Spring Arts Guide: Movies

AS HOLLYWOOD expands the boundaries of its "summer" season, the spring box office heats up a little earlier each year.

This year, Captain America and various X-Men arrive before the solstice and long before school is out, and blockbusters like "Godzilla" turn up on the schedule. There are some interesting imports and independents, as well. Here are a few to watch for:

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier," April 4. Marvel-ous sequel has the title character (Chris Evans) teaming with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to battle the Winter Solder, an agent of the Soviet Union now gone rogue, becoming the latest villain to bedevil SHIELD and the Avengers. Evans, Johansson and Mackie say their superheroes get equal time in this adventure, and display the same ethic of teamwork that Joss Whedon wove into his "Avengers" movie. Also, it turns out Robert Redford did not die at sea in "All Is Lost," because he's in the movie.

"Under the Skin," April 11. Ever wonder what Jonathan Glazer's been doing since his smashing debut with "Sexy Beast?" He's spent much of his time working on an adaptation of the creepy novel "Under the Skin," about an alien in femme-fatale form (Scarlett Johansson) who trolls for men in bars, and lures them back to her apartment. The movie's drawn a few jeers at film festivals, but it's also been hailed as a masterpiece of noir mood. Judge for yourself.

"The Other Woman," April 25. Cameron Diaz plays a woman who finds out her boyfriend (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of "Game of Thrones") is married - to Leslie Mann. The women join forces, concoct a revenge scheme and pick up a few more allies along the way - the cast includes Kate Upton and Nicki Minaj. "The Other Woman" is directed by Nick Cassavetes, who looks as though he's going to give us a different take on romance than he did in "The Notebook."

"Locke," May 2. This offbeat movie caused a stir at the Venice International Film Festival. It stars Tom Hardy as a construction site manager whose life begins to unravel on his way home from work, as he makes a series of calls on his mobile phone. Doesn't sound like much, but advance word is that director Steven Knight sustains a high level of tension with a few simple elements, and manages to make something cinematic out of a single character and a car's interior - perhaps an earthbound "Gravity."

"Neighbors," May 9. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are newlyweds and new parents who move into what they think is a quiet house in the suburbs. Turns out it's next to a very noisy fraternity house, where the obnoxious brothers include Dave Franco and Zac Efron. A simple disagreement over loud music turns into an increasingly frenzied (and R-rated) contest of escalating revenge. The movie is directed by Nicholas Stoller, of "Get Him to the Greek" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and it played well at South by Southwest.

"Godzilla," May 16. With apologies to Bryan Cranston, does anyone break badder than Godzilla? In this new 3-D version, directed by effects whiz Gareth Edwards, mankind again unleashes an ancient monster. The cast includes Cranston, back in the lab as a nuclear physicist, plus Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins, Ken Watanabe and Juliette Binoche.

"X-Men: Days of Future Past," May 23. Director Bryan Singer returns to the franchise to helm the story that finds Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) sent back to the past to prevent an apocalyptic future that threatens all life, human and mutant. Cast includes recent Oscar nominees Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence, also Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James McAvoy and possibly Halle Berry. There is speculation that she may have been cut from the final edit.

Online: ph.ly/Movies