Monthly Movie Madness: March

After a rough couple of months at the movies it was finally difficult for me to narrow down only 5 movies that I must decree the best of the best... So let's take a look at what studios are offering you this March.

5. The Art Of The Steal: Featuring a who's who of "So that's what they've been up to" actors (Kurt Russell, Jay Baruchel, Matt Dillon). This film appears to be a hilarious comedy stylized as a slick heist film. Though the early reviews are mixed (67% on Rotten Tomatoes at this writing) a comedy that can muster even a 60% is a rare feat in modern times.

Synopsis: Crunch Calhoun (Kurt Russell), a third rate motorcycle daredevil and semi-reformed art thief, agrees to get back into the con game and pull off one final lucrative art theft with his untrustworthy brother, Nicky (Matt Dillon). Reassembling the old team, Crunch comes up with a plan to steal a priceless historical book, but the successful heist leads to another far riskier plan devised by Nicky. They fail to realize each other's separate agendas when their plan goes awry in this con comedy about honor, revenge and the bonds of brotherhood.

4. Bad Words: Speaking of hilarious... Have you ever seen Arrested Development? The best parts are when Jason Bateman is interacting with the kids... This is a whole movie about that concept!

Synopsis: Jason Bateman makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy Bad Words. Mr. Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition. Contest officials, outraged parents, and overly ambitious 8th graders are no match for Guy, as he ruthlessly crushes their dreams of victory and fame. As a reporter (Kathryn Hahn of We're the Millers) attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand of Homeland), who is completely unfazed by Guy's take-no-prisoners approach to life.

3. Cheap Thrills: Cheap Thrills appears to be all about what we are missing out on with studios seemingly greenlighting less black comedies. I often talk about early reviews here... It's at 100% on rotten tomatoes currently with 23 reviews... Yowza! Oh and remember the kid from Empire Records and Can't Hardly Wait? He's here.

Synopsis: Cheap Thrills follows Craig (Pat Healy, Compliance), a struggling family man who loses his low-wage job and is threatened with eviction. In an effort to delay facing the music at home, he heads to a local bar and encounters an old friend (Ethan Embry, Empire Records). The two friends are roped into a round of drinks by a charismatic and obscenely wealthy stranger (David Koechner, Anchorman 2) along with his mysterious wife (Sara Paxton, The Inkeepers). The couple engages the two friends in a series of innocent dares in exchange for money over the course of the evening, with each challenge upping the ante in both reward and boundaries. It seems like easy and much needed money, but the couple's twisted sense of humor pushes just how far Craig and his friend are willing to go for money and cheap thrills.

2. The Muppets: Most Wanted: Everyone's favourite "Not suite a mop, not quite a puppet" characters are back and they are taking on Europe! James Bobin returns the director for the highly anticipated follow-up to the hit 2011 film.

Synopsis: Disney’s "Muppets Most Wanted" takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine—the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit—and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais. The film stars Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard, and Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon.

1. Veronica Mars: Go ahead, put on your surprised faces... The only thing I would love to see more than Kristen Bell in a good movie is seeing Kristen Bell is a movie portraying Veronica Mars... And on March 14, 2014 we might actually get to find out if both my wishes come true, until then I will remain giddy as fuck!

Synopsis: On the eve of graduating law school, Veronica Mars has put Neptune and her amateur sleuthing days behind her. While interviewing at high-end New York law firms, Veronica Mars gets a call from her ex-boyfriend Logan who has been accused of murder. Veronica heads back to Neptune just to help Logan find an attorney, but when things don't seem right with how Logan's case is perceived and handled, Veronica finds herself being pulled back into a life she thought she had left behind.

Other notables: Mr. Peadody & Sherman and Blood Ties