✸ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: March 1-March 7

The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For more upcoming releases, check out our full 2024 movie guide.

Dune: Part 2 The conclusion to America’s greatest intergalactic desert epic finally hits screens accompanied by the reviews we’ve hoped for since 2021. Watch Timothée Chalamet find the water and lead a revolution with Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Florence Pugh by his side. Now playing in theaters. 

Outlaw Posse Mario Van Peebles revisits the realm of his groundbreaking 90s western, Posse, by playing an outlaw traveling to retrieve stolen gold in Montana before a rival takes the bounty for himself. With Cedric The Entertainer, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, and Whoopi Goldberg. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20.

How to Have Sex One of the best coming-of-age movies in ages finds three working-class British teen girls on holiday in Malia, where they negotiate their desires with the brutal reality of young adulthood. Molly Manning Walker serves up an impressive and assured sophomore film after her gutsy debut, Scrapper, hit screens last year. Now playing at the Belcourt. 

The Monk and The Gun A wide swath of Bhutan’s population prepares for the country’s 2006 shift to democracy in this epic and funny ensemble drama. Now playing at the Belcourt.

Oscar Film Fest The ten contenders for best picture return to The Belcourt, AMC, and Regal. Experience pop-culture juggernauts Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Killers of the Flower Moon as they were meant to be seen. Take a chance on intimate dramas Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall, and The Holdovers that didn’t quite get their due earlier this year. Support holiday releases American Fiction, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest as they finally get nationwide releases. Sure, you can watch Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro on Netflix, but aren’t you tired of being home? This is the best crop of nominees since 1975 and a full-throated rallying cry that the movies still matter. 

Freaks (Friday at Midnight) and Santa Sangre  (Saturday at Midnight) As the Belcourt writes, Freaks, which features real people with disabilities who seek revenge on a gold digger, is, “The most transgressive film produced by a major American studio in the 1930s.” It’s also one of the greatest American movies of all time. Santa Sangre finds maverick director Alejandro Jodorowsky also descending into the depths of circus culture as a star performer comes to grips with his family’s legacy and his involvement in a brutal crime. Playing this weekend at The Belcourt.

Black Orpheus The international classic that brought bossa nova into the mainstream is a retelling of the classic Greek myth on the streets of Rio De Janeiro during the carnival season that should be on every film fan’s must-see list. Playing at the Belcourt as part of Music City Mondays.  

The Latest in Bolly/Tolly/Kolly/Lollywood and Other Special Presentations of Asian and Middle Eastern Imports.

Chaari 111 (Telugu) The fate of India rests in the hands of a confused spy in this comic romp.  Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20.

Laapataa/Lost Ladies (Hindi) Two young brides get lost on a train in rural India circa 2001. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 at Regal Hollywood 27.

Bhoothaddam Bhaskar Narayana Local police in smalltown Southern India hope to finally put an end to a string of murders that’s lasted nearly two decades. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 at Regal Hollywood 27.

Operation Valentine (Telugu) This patriotic docudrama finds the Indian Air Force facing retaliating against terrorists during the first airstrike in its history. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 at Regal Hollywood 27.

Joshua: Imai Pol Kaka (Tamil) A bodyguard must protect a celebrity from London who has traveled to India no matter what the cost. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.