As the warmer, rainier days of spring come along, Hollywood is looking to take movie-goers on a wild ride down the entertainment super highway. The weekend's openings are dominated by action and adventure, with some nostalgia thrown in for good measure.

Fast & Furious is this week’s big opener and is the most adrenaline-filled romp to hit the box office this weekend. The fourth installment of the popular The Fast and the Furious franchise, the latest is actually an “interquel,” taking place between the series’ second film (2 Fast 2 Furious) and its third offering (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift). While the sequencing might be a little confusing, the film hopes to provide enough action and thrills that even newcomers to the franchise can appreciate the flick on its own. The film continues on with the story which began in the original movie and stars Vin Diesel (xXx, Babylon A.D.), Paul Walker (Joy Ride, Running Scared), Michelle Rodriguez (Lost, Girlfight), and Jordana Brewster (Chuck, The Faculty) as a foursome of speed-loving bad asses working together to bring down a heroin dealer by going undercover within his ranks. (See our interview with Diesel and Walker.) The film’s simple equation of speed and action has been extremely popular with audiences in the past, so be sure to get in line for your tickets early – but drive safely on the way to the theater!

If you prefer your adrenaline rushes to come from amusement park rides and the rush of young love, be sure to check out Adventureland. The film, written and directed by Superbad director Greg Mottola, is set in 1988 at a cheesy theme park. James, played by Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale, The Hunting Party), is a recent college graduate who is dreading the upcoming summer, which he thought would be spent touring Europe. But due to a shortage of funds, he now has to work at the local theme park. Things start to look up for James, however, when he meets and is instantly drawn to his co-worker Em, played by Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, who encourages him to take a more laid-back look at life. The film debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and boasts an impressive supporting cast of comedy veterans such including Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder), Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks) and Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.

If people running away from outer space invaders is your idea of fun, then Alien Trespass should fit the bill. The comedy, which is a spoof on science-fiction B movies from the 1950s, takes place in 1957 and stars Eric McCormack (Will and Grace) as a noted astronomer in California who teams up with Tammy, a local waitress played by Jenni Baird (The 4400), and an alien robot named Urp to stop a renegade space monster named Ghota, who threatens all of civilization. Fans of the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 will undoubtedly recognize the movie's source material, and those who enjoy other genre spoofs such as The Naked Gun series will also find a lot to laugh at in the big-screen parody.

Want to travel even farther back in time? Head out to see Paris 36, a triple award-winning independent film from France, which chronicles life in Faubourg, a working-class district in the north of Paris, circa the spring of 1936. Three down-and-out former employees of the recently closed Chansonia music hall decide to try to revive the business by putting on a hit musical themselves by June. Despite the film's limited release, its themes have the potential to really hit home and find resonance with audiences in this season of economic uncertainty.  

—John Bavoso