Author: Amy Diaz

Amy Diaz is the executive editor and writes about movies and compiles the Kiddie Pool column. Reach her at [email protected].

Sinners (R)

Director Ryan Coogler crafts a very good supernatural thriller studded with a few top-shelf musical set pieces — including one all-timer of a chill-inducing music-on-film moment — in Sinners.

After years away in the military (World War I, it’s implied) and in Chicago, twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown in the Mississippi Delta during what Wikipedia says is 1932. I missed a date title card, if there was one, but the movie makes it clear that we’re in the pre-civil rights era when getting out — joining the Great Migration to the north or west — was the best chance of getting ahead for Black communities. But Smoke and Stack explain to their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) that the relative freedom of Chicago isn’t exactly as advertised so they have decided to return to the devil they know. They’ve come back with a stack of cash, a truck full of booze and a plan to open a juke joint, which will have its opening night the very same day they buy the old mill where it will be housed from some tobacco-spitting racist.

The day is spent gathering necessities for the big opening. Stack and Sammie buy catfish and a sign from general store operators Bo (Yao) and Grace Chow (Li Jun Li). They hire pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) to perform along with guitarist Sammie, and Cornbread (Omar Miller) to serve as a bouncer. Smoke convinces Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), a sort-of ex who perhaps has otherworldly abilities, to cook for the evening. The night promises possibility — Sammie flirts with Pearline (Jayme Lawson), a woman who might sing at the joint — as well as potential dangers. The way Smoke and Stack are told there’s no Klan in the area makes it clear that the Ku Klux Klan is a present danger. The juke joint’s menu of Italian wine and Irish beer suggests the Chicago gangs that may be the booze’s provenance. And then there’s Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), a woman with a biracial grandfather who appears to be white and had a youthful romance with Stack. She still (angrily) carries a torch even though Stack tries to convince her that they can not be a couple.

But Sammie can almost make all of that seem like distant worry. His playing of the blues goes beyond simply music well performed into the realm of spiritual experience, something that can connect the people in the present to the people and music of the past and future. He conjures an experience that not only gives the people listening a kind of momentary release from themselves but also attracts a man (Jack O’Connell) we first see running, smoldering as the sun sets, to a house on a dirt farm, begging to be let in.

The creature feature elements of this story are well done but what makes them something more than just standard-issue monster movie fare is the way they’re nestled in a setting that feels like a dark fairy tale even though it’s drawn from actual history. When a trio of white musicians comes to the door of the juke joint, they’re dangerous for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with the supernatural. What, then, does it mean for something to be a monster? The movie also spends a fair amount of time thinking about freedom — momentary freedom, a more lasting state of freedom. What does that mean? How is it achieved?

Anchoring these ideas to something human and real are the performances, which are solid across the board. Jordan of course is the standout. This movie isn’t, in the Fruitvale Station sense, a serious drama but, as Jordan did in Creed and Black Panther — two movies where the IP could do most of the work if you let it — he brings gravitas to less-than-grave subjects. He can convey pain, frustration, desire and anger with an economy of gestures and expressions. And he makes Smoke and Stack two different people who can work in concert without always being in agreement.

The real standout of Sinners is the music — how the movie uses it, how it puts it together. One musical scene in particular felt to me like the equivalent of a set-piece action scene in a different kind of movie. It’s Tom Cruise hanging from a plane or Keanu Reeves fighting in a traffic circle. It is the sort of thing that shocks the movie up to a different level and makes it easier to forgive any wobbly bits, not that this movie has many. It’s a kind of precision designed, choreographed sequence that serves as a showpiece and a bit of a demonstration of mission statement for what the movie wants to convey. A
In theaters.

G20 (R)

Viola Davis is Madame President Bad-ass in G20, which is like Air Force One but radder.

U.S. President Viola Davis — the character’s name is Danielle Sutton but this movie totally supports you thinking “President Viola Davis! Heck yeah! Rock ’n’ roll!” — goes to a G20 summit in South Africa in an attempt to convince world leaders of some plan that supports farmers, particularly in Africa, to end world hunger something something basically she’s being a good guy and we know this in part because British Prime Minister Oliver Everett (Douglas Hodge) is being a real “tut tut well now my dear lady” about it. Meanwhile, she’s dealing with some domestic difficulties — like seriously domestic as her teenage daughter, Serena (Marsai Martin), is sneaking out without her security detail and hacking various systems to do so and just generally being a sassypants in a way that leads to some snide questions from the press. So President Viola Davis decides that Serena and younger brother Demetrius (Christopher Farrar) will accompany her, her husband First Gentleman Anthony Anderson (his character’s name is Derek) and her Treasury Secretary Joanna Worth (Elizabeth Marvel), who was once a presidential rival and has real Hillary vibes, to the summit.

Meanwhile meanwhile, a team of mercenary-types headed by Rutledge (Antony Starr) and his men have infiltrated the security team for the G20 summit. Rutledge has an elaborate plan that goes “something something Deep Fakes something something crash world economy something something cryptocurrency” and also he is bitter about his time in the Australian military during the Iraq war. He takes all the world leaders hostage but in the melee a group manages to escape and hide: President Viola Davis, Secret Service Agent Will Trent (Ramón Rodriguez, his character’s name is actually Manny Ruiz but all I could think is “hey that’s Will Trent from TV’s Will Trent”), the snitty British PM, World Bank lady Elena Romano (Sabrina Impacciatore) and the South Korean first lady (MeeWha Alana Lee), who presents as dignified grandma but is also a bad-ass. They slink around the hotel, getting the drop on various Rutledge henchmen, finding out more about his plan and even rescuing the hotel workers who include two secret agents (Noxolo Dlamini, Theo Bongani Ndyalvane) who help President Viola Davis in her counterstrike plans and about whom her son Demetrius says “you’re from Wakanda” after they balletically take out some baddies.

President Viola Davis starts the evening, pre-hostage-taking, in a stunning tomato-red gown with a cape and some nice heels; later, we get some awesome Buffy the middle-aged Vampire Slayer-style shots of her in sneakers, cape gone, dress torn at the knee for better tactical maneuvering and holding a big ol’ gun. It is chef’s kiss, no notes.

I took zero time to figure out what this movie’s political point of view is, assuming it has one, which it may not; the bad guy plan is unnecessarily complicated, and most of the dialogue is silly or predictable or both. And yet, this movie rocks. It is a total blast for, yes, the fan fiction element of a Viola Davis presidency but also for it just being so much what it is. This is a movie for when you want to watch a person who you believe as a bad-ass do bad-ass things. This is that movie where the Rock fights a building (2018’s Skyscraper), or Gerard Butler does plane (2023’s Plane) or John Wick does anything (all of the John Wicks, 2014-2023). But with Viola Davis. As President. As a serious fil-uhm critic, I think this movie is probably a standard action fare B, maybe even B- for the uncleverness of it all. As a person who watched it and had an excellent time, I think A+, woo-hoo President Woman King! Streaming on Prime Video.

Holland (R)

Nicole Kidman is a strangely square home ec teacher in a suspiciously wholesome town in the thriller/dramady Holland, a movie that doesn’t quite manage to be funny or particularly suspenseful.

Nancy Vandergroot (Kidman) seems like she has an aggressively perfect life with her optometrist/ hobby-train-enthusiast husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) and their young son Harry (Jude Hill). But Nancy starts to suspect that Fred’s business trips are just covers for affairs and she gets her work friend Dave Delgado (Gael García Bernal) to help her in a little light PI-ing. But are her suspicions actually a sign of her own unsettled desires, including her obvious attraction to Dave?

I was getting some lady-with-a-screw-loose To Die For energy from Kidman when this movie started and I get the sense that that kind of self-delusion with a dark edge is maybe one of the directions this movie wanted to go with her character. But it goes a lot of other directions with this story too, including one that is super-apparent from the beginning. I think we’re supposed to chuckle at the juxtaposition of the town of Holland, where children learn Dutch dancing and people say “ah sugar” as a form of polite swearing, and the various sins both real and suspected. But the movie treats as dramatic revelations things it basically told us in the beginning and it ultimately makes Nancy kind of a nothing character. I wanted to like this movie for giving Kidman a chance to be kooky. But the movie can’t figure out the vibe it’s going for or the story it wants to tell. C Available on Prime Video.

My Dead Friend Zoe (R)

An Army veteran recently returned to the U.S. from combat abroad is literally haunted by a fallen comrade in My Dead Friend Zoe, a sort of gentle comedy-drama about PTSD from military service.

Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) stumbles through life, barely participating in court-mandated veteran group therapy run by Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman) and hitting the road for long runs anytime a situation gets stressful. And through most of her waking hours she is accompanied by Zoe (Natalie Morales), her best friend from her time in the Army. Her dead best friend, as the title indicates. Zoe is mostly there to make snarky comments or bicker with Merit but she also appears to be keeping Merit stuck in a kind of life limbo. Zoe comes with Merit to her grandfather Dale’s (Ed Harris) house to keep an eye on him. Also a veteran, also dealing with stuff, Dale is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and can’t quite manage on his own. Merit’s mother/Dale’s daughter Kris (Gloria Reuben) wants to put Dale in a retirement home and sell his lakeside property to ensure that he’ll have full-time care. Neither Dale nor Merit wants that, but Merit does seem to enjoy meeting Alex (Utakarsh Ambudkar), the retirement home’s director with whom she attempts to go out on a date.

This movie is maybe overly simplistic in the points it’s trying to make but it’s a solid story that gets to issues of friendship and the returned veteran experience that you don’t always see in movies. The chemistry of Martin-Green and Morales is really what holds it together and gives it the charm that makes it worth the watch. B Available for rent or purchase.

