The 2024 Fall Arts Preview: Our picks in film and TV

ArtsATL staff

August 28, 2024

This fall, we find a polarizing Coppola movie, a 1960s period piece and more festivals than you’ll know what to do with.

*Giancarlo Esposito as Mayor Cicero in* Megalopolis. (Photo courtesy of Lionsgate)

Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis opens September 27. Filmed in Atlanta from 2022 to 2023 with the city filling in for New York, it’s about an architect (Adam Driver) who sets out to rebuild the metropolis of New Rome after a disaster.

This is a pet project from the Hollywood Walk Hall of Fame director of The Godfather series — and he used more than $100 million of his own money to make it. The concept sounds intriguing, and the cast is loaded, including Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf, Talia Shire and Jason Schwartzman.

Yet, the film’s reception from its Cannes appearance was divisive. Some nonflattering reports from the set have emerged as well, so it will be interesting to see if distributor Lionsgate can overcome that — particularly after its recent Borderlands tanked — and if Coppola’s devoted fan base will show up. — JF

*Tina Mabry*’s The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat *(film still). (Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)*

Decatur-born actor Kyanna Simone will add Georgia flair to screenwriter/director Tina Mabry’s The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, now on Hulu. Based on Edward Kelsey Moore’s 2013 New York Times best-selling novel, the Searchlight Pictures film follows three friends nicknamed the Supremes who bond as teens and go through life together. Their perpetual hangout is a booth at a diner called Earl’s All You Can Eat in Plainview, Indiana.

The teen trio is played by Simone (Odette), Abigail Achiri (Clarice) and Tati Gabrielle (Barbara Jean), with Georgia actors Xavier Mills and Dijon Means cast as boyfriends. The adults, too, are played by an all-star cast: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (older Odette), Uzo Aduba (older Clarice) and Sanaa Lathan (older Barbara Jean), plus Mekhi Phifer, Julian McMahon, Russell Hornsby and Vondie Curtis-Hall.

While the film is a feel-good, coming-of-age comedy/drama, The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat offers a nuanced perspective of strong Black women growing up in the turbulent 1960s. — CBP

More Film+TV Highlights . . .

The Atlanta Indian Film Festival will screen independent Indian cinema October 18 through October 20 at the Tara Theatre and introduce Indian directors, actors and producers to the city through corresponding events.
Hosted by the University of North Georgia at the Gainesville campus September 13 and September 14, the Georgia Film Festival screens films made in Georgia as well as across the Southeast.
The 6th annual Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival takes place September 17 through September 21 at Morehouse College and screens documentaries, features and shorts.
Out on Film celebrates indie films by, for and about LGBTQ+ communities. This year’s 37th festival runs September 26 through October 6 at Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema and Out Front Theatre. ArtsATL Editor at Large Jim Farmer has served as director for 15 years.
Calling all science fiction nerds! The Atlanta Sci-Fi Film Festival, founded in 2015, will screen independent science fiction films for free at Peachtree Corners Town Center October 4 through October 6.
Watch creepy and gory films galore at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival, featuring more than 200 horror flicks on screen at Limelight Theater October 13 through October15 — and yes, that’s Friday the 13th!