What New Movies Start Friday, April 18th?

This week, there are six new movies hitting the big screen. Three are opening everywhere and three are in limited release.

Opening Nationwide on Friday, April 18th:

Movie: 88 Minutes (R)
Starring: Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, Amy Brenneman & William Forsythe
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: A college professor that also acts as a FBI forensic psychiatrist receives a threat that he is going to die in 88 minutes. At first he thinks it is a hoax, but then must use all his training and skills to figure out who is behind it. Could it be a disgruntled student, an ex lover, or a serial killer he helped put away? He has to figure it out before time runs out.
First Thoughts: After watching the trailer, I wanted to go see this. But, then I read that it has been sitting on a shelf for more than a year and has already been released on DVD in many parts of the world. Also, it takes 106 minutes to tell the story of 88 Minutes. Somehow I don’t think there is 18 minutes of setup before he gets the threatening phone call, so it doesn’t look like it runs in real time, which is what really interested me in the first place.

Movie: The Forbidden Kingdom (PG-13)
Starring: Jackie Chan & Jet Li
Genre: Fantasy Action Adventure
Synopsis: An American teenager that is a big fan of Hong Kong kung-fu movies discovers the ancient weapon of the Monkey King, a Chinese sage and warrior from the past, in a Chinatown pawnshop. He gets transported back in time with the weapon and ends up part of a mission to break a man out of prison.
First Thoughts: It is a martial arts movie with Jackie Chan and Jet Li with what looks like a little comedy thrown in. Sounds like fun to me.

Movie: Forgetting Sarah Marshall (R) (Read Review)
Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand & Bill Hader
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Synopsis: A struggling musician has just been dumped by his famous TV star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall. So, in an attempt to get his life back together, he takes a trip to Hawaii to get his mind off her. Unfortunately, it turns out that his ex and her new rocker boyfriend are staying at the same hotel.
First Thoughts: It stars people from two of my favorite TV shows, Bell from Veronica Mars and now Heroes and Segel from How I Met Your Mother. Also, Judd Apatow, who brought you The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, produces it, but that was also the case with Drillbit Taylor. So, you never know. I think they need to start talking about Apatow productions like they do the stock market, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” Yet, this is probably what I will go see this Friday.

Movies in Limited Release:

• The Life Before Her Eyes – Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood in a psychological thriller about a woman still trying to deal with a traumatic act of violence that occurred during high school, some 15 years ago.
• Pathology – Milo Ventimiglia, Alyssa Milano and Lauren Lee Smith in a crime thriller about a group of med students that are playing a deadly game. One in which, one of them commits the perfect murder and the rest compete to figure out the cause of death.
• Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? – The Super Size Me guy, Morgan Spurlock, goes on the hunt for bin Laden, but first he tries to learn everything about him in this documentary.

For New Movie Friday there are three new movies to choose from this week. They are 88 Minutes, Forbidden Kingdom and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. What new movie looks good to you this week?