Top 5 – Awesome Movies Coming Out in April

April is an interesting month for movies.  It’s a nice mix of big budget blockbusters, like Captain America: The Winter Solider (2014) and Fast Five (2011), and smaller indie hits like Ex-Machina (2015) and Mud (2013).  This April looks to be about the same, though leaning more towards the smaller scale side.  Here are five movies you should check out this month.

5 – Keanu (Peter Atencio, April 29)

Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele are the masterminds behind the best sketch comedy show since Chapelle Show, Key and Peele.  Now, the dynamic comedy duo teams up on the big screen for one of the weirdest and funniest plots of the year.  The two men pose as gangsters to retrieve their stolen cat.  Sounds like a skit they would have on their show.  I love these guys.  Their humor is funny, smart, and the right amount of raunchy.  And, we get to see a cat in a durag with a chain.  How amazing is that?  I have faith that this will be one of the funniest movies of 2016.

4 – Hardcore Henry (Ilya Naishuller, April 8)

This will be the gimmick movie of 2016.  Never before have we seen an action film like this.  Hardcore Henry is shot all first person from the point of view of Henry, a man resurrected from the dead with no memory who turns into a killing machine to save his wife from a warlord.  This looks completely insane and got raves out SXSW.  Are the raves legit, or is it just the hype of the first person gimmick?  I’m intrigued to see.

3 – Elvis & Nixon (Liza Johnson, April 22)

The idea of this movie is ridiculous.  This tells the infamous story of the time Elvis Presley had a meeting with then President Richard Nixon that led to the most requested photograph in the National Archives.  The real reason this movie sounds so interesting is because of the casting.  Two-time Oscar winner and impression extraordinaire Kevin Spacey plays Nixon and the great Michael Shannon plays Elvis.  I don’t need much more motivation to see this movie other than two of my favorite actors portraying two iconic characters in history.

2 – The Jungle Book (Jon Favreau, April 15)

Disney has a pretty good track record of adapting their classic animated films into live-action. Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Maleficent (2014) are solid, beautiful films and Cinderella (2015) is almost as good as the original.  The Jungle Book looks like it’s best feat yet.  Using a new motion capture technology, the movie looks stunning and animals look incredibly realistic.  We also get voice work from the likes of Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, and Ben Kingsley, to name a few, which will prove to be one of the more impressive casts of the year.  Favreau has proven himself to be great with visuals and with story, so let’s hope the trend continues.

1 – Everybody Wants Some!! (Richard Linklater, April 1)

I’ve already had the pleasure of seeing Richard Linklater’s latest and it was easily my choice for the number one movie of April.  The spiritual sequel to Linklater’s 1993 masterpiece Dazed and Confused, Everybody Wants Some!! follows a college baseball team in Texas the weekend before the school year starts.  We get to see this team grow together to form a brotherhood in a short matter of time through parties, competition, and practice.  I’ll post my full review in a couple days, but this is a fun, funny, sweet, authentic, bright eyed look at college.

What movies are you excited to see in April?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.