2025

World Premiere of Epic Atlanta ’96 Olympic Story Slated for 2025 Atlanta Film Festival

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The Games in Black & White

The  feature-length documentary The Games in Black & White by Atlanta Story Partners will premiere at the 49th Annual Atlanta Film Festival Sat., April 26, 2025 at the Rialto Center for the Arts. Centered around the enduring friendship of Ambassador Andrew Young and 1996 Olympic CEO Billy Payne, characterized as one of the most successful partnerships between the races in the American south in the civil rights era, the film presents the first comprehensive story of Atlanta’s 1996 Olympic Games from initial bid to enduring legacy. Ticket availability through the Atlanta Film Festival website will be announced in weeks ahead. 

“Beyond the highlight reel of extraordinary athletic feats, this film illustrates how two men, one Black, one White, embodied the promise of the civil rights movement and helped fulfill the destiny of ‘the city too busy to hate,'” explained George Hirthler, Atlanta Story Partners co-founder, the film’s writer and producer.

Atlanta Film Society Executive Director Christopher Escobar added the documentary is a natural to present at the Atlanta Film Festival, known for attracting the latest and greatest independent films from around the globe to Atlanta as well as sharing the city’s story with the world: “We’re excited not only to premiere this film but also to present it within walking distance of where all this history took place, at an incredible, historic Atlanta venue, Rialto Center for the Arts.”

Co-produced by award-winning filmmaker and Atlanta Story Partners co-founder Bob Judson, The Games in Black & White features a cast of Centennial Olympic all-star organizers as well as interviews with gold medalists such as Johann Olav Koss and Dan O’Brien, the latter filmed in modern-day Centennial Olympic Park. The filmmakers captured interviews in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Oslo and Paris to share additional, previously unheralded legacies of the 1996 Olympics.

Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin served as music director and produced the film’s theme song, “The City Too Busy to Hate,” which will be released in advance of the premiere. The film also features an original score by local jazz musician Joe Alterman. Atlanta-based actor Greg Alan Williams narrates the film.

Along with Payne and Young, the filmmakers completed interviews with more than 40 people associated with the 1996 Games or the Olympic Movement, including former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Martin Luther King III and former Atlanta First Lady Valerie Jackson, among others. The team also interviewed U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland; LA28 Board Chair Casey Wasserman; five-time Olympic medalist and LA28 Chief Athlete Officer Janet Evans; and LA28 Chief of Games Management Doug Arnot, who was also managing director of venues and operations at the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. 

The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is an Academy Award-qualifying festival and the Southeast’s preeminent celebration of cinema. Every spring, the 11-day festival presents approximately 150 local and international works representing 50+ countries. The 49th Annual Atlanta Film Festival will take place April 24-May 4, 2025, with announcements ahead about an array of slated films and events.

2025

Atlanta’s Out On Film Presents Spring Mini-Fest’25 March 17-19, 2025

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Atlanta’s preeminent, Oscar-qualifying film festival Out On
Film brings five of 2025’s most anticipated LGBTQIA+ narrative films and documentaries to Southern audiences with its “Spring Mini-Fest’25,” taking place over three consecutive evenings March
17-19 at Landmark’s Midtown Arts Cinema. Back for a third year, Spring Mini-Fest kicks off Monday, March 17 with the comedy of errors The Wedding Banquet (2025), starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone.

March 18 will feature two anticipated documentaries: Sally, a rich portrait of Sally Ride, the first woman in space and her 27-year secret romance, and Speaking Out, featuring three men’s gripping stories of sexual trauma and recovery.

Spring Mini-Fest’25 wraps up March 19 with An Unexpected Community, a star-studded look at the popular pandemic-era female/queer Zoom group Women On The Net plus the sweeping post-WWII romantic drama On Swift Horses, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi and Will Poulter.

Tickets for all films are on sale now at outonfilm.org.