The Last Showgirl (R)

Pamela Anderson is a faded dancer in a faded “dancing nudes” show in Las Vegas in The Last Showgirl, a highly watchable movie from Gia Coppola (yes, that Coppola — she is a Francis Ford grandchild).

Shelly (Anderson) is still dazzled by the glamour and showmanship of “Le Razzle Dazzle,” the show she’s been dancing in for some 30 years at a casino in Las Vegas. Not one of the big modern “Adele residency” type venues, we gather — a “dirty circus” has taken the best nights and the Razzle Dazzle is more of a weekday affair at this scruffy locale. The other girls (Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka are the ones we meet) don’t see it with such stars in their eyes — it’s a job, a job for which they are being paid an ever-shrinking amount (and charged back when a costume rips). Eddie (Dave Bautista), the show’s announcer, informs Shelly and the other women that even that will come to an end soon. Shelly, a 57-year-old woman pretending to be a 42-year-old woman pretending to be 37, isn’t sure what to do next and finds that the dance skills and showmanship that made her (at least in her mind) a star might not be enough to carry her to the next thing. Meanwhile, longtime friend, former dancer and maybe gambling addict Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), a cocktail waitress who is always on the edge of financial ruin, offers a grim look at the even greater instability Shelly could be facing.

Some of the movie’s best scenes are when Shelly is with Hannah (Billie Lourd), her daughter who we gather has been living with another family and who never quite understood the appeal of the job to Shelly. When Hannah sees the show, she just sees a shabby nudie show with a sparse audience that, for all its down-at-the-heels-ness, her mother still put above her. Lourd’s Carrie Fisher (her real life mother) no-nonsense quality really comes through in these scenes, as does her exhaustion with this person Hannah loves and can’t figure out how to live with. Anderson also gives a strong and highly watchable performance. She captures the slow-motion panic and heartbreak of realizing one phase of life is over and trying to figure out what to do next. B+ Available for rent or purchase.

The Life List (PG-13)

Connie Britton tries to fix her daughter’s life from beyond the grave in The Life List.

When makeup company founder Elizabeth (Britton) dies, she shocks her two sons, two daughters-in-law and her daughter Alex (Sofia Carson) by giving one of the daughters-in-law control of the makeup company instead of Alex, who had been working there. Elizabeth’s will requires Alex to find a new job and fulfill the tasks on her “life list,” a list of goals she made as a young teenager. Some of the items are easy — dance in a mosh pit, get a tattoo — and some are harder, like finding love or repairing her fraught relationship with her dad (José Zúñiga). She dumps the goofy boyfriend her mother felt she’d been settling for and begins a relationship with the cultured Garrett (Sebastian De Souza), who should be the love of her life. But what about her fast friendship with her mother’s lawyer, Brad (Kyle Allen)?

Alex gets a cute apartment, cute potential boyfriends are thick on the ground and finding oneself can be done with relatively minimal financial pain due to a general “from money”-ness. The Life List is a nice if slight young adult fantasy but it has little nuggets of slightly more complex family relationships mixed into all the froth. This movie doesn’t try too hard but it also doesn’t ask too much and it is pleasantly fine. C+ Available on Netflix.

Lee (R)

Photographer Lee Miller gets a biopic with Lee.

We get a relatively interesting look at the life of Lee (Kate Winslet), a model turned photographer who we first meet when she is in her 30s in the 1930s, which, ha no she’s not and actually that’s pretty great. I mean, yes, historical person Lee Miller was in her early 30s in the late 1930s, but Kate Winslet the actress is currently 49 and, while she looks great in this 2024 Oscar hopeful, her Lee Miller looks like a woman in her late 40s. A woman in her late 40s living her life as she pleases, having affairs, being professionally ambitious and pushing into combat photography, which is all very rad but just hits differently and makes for a more interesting but not entirely true-to-history character. It heightens the sense that this Lee Miller has lived more of a life than the slice the movie focuses on and there’s always a sense of why aren’t we seeing more of that.

Anyway, Lee, an American, living in London with artist Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård), works for British Vogue during the early years of the war and eventually tries to get herself sent into Europe to cover the Allied army. She finds a way with the American army, even if she’s still told that women can’t attend this press briefing or go on that mission. She does eventually get herself into the field, often in the company of Davy Scherman (Andy Samberg), a fellow photographer. Together they are some of the first American photographers to photograph the horrors of the Holocaust — box cars full of corpses and a concentration camp full of dead, dying and starving people.

Wikipedia her and you learn that Lee took an artistic as well as journalistic approach to her war photography — a “huh interesting” element that the movie only slightly glances at. There is a lot to her life that is of the “huh, interesting” variety — her modeling, her life as part of the Parisian art world, her marriage before Penrose — that this movie either ignores completely or addresses only slightly. There is a lot of telling over showing here, telling us that Lee had to push through a lot of sexist nonsense to do her job, telling us that she had a difficult relationship with the son we see decades later in the film’s very clunky framing device. This is one of those movies where seeing the real person’s photographs at the end of the movie has more of an impact than the narrative the movie creates around them. Both Kate Winslet and Lee Miller deserve better. C+ Available for rent or purchase and streaming on Hulu.

Firebrand (R)

The “survived” final wife of King Henry VIII gets a heroic biopic in Firebrand, a “doubtful but whatever” story about Katherine Parr’s time as queen.

Katherine (Alicia Vikander) is here the politically and religiously (same thing for the era’s purposes) radical Protestant wife of an ailing, somewhat unhinged Henry (a very vanity-free Jude Law). She has become a mother figure to his two youngest surviving children — Edward (Patrick Buckley) and Elizabeth (Junia Rees) — and is supportive, in a politic way, of the English Bible and prayers at a time when Henry has decreed a return to Latin and his daughter Mary (Patsy Ferran) stands by as a possible future queen who supports a full return to Catholicism. Katherine’s goal, it seems, is to keep from being executed for heresy before Henry dies, perhaps even securing a role as young Edward’s regent. She’s perhaps hoping that her impending widowhood would also allow her to marry longtime romantic interest Thomas Seymour (Sam Riley) — not a great guy, usually, in stories about the teen years of eventual Queen Elizabeth, but this movie stays in Henry’s reign.

The movie itself kicks off with title cards that suggest that history involving women might require some wild speculation, and wildly speculate it does. And I am fine with that — Henry and his wives having been riffed on in so many ways and from so many angles it’s fun to see a story that focuses on Katherine, even if it goes a lot of historically dodgy places. Everybody does a credible enough job for this exercise in historical “what if, who knows.” Perhaps this is more an exercise for Tudor completists but it’s an OK time if that’s you. B- Available for rent or purchase and streaming on Hulu.

Featured Image: G20 (R)

I’m Still Here (PG-13)

A woman’s beautiful family life falls apart when her husband is disappeared by the Brazilian government in I’m Still Here, the Oscar-winning adaptation of the true story of Rubens and Eunice Paiva in 1970s Brazil.

Rubens (Selton Mello) was once a congressman but is now an engineer living with his wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), and their five children in Rio de Janeiro in a lovely house by a lovely beach. Like, it is all so lovely and sunny and early 1970s beautiful — from the cars to the clothes to the luminous Torres. Her happy children run around like kids on vacation — teen daughters Vera (Valentina Herszage), Eliana (Luiza Kosovski) and Nalu (Barbara Luz) are all about music and records, younger kids Marcelo (Guilherme Silveira) and Babiu (Cora Mora) are all about a small shaggy dog they find on the beach and make the family pet, naming him after Vera’s shaggy-haired boyfriend. But like storm clouds on the horizon of a perfect beach day, the heavy-handed presence of the dictatorship government is everywhere along the edges of their lives. The news is full of talk of abducted ambassadors, military trucks full of troops roll down city streets and Vera and her friends are stopped on the way home from a movie by a checkpoint looking for “terrorists,” a label which seems to indicate anyone with disagreements with the government. We see Rubens accept and hand off envelopes and talk with his friends who seem to be politically aligned with his anti-dictatorship views but the only people in this circle who seem worried are a bookshop-owning family who have decided to move to London and offer to take Vera with them, which Rubens and Eunice agree to.

Rubens and Eunice are just enjoying an afternoon together — playing backgammon, smoking cigarettes in a way that makes even a non-smoker want a drag — when armed men show up. There are no warrants, no papers, no uniforms, just guys with guns saying Rubens has to come with them to give some kind of testimony. He tells Eunice not to worry, that he will be back before dinner, and gets into his car with one of the men. Several of the men stay at their house, searching Rubens’ office and just generally being menacing. Eunice tries to keep things normal for the younger children and sends one of the kids off to spend the night with her friend. But she can’t entirely hide her fear from 15-year-old Eliana, especially when after about a day, the men say Eunice and Eliana need to come with them.

Eunice spends a harrowing 12 days in a jail, seemingly run by the military, being asked about random friends and acquaintences, terrified for her daughter and her husband. Torres does an excellent job of making the Euince who returns home after being released a completely different person than the one who left — her easy smile is gone, the light in her face is replaced by tenseness. It’s a magnificent performance — would I place it above Demi Moore’s The Substance performance, one of the performances nominated along with Torres’ for Lead Actress at the recent Oscars? Maybe not, but I do think I’d rank it higher than winner Mikey Madison. (I’m Still Here did take home an Oscar for Best International Feature Film.)

