This Week In Movies: ‘Transformers 4,’ Snowpiercer’

We’re into the middle 2014 World Cup and 12 new film releases will be competing for your eyeballs and money this week. Full of some big names from television and film, some of the most compelling pieces are Chris Evans’ Snowpiercer which is a supposed sci-fi force, Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler team up for the very first time, Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine does his film debut, an iconic fashion designer gets his own biopic, a few documentaries showcase some thought-provoking subjects and one of Philip K. Dick‘s stories finds itself to the big creen again. After the jump, you’ll see a list ranked by order of my interest.

Here is the full list of all the films coming out this week including all of their trailers. Hope you find something of your liking!

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12. Drones (NR, 1hr 39min, Action/Adventure)
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Cast: Amir Khalighi, Mae Aswell, Vivan Dugré
Synopsis: Two soldiers are tasked with deciding the fate of a terrorist with a single push of a button. As the action plays out in real time, their window to use a deadly military drone on the target slowly closes. With time running out, the soldiers begin to question what the real motives are behind the ordered lethal attack.

11. Postman Pat: The Movie (NR, 1hr 25m, Animated)
Director: Mike Disa
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Jane Carr, Robin Atkin Downes
Synopsis: The beloved and iconic Postman Pat is making his big screen debut in Postman Pat: The Movie, opening theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on June 27th from distributor Shout! Factory.

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10. Radio Free Albemuth (R, 1hr 51min Suspense/Thriller)
Director: John Alan Simon
Cast: Shea Whigham, Alanis Morissette, Jonathan Scarfe, Katheryn Winnick, Scott Wilson, Hanna Hall
Synopsis: A music executive and his comrades join forces to expose the truth about a corrupt regime.

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9. Archipelago (1hr 54m, Drama)
Director: Joanna Hogg
Cast: Christopher Baker, Kate Fahy, Tom Hiddleston
Synopsis: Deep fractures within a family dynamic begin to surface during a getaway to the Isles of Scilly.

8. Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (R, 1hr 47m, Documentary)
Director: Joe Berlinger
Cast: Alex Horwitz, Amy Entelis, Caroline Suh, Courtney Sexton, Dave O’Connor
Synopsis: From Academy Award-nominated director Joe Berlinger, WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger is a sweeping and revelatory documentary film that follows the trial of the infamous gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, using the courtroom action as a springboard to examine accusations of multi-faceted corruption within our nation’s law enforcement and legal systems.

7. Jackpot (NR, 1hr 29m, Comedy, Suspense/Thriller)
Director: Magnus Martens
Cast: Kyrre Hellum, Mads Ousdal, Henrik Mestad
Synopsis: Based on a story by Norway’s leading crime novelist Jo Nesbø, Jackpot is a Coen Brothers-inspired take on homicidal greed and betrayal, Scandinavian-style. A man (Kyrre Hellum) tells a police inspector how he wound up beneath a corpse at a strip club.

6. The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (1hr 45m, Documentary)
Directors: Brian Knappenberger
Cast: Tim Berners-Lee, Cory Doctorow, Peter Eckersley
Synopsis: The story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz. From Swartz’s help in the development of the basic internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit, his fingerprints are all over the internet. But it was Swartz’s groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two year legal nightmare. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26. Aaron’s story touched a nerve with people far beyond the online communities in which he was a celebrity. This film is a personal story about what we lose when we are tone deaf about technology and its relationship to our civil liberties.

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5. Yves Saint Laurent (R, 1hr 45m, Drama)
Director: Jalil Lespert
Cast: Pierre Niney, Guillaume Gallienne, Charlotte Le Bon
Synopsis: Biopic of the beginning of the fashionable Yves Saint Laurent Company which would rapidly become one of the biggest luxury powerhouses on the planet.

4. Snowpiercer (R, 2hr 5m, Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Cast: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton
Synopsis: During Earth’s second Ice Age, less-fortunate passengers aboard a luxury train plan a revolt.

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3. Begin Again (R, 1hr 44m, Drama, Romance)
Director: John Carney
Cast: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine
Synopsis: A chance encounter between a disgraced music-business executive and a young singer-songwriter new to Manhattan turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.

2. They Came Together (R, 1hr 23m, Comedy)
Director: David Wain
Cast: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Cobie Smulders, Christopher Meloni, Ed Helms, Noureen DeWulf
Synopsis: When Joel and Molly meet, it’s hate at first sight: his big Corporate Candy Company threatens to shut down her quirky indie shop. Plus, Joel is hung up on his sexy ex. But amazingly, they fall in love, until they break up about two thirds of the way through, and Molly starts dating her accountant. But then right at the end…well you’ll just have to see.

WIDE RELEASE

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1. Transformers: Age of Extinction (PG-13, 2hr 37m, Action/Adventure)
Director: Michael Bay
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor
Synopsis: An automobile mechanic and his daughter make a discovery that brings down the Autobots and Decepticons – and a paranoid government official – on them.