Mary Steenburgen – Memphis Flyer

Silver foxes Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen head out on a bachelorette party trip to Europe in Book Club: The Next Chapter, a sequel to the 2018 sleeper hit comedy. Craig T. Nelson rand Don Johnson also reprise their roles as frigid husband and seasoned himbo with whom our heroines must negotiate new relationships.

Before Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world in 2008, there was the Blackberry. Known to its army of corporate users as the “crackberry,” it demonstrated both the advantages and disadvantages of 24/7 connectivity long before the first Instagram post. Blackberry by indie filmmaker Matt Johnson tells the story of Research In Motion, the company who ruled the mobile world in the Bush era. Wary of another disingenuous hagiography of a tech oligarch? Don’t worry, this one’s a comedy!

Charlie Day, star of the TV comedy staple “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” makes his film-directing debut by biting the hand that feeds him. For Fool’s Paradise he enlisted Ken Jeong, John Malkovich, Kate Beckinsale, Adrien Brody, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco, Jason Bateman, Common, and a whole bunch more, to satirize showbiz as it is practiced today. You can be excused if you get a strong Being There vibe from this one.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 represents the end of an era for Marvel and Disney. The main cast is retiring, and director James Gunn is moving to helm the rival DC movies. The Memphis Flyer‘s Sam Cicci says “Guardians Vol. 3 is the most creative Marvel film in years, a fitting end to Gunn’s time with Disney.” So far it’s pulled in $365 million worldwide, and shows no signs of stopping.

Judy Blume’s revolutionary young adult novel Are You There Go? It’s Me Margaret gets a worthy adaptation from director Kelly Fremon Craig and Simpsons producer James L. Brooks. Abby Ryder Fortson stars as Margaret, the confused middle-schooler who must navigate a move to the suburbs, puberty, and religious doubt all at once. Rachel McAdams and Memphian Kathy Bates give excellent support as Margaret’s mother and grandmother. Read my review, then watch the trailer.

Sam Raimi’s pioneering horror-comedy franchise continues its perfect record with new director Lee Cronin in Evil Dead Rise. This one’s definitely more scary than funny, but Cronin nails the franchise’s irreverent tone, and Alyssa Sullivan kills as a single mom possessed by demons who stalks a haunted apartment building. A must-see for horror fans, this one’s got legs.

South Korean director Hong Sang-soo and his frequent collaborator Kwan Hae-hyo are back together with Walk Up. Indie Memphis screens this affecting slice-of-life film, which premiered to laurels at the Toronto Film Festival, at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17 at Studio on the Square.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

What’s the beeping noise in the distance? It’s the sound of The Super Mario Bros. Movie collecting coins. You just saw Guardians, but you can’t get enough Chris Pratt? Good news! You can hear him phoning it in as Mario in this animated adaptation that has earned enough to build Princess Peach a very nice castle.

Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steambergen, and Michael J. Fox in Back To The Future 3

Saturday, March 16 at the Malco Summer Drive-In, the Time Warp Drive-In kicks of the spring season with a Back To The Future marathon.

What can you say about the Back To The Future trilogy that hasn’t been said already, probably by better minds than yours? That it’s great? The first film, released in 1985, is considered to be the endpoint of what critic Keith Phipps called the “Laser Age”, the fertile and fascinating period of science fiction filmmaking that began in 1968 with Planet Of The Apes. Stephen Spielberg protegée Robert Zemeckis and his writing partner Bob Gale had been working on the concept for years before the unexpected success of Romancing The Stone and Amblin Entertainment’s war chest from E.T. allowed them to make the risky film that became a modern classic. This trailer, which should be taught in Trailer School (if they have such a thing) doubtlessly contributed to the film’s financial success.

Back To The Future Trilogy at the Time Warp Drive-In

There wasn’t supposed to be a sequel to Back To The Future, but after it made $389 million on a $19 million budget, plans changed. To save money and make scheduling easier, the team decided to shoot 2 and 3 back to back. There ended up being a three-week overlap where two crews were working simultaneously, with Zemeckis helming one and Gale the other. This approach would later be revisited by Peter Jackson when he compressed all three Lord Of The Rings movies into one mammoth filming schedule.

1989’s Back To The Future 2 may not have the emotional resonance for some folks as the first one, but it’s a big-budget filmmaking masterclass. It was the storied visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic’s biggest production up until then. The script is an improbable mess that has to stop in the middle and literally draw the audience a diagram to explain what’s going on—and yet somehow it works! Maybe because the story, which takes place in 1985 and the then-future, now-past of 2015, asks the absurd question, “What if someone like Donald Trump was president? Wouldn’t that suck?” Indeed it would.

Back To The Future Trilogy at the Time Warp Drive-In (2)

Back To The Future 3, which moves the action to 1885, seems to exist mostly so Zemekis and Gale can riff on Western tropes. But it turns out to be an inspired bit of visual filmmaking, and the favorite of some fans of the trilogy. Personally, I love how the entire third act is designed around Mary Steenburgen’s purple dress, which pops out of the brown-on-brown palette of the Old West.

Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton runs through peril for about half of her screen time in Back To The Future 3.

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Just watch how that one, seemingly simple wardrobe choice helps bring visual coherence to this chaotic action scene.

Back To The Future Trilogy at the Time Warp Drive-In (4)

Here’s the trailer that introduced the film in 1990.

Back To The Future Trilogy at the Time Warp Drive-In (3)

The Time Warp Drive-In Back To The Future night begins at dusk on Saturday.