Pop quiz hotshot: There’s a bomb on a train. After eight minutes, it blows up. What do you do? Self-proclaimed sci-fi geek Duncan Jones (of the Bowie clan) sends in his psychotropic James Bond to find the bomber and save the dame (Michelle Monaghan). Premiering at SXSW, his Hitchcockian second messes with your heart and mind. But that’s what you know. What you might not: Gyllenhaal recruited Jones to direct, and the two injected Ben Ripley’s once-serious script with wit and giggles.
It’s like: Minority Report on Speed.
Take: A date — but insist on a cab.
Premiered: April 1

Want to play a game? Things are not as they appear in James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s no guts, no gory 2010 Toronto International Film Fest horror about the haunted Lamberts (hey, Patrick Wilson). Channeling The Innocents, the duo kicks it old school, scaring by way of chilling silences, semitrue ghost stories, and a demonic stalker (who doubles as the film’s composer, of course). Jigsaw even cameos.
It’s like: The Shining meets Poltergeist.
Take: A burly man. Or your mommy. Make your choice.
Premiered: April 1

In Susanne Bier’s Oscar winner, retribution and forgiveness heavily shoulder its characters. Seeking peace in violence, world’s greatest dad Anton doctors women at an African refugee camp and is tested when he runs into Big Man, the thug responsible for the injured. Back in peaceful Denmark, meek Elias (Anton’s bullied son) and bereaved Christian find vengeance in the form of a homemade bomb. And we’re not talking sake.
It’s like: Crash meets Arlington Road.
Take: A frenemy and call a truce.
Premiered: April 1

There’s no way around it: It’s a rape story. Director David Schwimmer ditches the goof for darker fare in his cautionary tale, which debuted at the Toronto film fest. A crisis volunteer himself, he uses actual events to tell a nuanced story of what happens to a family after a girl meets a thirtysomething posing as a boy in a chat room. Clive Owen’s daddy in a blind rage will have you squirming; the ending will leave you breathless.
It’s like: Hard Candy in a nutshell.
Take: Your sis. It’s not a date movie.
Premiered: April 1

Sex, drugs, and rebel cinema breeding on the dangerous streets of NYC’s LES. It was a time when just-don’t-give-a-damn renegades (Jim Jarmusch, Eric Mitchell) were making the films they wanted to make. And thanks to Céline Danhier, we get to live it through her love letter to the city’s No Wave and Cinema of Transgression movements — and awesomely grainy super 8 footage.
It’s like: The Misfits of documentaries.
Take: Someone who’s heard of Underground U.S.A.
Premiered: April 6

We’re gathered here today for son of Fonzie Max Winkler’s debut, which has all the quirk of a Wes Anderson production, complete with phone booth use and Gatsby references. Sam (Michael Angarano), a children’s book writer and fast-talking man-boy, talks former best friend Marshall (Reece Thompson) into road tripping outside the city to rekindle their friendship. The real reason is for Sam to win back his love before her pending nuptials. Go for Sam; stay for scene-stealing Teddy.
It’s like: Rushmore meets Wedding Crashers.
Take: Your plus one.
Premieres: Today

French Manhattanite Asya falls in love with sexy Mexican Javier, chats with poodle-lapped women over petits fours, dodges affection from a cab-driving Egyptian, and grabs a falafel in Queens. All this while her Beirut-dwelling brother must evacuate the war zone he lives in, her childhood sweetheart’s been abducted CIA style, and the War on Terror rages on in the Middle East. First-time director Zeina Durra uses dry humor with a Tiny Furniture-esque delivery to show how one country’s unrest seeps into another’s everyday.
It’s like: 200 Cigarettes meets Four Lions.
Take: Your quasi-crusader compadres.
Premieres: April 15

A hot commodity on the fest circuit (from Telluride to New Directors/New Films), the French-Canadian film adaption takes us through the Middle East’s rubble as grown twins uncover their late mother’s horrid past (the murderous act that landed her in prison where she was tormented) and the secret she took to the grave. We love Denis Villeneuve’s Tarantino-esque chapter storytelling and the deftly handled twist of an ending almost as much as Radiohead’s bouts of musical poignancy.
It’s like: Babel meets Chinatown.
Take: A hint from Faye, “She’s my daughter. She’s my sister.”
Premieres: April 22

It’s a feast for the eyes — vintage costumes by Jacqueline West, majestic creatures, Oscar winners galore (Witherspoon and Waltz) — and we’re starving. I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence trades his infected nightwalkers for drama of the Ringling kind. Based on Sara Gruen’s best seller, the film reveals what happens under the big top between a handsome vet student, a ringmaster’s SO, and their shared compassion for one giant pachyderm.
It’s like: The Greatest Show on Earth meets The Notebook.
Take: A hopeless romantic. And peanuts.
Premieres: April 22

After Earth and Oceans, we’re ready for some catnip. Cue Earth Day’s do-gooder adventure about the wonders that inhabit the Masai Mara. Samuel L. Jackson narrates as lion cub Mara spends her days glued to her wounded mother, Layla. Single mom Sita, the lead cheetah, struggles to keep her brood fed. All while bad boy Kali, a lion who lives in the margins, attempts to break into their circle of life.
It’s like: The Lion King meets True Life.
Take: Your pride.
Premieres: April 22

Just a guy on a Schwinn with a point of view, the shutterbug two-wheels his way through the streets capturing eccentric fashions from fabulous to faux pas. A touching piece, the festival-hopping doc gets down to the heart of the matter: his imprint on the Style section of The Times, his 50-year stint living above Carnegie Hall (kitchens are overrated), and the wonderfully kooky relationships he’s preserved along the way. Beware the waterworks.
It’s like: The September Issue without pretention.
Take: It from us, you want to see this one.
Expanding: Throughout the month.