The Wedding Banquet (2025) at Out on Film
The Wedding Banquet (2025)
An Unexpected Community at Out on Film
An Unexpected Community
On Swift Horses Film at Out on Film
On Swift Horses
2025, Industry News

Celebrity News: My Heart Will Go On…For Golf! and “Happy Gilmore 2” Release Date

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It seems everyone is finding their heart and their happy place in the game of golf these days, including celebrities ranging from Celine to the “Sandman.”

Atlanta-based PGA TOUR Superstore President Jill Spiegel and global music sensation (and golf lover!) Celine Dion were spotted just this week taking in the TGL match between Atlanta Drive GC and Jupiter Links GC at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. TGL stands for Tomorrow’s Golf League, a new league that combines traditional golf with simulated indoor golf. The league was founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Mike McCarley. 

In 2025, golf’s pop culture presence is evolving with a focus on virtual and experiential golf, personalization and a growing interest from younger generations to play on-course or through digital platforms. The eSports industry, video games and at-home simulators are also increasing the game’s accessibility and appeal.

Golf is not only growing as a sports and lifestyle in America, but it is also diversifying. According to the National Golf Foundation, 28.1 million Americans played golf on a course in 2024 — the most since 2008. Of that total, 28% were female and 25% were persons of color (Black, Asian or Hispanic) — the highest proportions ever recorded for those two segments.

Expect to see golf streaming and on the silver screen this year with notable upcoming films such as Happy Gilmore 2 in the hopper for release by summer. Netflix just announced the anticipated sequel to Adam Sandler’s popular 1996 comedy will debut on the streaming service July 25.

In addition to Sandler returning to play the title character, Julie Bowen will reprise her role as Virginia Venit, publicist and romantic interest, and Christopher McDonald will return as pro golfer Shooter McGavin. Ben Stiller, Eminem, Travis Kelce and other celebrities are part of the cast, and another music star, Bad Bunny, even plays a caddy!

Pro golfers reported to make cameos in the film sequel include Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris from the PGA Tour. Golf legenda Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and John Daly will also appear.

Here’s the place to gear up for all the fun of various permutations of the golf game being popularized. PGA TOUR Superstore is operated by Golf & Tennis Pro Shop Inc., a subsidiary of AMB Sports + Entertainment and is headquartered in metro Atlanta. As the PGA TOUR’s exclusive off-course/off-airport retail partner in North America, PGA TOUR Superstore provides customers with access to the same technology and expertise as card-carrying PGA TOUR pros. All stores are staffed with teaching professionals and have multiple state-of-the-art swing simulators, practice hitting bays, and large putting greens. There is also an in-house club making and repair facility. Along with equipment and accessories, PGA TOUR Superstore has an unmatched selection of men’s, women’s and juniors’ apparel and footwear for golf and tennis.

PGA TOUR Superstore has locations across the country including new stores that open in Grand Rapids, Louisville and St. Louis in coming weeks.

2025

Oh “Mickey 17,” You’re So…Fine???

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Mickey 17 film

When presented visionary new work by a filmmaker with such creative feats of derring-do as Bong Joon ho, you grant grace to aspects of the movie more successful than others. But the director’s latest science fiction black comedy Mickey 17 (C) swings and misses in equal measures and ends up in the “mildly unrecommended” category. In a dehumanizing future, our hero Mickey is an “expendable,” a kind of human lab rat dispatched for dangerous intergalactic tasks; and if any of those fool’s errands turn out fatal, voila, we print out a new Mickey clone with a brand new body but memories intact. Robert Pattinson plays all the Mickeys and gives special manic attention to two of them. He’s a lot of fun with his Everyman accents and aw-shucks mannerisms. Naomie Ackie plays a fellow voyager, security agent and love interest and is a delight making the most of her role opposite the protagonist. Steven Yeun gets a bit less to do as a pilot and childhood friend. Then there’s Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette, who seem to be acting in a whole other universe as a devious political couple who appear to be channeling a mash-up of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker and The Trumps. Their sinister sequences are grating and misbegotten more than enlightening or funny. So after a promising opening salvo, the movie actually becomes a bit tedious and ultimately lands in a moribund final act on an ice planet filled with rather uninspired wiggle worm inhabitants. So we are left with an enthusiastic series of central performances by one talented actor and a clever foil and not much interesting going on around them. The lavish production design and effects are all vintage Bong Joon ho (food never looks very good in his steampunk future) but the commentary about capitalism and worker’s rights are mostly muddled and rarely come into farcical focus. Often bombastic and bloated, the film’s themes start gnashing and clashing into a dystopian doom scroll. It all looks like one of the director’s films, but something is off.

