Vick's Flicks, Ep. 171: Previewing the 2025 Nashville Film Festival

The 2025 Nashville Film Festival kicks off tomorrow, running from 9/18-9/24! Brandon and Stoney preview the festival, breaking down seven films they've already seen and look ahead to screenings they already have their tickets for!

Reviews include: 

The Baltimorons
Comparsa
CreatiVets
The Gas Station Attendant
I Was Born This Way
Little Trouble Girls
Omaha

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
And now, ladies and gentlemen, these network proudly brings to
you some in depth movie discussion with a resident film critic, Brandon.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
At the evening, everyone, the vix Flicks Podcast is here.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Welcome back for another episode of the vix Flicks Podcast
right here on Nashville Movie Dispatch. I'll be your host
for the show. The e I c at Sobrosnetwork dot com,
Big Natural Stony Keeley. You can follow me on Twitter
at Stony Keeley. Collectively we are at Sobros Network and
you can check out all of our work at Nashville
moovidispatch dot substack dot com. Joined as usual by the

(00:56):
star of the show himself, the man whose namesake it bears.
He is a board member of the Music City Film
Critics Association. He is a member of the Southeastern Film
Critics Association. He's our resident film critic here on Nashville
Movie Dispatch, mister big shot himself Brandon Vick Brandon, how
you doing today, my man?

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Happy Fall, Happy Fall Fall, y'all.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
It is a tradition unlike any other. Yep. It is
the Nashville Film Festival, starting up tomorrow, September eighteenth, running
through the twenty fourth. How many years is this of covering?
Is this our tenth festival?

Speaker 2 (01:33):
I think it's ten years.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, but we had the COVID year and I don't
was it all virtual or did they not have the
festival they I think it was virtual because I think
we had. Now. I think last year might have been
year ten. Seems like I remember making the.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Post that it was ten years. Maybe this is the eleventh.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
If they didn't skip a year for COVID, twenty four
would have been the tenth. Ok, so this would be eleventh.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, But I mean I remember I went and volunteered
one day for it for some type of thing for
my cinema something class in college, yeah, or Buddy mack
We went and we met Ray McKinnon and Walton Goggins
there and talked to him for like fifteen minutes. And
then I even worked for the film festival in the summer.

(02:18):
I think it was the following year, so maybe two,
I don't know, still in college. So two thousand and six,
two thousand and seven.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Manes, So we're going on two decades of working with
the film something.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, which a lot of those people are gone now,
I don't mean dead, they could be, but they've had
a change in the last I don't know, five years.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, so.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
I remember the guy that used to run it was
he was a nice guy and he ended up taking
over for director of the whole festival, Ted, And I
remember I had worked. I actually was paid by them
one year as well, and I did box office and
stuff sick. I remember the next year not hearing from

(03:03):
them at all. So I had reached out to them,
and I remember getting an email from Ted saying that
they were going in a different direction, and I thought,
this festival can't go in a different direction the box office.
So if you don't want me, just say it, because

(03:23):
that was that was really weird. And honestly, I think
it was because I mean I worked and then went
to see movies and I had known a lot of
people there. So maybe I over abused it. I don't know.
But and so ever since then, because then started covering

(03:47):
the film festival, Yeah, I would see him every now
and then.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
And is he still there? You want to say anything
directly to him?

Speaker 2 (03:54):
No, No, no, he left. I don't know where he
I don't know where he is now. I don't know
where he is. Ted Crockett there.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
We go, let's just uh, let's just bash ted for yeah,
how about that?

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, I just well, I mean I don't even like,
I don't even think I was mad then because but
I just thought, why, like that's a response you get,
Like I feel like that's the response like if he
lost his job, that's what you would send to him.
I don't know if you would send that to someone
that just sold tickets and stuff that you're going in

(04:28):
a different direction. And my question I remember I remember thinking, what,
like are you you're not you do not have tickets?

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Someone they're going in a direction of someone that's free.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, we're gonna, yeah, we want to go in this
direction where they volunteer. Yeah, And I like to think
I got the last laugh, did you? I mean, first
of all, it's not like I got like you know,
I was making six figures because I was there anyway,
and a lot of it is like you get paid,
so you kind of have to be there. But sometimes

(05:02):
you know, I mean, and the thing is other people
did it too, like we I mean, that's part of it.
Why wouldn't you try to go see some movies? That
just always made sense to me? But but so you.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Think you think they didn't, like, we're recording now, so yeah,
we can't have I can't. I don't want to forget
this conversation. You think that they saw you going to
movies after your shift and they were like, no, we
can't let this guy keep that.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Or maybe they thought that I was leaving during my shifts.
Oh maybe, but but I wasn't, or if I did,
I got like all the necessary like people saying yeah,
go ahead, like we've got five people here and it's
Wednesday at one o'clock in the afternoon, cause you know,
who knows what he saw and what he didn't. And
again I never got another explanation but that. And that

(05:46):
was after reaching out like two or three times, and
I thought, this is weird for me to be asking
them about hiring me for a festival that was like
a month away. So I kind of saw it coming.
But then when I came strolling in with a press bat,
I said, oh.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Teddy, you say, come get this spanking.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
I'm almost see all these movies. And I just remember
he was in his car and right up to his
window and said, I drink your milkshake. My straw's over here.
I go over here, and I drink your milkshake?

