The Bat Cave

Now that March is over, April provides another slate of new entertainment options, so it’s time for me to give a brief preview of what I’ll be looking forward to next month.

Theatrical Releases: After a strong early start to the year that has already seen high quality films like Get Out and Logan be released, it looks like April is going to be a rather dull month in theaters.

Colossal (April 7th) – I’m not particular interested in this film, but anything that stars Anne Hathaway gets my attention. There’s some sort of monster on the poster and I guess she has some mental problems, but I don’t know anything else about this movie. It might be 2020 before I actually watch it.

The Fate Of The Furious (April 14th) – This has been one of the most surprising franchises of all-time. We are now on movie #8 (and there are two more sequels already announced!) and I don’t even know how many of them I’ve seen up to this point, but I do know that I’ve enjoyed almost all of them and I consider that to be rather shocking. Somehow this series keeps pumping out entertaining flicks, all while keeping it’s core cast together (R.I.P. Paul Walker though). This sequel adds Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, and Helen Mirren to the mix, while nabbing Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray to run the show. I’m at least one movie behind – maybe two – so chances are I won’t be seeing this in theaters, but with such a slow movie month, maybe I’ll catch up and check it out.

The Circle (April 28th) – Just watched the trailer and it didn’t exactly grab me, but I’m a big Emma Watson fan and Tom Hanks has done pretty good work in recent years when he’s not playing Robert Langdon.

Sleight (some time in April) – Jacob Latimore plays a street musician that may or may not have some sort of superhuman power. One critic described it as “Chronicle meets Iron Man” and the trailer looks interesting enough that it’s on my radar, but again, this is a movie I might not end up watching for a while.

Netflix: In addition to the releases I highlighted last month, Dave Chappelle also released a two part comedy special and it was phenomenal. If you haven’t seen it already, I suggest you make it a priority immediately. Amy Schumer’s special was a total dud – after wondering if I was just being overly critical, I fell asleep during the second half and haven’t had any desire to finish it.

Louis C.K. 2017 comedy special (April 4th) – After watching the Chappelle and Schumer specials, I polled Facebook wondering if there was any comic that has been consistently top shelf for many years and the only answer I got was: Louis C.K. – and I couldn’t argue against it. All his stand up has been fantastic and I’ve really enjoyed the seasons of his show that I’ve seen. No reason not to expect more greatness here.

The BFG (April 6th) – I’m yet to see this Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic, but I will now that it’s streaming next month.

The Get Down season two (April 7th) – I haven’t seen the first season yet, but show about the formation of hip-hop music in the Bronx is obviously something I need to be watching.

Kevin Hart: What Now (April 11th) – I really don’t consider myself much of a Kevin Hart fan – I’ve skipped his last five movies – but I will at least watch his stand up material.

The Secret Life Of Pets (April 22nd) – This movie made a heap of money at the box office and received solid ratings from the critics, plus it features a pretty solid voice cast, so I will be watching it while it’s streaming.

Netflix will also be adding A Nightmare On Elm Street, Gremlins, and Schindler’s List (all classics) on the 1st of April, as well as a Richard Pryor stand up. Two other solid films, Kubo & the Two Strings (April 8th) and Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige (April 21st) will also be added later in the month.

Music: March saw the release of a number of good albums, with Khalid and Ed Sheeran providing my two favorite releases of 2017 so far. Rick Ross and Raekwon both surprised me by releasing albums I’m enjoying.

Kendrick Lamar – “Ya’ll got til April the 7th to get your shit together.” (April 7th) – Sounds like a release date announcement to me. Anyone that knows me knows that Kendrick is currently my favorite rapper by miles. MILES! I have him ranked #6 on my all-time list and with two classic albums, a fantastic mixtape, and a slew of phenomenal guest appearances under his belt already, my expectations for his next album are out of this world. If he can somehow manage a third straight classic, he’s right up there with Jay-Z and Nas as the greatest rappers of all-time IMO.

Joey Bada$$ – All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ (April 7th) – If Kendrick is really dropping an album, this could be an epic weekend of hip-hop as Joey Bada$$ easily makes my list of my top 10 favorite rappers of the moment. His last album was very strong and I’ve liked all the songs he’s released in the past year, so my expectations for this album are pretty high.

The Chainsmokers – Memories… Do Not Open (April 7th) – I don’t know much about this group, but I do know they have a knack for crafting incredibly infectious music, so I will be checking out this album.

Talib Kweli & Styles P – The Seven (April 14th) – Hey, it’s the hip-hop collaboration nobody’s been asking for! There was a time when Talib Kweli was one of my favorite emcees, but it’s been about a decade since I felt that way. Kweli’s released a ton of music since then, but I’ve mostly skipped it and if it was stellar, somebody would’ve told me about it. I’ve never been much of a Styles P fan. With that said, I don’t have to be selective with Apple Music and I can listen to everything, so I’ll give this a chance.

Kamaiyah – Don’t Ever Get It Twisted (April 21st) – Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma are getting all the attention right now, but last year Kamaiyah released the best rap album from a female artist that I’ve heard in years. On the surface, her style seems really simple and her subject matter isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but Kamaiyah makes undeniably good songs. I’m curious to see if she can keep it up and build on the success of her debut album.

Other notable releases scheduled for April include 2 Chainz and Tech N9ne – neither of which I really like – on the 7th, Incubus on the 21st, and Mary J. Blige and Gorillaz on the 28th. I will probably check out the MJB album and skip the rest.