Nerds everywhere can rejoice, because May the Fourth is once again upon us. For this year’s celebration — in tandem with Music City Mondays, thanks to that iconic John Williams score — the Belcourt is screening the best Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back. With the Marvel-ification of all our biggest film franchises, you rarely see a blockbuster this dark anymore. And I don’t just mean plot-wise — although one of the leads gets frozen into a block of carbonite, and another learns that the series’ terrifying villain is his father as he gets his hand sliced off. The atmosphere is thick with a palpable sense of dread; every misty, shadow-filled corner seems to be home to a frightening creature. This isn’t Disney’s galaxy far, far away. Make it a double by catching the earliest of the Belcourt’s three screenings and then heading south to see the original, A New Hope, at 7 p.m. at The Franklin Theatre. Just be on the lookout for any slug-like crime lords.
2:30, 5:15 & 8 p.m. at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
