Rueben's Ramblings

Based on information provided by Box Office Mojo and some internet research, here are just some of the movies you can expect to see in the movie theatres in May:

Belle
Opens: May 2

The film is based on historical character Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed–race daughter of a British Naval officer and an African woman. Dido is taken to England by her father, Captain Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode), to be raised by his uncle, the Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), as an aristocratic Lady, as befits her blood line. On the grand estate of Kenwood House, Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is raised in privilege alongside her cousin Elizabeth Murray (Sarah Gadon) and together they navigate the complex social hierarchies of the time. Dido meets John Davinier (Sam Reid), a young lawyer and apprentice of Lord Mansfield, and a rift grows between her and her protective guardian, who sees John as being beneath Dido. Yet John and Dido’s meeting is the beginning of a love story that catapults Dido onto a path of self-discovery, and forces Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, to confront his own views on race, society and the antiquated laws of the time. The film also stars Tom Felton and Emily Watson.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Opens: May 2

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) continues to struggle with balancing his life as a high school student, and his responsibilities as Spider-Man. When Peter begins to investigate more about his father’s past, thanks to the help of his friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), he begins to realize that the new threats of Electro (Jamie Foxx) and the Rhino (Paul Giamatti) all have one thing in common: OsCorp. The cast includes Emma Stone, Sally Field and Chris Copper.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return
Opens: May 9

This animated film finds Dorothy Gale (Lea Michele) returning to Kansas to find it devastated. Dorothy then finds a new way to get back to the Land of Oz only to discover that her old friends the Scarecrow (Dan Aykroyd), Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer), Cowardly Lion (Jim Belushi) and the entire Land of Oz are all in grave danger. On Dorothy’s new journey through Oz, she meets new friends like a marshmallow man named Marshal Mallow (Hugh Dancy), a china doll princess (Megan Hilty), an ancient tree-turned-tugboat named Tugg (Patrick Stewart), and a large owl named Wiser (Oliver Platt). With the help of her new friends, they band together against a wicked Jester (Martin Short) who wants to control Oz by turning important people into marionettes. Also part of the vocal cast is Bernadette Peters as Glinda the Good Witch.

Godzilla
Opens: May 16

This film is “heralded” as an epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic Godzilla, pitting the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence. The cast includes Aaron Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe and David Strathairn.

Million Dollar Arm
Opens: May 16

JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm), a once-successful sports agent, finds himself edged out by bigger, slicker competitors. He and his partner Aash (Aasif Mandvi) will have to close their business down for good if JB doesn’t come up with something fast. Late one night, while watching cricket being played in India on TV, JB comes up with an idea so radical it just might work. Why not go there to find the next baseball pitching sensation? Setting off for Mumbai with nothing but a gifted but cantankerous scout (Alan Arkin) in tow, JB stages a televised, nationwide competition called “Million Dollar Arm” where 40,000 hopefuls compete before two teenage finalists emerge as winners. JB brings them back to the United States to train with legendary pitching coach Tom House (Bill Paxton). The goal: get the boys signed to a major league team. The cast includes Lake Bell and Suraj Sharma.

Cold in July
Opens: May 23

After accidentally killing an unarmed intruder, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall) must contend with the man’s angry father, Ben Russell (Sam Shepard). However, Dane begins to suspect that cop Ray Price (Nick Damici) may be hiding information from him that would indicate that he was involved in something much more complicated. The cast includes Don Johnson and Vinessa Shaw.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Opens: May 23

The X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods with characters from the original X-Men trilogy joining forces with their younger selves in a battle that must change the past – to save their future. The huge cast includes Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Ellen Page, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Shawn Ashmore and Peter Dinklage.

Words and Pictures
Opens: May 23

English teacher Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) laments his students’ obsession with social media and good grades rather than engaging with the power of the written word. A one-time literary star, Jack has not published in years filling his time with drink versus the art of language. Then he meets his match in Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche), a painter and new teacher on campus, who was once celebrated for her art. The two flirt and provoke each other with equal relish. Jack hatches a plan for galvanizing student interest in their studies: he declares a war between Words and Pictures, confident that the former can convey greater meaning than the latter. Dina and her art students accept the challenge between Jack and his English students, and the battle lines are drawn. The cast includes Keegan Connor Tracy (Once Upon a Time), Bruce Davison and Amy Brenneman (Private Practice).

Lucky Them
Opens: May 30

Toni Collette plays a rock journalist who dates musicians and is assigned to explore her own past by her magazine’s editor (Oliver Platt) with a would-be documentarian (Thomas Haden Church). The cast includes Ryan Eggold and Ahna O’Reilly.

Maleficent
Opens: May 30

This live-action film explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora (Elle Fanning) is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever. The cast includes Sharlto Copley, Toby Regbo, Brenton Twaites, Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple, Imelda Staunton, Peter Capaldi and Lesley Manville.

Movies coming out in June will be posted at the end of May.

Enjoy!

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