2025

Check Out Our GPB Interview About Oscars 2025

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My former Creative Loafing editor Kristi York Wooten invited our site to provide commentary during the week leading up to the Sunday, March 2, 2025 Academy Awards.

Here’s a link to Georgia Public Broadcasting story and segments, featuring the latest and greatest predictions following the SAG and BAFTA ceremonies. Undoubtedly, there will be more surprises!

https://www.gpb.org/news/2025/02/27/gpbs-oscar-predictions-who-will-win-at-the-2025-academy-awards

2025, Industry News

Four of Us from Southeastern Film Critics Association Weigh in on 2025 Oscars

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Are we all now leaning toward Conclave vs. Anora? What a chaotic season after SAG Awards shifted the picture and actor races yet again! Here’s our latest discussion. Tune in Sunday, March 2, 2025 at 7:00pm Eastern for the ABC telecast.

2025

Oscars Viewing Party at Trilith’s ENZO Restaurant Sunday, March 2, 2025

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ENZO is rolling out the red carpet for an Oscars Viewing Party on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Celebrating the glitz and glam of Hollywood’s biggest night in the heart of the Town at Trilith, you’re invited to make a grand entrance on the red carpet with professional photographers capturing every timeless moment.

Beginning at 6:00 pm, sip on complimentary bubbly and mingle with fellow fashion and cinema enthusiasts before the 97th Academy Awards. Benefiting Two Sparrows Village, the annual Oscars Viewing Party will feature a hearty array of Chef Andrea Montobbio’s favorite offerings, movie-inspired cocktails, and more. Master of ceremonies and Silver Screen Capture film correspondent Stephen Michael Brown will host competitive giveaways, featuring ENZO gift cards and coveted movie memorabilia as prizes during the 7:00 pm telecast.

Tickets — $100 per person and include complimentary glass of Prosecco, two drink tickets and food — are available here: https://enzo-itl.com/experience/enzos-oscars-viewing-party-2/

Photo credit: Chucky Kahng

Photo credit: Chucky Kahng

2025

Cartoon Carnage On Display in King Adaptation “The Monkey”

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The Monkey film

A cursed curio and two vengeful twins are the Maine attraction in the latest adaptation of a classic Stephen King short story. The Monkey (B-), the latest horror film by Osgood Perkins, explores childhood trauma through the eyes of actor Theo James in dual roles as bickering brothers in possession of an organ grinder wind-up toy monkey capable of causing a spontaneous and usually grisly death with each turn of his key. Also this primate plaything doesn’t take requests, even when someone wishes someone else dead. The burden of ownership of the drumming monkey weighs heavily on the back of the nicer brother throughout life and especially on a father son roadtrip with his own estranged son. The film’s off-kilter humor and general sense of nihilism underscore the sometimes sheer randomness of why freak accidents happen. The film’s kills are abundant and inventive even if the overall content is as threadbare as its titular toy’s red vest. The final showdown is a bit sloppy, and the conclusion slightly unsatisfying. But the movie is generally a brisk ride and shines brightest when staring most deeply into sinister terrain. Despite matinee idol looks, Theo James does a nifty job in his often unhinged, goofy roles. Perkins deftly mixes suspense and silliness in this dark lark, building on a Gremlins and Final Destination style tradition.

