Welcome to L.A. Weekly’s Movie Guide, your look at the hottest films in Los Angeles theaters this week — from indie art house gems and classics to popcorn-perfect blockbusters and new movies garnering buzz. Check here every week before you make your big screen plans.

Friday, May 3

El Chicano is being billed as the first Latino superhero film. Co-written by Joe Carnahan (Narc) and co-written and directed by Ben Hernandez Bray (a veteran stuntman who plays one of the guys who gets eaten by wolves in Carnahan's The Grey), the film boasts an all-Hispanic cast and a low-fi look right out of the 1990s. The gritty, naturalistic (read: no superpowers) story involves two brothers on opposite sides of the law: one is a drug kingpin and the other becomes the embodiment of an urban legend, a “ghetto grim reaper” who could be the Punisher's distant relation. Launching a new franchise can be an uphill venture, but Bray brings commitment to a film that aims to carve a niche in the crowded superhero market.

Also opening Friday, May 3: Bolden; The Dirty Kind; Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile; Redcon-1; The Silence of Others; Tell It to the Bees; Wine Country

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