It’s hard not to weigh the movie against the other Best Picture nominees — it would definitely be in my top three of those 10 films. The movie does an excellent job of juxtaposing the normalness of life — even in a dictatorship kids still adopt stray dogs, families still eat ice cream, the beach is still a mini vacation — with the psychological destruction of Rubens’ absence. It’s not just that he’s arrested, he is thoroughly disappeared, removed from existence by the blank wall of an unaccountable government. They won’t even admit that he was arrested or what happened to him. Eunice initially can’t access any of his/their money because he doesn’t exist even on a death certificate that would make her a widow. The movie shows how a country doesn’t literally need to be at war for existence to become terrifying. A Available for rent or purchase.

Black Bag (R)

Married British spies get tangled up in the sale of state secrets in Black Bag, a well-paced mystery from director Steven Soderbergh.

George Woodhouse (Michael Fasbender) is tasked with finding the fellow spy who sold a thing to the Russians (the thing is a device that causes a meltdown of a nuclear plant). The suspects are friends and colleagues — and his wife, who is also a spy, Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett). He invites the other suspects to dinner: friend/co-worker Freddie (Tom Burke); Freddie’s too-young girlfriend/fellow agent Clarissa (Marisa Abela); James (Regé-Jean Page), who George recently promoted above Freddie, and Zoe (Naomie Harris), James’ girlfriend and a staff therapist who professionally treats/oversees all the suspects. At George’s dinner, a dish dosed to lower inhibitions results in fights all around but doesn’t leave George with a clear answer. As he watches the repercussions of the dinner’s conversations play out, the clues start to point to Kathryn’s involvement. George is such a straight shooter that he once brought down his own father, but what will he do if Kathryn is the one who is in trouble?

Black Bag is solidly acted, coolly funny and wonderfully brisk. For me, there is a sparkle that this talented cast suggested but that the movie didn’t fully deliver on. But this doesn’t make this any less a solid, quietly fun adult thriller. B In theaters.

Snow White (PG)

Disney tries to make a plucky modern hero out of the OG “Some Day My Prince Will Come” Princess in Snow White, a weird mess of an unnecessary live action adaptation of the 1937 animated movie.

First, let’s jump back to the 1937 source material, which I definitely saw years ago but only vaguely remembered as a tale where the heroine’s inciting event is that she’s discovered to be too pretty and her special skill is tidying up. I rewatched it after seeing this new Snow White and it is not quite what I remembered. Animated Snow White, who reads as sort of Clara Bow plus Shirley Temple, and her Prince Charming (we call him that but he doesn’t actually have a name) and the Evil Queen are wafer thin characters presented in a high melodrama. Snow White and the prince meet while singing and decide they are in True Love, a fact that then doesn’t really matter for the story again until the movie’s final moments. Snow White is nearly killed by the Huntsman, who was ordered by the queen to cut out her heart because the queen was jealous of Snow’s beauty, but he tells her to flee instead, and then she runs off into the forest in a panic. You can see in this story the scaffolding on which 2007’s Enchanted built its fairy tale riff — and actually that movie serves as a pretty good live action take on the Snow White story.

But back in 1937, all of this romance-and-jealousy stuff is just setup for what serves as the true heart of the animated movie, which is Looney Tunes-esque woodland animal hijinks and Three Stooges/Oliver & Hardy-ish wackiness of the seven short miners that Snow White encounters when she invites herself into their cottage in the woods. Their vibe is very much “grizzled prospector” and/or less-malevolent Elmer Fudd. Bigger chunks of the movie than I expected are about them Stooge-ily trying to sneak in the house to figure out who is inside or goofing at an outdoor wash bin, doing silly bits with bubbles.

The Snow White of it all — with the red hair band and the weird dress and the getting squirrels to help her do chores — has stuck around through the decades because she’s the central image of the movie and because she’s the most merch-able element (little princess-phase girls still dress up as her) but she’s rather incidental to most of the fun stuff in that movie. The 1937 movie’s whole vibe is very of its time — it’s a fascinating watch for the visuals and the style of comedy but I don’t see why anyone would really want to remake it (other than whole IP machine, of course).

Back to the new live-action movie: here, we get a whole backstory about Snow White (Rachel Zegler), the princess born during a blizzard, hence the name, and beloved child of two benevolent rulers of a happy kingdom. But then, in the grand Disney tradition, good Queen Snow White’s Mom (Lorena Andrea) dies and King Snow White’s Dad (Hadley Fraser) is enchanted with the beautiful, minor-magic-having lady Evil Queen (Gal Gadot). They marry, she convinces him to go fight the Southern Kingdom and then the Evil Queen becomes a dictator who rules by fear and makes bakers and farmers serve as soldiers. Snow White is forced to be her servant for no particular reason, and is also afraid (of the Queen? I think?) and just sort of mopes around feeling bad about the situation.

No handsome prince here, instead she meets a floppy-haired cute guy, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), stealing potatoes to help feed his merry band of Robin-Hood-esque thieves — but like half-hearted thieves. Did the movie say they were once a theater troupe? Because I was getting real “pop-up production of Midsummer Night’s Dream” vibes off of them.

Once again, the Magic Mirror (voice of Patrick Page) tells the Evil Queen that she is the fairest of them all — which, how is a magical object who can only do that one thing (as the movie specifies) useful? He is basically a yes-man who only gives her the positive poll numbers, until one day he tells her that Snow White is fairer. But in this movie “fair” can mean both “kind and just” and “beautiful” and it seems like Snow White is defined as the first and the Evil Queen is only concerned with the second and what even is the conflict here? But anyway, off to the woods and the woodland creatures and, eventually, the seven dwarfs who are here the most oddly rendered CGI approximations of the animated characters. The slapstick is very secondary to the central story of Snow White, learning to stand in her power or whatever and rescue her kingdom from the tyranny of the Evil Queen who doesn’t seem to have much of a plan beyond “wear pointy jewels and try to be a sassy bad-ass.”

Gal Gadot can’t quite make her villainy fun or interesting. She is no Cate Blanchett, who was such a delicious evil stepmother in the live-action Cinderella, all Bette Davis snarls to accompany her on-point lewks. Gadot’s performance is only wardrobe, and while the wardrobe is nice it’s not enough to carry her through.

Zegler brings something more to Snow White, even if her conflict isn’t well-defined and her character’s motivations and abilities are sort of hazy. Having the seven dwarfs be otherworldly animated beings prevents them from having real personalities or from one really being the strong, comic-relief supporting character this movie probably needed.

Probably because the Snow White story was so thinly drawn in the first movie, this movie brings a lot of ideas to what’s going on and who these people are. But I feel like they’re mostly half-formed ideas. There is a lot of “to what end?” to all of the Evil Queen’s motivations that make her a mess of a character on top of Gadot’s nothing performance. Clearly “make her plucky” was the goal with Snow White but the movie never bothers to give her reasons for her pluckiness. It all feels so overworked, so “let’s please everyone!” that the result is just an unfun slog that probably pleases no one, giving us forgettable copy-of-a-copy songs and no real sense of why we’re watching these people. C- The 2025 live-action Snow White is in theaters. The 1937 animated movie is streaming on Disney+.

Featured Image: I’m Still Here (PG-13)

127 Exciting things to do in the spring

The calendar says spring begins on March 20. Whether this year’s spring is hot, cold or just muddy, here are some ways to have fun and celebrate the season from now until the summer vibes kick in Memorial Day weekend. The information here is from the presenting events’ websites and social media; did we miss some spring fun? Let us know at [email protected].

1. Who needs some laughs? There are many opportunities to check out Queen City Improv in the coming months. They have free open sessions at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester (669 Union St. in Manchester) on Thursdays, March 20, April 17 and May 15, at 6 p.m. Register on their website. Or catch them at the BNH Stage in Concord on Friday, April 4, at 8 p.m., or at shows at Stark Brewing Co. (500 Commercial St. in Manchester) on Mondays, April 7 or May 5, at 7 p.m. See queencityimprov.com.

2. You can still catch the last two menus of burgers at Burgerama at the Bedford Village Inn (2 Olde Bedford Road in Bedford; bedfordvillageinn.com). Through Saturday, March 22, it’s Asian week (the menu includes Bahn Mi Sliders). Sunday, March 23, through Saturday, March 29, it’s BVI Favorites with a BVI Big Double Burger, a French Dip Burger and N’Duja Pizza Sliders).

3. Kathleen D. Bailey will discuss her book A History Lover’s Guide to New Hampshireon Thursday, March 20, at 6:30 p.m. at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St. in Concord; gibsonsbookstore.com). Other authors scheduled to appear at Gibson’s include Stephen Monier with his book No One Has to Die: Inside the Longest Armed Standoff in the History of the U.S. Marshals (March 27), John Scalzi (March 30), Andru Volinsky (April 2), Susie Spikol (April 12), Christopher Golden (May 6) and more.

4. The exhibit “Currents” continues at Pillar Gallery + Projects (205 N. State St. in Concord; pillargalleryprojects.com) through April 2. The gallery is open Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays, 3 to 7 p.m. Gallery co-founder and owner Fallon Rae spoke about the show to Zachary Lewis on page 6 of the Feb. 27 issue of the Hippo; find it in the digital library at hippopress.com.

5. The art gallery Outer Space (35 Pleasant St. in Concord; outerspacearts.xyz; open Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) continues its recently opened “Worlds,” an exhibit of the works of Julian Kent and Emma Kohlmann.

6. Take the kids to watch the kids of the Bedford Youth Performing Company (bypc.org) perform the musical Bye Bye Birdieon Friday, March 21, and Saturday, March 22, at the Derryfield School theater in Manchester. Find the link to purchase tickets via BYPC’s Facebook page.