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Was that the year that there will be Blood aired at.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
The name, That's what's weird. It was two years before
it came out.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
So.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Oh man, uh, that's.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
What was so weird about it when I saw it
on the big screen.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Are you Are you happy with the festival's decision to
kind of limit some of these tertiary screenings at venues
that are fifty miles apart from one another this year
and just kind of they've really slimmed it down to
pretty much just Green Hills for a lot of it,
and the occasional screening at the Bell Court.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, I think bel House or something like that, Yeah,
which I think as far as I the only thing
I know is that the Baltimoron's movie is at the
Soho House, which is sold out anyway, And I think
you had to have a certain badge. Yeah, sort of
the same thing for the Nicole Kidman discussion too, But
I like it. It's usually the only time I really

(07:16):
go out to Green Hills, Yeah, Like, I mean, I
like that area. I just I have a closer regal
to me.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
But my wife likes Macy's. We go there like once
or twice a year.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, and don't forge about the Nordstrom's bathrooms the North
It's very nice, very comfortable. Emmy Squared is is right there.
They've got an Italian joint across the way. I like it,
I and I mean I love the bell Court. I
like green Hills Parking better, oh yeah than bell Court.
But bell Court's pretty manageable. But yeah, and the thing

(07:47):
is like even like Franklin Theater was had been one
for the past couple of years, and I love that.
I love to downtown Franklin and I love the Franklin Theater.
It's of another era.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
That's where I saw Spirit Halloween a few years ago.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
That's where I saw saw your Brown play after I
saw their documentary.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
I mean, great, great functions out.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
There, right, But the problem is you can't really watch
a movie from there and then go across town to,
let say, Green Hills. Very difficult unless one started in
the morning and the other one started at night. Like
that's the only way.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
I mean. I remember the past few years and they
were doing screenings at like Belmont too, and.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah they were kind of one was that place used
to be a music thing. Remember we set in those.

Speaker 3 (08:37):
Chairs, you and ma Cash, did I didn't go.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Oh did we not?

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (08:40):
For what rocket?

Speaker 3 (08:41):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Rocket Town?

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah? I think yeah. But the point is like you
kind of had to you get your press badge and uh,
before I forget, I do want to give their PR
team a quick shout out because they are on it, man.
They are communicative, answered any questions that we have quickly
and timely. They made a change a few years ago,

(09:03):
it seems like, and they're going with the people they
have now and they just do a knockout job.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Man.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
They're so Carson Brown, Yeah, so pleasant to deal with with, Carson.
I'm blown away by their efforts compared to what it
was before. When, yes, it used to be like pulling
tea to try and get get something out of them.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Ever change National Film Festival. You got some great peeps
over there.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah. But you know, back, you know the last several years,
you'd get the schedule, you'd get the notification, you've you're
approved for press accreditation, and you sit down with the
film guide and you're just like, you have to kind
of damn what you want to see. You've got to
pay attention to the venues.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Yeah, that's how I would organize my days would be like, Okay,
well there's a couple things playing at the Franklin Theater,
which means I'm not going to be able to see
this at the Bell Court. But at least if I
go there, I can get in, you know, a steady
movie after movie after movie day's worth of coverage and.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
Well and there's times where you know you maybe only
got thirty minutes between one movie. Well that's a lot
more manageable at green Hills than it is going from
Franklin Theater to Green Hills.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, think of I mean you can go upstairs and
get you a beer in between Green Hills.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
And also I think what they've what they've done is
like most days are only at this theater. Like there
are special events going on, like we talked about like
SOHO House and I think Nicole Kim's things at the CMA.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
The Country Music Hall of Fame.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
So, but most of them are there or if so,
like Wednesday when it wraps up, all of it's at
Bill Court. Yeah, So that's it's just I mean, convenience,
of course is key, but the whole thing is you
can see more and that's what you want.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Yeah, And I mean to be fair. I don't know
what your experience is like with other festivals. I've only
been to a couple of other festivals beyond Nashville, but
I know that you kind of have to pick and
choose wherever you go. It's kind of the byproduct of
having such a large volume of films to screen. Yeah,

(11:10):
but I also think some other festivals will either trim
that schedule down they will offer more virtually. We still
I mean, we're recording this a little early, but we
still don't even know if there's going to be a
virtual catalog for Nashville this year.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
Well, I think there is, only because now I don't
know what's going to be a part of it. But
they actually, I think in their most recent verbiage on
there is like you it actually runs past the festival.
I think it's like from the twenty ninth to the
twenty ninth. Yeah, but the question is what what are

(11:50):
those Most of the time, like the Tennessee features are
usually are on there.

