Film: OK, it’s only early May, but in the world of movies it is already summer. The season officially begins this weekend with the arrival of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, and it comes recommended. Sure, it doesn’t have the surprise factor the first installment did in 2014, but writer/director James Gunn demonstrates that that earlier megahit was no fluke. A handful of Marvel comics misfits are back trying to again save the universe, but this time the emphasis is on parent-child issues, 1980s music hits and sly humor. And even in a cast that includes Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Kurt Russell and a brief cameo by Sylvester Stallone, the movie is stolen by a raccoon named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and a sliver of tree bark named Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Oh, just go see it.
Theater: Through Sunday only is the final show of Slow Burn Theatre’s season, director-choreographer Patrick Fitzwater’s take on Aida, the Verdi opera classic as synthesized by Elton John to a rock beat. Like many of Slow Burn’s shows, this Aida was panned by the critics when it opened on Broadway in 2000, but as long as you are willing to accept the tongue-in-cheek attitude of John, lyricist Tim Rice and adapters Robert Falls, David Henry Hwang and others there is plenty to enjoy in this take of the Nubian princess and the Egyptian captain who falls in love with her. And since it is a musical instead of an opera, expect a happy ending instead of a downer conclusion with a lot of deaths. At the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theatre through Sunday. Call 954-462-0222 for tickets.
Music: With no pause at all to take note of the season’s end, the summer music season is on us with the Mainly Mozart Festival in Coral Gables, eight weekends of concerts that end with a multimedia presentation of a chamber piece accompanied by Miami City Ballet dancers performing a new work that has been set on it (this year, on June 25, it’s a several pieces under the theme The Jewish Bride). On Sunday afternoon, the concert opens with the fine Russian-born violinist Liana Gourdjia, accompanied by the festival’s artistic director, the splendid Ukrainian-born pianist Marina Radiushina. Gourdjia will play Mozart’s Violin Sonata in C (K. 296), a set of Russian miniatures and the epic Kreutzer Sonata of Beethoven. The concert, which begins at 4 p.m. in the Granada Ballroom at the Biltmore Hotel, is also billed as a tribute to the eminent musicologist Frank Cooper, who helped found the festival and is being saluted for his years of contributions to South Florida arts. For tickets ($20) and more information, call 786-556-1715 or visit www.mainlymozart.com.