A Spike Lee joint
Friday, Aug. 7 — Happy Friday! There are more merger updates this week, but I wanted to start with something a little more fun today. The Emory Cinematheque is coming back this fall with a retrospective screening series on Spike Lee! They should announce the entire slate soon, but we’re kicking things off on Sept. 2 with “She’s Gotta Have It.” Screenings are free and open to the public.
Without further ado … Action!
🙉 Every week I open this newsletter hoping that the biggest news will be about something other than the Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery merger, and every week, I am sorely disappointed. David Ellison – the man attempting to broker the merger – wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about why this is a good idea, actually (I find it unconvincing). In other news, a trial for the antitrust case seeking to block the merger is set to start in March of 2027.
💌 The reality show “Love is Blind” is currently casting for its next season set in Georgia.
🏕️ ATL Jewish Film is going back to camp this month, inviting audiences to enjoy two adult, summer camp-centric comedies – a revival screening of “Wet Hot American Summer” on Aug. 16 celebrating the 25th anniversary, and a screening of a new film called “The Floaters” on Aug. 24.
🎸 The documentary “Gregg Allman: Music of My Soul” is going on tour, stopping in performing arts centers across the country from Sept. 1 through December of 2027, including stops in Macon and Savannah.
🕸️ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has set the record for the biggest domestic opening ever, earning $360 million.
🇪🇸 Netflix is once again getting into the theatrical game – “La Bola Negra,” the Spanish film that Netflix bought out of Cannes, will play in theaters for 47 days starting Oct. 16.
🤖 Despite initially claiming he did not use artificial intelligence in a few animated sequences in the new film “Ice Cream Man,” filmmaker Eli Roth later said he “misspoke,” and that the tech was used. More on that film below.
This week’s newsletter includes an interview with Atlanta filmmaker Alex Woodruff about his film “Thomasville” and three – count ’em! – movie reviews for your enjoyment. Plus, a little rom-com talk for you, what’s playing at the movies this week, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
👨🍳 Join us for an EPIC Potluck on October 4! 30+ award-winning chefs and mixologists creating incredible dishes at the gorgeous Serenbe Pavilion to raise money for Wholesome Wave Georgia. Grab your tickets today. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Atlanta legacy, hip hop, and film collide in Alex Woodruff’s ‘Thomasville’
✊ When Alex Woodruff was looking to direct his first short film, he originally wanted to set the story during Stop Cop City – the social and environmental movement opposing the construction of the controversial Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in the South River Forest.
When that idea became a little too unwieldy, Woodruff decided to go a little more grounded. In order to show people why he was so invested in that activist movement, he came up with the idea to set his movie in the Thomasville Heights public housing project where his father grew up – just a stone’s throw away from the training center.
“Thomasville,” written and directed by Woodruff, tackles topics such as gentrification and displacement, Atlanta’s controversial Red Dog anti-drug police unit, and generational trauma. The action takes place almost entirely in a car as a young man named Thomas (Stephen Ruffin) attempts to reconcile with his ailing father Marc (Jay Jones) before it’s too late.
🎛️ I recently spoke with Woodruff and executive producer Khujo of Goodie Mob about the film. Check out our conversation here.
A recipe for food security
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For 35 years, Urban Recipe Food Co-ops have given free food to Atlanta families. Fresh produce. Frozen protein. Non-perishables. And not only food, but also space for community and relationships.
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‘One Night Only’ is wacky fun you can’t think too hard about
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🦇 “One Night Only” starts with a banner of text explaining its premise: three years ago, premarital sex was outlawed in the United States. “It’s been a lot,” reads the text. I think I can safely say, if this were to actually happen, that would be the understatement of the year.
If you’re like me (or like any normal person, really) you probably have some questions. But “One Night Only,” directed by rom-com regular Will Gluck and written by Travis Braun, never tries too hard to explain itself. It’s not really interested in the why – why the U.S. reverted to Puritan-esque views on sex, or why the government decided that once a year, everyone gets 12 hours to bang whoever they want (“Purge” style – but, you know, with less murder). It’s more interested in what comes next. Namely, will two really hot people played by Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner get their act together and sleep with each other before it’s illegal again?
It’s mostly a good thing that “One Night Only” doesn’t get too in the weeds – if you think about the implications of this one too hard, it gets real dark, real fast. And the film is at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously, leaning into silly, “one-crazy-night” style antics. But “One Night Only” can’t quite balance its wackier nature with the earnest emotion it tries to earn by the film’s end, landing on a note that neither feels all that romantic nor all that funny.
💄 Read my full review here.
‘The Samurai and the Prisoner’ and morality in a world that demands violence
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
⚔️ When looking through Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s filmography – from “Cure,” to “Serpent’s Path,” to “Chime” – there’s a prevailing interest in humanity’s capacity for violence.
These films operate in a space of almost clinical remove from the warmer aspects of humanity, the detached nature of their violence making them all the more frightening. Stabbing someone, killing someone, torturing someone – in a Kurosawa film, it’s all, terrifyingly, quite a bit easier than you might think.
The Japanese filmmaker’s newest work, “The Samurai and the Prisoner” operates in a similar vein – sort of. Based on the novel of the same name, “The Samurai and the Prisoner” takes place in a world of unspeakable violence, but follows one man determined to buck against that trend. It’s not necessarily about the ease with which people commit horrific acts, but instead how hard it can be (and sometimes, how damning) to choose peace.