7. The Peacock Players present their second weekend of their Spring Youth Mainstage ProductionShrek The Musical Jr.with shows Friday, March 21, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 22, and Sunday, March 23, at 2 p.m. at Janice B. Streeter Theatre, 14 Court St. in Nashua. Tickets cost $15 to $18 for adults, $12 to $15 for students and seniors.

8. The Pinkerton Players will present the Elvis-y,Twelfth Night-yAll Shook Up at Stockbridge Theatre in Derry Friday, March 21, and Saturday, March 22, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 23, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $15. See stockbridgetheatre.showare.com.

9. Catch Dueling Pianos twice at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com) before Memorial Day on Friday, March 21, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, April 19, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $22.

10. Get some insight into how our feathered neighbors weather the season change with a Birding Outing at the McLane Center (84 Silk Road in Concord; nhaudubon.org) on Saturday, March 22, at 8 a.m. The event is free but register online. The NH Audubon has several Birding Outings on the schedule as well as art exhibits and other events; see nhaudubon.org.

11. Concord-based Art Alley Cats (artalleycats.com) and DIY Craft & Thrift (diycraftandthrift.com) will present the art exhibit “Revive, Renew, Reconnect” at Kimball Jenkins (266 N. Main St. in Concord; kimballjenkins.com) through Wednesday, April 16, with a special showcase on Saturday, March 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and an opening reception on Saturday, March 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. “Over 15 local artists of varying backgrounds and artistic styles will be represented in this mixed media exhibition,” according to a post on Art Alley Cats’ Instagram. Also on March 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kimball Jenkins in Concord, catch the Concord Arts Market Winter Arts Market & Activities. The event will feature Concord Arts Market vendors in the Carriage House along with demonstrations and other activities. See concordartsmarket.org.

12. Root for the lacrosse teams at Southern New Hampshire University. The men’s team’s next home game is scheduled for Saturday, March 22, at 11 a.m. at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium on the SNHU campus (the stadium is on Victory Lane in Hooksett) versus Saint Michael’s College. The women’s next home game is Saturday, March 22, at 2 p.m. versus University of New Haven. Regular season games are free to attend; see snhupenmen.com for the full schedule.

13. Cheer Nashua’s Rivier University Raiders men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. The next home game for the men’s lacrosse team will be Saturday, March 22, at 2 p.m., on Joanne Merrill Field at Linda Robinson Pavilion in Nashua against New England College. The women’s team’s next home game is Saturday, March 22, at 11 a.m. when they face Lasell University. See rivierathletics.com.

14. Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St. in Manchester; bookerymht.com) will feature author pop-ups on Saturday, March 22, with Dawn Aurora Hunt, who has books as well as her recent A Kitchen Witch’s Culinary Oracle, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Jezmina Von Thiele, Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Other authors scheduled to be at Bookery include Tabatha D’Agata (The Old Scarecrow, March 29), Eskor David Johnson (Pay as You Go, March 29), Joshua Bresslin and Ian M. Rogers (April 5) and Leah Dearborn (Grenier Air Base, April 18).

15. Programming at the New Hampshire Historical Society (30 Park St. in Concord; nhhistory.org) includes Family Fun Day on Saturday, March 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. This free event features games, crafts, storytelling, tours of the exhibits and more. The event is geared to families with kids ages 6 to 10 but all ages are welcome, the website said.

16. Recycled Percussion celebrates 30 years of performances: “On March 24, 1995, three high school kids took the stage at Goffstown High School to perform a 4-minute drumming routine at a talent show. Little did anyone know that it would become a worldwide sensation over the next 30 years. With over 8,000 performances in over 40 countries, Recycled Percussion has become a household name and created the best live show experiences for families worldwide,” according to a description on the website for the Dana Center for the Humanities at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, where Recycled Percussion will perform two shows on Saturday, March 22, at 3 & 7 p.m. Tickets cost $50 (plus fees) or $100 for a VIP experience. See tickets.anselm.edu. Recycled Percussion will also be at the Flying Monkey in Plymouth (flyingmonkeynh.com) on March 29 at 3 and 7 p.m.

17. Chopin Piano Concerto the winter concert of the Nashua Chamber Orchestra takes place Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Nashua Community College and Sunday, March 23, at 3 p.m. at Milford Town Hall. See nco-music.org for tickets.

18. The Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com) has a packed music schedule this spring, including Pete Best & the Pete Best Band on Saturday, March 22, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $50 to $55. Other shows on the schedule include Walter Trout (March 27), Ally the Piper (March 28), Young Dubliners (March 30), The Record Company (April 13), John Oates (April 27), Gary Hoey (May 9) and more.

19. Catch Rivier University’s Raiders men’s baseball at home next on Tuesday, April 1, at 3:30 p.m., when they play Dean College at Holman Stadium (67 Amherst St. in Nashua). The women’s softball team plays at Raider Diamond and their next game will be a doubleheader against Lesley University on Sunday, March 23, at noon and 2 p.m. See rivierathletics.com.

20. The New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival runs Sunday, March 23, through Friday, April 11, with a line-up of in-theater and virtual screenings. An opening day lunch reception will be held at noon at the Spotlight Room in Manchester followed by a screening of the film Shari & Lamb Chop at the Rex Theatre in Manchester. Screenings continue at locations in Manchester, Merrimack and Red River Theatres in Concord (as well as in Hanover, Portsmouth and Keene) followed by a virtual screening bonus week April 6 (the day of the final in-theater screenings) through April 11. See nhjewishfilmfestival.com for trailers of most of the film as well as a schedule for screenings, both virtual and in theaters, as well as ticket packages that range from individual films to all access.

21. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy comes to the Flying Monkey (39 S. Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com) on Sunday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $45 to $75. Other shows at the Flying Monkey in the next few months include Redneck Castaway Band and Red Solo Cup (March 21), Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel (April 13), RDMTION (May 2), Mamma Mania (May 16) and more. The Flying Monkey also screens movies most Wednesdays (family movie night) and Thursdays at 6 p.m.

22. Studio 550 Art Center (550 Elm St. in Manchester; 550arts.com) will hold a Spring Cleaning Pottery Sale Monday, March 24, through Saturday, March 29, noon to 8 p.m. The pottery will include discount pottery made by members and staff, donated pottery with proceeds benefiting the Art for All Fund, and $1 abandoned workshop pottery, the website said.

23. Watch the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen baseball team play the Saint Anselm Hawks at Penmen Field on Wednesday, April 2, at 3 p.m. The women’s softball team will play a doubleheader against American International College at home on Wednesday, March 26, with games at 2 and 4 p.m. p.m. at the SNHU Softball Field (on Eastman Drive). See snhupenmen.com for more games and details.

24. Cheer on the Saint Anselm College Hawks baseball team, whose upcoming home game is Wednesday, March 26, at 2 p.m. versus Southern New Hampshire University at Sullivan Park on the Saint Anselm College campus in Manchester. The women’s softball team will play their next home games on Friday, April 4, at 2 and 4 p.m. against Franklin Pierce at the South Athletic Fields on the Saint Anselm College campus. See saintanselmhawks.com.

25. Get some Saint Anselm College Hawks lacrosse. The women’s team’s next home game is Wednesday, March 26, at 7 p.m. against Saint Michael’s College. The men’s team will play its next home game on Friday, March 28, at 4 p.m. versus Assumption. Both games take place at Grappone Stadium on the Saint Anselm College campus in Manchester. See saintanselmhawks.com.

26. Get serious laughs when comedian Leslie Jones comes to the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St. in Nashua; nashuacenterforthearts.com) on Thursday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $49. Other shows on the Nashua Center for the Arts schedule include Chazz Palminteri — A Bronx Tale Live ( March 29); Marc Cohn (March 30); the Wise Guys of Comedy with Ace Aceto, Frank Santorelli, and Brad Mastrangelo (April 12); Ari Shapiro: Thank You for Listening (May 9) and more.

27. Comedian Bob Marley has a packed schedule of New Hampshire dates over the next few months, starting with Thursday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey (39 S. Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com), where tickets cost $39.50. Additional shows include March 28-29 at the Music Hall in Portsmouth and May 16-18 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, as well as shows across New Hampshire and New England. See bmarley.com.

28. Fans of “the Ton” can put on their Regency best for the Bridgerton Dinner Party with String Quartet on Friday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m. at LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101 in Amherst; labellewinery.com). The night will feature a four-course dinner with wine pairings and music by Yaeko Miranda string quartet, the website said. The cost is $89 per person. LaBelle also offers music, comedy, craft workshops and more this spring at its Amherst and Derry locations, as well as two murder mystery dinner parties (March 29 and April 26).

29. The Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts youth and teens presents Matilda The Musical Jr. Friday, March 28, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 29, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, March 30, at 2 p.m. at the Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway in Derry; majestictheatre.net). Tickets cost $12 to $16.

30. The Anselmian Abbey Players present Guys and Dolls Friday, March 28, through Sunday, March 30, and Thursday, April 3, through Saturday, April 5, at the Dana Center at Saint Anselm College in Manchester (tickets.anselm.edu). All shows are at 7:30 p.m. except Sunday, March 30, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $17 for seniors and non-Saint Anselm students.

31. The Capital City Craft Festival runs Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, March 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). Tickets cost $10, children under 14 get in free. See castleberryfairs.com/capital-city-craft-festival-2025.