Speaker 3 (11:55):
I mean last year they only had like four movies, right,
and most of it was short I think, right.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, So I'm curious to see what what will be
and you know, I mean what Monday and Tuesday are
basically award winners, whether it's the awards are the yeah,
best of the fest type stuff.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
You have the the opening night on Thursday Tomorrow night,
and then you have the closing night on the following Wednesday,
and then you've essentially got like what three days in
between that you're gonna.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
Cram all the movies Friday Saturdays.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
I think that does kind of make it a little
more difficult to pick and choose what what you want
to watch. I mean, you and I had a real
concerted effort to sit down with the schedule and be like, Okay,
we want to see as much as we can possibly see.
What can we what can we get ahead start on,
and what are we picking and choosing from that? And
I think we've come up with a pretty extensive list,

(12:51):
but it's still like only like half of what the
festival's offering. Oh yeah, And so I don't know, I mean,
I don't know if you understand the inner work, but
I mean why essentially.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
I'm fired idea it works.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Ted said, get out of here, Get out of here, buddy,
drink milk. But I'm just curious, I would be curious
why the decision to only do what essentially six days
this year, and two of those are just like opening
night closing night screenings. Because it used to last for

(13:26):
quite a while.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
I think it would go like another week, like it
would end on a Wednesday, but it would be like
Thursday too, Like what is it in sometime like within
that two week margin, maybe twelve days something like that.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
I remember it being like, I want to say, twelve
to fifteen.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
And the beauty of it is because you could get
new screens. Now, I will say, Now, I guess one
of the popular ones that I think we both are
trying to see is the oper Land theme park documentary. Yeah,
Operland USA, The Circle un or the Circle Broken. So
they added another one at the end of the but.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
It's at three o'clock on a Wednesday, and I have
a day job, so.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
I don't know. I don't know if and the other
one is sold out, Yeah, which is why I guess
they added them. But yeah, I mean it's tough. I
mean it would be nice to have, And I guess
the positive side of the best of the fest stuff
is maybe some of these films win and you can
maybe go see them. Yeah, that's a lot of times
those are your second Chances. Yeah. But the opening night

(14:32):
film is Man on the Run Paul McCartney doc directed
by Morgan Neville, who's won an Oscar, and I think
it's about his basically his success after he broke after
the Beatles broke up, and that dealt with wings and stuff.
And then the closing night one is Kiss of the
Spider Woman, which I'm I'm actually pretty pumped about.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
That is the Diego Luna yep, Jennifer Lopez flick.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Directed by Bill Condon who did Dreamer Les. So I
do have a ticket for that one, and that's at.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
The Bell Court.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
So yeah. So, and I think they've been trying to
basically something to do with music. Tends to be opening
night and closing night. But I I kind of liked
that they went outside the the norm to get Kiss
of the Spider Woman. I feel like that's a pretty
solid git and it's not just like, you know, a

(15:27):
documentary about Willie Nilson's hair or something that somebody did
in Nashville. So but uh, but you know, we were
lucky enough, and the reason we're doing this podcast is
because we actually got to see some of the films early,
including one that I almost got a ticket for at Sundance,
almost bought it online, it didn't, but it all worked

(15:53):
out well.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Let's uh, let's dive right in then, I mean, this
is a preview. We came here to discuss the films
that we've already seen that will be screening as a
part of the Nashville Film Festival this weekend. Uh, do
you want to start? Let's start with Omaha.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Then, yeah, Omaha is the one I was I was referencing.

Speaker 3 (16:10):
I got to watch this one as well, and I
was directed by Cole Webley Webly or Weebley, I don't know,
I web but my question for Cole Webly would be
why do you hate us? And why do you want
to make us cry?

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Correct?

