at the drive-in

Houston's biggest drive-in screen rolls out fresh lineup for March

Warm up to some fresh March screenings in EaDo.

Photo courtesy of Rooftop Cinema Club

Warmer weather brings Houstonians out in droves to drive-ins. Perfect timing, then, for Houston’s beloved Rooftop Cinema Club to unveil its March programming for the buzzy Drive-In off Navigation (2315 Navigation Blvd.) for spring film fans.

(A standing ovation to the Drive-In, by the way, for the company’s quick response to the winter storm. Rooftop staffers mobilized a relief station that offered free meals, water, movie snacks, goodie bags, Wi-Fi, and use of onsite generators to charge devices.)

In keeping with the season, the March lineup features events highlighting St. Patrick’s Day, Spring Break, new Tuesday Date Nights, and birthday tributes to Rooftop favorites Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino. Viewers can catch fave clicks on the massive 64-screen while enjoying views of the downtown skyline.

Tickets range from $22–36 per vehicle and go on sale March 2. Find the full schedule below and purchase tickets online.

Weekend (Friday – Sunday)

The Movie Buddy $26 – reserves one vehicle for up to two guests
The Movie Squad $36 – reserves one vehicle for three or more guests

Weekday (Wednesday and Thursday)

The Movie Buddy $22 – reserves one vehicle for up to two guests
The Movie Squad $27 – reserves one vehicle for three or more guests

Tuesday Date Nights
Enjoy the modern classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, edgy literary adaptations The Great Gatsby and Cruel Intentions, and romance in Love Jones and Love & Basketball.

St. Patrick's Day and It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green
Break out your best Boston (“Baah-stahn”) accent for this St. Patrick's Day weekend screening of Martin Scorsese's Irish tale of family, tradition and corruption: The Departed. Go green over the holiday weekend with early screenings of Shrek 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Spring Break
Toast high school daze with a screening of Dazed and Confused; Scream; sing-along favorite, High School Musical; Monsters University, and more.

Birthday bashes: Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino
The venue will celebrate the birthdays of two iconic filmmakers, Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino, by screening Do the Right Thing. Also, the Drive-In is asking Houstonians to choose the Tarantino film they’d like to see on his 58th birthday. Vote for your fave Tarantino flick here.

Movie-versaries
Movie anniversary milestones are marked for classics such as Happy Gilmore (25th anniversary), Raiders of the Lost Ark (40th), High School Musical (15th), and Boyz n the Hood (30th).

Community Screenings
Catch screenings of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Reality Bites at reduced prices. Proceeds benefit local homeless nonprofit, The Beacon.

Here is the full Drive-In March lineup:

March 2: Selena; Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

March 3: The Lost World: Jurassic Park; Happy Gilmore

March 4: The Sandlot; The Wood

March 5: Freaky Friday; Never Been Kissed

March 6: The Emperor's New Groove; Talladega Nights

March 7: Twilight; The Mask

March 9: Raiders of The Lost Ark; The Great Gatsby

March 10: The Breakfast Club; Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

March 11: Back to The Future; Poetic Justice

March 13: Shrek 2; The Departed

March 14: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Texas Chain Saw Massacre

March 16: Mean Girls; Love & Basketball

March 17: High School Musical; Dazed and Confused

March 18: 21 Jump Street; Scream

March 19: Monsters University; Boyz N the Hood

March 20: Coco; Do the Right Thing

March 21: Fast Five

March 23: Beetlejuice; Love Jones

March 24: Jurassic World; Reality Bites

March 25: The Goonies; Child's Play

March 26: Jumanji: Welcome to The Jungle; Friday

March 27: Quentin Tarantino - People's Choice; Cabin in The Woods

March 28: Casablanca; Fight Club

March 30: Dirty Dancing; Cruel Intentions

March 31: Guardians of The Galaxy; Tales from The Hood

April 1: Aladdin; Brown Suga

April 2: The Croods: A New Age; A Nightmare On Elm Street

April 3: Chicken Run; Eddie Murphy: Raw

April 4: Selena; Donnie Darko

movies

Movie Review

Feuding couple fights for survival in dark comedy Over Your Dead Body

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

Jason Segel and Samara Weaving on Over Your Dead Body.

When dysfunctional couples are depicted in movies, about the worst that typically happens is an acrimonious divorce. But in the new comedy/thriller Over Your Dead Body, the husband-and-wife have already gone way past that point by the time they’re introduced to the audience, with their plans leaning toward murder.

Dan (Jason Segel) is a low-level filmmaker relegated to directing pop-up ads, while Lisa (Samara Weaving) is an actor making do in small theater productions. The film finds them heading toward a rare getaway to a remote lake cabin, but it’s clear from the start that the married couple has been at odds for months, if not years. As the film begins, Dan clumsily drops hints at an alibi for his planned murder of Lisa to his ailing dad (Paul Guilfoyle) and others.

His shoddy planning was already sussed out by Lisa, who turns the tables on him when he tries to attack her, revealing a plan of her own. The situation naturally heightens their shared enmity of each other, but their blind hatred turns out to reveal the presence of Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Todd (Keith Jardine), two escapees from a nearby prison who were helped by guard Allegra (Juliette Lewis). What was once a shared murder plan turns into a fight for survival, forcing Dan and Lisa to work together.

Directed by Jorma Taccone (The Lonely Island) and written by former SNL writers Nick Kocher and Briand McElhaney, the film aims to mine comedy out of darkness. Dan and Lisa’s ire for each other is palpable, and their interactions early in the film are uncomfortable. As the film turns increasingly violent with the introduction of other unsavory characters, most of the humor is derived from the creative ways people are attacked and the ultraviolence that results from them going after each other.

It’s a little tough to get fully invested in the story when the filmmakers throw the audience directly into the plot with almost zero setup. There’s not even a cursory montage of Dan and Lisa being in love, so it’s hard to care a lot about their current hate for each other. Likewise, the presence of the prison guard and escapees is completely random, and the three of them aren’t utilized well in the story despite having a couple of well-known actors portraying them.

The saving grace of the film, though, is the twists and turns it takes in the final act. Everyone on screen is put through the wringer, with each of them suffering multiple injuries or worse. The mayhem becomes so chaotic that it’s almost impossible to tell what’s going to happen next, which slightly makes up for the fact that the story as a whole is lackluster. Even though the audience knows they’re being manipulated, the sequences are entertaining enough to overcome that fact.

The cast as a whole is solid. Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Shrinking) uses his comic sensibility to keep the proceedings light. Weaving (Ready or Not) has done multiple movies in this vein, so she knows how to navigate the comedy/thriller waters. Olyphant feels a little out of place, but he has a presence that elevates his part. Lewis goes a little too manic in her part, and Jardine ably embodies the dumb brute.

The comedy history of Taccone, Segel, and Weaving keeps Over Your Dead Body as a positive experience even when the story doesn’t quite measure up. The film never becomes fully predictable, giving the audience a great dose of pandemonium that lifts it up despite its other faults.

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Over Your Dead Body is now playing in theaters.

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