32. “Hollywood’s First Sequel” is how Jeff Rapsis has labeled his two-part screening on Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30 at 2 p.m. at Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Main Street in Wilton. Part I on Saturday will feature 1920’s The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Part II on Sunday will feature 1925’s Don Q, Son of Zorro, also starring Fairbanks. Both movies are silent films presented with live musical accompaniment by Rapsis, and admission to each film is free, with a $10 donation suggested. See silentfilmlivemusic.blogspot.com.

33. Ballet Misha will present Cinderella, performed by Ballet Misha’s professional adult dancers, apprentice company and students from Dimensions in Dance, on Saturday, March 29, at 2 and 6 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Tickets cost $31.60 for adults, $21.40 for children. See balletmisha.com.

34. Symphony NH with guest conductor Herb Smith will present Hollywood Hits featuring the music of James Bond, Lawrence of Arabia, Rocky, The Pink Panther, The Magnificent Seven and more. Hear the sounds of iconic scores on Saturday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. at the Stockbridge Theatre in Derry. Tickets start at $40. Hollywood Hits will also be presented the following night at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. Symphony NH has three more concerts on the schedule this season: “It’s All Overtures” on April 19 at the Nashua Center for the Arts, “Rhapsody in Blue” on May 10 at the Cap Center and “Illuminated Ensembles — Chamber Favorites” on May 18 at BNH Stage in Concord. See symphonynh.org and check out Michael Witthaus’ story about the symphony’s plans this season and beyond in the March 6 issue of the Hippo, which is available in our digital library at hippopress.com.

35. The Manchester St. Patrick’s Parade steps off at noon on Sunday, March 30, running down Elm Street from Salmon to Central. Join in the fun by running in the Shamrock Shuffle at 11 a.m. (a kids’ fun run starts at 10:30 a.m.). See millenniumrunning.com/shamrock for details on the 2-mile run/walk and visit saintpatsnh.com for more on the parade.

36. Southern New Hampshire Youth Ballet will present Snow White on Sunday, March 30, with shows at 1 and 4 p.m. The role of Snow White will be shared by 16-year-old dancers Madison Cleland of Bedford and Hadley Hornor of Amherst, and the cast is rounded out by Southern NH Youth Ballet dancers from across the southern New Hampshire region as well as guest artist Nate Duszny as Prince Charming. Tickets for the show at the Palace Theatre in Manchester cost $24-$29 and for an additional $20 ballet-goers can have tea with Snow White and friends 45 minutes before each show. See snhdt.org.

37. Author Anna Von Mertens will discuss her book Attention Is Discovery: The Life and Legacy of Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive in Concord; starhop.com) on Sunday, March 30. Tickets to a show at 3 p.m. in the center’s planetarium cost $7 (in addition to general admission which costs $10 to $13 depending on age). A Discovery After Dark event, which begins after the center’s usual 10:30 a.m.-to-4 p.m. hours, starts at 4:30 p.m. and includes a talk, a member Q&A, a guided art activity and book signing, the website says. Tickets cost $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, $15 for ages 13 to college and $10 for children.

38. Hispanic Flamenco Ballet will come to the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord) on Tuesday, April 1, at 10 and 11 a.m. Tickets cost $19 to $33 and are available by calling 305-420-6622. See flamencoballet.com for more on the company.

39. Spend an evening with David Sedaris on Tuesday, April 1, at 8 p.m. at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com). Tickets cost $58.

40. Catch the NH Ukeladies at a free presentation as part of the Walker Lecture series at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord) on Wednesday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. See theaudi.org/events.

41. The music series at The Flying Goose Brew Pub and Grille (40 Andover Road in New London; flyinggoose.com) continues with shows in March and April through April 24 with Vance Gilbert. On Thursday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. catch Lonesome Ace String Band and their Americana/bluegrass/folk. Tickets cost $25.

42. Curious George will visit for a story time at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org) on Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on both days. The visits are part of the museum’s Books Alive! programming and are included with admission, which costs $14.50 for everyone over 12 months and $12.50 for 65+. The museum offers sessions from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. on those days. Advanced ticket registrations are recommended.

43. Try samples and check out locally made items at the Made in NH Expo on Friday, April 4, from 1 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown Hotel. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $7 for 65+; children under 14 get in free. See businessnhmagazine.com/events/made-in-nh-expo.

44. Time to play ball! Opening night for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in downtown Manchester is Friday, April 4, with their 6:35 p.m. game against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. This season-opening stretch of games continues Saturday, April 5, at 4:05 p.m. and Sunday, April 6, at 1:35 p.m. The next stretch of games begins Tuesday, April 15, at 6:35 p.m. versus the Harrisburg Senators. See milb.com/new-hampshire for the game schedule, tickets and promotions.

45. Dance your cares away! Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock Live comes to the Capitol Center for the Arts’ Chubb Theatre (44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Friday, April. 4, at 7:30 p.m. The show features walk-around versions of the Fraggles and puppet-sized Dozers, according to the website. Tickets start at $46.75 and a VIP option includes an opportunity to get a photo with the Fraggles for an additional $30. Other Cap Center events include comedian Whitney Cummings (March 22), comedian Nikki Glaser (March 26), The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs 25th anniversary Day 1 (April 8) and Day 2 (April 9), Paula Pondstone (April 11), Tracy Morgan (April 12), Lyle Lovett (April 27) and more.

46. Catch the Palace Theatre’s Short Play Festival at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) on Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. each night, featuring eight new plays a night, and tickets cost $24. Other Rex offerings include comedy (Ladies of Boston Comedy on April 11) and music (Britain’s Finest Beatles Tribute on May 10).

47. Meet comic book creators Jim Steranko, Donny Cates, David Michelinie, Jim Shooter, Al Milgrom, Mike Royer, Chris Campana and more at the Little Giant Comics “Old School” Comics Show on Saturday, April 5, at the Everett Arena in Concord. Doors open at 10 a.m. and tickets cost $15 in advance, $20 at the door. For $50, a VIP ticket includes 9 a.m. entry, a swag bag and more. See oldschoolcomicshow.com.

48. The Derry AuthorFest takes place Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway in Derry) and features authors including keynote speaker Laura Knoy, Gina Perry speaking about picture books, Terry Farish and Sara Lesley Arnold and Sarah Lamagna as well as an all-day book sale hosted by Gibson’s. See derryauthorfest.wordpress.com to register. That’s not the only lit fest in the state today: The Exeter Lit Fest will take place at Exeter Town Hall on Saturday, April 5, and feature author talks starting at 11 a.m. as well as other community activities. See exeterlitfest.com.

49. It’s egg hunt season and Charmingfare Farm in Candia kicks off the fun early with its Egg-citing Egg Hunt Saturdays and Sundays, April 5 through April 20 (Easter Sunday). Kids between the ages of 2 and 12 can hunt for a dozen eggs in Grandpa’s Barn, the website said. The event will also include an opportunity to meet the Easter bunny, visit farm animals (including new spring babies) and more, according to the website. Time slots between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. are available on those days. Admission costs $29 per person.

50. Springfest! will take place at the Saint Anselm College Sullivan Arena Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day will feature vendors, a kid zone, food concessions and more. Admission costs $5 for adults, ans is free for kids 12 and under. See goffstowncitizens.org.

51. Jeremih will perform Saturday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. at SNHU Arena (555 Elm St. in Manchester; snhuarena.com). Tickets cost $40. Also at SNHU Arena is comedian/puppeteer Jeff Dunham (March 21).

52. Get weekly comedy shows from Headliners Comedy Club at its Doubletree by Hilton Manchester Downtown location on Elm Street and at Chunky’s Cinema Pub on Huse Road and elsewhere. On Saturday, April 5, at 8:30 p.m. catch Lenny Clarke and Friends at the DoubleTree in Manchester. See headlinersnh.com.

53. Your little royalty can enjoy a Royal Princess Breakfast on Sunday, April 6, at 9:30 a.m. at the Derryfield Restaurant (625 Mammoth Road in Manchester; thederryfield.com). Tickets cost $55 for adults, $45 for children. The day will feature breakfast, games, costumed princesses, stories and more.

54. Meet superheroes and villains, get Jedi training, discover new authors and so much more at Kids Con New England, which moves to the Sheraton Nashua (11 Tara Blvd.) this year and will be held on Sunday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $16 for adults and kids 5 years old and up. Discounts for a family of four, military and seniors; kids under 5 get in for free. See kidsconne.square.site for tickets and a list of authors, artists and others slated to attend.

55. See 2016’s Illumination Animation movie Sing(PG) on the big screen at Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St. in Nashua; nashuacenterforthearts.com) on Sunday, April 6, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $10.

56. The Concord Community Concert Association will present the Klezmer Conservatory Band at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord) on Sunday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 at the door (door opens at 6 p.m.) or $23 online at ccca-audi.org.

57. It’s Free Cone Day! Ben & Jerry’s annual ice cream scoop give-away is Tuesday, April 8, from noon to 8 p.m. Head to the Ben & Jerry’s at 940 Elm St. in Manchester. See benjerry.com/scoop-shops/free-cone-day.

58. New Hampshire cartoonist Marek Bennett, author of historical graphic novels about Freeman Colby, a New Hampshire teacher who fought in the Civil War, will present “Rally Round the Flag: The American Civil War Through Folksong,” an overview of that period through the music of the time at Rodgers Memorial Library (194 Derry Road in Hudson; rodgerslibrary.org) on Wednesday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m. Find more New Hampshire Humanities programming in the coming months all over the state and virtually at nhhumanities.org.Learn more about Bennett at marekbennett.com.

