By Rick Davis
The story of King Arthur, Camelot, Merlin and Excalibur have been told time and time again in print, TV and movies over the years, making it one of the most remade stories of all time. On the big screen, the most notable are the likes of 1953’s Knights of the Round Table, Disney’s 1963 animated adventure The Sword in the Stone, the 1967 musical Camelot, 1975’s comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, John Boorman’s 1981 epic Excalibur, Richard Gere as Lancelot and Sean Connery as Arthur in 1995’s First Knight and Jerry Bruckheimer’s slick-looking King Arthur in 2004.
The latest retelling is from the stylistic Guy Ritchie, the director of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. For King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Ritchie puts his own spin on the tale, telling the story of a young Arthur who is robbed of his birthright and has no idea of who he truly is, surviving in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, his true heritage is revealed and his life is changed forever. Starring Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) as the title character as well as Jude Law, Eric Bana and Djimon Hounsou, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword will be a must-see for those who like fantasy adventure as well as those who want to see a new take on a classic story.
What does it take to bring one of the funniest movie stars out of retirement? It takes current queen of comedy, Amy Schumer. Snatched stars Goldie Hawn in her first movie in 15 years as the ultra-cautious mother of the adventurous Schumer as they head off on a vacation together to what is supposed to be paradise. However, after they are kidnapped, they must work through their differences to escape the outrageous jungle adventure they have fallen into. Released in time for Mother’s Day, this somewhat crude comedy is from the producers of The Heat and Spy and the director of The Night Before and will appeal to those who like Schumer’s Trainwreck and are curious about Hawn’s first movie since The Banger Sisters.
Writer-director James Gunn is currently number one at the box office with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but in his spare time, it seems he likes to dabble in horror. Having already written the cult classic Tromeo and Juliet, 2004’s Dawn of the Dead and 2006’s Slither, he returns to the genre with The Belko Experiment, in what looks like a cross between Saw and The Purge. In a twisted social experiment, a group of 80 Americans in Bogota, Colombia are locked in their high-rise office and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed. This gory low budget thriller stars Tony Goldwyn (Scandal), John Gallagher Jr. (The Newsroom) and Guardian’s Michael Rooker (Yondu).