🍵 Read my full review here.
‘Ice Cream Man’ might be the worst movie of the year
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🍦 It’s only August, but I’m pretty sure Eli Roth’s “Ice Cream Man” will be the worst movie I see all year. And for the first time in my critical career, I’m a little unsure where to even begin.
After finishing the movie, I had a long conversation with someone about whether or not it was based on a B-movie from the 1980s. It’s not – there is another film of the same name from 1995, but that appears to be completely unrelated. The fact that we both thought it might be, however, should give you a little hint (at least, plot-wise) as to what we’re dealing with here. “Ice Cream Man” (with a script co-written by Roth and Noah Belson) is about a deranged (you guessed it) ice cream man (played by Ari Millen) whose concoctions cause almost all of the children in a small idyllic town to start murdering the adults in increasingly gruesome ways.
The most generous read I can give to “Ice Cream Man” is that it’s Roth’s homage to silly, over-the-top, gross-out low-budget movies of yore. But, despite its attempts to provoke, there is something altogether too sanitized about “Ice Cream Man” – too unfunny, too blandly cruel, too produced to capture the exploitative thrill of the movies it’s trying to emulate.
🪓 Read my full review here.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
💋 “One Night Only”
🍨 “Ice Cream Man”
🇯🇵 “The Samurai and the Prisoner” (pictured)
🛏️ “Olmo”
🐑 “Sheep in the Box”
🚨 “Super Troopers 3”
Special Events:
🐈 “Take Care of My Cat” in 4K @ The Plaza (Friday-Thursday)
🎹 “The Piano” in 4K @ The Plaza (Friday-Thursday)
🔫 “I Shot Andy Warhol” @ The Plaza (Friday-Thursday)
😾 CatVideoFest 2026 @ The Plaza (Saturday-Wednesday)
🥳 Soul Cinema: “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party” @ The Plaza (Sunday)
🏕️ WABE Cinema Social: “Moonrise Kingdom” @ The Tara (Saturday)
🌏 “Tales From Earthsea” 20th Anniversary @ The Tara (Saturday and Monday)
🎭 Cineprov Riffs Red Sonja @ The Tara (Saturday)
📽️ Reel Friends x Slamdance On the Road @ The Tara (Saturday and Sunday)
🌹 “Only Yesterday” 35th Anniversary @ The Tara (Sunday-Tuesday)
👨🍳 Join us for an EPIC Potluck on October 4! 30+ award-winning chefs and mixologists creating incredible dishes at the gorgeous Serenbe Pavilion to raise money for Wholesome Wave Georgia. Grab your tickets today. SPONSOR MESSAGE
The rom-com canon of the last 10 years
In honor of the release of “One Night Only” – which is less successful than I’d hoped, but still a perfectly nice time at the movies – I’ve done a lot of thinking about which movies have made their way into the canon of the great modern rom-com. Here are the movies I’ve come up with from the last 10 years that I think genuinely fit the bill for a great romantic comedy.
🍁 Newest Entries: “Mile End Kicks” (2026) and “Splitsville” (2025)
Both of these films operate a little bit outside of the traditional rom-com mold (“Mile End Kicks” is also a coming-of-age film, “Splitsville” is a little more farcical than your typical rom-com tends to be). But they’re both smart, well-written, and – more importantly – actually funny and romantic. Which is more than I can say for some films that get the billing these days.
🇬🇧 “Rye Lane” (2023)
“Rye Lane” takes the traditional rom-com mold and executes it absolutely perfectly. Like “One Night Only,” it benefits from being filmed on location in a place with real character, but what really sets this one apart is its quick-witted writing and excellent performances from David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah.
🥸 “Hit Man” (2023)
When I think about sizzling onscreen chemistry in the modern era, I think about Glen Powell and Adria Arjona in this movie. This movie made the rom-com sexy again, and I thank everyone involved for their service.
🔥 “Fire Island” (2022)
“Fire Island” not only proves that Jane Austen low-key kind of invented a lot of the comedy of errors type stuff we think about when we think of rom-coms (“Emma” almost made this list), but also that lending time to the friendship relationship in your rom-com can be just as impactful as lending time to the romance. Plus, Conrad Ricamora is just so gosh darn cute.
🏝️ “Palm Springs” (2020)
It’s hard to recreate the magic of “Groundhog Day,” but “Palm Springs” does a pretty excellent job. Despite releasing in the middle of the pandemic, this movie doesn’t feel lost to time the way a lot of pandemic-era entertainment does. It excels at leaning into both its humor and its darkness, and finally introduces the world at large to the talents of Cristin Milioti beyond being the elusive mother on a long-running sitcom.
Lights, Camera, Action!
😂 Comedian and actor Mary Beth Barone has been on my radar for quite some time, but she’s blown up lately due to her new Netflix special, “Galaxy Brain.” For Vulture, Rebecca Alter interviews Barone and examines her sarcastic, dry sense of humor and surprising vulnerability.
🇨🇦 Listening to “The Big Picture” podcast’s episode about the best films from Canada, I realized I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to the cinema of our neighbor to the North. Check out the full episode here.
🇺🇸 If you haven’t heard yet, Bowen Yang has become the newest actor to take on the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” – the comedic spoof of the first lady’s life, written by Cole Escola. Many different types of performers have played Mary over the years, and Jason P. Frank recently spoke to the casting director and other Marys about what it takes to embody the role.
🖊️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
