Perpetually controversial and long thought unfilmable, Judy Blume’s 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. finally gets a big screen adaptation courtesy of writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig. Margaret (Ant-Man‘s Abby Ryder Fortson) is the daughter of an interfaith marriage who rejects both of her parents’ religions while negotiating impending puberty. Rachel McAdams plays Margaret’s mother Barbara, and Memphian Kathy Bates co-stars as Margaret’s conservative Christian grandmother.
London-based screenwriter Nida Manzoor makes her directorial debut with Polite Society. Ria (Bridgerton‘s Priya Kansara) is an aspiring stunt performer whose sister Lena (Umbrella Academy‘s Ritu Arya) is about to get married. But fiancée Salim (Akshaye Khanna) has a family secret, and it ain’t pretty. This one’s giving off strong droll-British-comedy vibes, and I’m here for it.
The full title of our next one says it all, really. Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World. Khris Davis from Judas and the Black Messiah stars as the beloved fighter and grilling enthusiast.
It’s the 10th anniversary of the Time Warp Drive-In, the classic movie collaboration between Black Lodge, filmmaker Mike McCarthy, and Malco Theater’s Summer Drive-In. To celebrate, they’re bringing back of their most popular programs. This month, it’s Quintessential Quintin: The Early Films of the Tarantino Universe. That means the wound-up neo-noir Reservoir Dogs, the Tarantino-penned Tony Scott classic True Romance, and, of course, the 1994 Palme D’Or winner, Pulp Fiction. Check out the original trailer, which looks just as radical today as it did back then. The films roll at sundown (7:45 p.m.) at the drive-in.
This week marks the 40th anniversary of two completely different films. The first is British music video director Adrian Lyne’s feature film breakthrough Flashdance. Jennifer Beals manages to be convincing as a welder in a steel mill who dreams of becoming a dancer. She’s moonlighting as a cabaret dancer when she meets a cute guy named Nick (Michael Nouri) who also happens to be her boss. It was a huge hit in 1983, but many more people saw the music videos that it spawned than sat through it in a theater. Flashdance will screen at the Malco Paradiso on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Flashdance‘s competition that weekend was a little movie called Return of the Jedi. George Lucas’ original title was Revenge of the Jedi, before someone pointed out that seeking revenge was more of a Sith thing.
The new name was better suited to a film whose hero finally wins by negating the premise and refusing to fight any more Star Wars.