It’s a big weekend at the movies in Memphis, so let’s jump right in.
Dracula’s faithful thrall R. M. Renfield has been with him since the beginning. But this relationship is starting to show its age, as Renfeld slowly realizes he doesn’t have to live like this. This horror comedy features the casting coup of the decade with the great Nicolas Cage as freakin’ Dracula. Read my review.
In The Pope’s Exorcist, Russell Crowe stars as Father Gabriele Amorth, the real life priest and founder of the International Association of Exorcists, who claimed to have vanquished infernal hordes during his 24-year-career as the Dioceses of Rome’s official demon fighter.
Speaking of Italians, one humble plumber turned video game hero just launched a blue shell at the box office. The Super Mario Bros. Movie raking in $204 million domestic in three days means we’re going to be seeing a lot more Nintendo characters in IMAX. Get in on the ground floor of the critical backlash today!
It’s official: More people play Mario Kart than D&D. And that’s OK, because Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is actually good! (Read my review here.) Chris Pine, the superior of the Chrises, brings movie star charisma to this inventive and fun fantasy heist romp.
The greatest concert film of all time, Stop Making Sense, just got a 4K remastering, courtesy of A24. Both Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads were at the height of their creative powers when the director shot three nights of the Talking Heads’ Speaking In Tongues tour on Hollywood Boulevard in December, 1983. On Sunday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m., Theaterworks in Overton Square will host a free screening of the film. The stage will be a dance floor for this fundraiser, so put on your big suits and sneakers and get ready to sweat. The original trailer looks just as radical now as it did in 1984.
Speaking of radical, on Tuesday, April 18 at Studio on the Square, Indie Memphis presents the controversial thriller How To Blow Up A Pipeline. Director Daniel Goldhaber’s film loosely adapts Andreas Malm’s 2021 book with Runaways‘ Ariela Barer starring as a would-be radical who gathers a team to stop a West Texas oil pipline by any means necessary.