Early
Spring is not usually a time when Academy Award-worthy movies are released;
summer is the prime time when great movies are released in theaters. According
to Einav, in “Seasonality in the U.S. Motion Picture industry,” the biggest
movies are released at times when demand is highest. Obviously, school is out
for the summer and people generally have more time to do more recreational
activities. This spring, however, a handful of new and upcoming movies are
getting the even the harshest reviewers excited!
More and
more books are being made into movies. As a fan of Nicholas Sparks and The
Notebook, I am eagerly waiting for Safe Haven to be released. Like a large
amount of his books, it is a love story about a stranger moving to a small
town. Gradually, the main character breaks down their walls by slowly revealing
their past with the help of another person who has a dark history. Moviegoers,
myself included, are hoping the excitement and emotion of the two main
characters translates as well into the film as Sparks illustrates in his book.
Surely this movie will not be similar to The Lucky One, another one of Sparks
works, where the book was great, but the movie did not live up to the book; the
romance was not as good as it was described in the book. If not, just add Safe
Haven to any woman's list of must see movies.
Along
with Safe Haven, another popular book is being made into a movie, The Great
Gatsby. Not many people will say that they read the book other than as a class
assignment, however a movie about the glamorous lifestyle of the rich during
The Roaring Twenties. Along with a top notch cast, this movie will sure bring
new and revived interest to the classic Fitzgerald novel.
Sometimes
a person sees a preview of a movie and does not know anything about it, but it
looks interesting enough to watch-Beautiful Creatures falls into this category.
It tells the story of an ordinary boy who falls in love with a girl who has
supernatural powers in a small town. He gets acquainted to her when her powers
are getting stronger and will eventually “be claimed for the Light or the
Dark.” With her family of supernatural beings, everyone else in town suspicious
of them, and an ordinary high school student learning things about them that he
should not, this sounds like another version of Twilight. Hopefully this movie
will not succumb to the same fate as Twilight, perceived as a joke, and will
have good acting from the cast as well as an interesting background story about
the supernatural. I will more than likely read the book to truly understand the
story, but only after watching the movie.
For those
who are comic geeks or superhero fans, luckily we will not have to wait for the
summer for Iron Man 3. Watching the first two movies out of pure curiosity, I
was not expecting to enjoy myself since I am not a die-hard comic lover.
However, Robert Downey Jr. delivers his cockiness through his character but
maintains likability. For those who watched The Avengers and comic lovers
alike, this third installment will surely entertain with action packed
explosions and adventure.
Perhaps
one of the most anticipated movies by young and old moviegoers alike to be
released this spring is Oz: The Great and Powerful. There have been numerous
adaptations of L.Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz such as The Wiz and
Wicked to name a few. What makes this adaptation exciting is that viewers get
another viewpoint of the world of Oz; Dorothy's story was told in the original,
the witches' story was told in Wicked and now we get to see Oz's story. Much
like most of the predecessors, Oscar Diggs, a con artist magician, is swept
away from Kansas to the colorful land of Oz where he gets dragged into the
problems facing the land. Little to his knowledge, all of the creatures have
been waiting for him to fix everything. People know, or at least are familiar
with, the story of The Wizard of Oz so it gives anyone who watches this movie
excitement of seeing their favorites character or what plot twist will end up
in the final version. Also, the 3-D animation will provide eye candy to make
fans out of the young and reluctant.
The
spring movie season is sure to delight audiences long before the summer
blockbusters hit. Whether a person favors dark romance in Beautiful Creatures,
realistic romance in Safe Haven, or is looking forward to seeing one of their
favorite books of their childhood get turned into a prequel, these upcoming
movies are the best that this season holds.
Here's a great place to check out new movie trailers and buy your favorites that are just out on DVD & Blu-Ray.