59. Hatbox Theatre (hatboxnh.com) carries on with events at locations including Kimball Jenkins (266 N. Main St. in Concord). Catch Andrew Pinard Discovering Magic on Wednesday, April 9, and Wednesday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $22 for students and seniors. Hatbox will also present An Evening Wasted (With Tom Lehrer’s Music) April 12-13 and April 18-20 in the lobby of the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). The shows will be at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

60. The Walker Lecture Series presents “Before They Could Speak: Laurel & Hardy in the Silent Film Era,” which features Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy silent films including Two Tars (1928), The Finishing Touch (1928) and You’re Darn Tootin’ (1928) on Wednesday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St.). See silentfilmlivemusic.blogspot.com for more on this and other presentations of silent films with live music by Jeff Rapsis this spring.

61. Joining the recently opened “Ann Agee: Madonna of the Girl Child,” “Nicolas Party and Surrealism: An Artist’s Take on the Movement” will open at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org) Thursday, April 10, through Monday, Sept. 1. “In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Surrealist Manifesto (1924), Nicolas Party and Surrealism: An Artist’s Take on the Movement explores the lasting influence of Surrealism through the work of contemporary artist Nicolas Party,” according to the website.

62. LaBelle Winery in Derry (14 Route 111; labellewinery.com) will host An Evening with American Test Kitchen Chefs, specifically Bridget Lancaster & Julia Collin Davison, on Thursday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. The evening will include five courses, each paired with wines. Tickets cost $150 or $200 for VIP tickets (which include a pre-event gathering and a goodie bag).

63. Described as a “unique blend of traditional brass instruments with a full complement of drums and percussion,” Dallas Brass will perform at the Stockbridge Theatre in Derry on Thursday, April 10, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $30. See stockbridgetheatre.showare.com.

64. WineNot Boutique in Nashua (winenotboutique.com) will host a Flavors of Spring: Five-Course Wine Dinner on Friday, April 11, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Courtyard Nashua (2200 Southwood Drive). The dinner will feature French wines paired with each course. The cost is $145 per person.

65. The Actorsingers Youth present Disney’s Frozen Jr. at the Janice B. Streeter Theater (14 Court St. in Nashua) on Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 13, at 2 p.m. See actorsingers.org for tickets.

66. The teens of Ovation Theatre Company (ovationtc.com) will present Monty Python’s Spamalot School Edition on Friday, April 11, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, April 12, at 1 and 7 p.m. at the Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway in Derry). See derryoperahouse.org for tickets.

67. Friends of the Amato Center will present Seussical The Musical on Friday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 12, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 13, at 2:30 at Souhegan High School in Amherst. Tickets cost $18 for adults, $12 for seniors and kids. See amatocenter.org/riverbend-youth-company.

68. Saturday, April 12, is Record Store Day when you can score special releases including some that will only be sold at indie record stores. See recordstoreday.com for updates on this year’s titles. According to that website, local participating stores include Metro City Records in Manchester; Music Connection in Manchester; Pitchfork Records in Concord (which is opening at 8 a.m. on Record Store Day); Toadstool in Peterborough; Bull Moose in Plaistow and Portsmouth; area Newbury Comics and more. See recordstoreday.com.

69. The Stonyfield Organic Earth Day 5K steps off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 12. The race, which is run by Millennium Running, also features a kids’ fun run and is followed by an Earth Day Fair with games, vendors and more. See millenniumrunning.com/stonyfield5k.

70. Former NH Executive Councilor Andru Volinksy will discuss his book The Last Bake Sale: The Fight for Fair School Funding at Balin Books (Somerset Plaza, 375 Amherst St. in Nashua; balinbooks.com) on Saturday, April 12, at 11 a.m.

71. The NH Philharmonic will present “Drawn to the Music —The Planets” featuring visuals by local students paired with Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” on Saturday, April 12, at 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 13, at 2 p.m. (with a livestream option for Sunday) at Seifert Performing Arts Center in Salem. Tickets cost $35 for adults, $30 for seniors, $10 for students. See nhphil.org.

72. Learn to make Italian dishes from an expert chef at Angela’s Pasta, Cheese & Wine (815 Chestnut St. in Manchester; angelaspastaandcheese.com). The next cooking class is Tuesday, April 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission costs $95 per person; call 625-9544 to reserve a spot.

73. Attendees at the Manchester Historic Association’s annual meeting on Wednesday, April 16, at 5:30 p.m. at the Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; manchesterhistoric.org) will get a look at the new exhibit “All Bottled Up! The History of Bottling in Manchester” featuring more than 100 glass bottles from Manchester that reflect the city’s liquor, soda, dairy and other bottling businesses, according to the website. The exhibit will be on display to August. Call 622-7531 or email [email protected] to RSVP.

74. Get some laughs with Lenny Clarke on Friday, April 18, at 8 p.m. at Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com). Tickets cost $35. For more comedy at the Tupelo, check out the Tupelo Night of Comedy with Paul D’Angelo on May 10.

75. Milford Drive-In (531 Elm St., Milford, milforddrivein.com) is slated to open for the season on Friday, April 18. Tickets cost $33 per car with up to six people, according to the website.

76. What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a-happening? The Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) will present Jesus Christ Superstar April 18 through May 11, Fridays through Sundays plus Thursday, May 8. The Palace also wraps up its production of Escape from Margaritavilleon March 23 and has Palace Youth Theatre productions on its spring schedule.

77. Concord’s Giant Indoor Yard Sale is slated for Saturday, April 19, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). Admission is $5 per adult, according to the event’s Eventbrite page.

78. Discover Wild New Hampshire Day brings the state’s outdoor adventures to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (11 Hazen Drive in Concord) on Saturday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The free event features more than 100 educational and experiential exhibits, live animals, archery, casting, flying, an air-rifle range, retriever dogs, crafts, a Fish and Game biologist, food truck alley and more according to the website. See wildlife.nh.gov/dwnh.

79. Celebrate National Poetry Month (April) at University of New Hampshire Durham’s Nossrat Yassini Poetry Festival on Saturday, April 19, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The free festival features readings, workshops, a small press fair, performances, a celebration of the Nossrat Yassini Poetry Prize and the Granite State Poetry prize and more. See unhpoetry.com to reserve a spot.

80. Sunday, April 20, is Easter. Make those reservations for breakfasts, brunches or dinners early. For example, at Firefly Bistro & Bar (22 Concord St., Manchester; fireflynh.com) they will serve brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. with specials including baked ham and roasted lamb, according to an email. Or just make it a candy day — local candy shops such as Granite State Candy Shoppe (13 Warren St. in Concord or 832 Elm St. in Manchester; granitestatecandyshoppe.com) offer a wide array of treats from chocolate bunnies to pre-wrapped baskets with a variety of sweets.

81. Get an extra day to see SEE Science Center (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; see-sciencecenter.org), which is open Mondays, April 21 and April 28, for April school vacation in addition to its regular Tuesday-through-Sunday days of operation. SEE is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Admission costs $14 for ages 3 and up.

82. Celebrate “25 years of ska punk party mayhem” with The Planet Smashers along with PWRUP and Threat Level Burgundy Wednesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. at Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St. in Manchester). Find them on Facebook. Other shows coming up at Jewel include Tynan with Brainrack (March 21), a night of black and death metal (March 29), Plaidstock: An Evening in Seattle (April 11) and more.

83. Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day. The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests will celebrate the day with a volunteer event on Mount Major in Alton. See forestsociety.org.

84. Catch “A Tribute to Duke Ellington with the Aardvark Orchestra,” a free presentation of Walker Lecture, on Wednesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Doors open at 7 p.m.; see walkerlecture.org.

85. Get advice on the transition of seasonal cozy sips at “Tea Tasting and Tea Production: Spring and Summer Teas” at The Cozy Tea Cart (104 Route 13 in Brookline, thecozyteacart.com) on Thursday, April 24, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., one of many tastings and events at the Cozy Tea Cart this spring. Admission to this event costs $30 per person.

86. Majestic Productions will present Jack of Diamonds, a comedy about four residents of a retirement home trying to regain their savings stolen by a crooked financial adviser, on Friday, April 25, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 26, at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 27, at 2 p.m. at Majestic Theatre (880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net). Tickets cost $15 to $20.

87. Nashua Theatre Guild presents the New Hampshire premiere of Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a play by Katie Forgette, on Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 27, at 2 p.m. at the Court Street Theatre (14 Court St. in Nashua). According to the play description, the story is a “bittersweet memory play about a Catholic childhood in the 1970s … a gently funny, often hilarious and touching production directed by Vicky Sandin,” according to nashuatheatreguild.org. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for 65+, students and military.

88. Independent Book Store Day is Saturday, April 26. Offerings usually include previews of upcoming books as well as in-store celebrations. Bookery (844 Elm St. in Manchester; bookerymht.com), for example, has plans for local authors, giveaways, discounts, live music and more, according to an email from the store. Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St. in Concord; gibsonsbookestore.com) is also making plans which will include “exclusive merch, giveaways, maybe even some games and activities,” according to an email from the store. Check with your favorite indie bookstore for updates.

89. Saturday, April 26, is the home season opener for the NH Roller Derby at JFK Memorial Coliseum (303 Beech St. in Manchester). See nhrollerderby.com for updates and details.

90. Andres Institute of Art (106 Route 13 in Brookline; andresinstitute.org) continues its “2025 Act 1” lineup of music, with concerts scheduled through the end of June. On Sunday, April 27, at 6 p.m. catch pan Latin Sol Y Canto. Tickets cost $25. Other highlights include the Earth Day Benefit Show on April 19 featuring Jamdemic, Amorphous Band featuring Joe Birch and Peter Prince of Moon Boot Lover and Evan Goodrow Band on April 6.

