Anyone who has any interest in modern cinema knows that this weekend marks the premiere of two massive studio releases — and anyone who pays any attention to social media has seen the memes.
On Friday, July 21, Warner Bros. Pictures’ Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie and Universal Pictures’ Christopher Nolan-helmed Oppenheimer will hit theaters everywhere. While the films — both of which cost between $100 million and $200 million to make — will show at Regal and AMC locations, only Nolan’s joint will also play at beloved local cinema the Belcourt Theater, where the 181-minute movie will screen in 35 mm.
Barbie
Hollywood is having a field day with the blockbuster showdown. Gerwig and her star, Barbie herself Margot Robbie, went nuclear-viral proudly showcasing their tickets to an Oppenheimer screening, taking a cue from Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie. While as of this writing Nolan has yet to join in on the fun — and according to Insider was “upset” with Warner’s decision to open Barbie against his film — he has said the prospect of a “crowded marketplace” at movie theaters this weekend is “terrific.”
Early screenings for Gerwig’s surrealist Mattel-property comedy and Nolan’s brooding drama about the dawn of the Nuclear Age both took place after the Scene’s press deadline, sadly. But stay tuned to nashvillescene.com for reviews of both.
The seventh Mission: Impossible installment is still in theaters everywhere, of course, as is Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — both have now crossed the quarter-billion-dollar box office mark. Horned-up Asian American comedy Joy Ride is also still at the megaplexes, while sleeper arthouse hit Past Lives — on many a short list for best of the year so far, and referred to by our own Dana Kopp Franklin as “brilliant and achingly romantic” — is continuing its run at the Belcourt. Wes Anderson’s utterly delightful Asteroid City is still showing at both the Belcourt and Regal and AMC locations.
Oppenheimer
Coming to the Hillsboro Village theater next week is Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s let’s-put-on-a-show comedy Theater Camp. (Gordon, whom you’ll recognize from the second season of The Bear, co-wrote, co-directed and co-stars in that one.) Laura Tomaselli and Jesse Short Bull’s very promising documentary Lakota Nation vs. United States will also open soon at the Belcourt. Meanwhile, opening in cineplexes July 28 will be horror offering Talk to Me, which Scene critic Jason Shawhan calls “uncompromising and emotionally brutal” (stay tuned for his review of that one next week), as well as Disney’s Haunted Mansion. Though the latter is indeed based on an amusement park ride, it boasts an awful lot of star power, and director Justin Simien has previously done some interesting work.
That’s not all, of course. Repertory screenings at the Belcourt in the coming week will include Eraserhead, Contempt, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Sid & Nancy and The Doom Generation, while Heathers will celebrate its 35th anniversary with screenings July 30 at Regal locations. And at Full Moon Cineplex in Hermitage, fans of bewilderingly excellent horror-sci-fi can catch a repertory screening of John Carpenter’s The Thing.
It’s hot out there. Scientists believe, in fact, that July 4 was one of the hottest days of the past 125,000 years. Take this weekend as an opportunity to cool off in the theater — lean into the existential dread with Oppenheimer, or escape reality with a bit of Barbie.
