✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: Feb. 17-23

Jerod Ra'Del Hollyfield -

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: Marvel’s Phase 5 kicks off with the latest installment in the adventures of Paul Rudd’s low-rent superhero. This time, he’s trying to figure out how to get back the time he lost with his daughter (Kathryn Newton) while stuck in the quantum realm during the whole Thanos thing.

Now playing in theatres.

2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Few people beyond Hollywood insiders ever had the chance to see the short films up for Academy Awards for most of the ceremony’s history. But a few years ago, cable channel ShortsTV began putting together three two-hour blocks of the nominees divided into live-action, animation, and documentary nominees for limited theatrical release. It’s like classy TikTok in a room full of people.

Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 and The Belcourt.

Restoration Roundup at The Belcourt: See new 4K transfers of classic films ranging from Jean Renoir’a ultimate satire of bourgeois elites The Rules of the Game (2/19) to John Carpenter’s ruthless urban western Assault on Precinct 13 (2/17-18) with a little of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2/17-23) thrown in for good measure among others.

Note: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is also playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 this week.

Beloved: A Spotlight Series on Black Female Directors: The Belcourt’s overwhelmingly white executive team pays lip service to Black History Month. Sure, classics like Daughters of the Dust (2/18-19) are can’t miss, but 2019’s Queen & Slim is pretty much just an overblown meme with a marketing budget. Noticeably missing is anything by Lemon and Zola director Janicza Bravo—probably because she makes movies with white people in them and treats African-Americans as something other than righteous, vocal activists or victims mired in poverty porn. Is it too much to ask for a screening of Selma where all the whites in the audience sit in the back of the theater and pay an extra $2 AMC style for the privilege of public atonement?

Of An Age: A Serbian-born Australian teenage boy with a passion for ballroom dancing has a daylong love affair with his friend’s older brother during the summer of 1999. The last thing theaters need right now is another gay-themed film bombing at the box office, but at least this one has that Gen X indie appeal that indicates it’s as cynical about Hollywood’s recent spate of diversity vitamin movies as we are.

Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 and Murfreesboro 16.