✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: August 18-24
The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a list of new and upcoming films, check out our 2023 Movie Guide.
Lovers on the Lam @ The Belcourt (August 12-September 4) Nashville’s arthouse says farewell to the summer with its last special event of the season. Watch some of cinema’s finest crime romances from the game-changing Bonnie and Clyde and lightning rod Natural Born Killers to underseen gems like 50s noir Gun Crazy and Steve McQueen vehicle The Getaway. This weekend brings Hitchcock’s suspense masterpiece The 39 Steps.
The Adults Fresh from his genius turn as Allan in Barbie, Michael Cera stars as a poker connoisseur who returns home to visit his sisters in this acid-tongued comedy by indie director Dustin Guy Defa. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20.
birth/rebirth When her six-year-old daughter dies, a maternity nurse (Judy Reyes) seeks out a pathologist (Marin Ireland) obsessed with reanimating the dead in the classic horror throwback that had Sundance shook. Now playing at AMC Murfreesboro 16 and AMC Thoroughbred 20.
Landscape with the Invisible Hand Amid an alien occupation of Earth, Tiffany Haddish livestreams her fraudulent budding romance with a coffee-table shaped extraterrestrial to make some side cash after the invasion makes most jobs obsolete. Was Sundance all sci-fi allegories this year or what? Now playing at AMC Murfreesboro 16 and AMC Thoroughbred 20.
Oldboy Park Chan-wook’s blood-soaked revenge epic celebrates its 20th anniversary with a new 4k restoration. You passed around those VHS bootlegs in college. Now see it like they did South Korea on the biggest screen possible. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 and The Belcourt.
Blue Beetle The summer’s last superhero film features a Mexican law student who finds a magic scarab that turns into an armored suit perfect for fighting Susan Sarandon’s corporate overlord. Its reviews are better than one would expect for a late summer DC entry, but the aftertaste of The Flash just won’t go away.
Strays Will Ferrell voices a dog who seeks revenge after his drunken owner (Will Forte) abandons him in what promises to be the raunchiest summer comedy yet. With the voices of Jamie Foxx and Sofia Vergara. Now playing in theaters.
Have You Got it Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd Differentiate yourselves from those teens in The Dark Side of the Moon Walmart tie dye with this deep dive into the titular founding member’s influence over one of rock’s most enduring bands. Now playing at The Belcourt.
Back on the Strip Kevin Hart goes to Vegas to chase his magician dreams, but ends up in a male stripper show called “The Chocolate Chips” led by Wesley Snipes. With his newfound buds, he fights for the girl he loves (Tiffany Haddish) and helps save a crumbling hotel. The logline alone is better than half of this year’s movies.
Beauty and the Beast Disney’s big screen celebration of its centennial continues because, at this rate, it won’t be around for the next one. Revel in that 1991 nostalgia with one of the studio’s best.
The Latest in Bolly/Tolly/Kolly/Lollywood and Other Special Presentations of Asian and Middle Eastern Imports.
Mr. Pregnant (Telugu) An Indian man decides to carry his wife’s child himself. I never thought I’d be making two consecutive Junior references in this column when we started it a year ago, but here we are. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.
Mr. X (Arabic) A fixer who helps men divorce their wives questions his entire life when he falls in love. Now playing at Regal Opry Mills 20.
Ghoomer (Hindi) A sports prodigy loses her hand in an accident and develops a new form of bowling with a grizzled failed cricketer. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.