91. The New Hampshire Farm, Forest & Garden Expo will offer workshops, demonstrations, a Dark Horse Lumber Jack Show and more on Friday, May 2, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, May 3, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Deerfield Fairgrounds (34 Stage Road in Deerfield). Tickets cost $10. See nhfarmandforestexpo.org.

92. Celebrate the life-giving miracle that is coffee at the Northeast Coffee Festival Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, in Concord. A community market (admission is free) featuring vendors, demonstrations and live music will run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday. Coffee education and a Latte Art Throwdown require passes. See northeastcoffeefestival.com.

93. First Friday Concord returns on Friday, May 2, from 4 to 8 p.m. In addition to shopportunities, the evenings feature food trucks, community activities and more. On May 2, Concord Arts Market (concordartsmarket.org) will be on the scene along with food trucks Wicked Tasty and The Gravy Train, and The Wandering Souls are slated to play in Bicentennial Square, according to firstfridayconcord.com. The event is put on by Intown Concord, intownconcord.org.

94. Community Players of Concord will present Thornton Wilder’s Our Town on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 4, at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for 17 and under and 65+. See communityplayersofconcord.org.

95. Actorsingers presents Legally Blonde The Musical Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 4, at 2 p.m. at the Keefe Center for the Arts, 117 Elm St. in Nashua. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $23 for students and seniors (plus fees).

96. If it’s the first Saturday in May (May 3 this year), it must be Free Comic Book Day! Special comic books are produced to be handed out at area comic book stores — see this year’s offerings at freecomicbookday.com. Comics are all ages, teen and adult and feature familiar characters as well as new stories. Last year, Double Midnight Comics held a one-day comic con at its Manchester location (252 Willow St.) as well as costume contests and more while its Concord location (341 Loudon Road) was a little more low-key but still offered the special free comics. In Rochester, there is a celebration involving multiple locations in the downtown; check with Jetpack Comics at jetpackcomics.com for details. Other local participants, according to the Free Comic Book Day website, are Merrymac Games and Comics in Merrimack and area Newbury Comics shops.

97. Outdoor farmers markets begin their return! Concord Farmers Market opens for the season on Saturday, May 3, and runs Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon, through Oct. 25. See concordfarmersmarket.com for vendors and more information.

98. The Aviation Museum of N.H. (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org) will hold its annual Run the Rail Trail 4-Miler on Saturday, May 3, with the race starting at 9 a.m. Sign up at runsignup.com; search for “Aviation Museum” under “Find a Race.”

99. The Seacoast Cat Club will hold its annual show on Saturday, May 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, May 4, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). See cfa.org/event/seacoast-cat-club for details.

100. Catch the talented dog performers of Mutts Gone Nuts! at the Dana Center at Saint Anselm College in Manchester on Saturday, May 3, at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $45 at tickets.anselm.edu.

101. The Camienne Financial Cinco De Miles 5K will start on Sunday, May 4, at 9:15 a.m. in Bedford. The route begins and ends near Bedford High School. See millenniumrunning.com/cinco.

102. The Flying Gravity Circus, featuring children and teens who learn the circus arts, will perform a show called “One Man’s Trash” Tuesday, May 6, at 7 p.m. at Pine Hill Auditorium at the HIgh Mowing School in Wilton. Tickets cost $16.30 for adults, $11.20 for kids. See flyinggravitycircus.org.

103. The 23rd Annual Rock’N Race, which raises money for HOPE Resource Center at Concord Hospital Payson Center for Cancer Care, is slated for Wednesday, May 7, at 6 p.m., according to a press release. The race starts at the Statehouse and racers can choose a 5K run, 5K walk or 1-mile walk. The cost to enter is $40 for adults at rocknrace.org.

104. The Taco Tour Manchester takes place Thursday, May 8, from 4 to 8 p.m. in downtown Manchester. Bring cash to buy $3 tacos from 60+ participating restaurants. See tacotourmanchester.com.

105. The Nashua International Sculpture Symposium will have its opening ceremony Thursday, May 8, at 5:30 p.m. at the Picker Artists’ Studios, 3 Pine St. in Nashua. Visit the sculptors at work Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m,. between May 12 and May 28. The closing ceremony will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 31.

106. Make some cookies for mom in advance of Mother’s Day at the Mother’s Day Cookie Decorating Workshop at Alan’s of Boscawen (133 N. Main St. in Boscawen; alansrestaurant.com) on Thursday, May 8, at 6 p.m. The cost is $45 per person and you get to take a decorated cookie set home.

107. The Taste of the Towns will run Thursday, May 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Sheraton Nashua (11 Tara Blvd. in Nashua) and offers bites, sips and more in support of Nashua Center (nashuacenter.org). Tickets cost $75 per person. See nashuacenter.org/taste-of-the-towns.

108. The Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts teens will present Sweeney Todd School Edition on Friday, May 9, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 10, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 11, at 2 p.m. at Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway in Derry; majestictheatre.net). Tickets cost $15 to $20.

109. The Peacock Players present their Spring Teen Mainstage ProductionChicago Teen Edition with shows Fridays, May 9 and May 16, at 7 p.m. and Saturdays, May 10 and May 17, and Sundays, May 11 and May 18, at 2 p.m. at Janice B. Streeter Theatre, 14 Court St. in Nashua. Tickets cost $15 to $18 for adults, $12 to $15 for students and seniors.

110. Give plants and get plants at The Perennial Exchange on Saturday, May 10, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). The event, put on by the Friends of the Audi and Concord’s General Service Department, urges gardeners to split overgrown plants to bring to the Audi to swap and share, with plants available for new gardeners and a Great Gardening Raffle, according to theaudi.org. Call 344-4747 for info.

111. Load up on plants. Spring is plant sale season, usually with area garden clubs hosting. The Amherst Garden Club (amherstgardenclub.org) will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wilkins School (80 Boston Post Road). The Milford Garden Club (milfordnhgardenclub.org) will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 17, 8:30 a.m. to noon on the Community House Lawn. The May Plant Sale for the Bedford NH Garden Club (bedfordgardenclubnh.org) is Saturday, May 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bedford Village Common (15 Bell Hill Road). Know of an upcoming plant sale? Let us know at [email protected].

112. The Granite State Trading Cards & Collectibles Show will be Saturday, May 10, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). Admission costs $5; ages 12 and under get in free. The show will feature sports cards, memorabilia, celebrities signing autographs and more. See jimmysplacesportscards.com.

113. The New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival will run Saturday, May 10, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, May 11, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Deerfield Fairgrounds (34 Stage Road in Deerfield). The event will include a sheep show, fleece sale and judging, lectures and demonstrations and more. See nhswga.org/festival for tickets and more details as they are updated for this year.

114. Hark! The New Hampshire Renaissance Faire will take place Saturdays, May 10 and May 17, and Sundays, May 11 and May 18, in Fremont. Check back for updates on schedules and tickets for 2025. See nhrenfaire.com.

115. “Impressions” an exhibition of pieces that fall in the scope of printmaking, will be on display at Mosaic Art Collective (66 Hanover St. in Manchester; mosaicartcollective.com) Saturday, May 10, through Friday, June 27, with a reception on May 10 from 4 to 8 p.m., according to Mosaic’s Facebook page. “Moving Parts,” an exhibit of kinetic energy in art, opened in March.

116. Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 11 — make those special meal reservations soon.

117. The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass Band will perform at the Stockbridge Theatre in Derry on Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $30. See stockbridgetheatre.showare.com.

118. The Concord Kiwanis Club Spring Fair will run Thursday, May 15, through Sunday, May 18, at the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). The event will feature midway rides and games, carnival food and more, according to a post on the Concord NH Kiwanis Facebook page.

119. The Mo Willems book comes alive when Don’t Let the Penguin Drive the Bus hits the stage at Stockbridge Theatre in Derry on Friday, May 16, at 10 a.m. Tickets cost $12. See stockbridgetheatre.showare.com.

120. Greek food festival season kicks off with the St. Philip Greek Food Festival on Friday, May 16, and Saturday, May 17, at St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church (500 W. Hollis St. in Nashua; 889-4000). See nashuagreekfestival.com.

121. The Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts youth and teens will present The Emperor’s New Clothes The Musical on Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 17, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 18, at 2 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre (880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net). Tickets cost $10 to $15.

122. Kids Coop Theatre (kctnh.org) will present The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical at Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway in Derry) on Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 17, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 18, at 2 p.m. See derryoperahouse.org for links to tickets.

123. The kids at Bedford Youth Performing Company will present Disney’s Moana Jr. at the Goffstown High School Theatre on Saturday, May 17, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 18, at 1 p.m. Find the link to purchase tickets via BYPC’s Facebook page.

124. The NH Philharmonic will present “Swashbucklers and Superheroes,” described as a “spring pops concert that celebrates the iconic music behind some of the greatest adventure films in cinematic history,” on Saturday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 18, at 2 p.m. (with a livestream option for Sunday) at Seifert Performing Arts Center in Salem. Tickets cost $35 for adults, $30 for seniors, $10 for students. See nhphil.org.

125. The New England Fiddle Ensemble (nefiddleensemble.org) has several concerts slated for May and beyond. See them at Derryfield School (2108 River Road in Manchester) on Sunday, May 18, at 2 p.m. They will also perform Sunday, May 4, at 2 p.m. at Interlakes High School Auditorium in Meredith and Saturday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. at Exeter Town Hall. See the website for tickets.

126. The Nashua Choral Society will present Vive La France,“a choral journey celebrating French composers” on Sunday, May 18, at 3 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church (216 E. Dunstable Road in Nashua). See nashuachoralsociety.org.

