BY JACK CAMERON for WEEKLY VOLCANO 3/6/26 |
This week, the Blue Mouse has Pixar’s latest offering, Hoppers. There was a time when Pixar only hit home runs. Movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo solidified Pixar as a computer animation studio that focuses on character-driven narratives. Though their more recent films have met with sporadic success, early word on Hoppers is that this is a refreshing return to form.
This is co-writer and director Daniel Chong’s first feature film, but he has been in the Pixar family for years as a writer and creator.
Hoppers stars Piper Curda, mostly known for the Disney TV show I Didn’t Do It, as a young woman who has her consciousness transferred into a beaver. This allows her to enter the animal world and communicate with other animals. The voice cast is peppered with stars including Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep and Dave Franco. This is also the last credited performance of recently passed actor Isaiah Whitlock Jr.
Hoppers comes out March 6 and is playing at the Blue Mouse until the 16th.
On the night of Saturday, March 14, the Blue Mouse will be playing the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Participation is encouraged. If you cannot make Saturday’s showing, they will be doing it again on March 28.
Other upcoming films to look forward to include the Warwick Davis horror classic Leprechaun on March 20.
Tacoma’s other independent movie theater, our friends at the Grand, are showing writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! beginning the evening of Thursday, March 5.
The Bride! continues Warner Bros.’ fascination with classic monsters from bold filmmakers. Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! promises to take what you might have thought you knew about The Bride of Frankenstein, turn it on its head and shoot it through a stylized 1930s pastiche that is cool, seductive and dangerous.
Jessie Buckley, of Hamnet, plays the title character with the sort of relish it requires, with Frankenstein’s monster played by Christian Bale, clearly having a good time. With other costars including Annette Bening and Maggie’s talented brother Jake Gyllenhaal, The Bride! looks like a future classic.
The Grand’s other new movie this week is Sirat, a film from Spain in which a father dives deep into the Moroccan rave scene to find his missing daughter. Word from the Cannes Film Festival was that this was the most intense movie that played at the festival. Filmed in breathtaking remote locations in Morocco, director Óliver Laxe started working on what Sirat would become back in 2011.
The Grand is also showing the collection of this year’s Oscar Shorts and Pillion, A24’s latest release, a movie that dives into the relationship between a dominant biker named Ray, played by Alexander Skarsgård, and his new sub, Colin, played by Harry Melling.
