As we gear up for the finale of film awards season on 25 April, it’s looking like we have a front runner for Best Picture at the Oscars in "Nomadland."
Adapted from the award-winning book of the same name by Jessica Bruder, director and screenwriter Chloe Zhao tells the story of a woman who goes nomadic after losing her livelihood during the Great Recession of the late 2000s. Frances McDormand leads the cast in this retelling of one of the most turbulent times in modern American history — at least to that point. "Nomadland" opens at Camana Bay Cinema on 16 April.
Based on the popular video game franchise, Mortal Kombat gets a film franchise reboot this month. A washed-up mixed martial arts fighter learns he is being hunted because of his secret lineage. He then joins forces with others who have superpowers to save Earth from intergalactic forces in this martial arts fantasy action film. "Mortal Kombat" opens on 16 April.
CLASSICS
Some films take time to become classics, but "The Godfather" chiselled its name into the stone of cinema’s greatest endeavours the day it was released in 1972.
It’s the quintessential mobster flick that ebbs and flows between brutal violence and blissfully delivered dialogue. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) begrudgingly finds himself owning more responsibility in the family crime organisation after his father Don Vito (Marlon Brando) is wounded by his competition and falls ill. Considered one of the greatest films of all time, "The Godfather" is filled with some of the most memorable lines in film history ("I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." "Revenge is a dish best served cold."). See one of Francis Ford Coppola’s crown jewels on 4 May.
KIDS CLUB
Not only is "Chicken Run" one of the most acclaimed stop-motion features, it's one of the best received films of the 21st century. The story follows a hen named Ginger who tries to break herself and her friends out of the farm with the help of a rooster named Rocky before they’re made into chicken pot pies. The film is a technical achievement in the same vein as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and more recently "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and offers a surprising and inviting sense of humanity — considering the protagonists are chickens made of clay. Take the kids to see "Chicken Run" on 10 April.
CULTURE
"Kinky Boots" is a musical based on a 2005 film of the same name with songs and lyrics written by Cyndi Lauper and the book written by actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein. The story follows a determined drag queen who tried to save a shoe factory with her suggestively designed boots. See "Kinky Boots" as one of the "Culture at the Cinema" features on 17 April.
This article will also appear in April's print issue of Camana Bay Times.