127. Wherefore art thou, hiccup, Romeo? Catch the Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet on Saturday, May 18, at 8 p.m. at BNH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). Tickets cost $40. Other BNH Stage events include Don White (March 20), the Wild and Scenic Film Festival (March 28), author Katee Robert (April 3), Mother of a Comedy Show (April 5), Jamantics reunion with Superfrog (April 11), Senie Hunt Project with Rachel Berlin (April 12) and more.

Mickey 17 (R)

Robert Pattinson plays a man who agrees to be killed over and over again in service to an interplanetary colonization mission in 2054 in Mickey 17, a sci-fi comedy from Bong Joon Ho.

Because he first agreed to participate in some scheme involving macarons proposed by on-the-make friend Timo (Steven Yeun, having fun being wonderfully sleazy), mid-21st-century goober Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) owes a lot of money to a sadistic, well-connected loan shark. He can’t pay so he decides to flee Earth entirely and join a space mission to Niflheim, which is being touted as a, like, big beautiful planet that humanity will populate with the true believers of Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), a failed politician who is a mix of petty man-baby and tech weirdo. Mickey agrees to serve as an Expendable — someone whose physical body is scanned and whose mind and soul are downloaded into a backup drive. He does dangerous work, mostly for experiment purposes, like going out in the highly radioactive environment of space to see how long it takes him to die. When he does die from radiation or intentional poisoning to test a new chemical or whatever, a new Mickey body is printed out from a 3D printer that uses the ship’s organic waste as the printing material. His soul is uploaded to it, making him a seamless Mickey with basically all of the previous lives’ memories.

Though being sold as some kind of “pure” paradise, Niflheim is actually an ice- and snow-covered planet that is home to a highly lethal virus and to large, rolly tardigrade-meets-millipede-like creatures. After scientists kill Mickey with the virus over and over to create a vaccine, the humans can set out to explore the planet, which is how Mickey 17, that is the 17th iteration of Mickey, comes to fall through some ice and is left for certain death.

But Mickey doesn’t die. He’s found and rescued by the Creepers, as the people have taken to calling the wormy but rather cuddly creatures. He trudges back to the ship that is still serving as everyone’s home base and learns that he, 17, has been so written off that the scientists have already printed out a Mickey 18, a Mickey 18 who is hanging out in Mickey’s apartment waiting for the Mickeys’ girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie).

Robert Pattinson really does seem to be having maximum fun with Mickey. I need to stop being surprised by what a great job Pattinson does with playing weirdos. He fully dives in to the Mickeys, who are similar but not quite the same. OG Mickey is twitchy and desperate not to be sawed in pieces by a loan shark. Timo describes Mickey 17 as “the soft one.” Mickey 18 has a hair trigger and is full of righteous, if not entirely focused, rage. Pattinson makes these Mickeys, especially 17 and 18, the two we spend the most time with, distinct oddballs.

Also going big is Ruffalo, who is, however consciously, doing a Trump riff — Trump with a side of Musk and I felt sort of pre-exhausted at the notion that a good chunk of culture for the next four years will likely be wrestling with these personalities. Marshall, setting off to be ruler of his planet, is joined by his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette), a deranged political wife of the old school (the canny member of the pair) who is obsessed with ideas of refined civilization. They are A Lot, these characters, and the movie maybe does more “do you Get It?” with them than it needs to.

Ultimately, Pattinson saves this movie from just being, like, cheap sketch comedy about This Moment We’re In. He keeps the action nicely off-kilter and helps add heart to the story. B In theaters

Featured Image: Mickey 17 (R)

Paddington in Peru (PG)

Paddington and the Brown family go on a quest to find a missing, possibly treasure-hunting Aunt Lucy in the Amazonian jungle in Paddington in Peru, the sweet and perfectly acceptable third entry in the series.

The second Paddington movie was basically family movie perfection — which leaves a lot for this movie to live up to and it doesn’t, quite. The movie in whole is a bit like the character of Mary Brown: Emily Mortimer has taken over the Brown mom role from Sally Hawkins and Mortimer, like the movie, is fine — she just doesn’t quite have the sparkle that Hawkins brought.

The Brown children — college-bound daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris) and teenage son Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) — are mostly busy doing their own things and mother Mary (Mortimer) misses the years of more family togetherness. Marmalade-loving bear Paddington (voice of Ben Whishaw) receives a letter from the Reverend Mother (Olivia Coleman) at the Home for Retired Bears in Peru where his beloved Aunt Lucy (voice of Imelda Staunton) is spending her golden years. It appears Aunt Lucy has become withdrawn and is desperately missing Paddington. He asks the Browns to come with him to Peru to see her and they jump at it — Judy can use a travelogue to help her college essay, Mary gets her family time and her husband/kids’ dad Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville) decides to take this opportunity to follow his boss’s advice that he take more risks. When they get to the Home for Retired Bears, the Reverend Mother tells them that Aunt Lucy is gone — apparently set off into the Amazonian jungle on some mysterious quest. The family heads to the docks to find a ship to take them up the river to the spot where she’s started her trip and they find Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas), who gets a funny gleam in his eye when they tell them where they want to go. His daughter Gina (Carla Tous) tells him it’s not a good idea for them to go to that part of the river but he overrides her and takes the charter, possibly because his ghostly conquistador ancestor is bullying him into continuing his search for gold. Meanwhile, back at the Home for Retired Bears, family caretaker Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters) is suspicious of how many things the very chirpy Reverend Mother tells her are not suspicious.

Paddington in Peru is lighthearted and fun. Even though the two slightly sketchy characters of Antonio Banderas and Olivia Coleman do not quite equal the one Hugh Grant of the second movie, this movie’s kooky adults mostly embrace the gentle cartooniness of any mischief. I (and my kids) found the movie’s hour-and-46-minute runtime a little longer than it needed to be but overall this is some of the warmer, cozier kid entertainment. B In theaters.

Mufasa: The Lion King (PG)

The photo-realistic version of The Lion King gets a prequel with a wraparound sequel story in Mufasa: The Lion King, directed by Barry Jenkins.

In the sequel bit, King Simba (voice of Donald Glover) and his queen Nala (voice of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) are preparing for the birth of their new cub, leaving oldest cub Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) to be watched/entertained by Rafiki (voice of John Kani in his older incarnation, Kagiso Lediga as a younger monkey), Pumbaa (voice of Seth Rogen) and Timon (voice of Billy Eichner). To pass the time, Rafiki tells the story of Mufasa (voice of Braelyn Rankins as a cub, Aaron Pierre as a more grown-up lion), father of Simba and Kiara’s grandfather.

Before he was James Earl Jones, Mufasa was just a little lion cub who got separated from his parents by a flood. When the raging river finally slows, far from his home, he is nearly eaten by a crocodile before another young lion cub, Taka (voice of Theo Somolu as a cub, Kelvin Harrison Jr. when he’s older), and Taka’s mom, Eshe (voice of Thandiwe Newton), save him. Taka’s father, Obasi (voice of Lennie James), is all about Taka’s future as king of the lion pride and doesn’t want this stray nobody around taking up space, I guess to show us where Taka, the eventual Scar, gets his snottiness from. Eshe takes Mufasa in — as long as he stays with the females, Obasi demands — and Taka is delighted to have a brother to play with. As the years go by, Taka and Mufasa remain close buddies, even if Mufasa spends his time learning lady skills like hunting and tracking and Taka learns the dude skills of hanging out and waiting for a challenge. Eventually the Outsiders, as a pride of white lions is known, show up and do offer a challenge. Sensing that his pride isn’t strong enough to defeat the pride of Outsider king Kiros (voice of Mads Mikkelsen), Obasi sends Taka away, to find his own lands to be king of, with Mufasa serving as his protector. But Kiros, seeking vengeance after his son was killed in an earlier battle with Obasi’s lions, continues hunting Taka and Mufasa even after singing a disturbing “I’m going to kill you” song called “Bye Bye” (as in, now I will make you go bye bye) to Obasi and Eshe. Taka and Mufasa decide to head for the Milele, a land of abundance that Mufasa’s parents used to tell him about. Along the way, they meet feisty lady lion Sarabi (voice of Tiffany Boone) and her scout bird Zazu (voice of Preston Nyman) and the younger Rafiki. All set out together to Milele, with the Outsider lions on their various tails.

Throughout the story, Pumbaa and Timon in the wraparound story break in to provide the comic relief — basically doing comedy bits like commercial interruptions in an otherwise mostly laughs-free story. This sometimes breaks the flow but it also, I think, helps hold kid attention, which can wander during segments of Kiros talking about his quest for total domination or Taka’s feelings for Sarabi, who of course has feelings for Mufasa.

It’s all just enough, perfectly fine, unmemorable but inoffensive. The songs are all serviceable but only “Bye Bye” became a kid favorite in my family — the menace of the scene where it’s sung is maybe a lot for younger kids who get what’s going on but for older elementary schoolers who are getting bored I guess the implied violence is welcome. From an adult perspective, the whole endeavor feels kind of tepid. Mufasa is a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit with The Lion King, Taka’s turn to Scar feels abrupt and motivated by the plot’s need for him to break bad more than anything going on with the character. Likewise, the movie seems to want to deliver a “together, my animal brethren, we can stand up to bullies” message which doesn’t completely snap together with the whole “circle of life” thing which, as Kiros points out, is just a polite way of saying predator and prey. The movie doesn’t feel like a seamless, tonally similar part of the original Lion King universe but it is so beholden to it that it can’t be its own thing either. B- In theaters and available for rent or purchase.

Featured Image: Paddington in Peru (PG)

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