My FilmThirst video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT25FceFC/

2024

“Liza” Documentary a Dazzler

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Bruce David Klein’s latest documentary shows how a star was reborn into a stage and screen legend. Chronicling the complex period of Liza Minnelli’s life starting in the 1970s, just after the tragic death of her mother Judy Garland, Liza:  A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story (B+), is star-studded and often dazzling. Viewers will get to see the documentary subject confront a range of personal and professional challenges on the way to becoming a bona fide icon. Over the formative years covered in the film, Liza seeks out extraordinary mentors in the fields of music and dance (John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse among them) and fashion via Halston. With insightful participation from a coterie of colleagues ranging from Ben Vereen to the late Chita Rivera, along with revelatory participation by the star herself, it’s an intriguing look at the star’s rise and resilience. It is most interesting when she is most vulnerable. The episodic format with chapter titles and quotes is a little tedious, but ultimately it’s a definitive portrait of the lady.

2025

TikTok Top Oscars Predictions

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In 60 seconds, we reveal what we think will win in the top categories at the Academy Awards ceremony March 2, 2025.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2PFhaNQ

2025

“Captain America: Brave New World” Shields Viewers from Much Fun or Fantasy

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The 35th Marvel Cinematic Universe film mixes Tom Clancy style espionage with the increasingly complicated trappings of serialized superheroism, and the whole hulking smash-up faces an identity and creativity crisis. Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World (C) chronicles two characters in the honeymoon periods of newfound careers: Harrison Ford as newly elected and problematic U.S. President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson who assumes the mantle of the Captain America persona with a touch of imposter syndrome. A proposed team-up between commander-in-chief and the newly coronated Cap is quickly jeopardized by a series of meddling menaces plus raiders of a lost “adamantium” element that proves to be a MacGuffin most mid. The story fails to transport viewers to interesting places despite the fact that one location is intriguingly titled Celestial Island and then not developed in the slightest. Conversely the production devotes multiple minutes to a junkyard fight and one single row of cherry blossom trees shot from various angles. A presidential security advisor played by Shira Haas is furnished limited lines when there could have been a smart political subtext unfolding. Danny Ramirez coasts on charisma as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, a sidekick who’s both silly and sentimental and generally the most genuinely entertaining part of the movie. The action sequences move fast, largely masking any real momentum, while generally the film’s pace crawls. Much of this installment plays out like a chore with phoned-in performances, despite the participation of multiple past Oscar nominees. Ford and Mackie are game for the drama, but the temperamental POTUS and the bearer of the shield can only wield so much life out of this flimsy episode.

My “FilmThirt” persona reviews this movie on TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2fKCpmM

2025

A “Companion” for the Curious

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A genre defying film that’s part romance, part satire, part horror, part fantasy, part whodunit and parts unknown, Drew Hancock’s Companion (B+) confronts the dynamics of modern relationships in fierce and twisty ways. Set in a lavish weekend getaway mountain home, the gathered ensemble is game for the occasion: Sophie Thatcher as a troubled companion to everyman Jack Quaid; Lukas Gage and Harvey Guillen as blissful gay partners; and Megan Suri as unconventional gangster moll to a mysterious and married Rupert Friend. Some secrets and blood are spilled in a story that will keep people guessing. The narrative gleefully continues to reframe itself as more layers are revealed. Viewers also discover a technology component capable of shifting the characters’ destinies. Hancock has a good deal of creativity up his sleeve as gender and power dynamics unfurl in his wily wilderness. Thatcher is a natural as a character getting a strange feeling about her vacation mates, and Quaid gives off an effortless affable quality. The film is not so terribly bloody or scary as to keep away the casually curious. It does, however, lose a little steam toward the end. Overall this unassuming and brisk movie will reward those seeking a mainstream film with some thematic travels down some surprising paths.

Here’s some spoiler-free fan art I made with the Leonardo.AI app after contemplating the movie a while: