✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: December 1-7
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.
The Shift An average guy (Kristoffer Polaha) finds himself as the last hope for an urban dystopia after avoiding the temptations of a sketchy cosmic businessman (Neal McDonough) in this visually impressive and politically savvy contemporary update of Job that swaps out rural anguish for multiverse fascism. With Sean Astin and Rose Reid. The latest from Franklin-based producer Ken Carpenter. Read our review here. Now playing in theaters.
The Boy and the Heron + 5 Studio Ghibli Classics Audiences have to wait until Wednesday to see Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki’s latest. But in celebration of the director’s deeply personal reflection on WWII by way of a fantastical journey with a heron, The Belcourt has programmed a retrospective of his greatest hits all month. Begins this week at the Belcourt. The Boy and the Heron opens at The Belcourt and in theaters nationwide on Wednesday, December 6th.
Silent Night After a two-decade Hollywood hiatus, Hong Kong action pioneer John Woo makes his comeback with a largely dialogue-free tale of a vigilante father (Joel Kinnaman) who loses his son and voice in the crossfire of a gang war on Christmas Eve. Expect the best seasonally appropriate down-and-dirty action flick since Mel Gibson’s Fatman. Now playing in theaters.
Godzilla Minus One The king of the monsters returns to his Japanese roots as the nation deals with the fallout of WWII in the latest imported entry of the enduring franchise. Now playing in theaters.
Victims of Sin This rare 1951 musical noir about a cabaret dancer in a love triangle with her pimp and a club owner is a neglected masterwork from celebrated Mexican director Emilio Fernández that has finally received the 4K restoration it deserves. Now playing at The Belcourt as part of Restoration Roundup.
The Plot Against Harry A midlevel Jewish mobster copes with post-prison life by getting into the catering business and bringing debauchery back to suburbia in Michael Roemer’s long-shelved comedy that became a 90s cult classic two decades after its completion. Now playing at The Belcourt as part of Restoration Roundup.
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt Tennessee native Raven Jackson makes her feature debut with this coming-of-age tone poem about a black woman from Mississippi. The Sundance crowd called it “an ode to connection” borrowing from “the language of memory” when it premiered last January.
Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé
The legendary pop star takes a page from Taylor Swift’s playbook to bring her most recent international tour to the big screen. Expect nothing as revolutionary as 2016’s visual album Lemonade, but a worthwhile ride for her fans nonetheless. Now playing in theaters.
Teddy’s Christmas An anthropomorphic teddy bear voiced by Zachary Levi tries to reunite with the little girl who took him home from a Norwegian Christmas market in what looks like a better children’s movie than anything Disney has done in a few years. Now playing at Regal theaters.
Holiday Twist The season’s first lighthearted holiday comedy finds a girlboss CEO (Kelly Stables) realizing the true spirit of Christmas from a Salvation Army Santa. Also featuring The Shift’s Sean Astin and Neal McDonough. Now playing in theaters.
The Latest in Bolly/Tolly/Kolly/Lollywood and Other Special Presentations of Asian and Middle Eastern Imports.
Animal (Telugu/Hindi) A devoted son begins a rivalry with his career-obsessed father in a film that embodies the best of Bollywood’s trademark over-the-top action melodrama spectacle Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 and Regal Hollywood 27.
Sam Bahadur (Hindi) A biopic honoring the Chief of the Army Staff during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War that looks as restrained as Napoleon is unhinged. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.
Annapoorani (Tamil) A girl from an orthodox Hindu family balances the personal and profession as she strives to become India’s best chef. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.
Parking (Tamil) A feud over a parking space between an elderly man and a cringy hipster who live in the same apartment complex balloons to epic proportions. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.
Song of the South (Vietnamese) This adaptation of the Vietnamese novel about a lost boy looking for his father has nothing to do with Disney’s most notorious classic. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.