As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” The recent awards for Oscar’s statuette found that Dune unsurprisingly swept a ton of technical awards, including Best Editing, Visual Effects, Cinematography, Production Design, Original Score and Sound -- six in total. The Power of the Dog saw Jane Campion make Oscars history, becoming only the third woman to win Best Director.
Releases of note during the month of April, a few of which were up for nominations in various categories, are mentioned here, one of which was a box office sensation and overlooked in the major categories by the Academy’s Nominating Committee.
Set in 2016, Parallel Mothers follows Janice (Penélope Cruz, nominated for Best Actress), a professional photographer in her 40s who begins a casual fling with forensic anthropologist Arturo (Israel Elejalde). Nine months after a particularly steamy encounter, she checks herself into a Madrid hospital’s maternity ward, preparing to give birth and raise her child as a single mother. As fate would have it, her roommate is in a similar position, save for the fact that she’s over 20 years Janice’s junior. Ana (Milena Smit) is also without a partner, her only support during labor being her self-absorbed actress mother (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón). While Janice is thrilled that she’s been given the spur-of-the-moment opportunity to become a mother, Ana is initially resentful of the circumstances that have led to her pregnancy. Yet the two women quickly bond. Coincidentally, they both give birth to beautiful baby girls, and exchange numbers in order to keep in touch as they embark on the journey of newfound motherhood.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, our friendly neighborhood hero's identity is revealed, bringing his superhero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who have ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter (Tom Holland) will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse. The supporting cast also includes Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire and was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Visual Effects category.
Did you know that smiling can make you healthier? What about laughter? The comedic release of Falling for Figaro focuses on twentysomething American Millie (Danielle Macdonald), whose life in London is quite comfortable. She is a trust fund manager at an investment firm, earns an impressive salary, drives her own luxury car and owns her own beautiful home. She’s surpassed the success of her former boss Charlie (Shazad Latif), yet he doesn’t seem to mind, and their long-term relationship is fairly stable. But is Millie truly happy at work, or truly fulfilled by her job? No on both counts. What really moves Millie is opera, whether she’s attending a live show or watching clips of performances online. So, Millie takes a chance on herself: She’ll spend a year training in opera singing, and then she’ll try out for the national “Singer of Renown” contest. If she fails, she’ll go back to her old career - and nearly everyone seems to think she will, including Charlie, who is more tolerant than supportive. But Millie is undeterred: “Why shouldn’t I follow my heart? I’m not that old, and it is not too late.”
Ken Burns's two-part, four-hour documentary explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century's most complex and consequential figures, Benjamin Franklin, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States. With Peter Coyote and Mandy Patinkin.
We would be remiss if we did not mention the release of the fourth season of the popular series Handmaid’s Tale. It remains a big, bold, brassy show. It is shot like a music video, and filled with expensive, classic songs by Carole King and Aretha Franklin, set to horribly gruesome scenes. It never felt like style over substance exactly, but for a while, it was hard to love a drama that yielded only misery and pain. Thankfully, June’s (Elizabeth Moss) adventures in rebel land have reignited the spark, and given viewers something, and someone, to root for. After all that suffering, though, the tension now lies in working out what kind of heroine we have been left with.
You can find the complete April list of releases here.
