it’s easy to assume this may go the Gray Man-route quality wise, who are we to argue with beautiful people in beautiful locales saving the world in high-energy fashion while we sit on our couch? [Mark Keizer]

Evil Dead Rise, the fifth installment of the Evil Dead series, is about two estranged sisters (Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland) whose reunion in Los Angeles is rudely interrupted when demonic Deadites are unleashed thanks to someone reading passages from a recently discovered ancient book (you know which one). Lee Cronin directs the mayhem, with original Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell and original director Sam Raimi serving as executive producers. Unlike the first three Evil Dead movies, this reboot seems to sidestep any attempts at slapstick humor in favor of extreme violence and supernatural scares. Evil Dead Rise premiered at South by Southwest and has been getting bloody-good reviews. The dead-serious trailer suggests hard-core horror fans are going to have something to scream about. [Mark Keizer]

April’s Judy Blume-issance continues with the film adaptation of her 197o novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. The book, arguably her cornerstone achievement, was controversial upon release since it introduced young girls to concerns like menstruation, training bras, and sexual feelings. It also tackled the thorny subject of religion since Margaret (played in the movie by Abby Ryder Fortson) is the child of interfaith marriage, which becomes just as confusing as anything else she’s experiencing in her adolescence. This adaptation looks to honor Blume’s printed-page classic with Rachel McAdams as Margaret’s mother and Kathy Bates as her grandmother. Most promisingly, it’s directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, who gave us one of the sharpest coming of age movies of the last 10 years, The Edge of Seventeen. Surprisingly few movies have been adapted from Blume’s books. Hopefully, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret will change all that. [Mark Keizer]

Nida Manzoor, creator of the acclaimed British series We Are Lady Parts, makes her feature film directing debut with Polite Society, a family centered action comedy that seems to be anything but polite ... and that’s why it looks awesome. Priya Kansara plays Ria, a British-Pakistani girl who dreams of becoming a stuntwoman. Her YouTube channel is populated with stunt videos directed by her sister Lena (Ritu Arya), an art school drop-out. When Lena falls for a handsome doctor, Ria will do anything—including bust out some serious fight moves—to keep her beloved sister from giving up her artistic dreams. Polite Society killed at Sundance, where its blend of comedy and action wowed audiences and recalled the work of Edgar Wright, but Manzoor’s film also looks to be a uniquely irreverent work of girl power fun. [Mark Keizer]

Audience appetite for movies about ridiculously large sharks who dine out on a group of affordable B-movie actors will be tested once again with The Black Demon. Based on a Mexican legend that was the topic of a 2021 Discovery special called The Mystery Of The Black Demon Shark, the film stars Josh Lucas as an oilman stranded on a rig with his family when the Black Demon strikes. Not only will the film have to explain the origins of the shark but it’ll have to explain why a father would take his family to an offshore oil platform, which sounds like the worst spring break ever. Then again, if the shark attacks are awesomely gruesome and the thrills nonstop, who are we to complain? [Mark Keizer]

Big George Foreman sounds like the right title for George Tillman Jr.’s biopic because everything Foreman did was big. The Houston-born boxer, still kicking at age 74, has led an amazing life; a gold medal winning boxer in the 1968 Olympics, Foreman became world heavyweight champion before retiring in 1977 to become an evangelist. Ten years later, at age 39, he returned to the ring and would soon become world heavyweight champion again. He’s lived a life brimming with achievement and drama and one can only assume that Tillman Jr. (The Hate U Give) will reclaim Foreman’s legacy from the deliciously juicy ashes of his time as a pitchman for his George Foreman Grill. Forest Whitaker co-stars as Doc Broadus, the former moonshiner who discovered Foreman. [Mark Keizer]