Speaker 3 (16:25):
This was kind of a This was a rough watch,
and I know some people like if you read the
letterboxed reviews of it, some people call it basically exploitation
of the subject matter just to generate emotion. But I
sometimes also think that people on letterbox struggle with basic

(16:47):
human empathy as well.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
So yeah, I yeah, I don't That's not what I
got from the from the film. The film stars Joe
Majario mcghero, yeah, which.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
I remembered him from past lives exactly.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
He's been in a ton of Yeah, anybody who goes
to see Omaha, you'll know him. But that that's probably
the top one considering it success. But I tell you what,
Molly bill Wright and Wyatt Solas played the the daughter
son and oh my gosh, they will they break your heart.
They are so good. And sometimes it's them, it's just

(17:24):
them carrying the scene. And John is terrific. He and
you're talking about empathy. I think that's it. I I
didn't really know what the film was about.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
So well, let me let me get the synopsis real quick, okay.
Courtesy of the Nashville Film Festival's Film Guide, which you
can get at Nashville Nashfilmfest dot org. After a family tragedy,
siblings Ella and Charlie are unexpectedly woken up by their
dad and taking on a journey across the country, experiencing
a world they've never seen before. As their adventure unfolds,

(18:03):
Ella begins to understand that things might not be what
they seem. Yeah, that is a well written synopsis.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yes it is that. Does that tells you enough? But
not not really what's in store?

Speaker 3 (18:14):
Yeah? I don't know. Did you pick up on where
this thing was going.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
I did. I felt like, yes, now the way that
it ends, and there's some texts that come up I had.
I had no idea about any of that, Like, I
did not know that that's where this all stemmed from.
But after the dog, I thought something's up. And there

(18:43):
are little things when they are when they're talking and
the dad has this look. Yeah, and uh, when they
go to the zoo.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
The zoo was what I was like, Oh.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
Because you know they can't like you. There's a there's
a struggle the whole way, and it's like mm hmm,
so what so part of it was honestly kind of
the unraveling of this what might but looks to be
basically mothers die there and they've lost the house. Yeah,

(19:22):
that's all you really need to know. So it looks
like it and it is a road trip movie, but
oh man, it's.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
It's a it's a beautiful movie, like literally as far
as like the cinematography, the landscape, scenery, all of that,
and it's and it's kind of one of those to me,
I like the I like films that kind of raise
conflict within you because in a way you're you're kind
of like, this is beautiful, but then you're also in

(19:48):
the back of your mind is the hardship that this
family is going through is very, very deeply painful, and
so it's almost like it sets this spectrum up within
you of deep pain to utter beauty and you're kind
of just thrown in between the two for the duration
of this film.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
I what was so unexpected was it was just quietly profound.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
Quietly profound is a great way of.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Putting it in what this story ends up telling in
the in the end, and I think seeing it as
a dad, you yeah, you, and you can't imagine, but
there's that there's empathy that comes out because this is
not what this is, not how it was supposed to

(20:37):
be anyway, like from the from the beginning of these
kids' lives and what they've already had to endure. And
I think there's a lot of things that are going
on from scene to scene. Some I think are more
noticeable than others. There's others that's that's quite subtle and
just sort of how a look or reaction happens. Yeah,

(21:00):
but it's it's not easy. It's not any it's not
easy for anybody in that car. Yeah, and I think that.
I think Webly does a great job at having you
remember that this is something that he's not a bad

(21:21):
guy for doing. He's just a guy that's down and
out and this is the only thing that he thinks
can change his kids lives for the better. I mean
it just it's only like eighty something minutes, so I
mean it. But it's done so well and it is
It's such a loving movie about a subject matter that

(21:43):
I can only say as a parent, it's hard to imagine.
But then again, I haven't walked in this man's shoes,
and you don't know what's what's really going on. But
you know what, even through it all, I really thought
it was a There was a nice graceful way to
end the film.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
It was, Yeah, that made.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
Me really like it because there's a thing where once
you know what's happening, how what then, like, how do
you get how do we get out of it?

Speaker 1 (22:15):
Like?

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yeah, narratively, why you know? How do you get out
of that? And I thought they I thought he did
a terrific job.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Did did your wife watch this with you?

Speaker 1 (22:24):
No?

Speaker 3 (22:25):
I'm curious of what her thoughts on it would be,
because I want to like, there's a part of me
that wants to get tickets to this and go see
it with Aura, like a fun little date night on Saturday. Nice,
because I do think it's it's a very emotional film,
and I would just I think it is one that,
with that cinematography and everything, I think I would like

(22:47):
to see on the big screen. And I don't. I mean,
is this going to get a theatrical run at some
point where.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
I think it? I think it might. I mean, I
I at.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
The Bell Court sometime down the road.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
I don't know the status on like distribution wise, but
I remember it being pretty positive reaction from Sun Dance.
So if it's riding that wave, it could be something
that you know, I could see maybe getting maybe somewhere
somehow next year, you know, I.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Could I could also see my wife hating me for
taking taking her to this.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, because the whole thing is and and I'm sure
people can tell you don't really want to reveal anything
because that's part of the journey. It's a huge part
of the journey. But I I listen, I loved it.
I will tell you it's my favorite that I've seen
so far. I was blown out. I was really blown
away by just how gentle it is. But also, like,

(23:46):
like we've said, the the story of it is so
beautifully told, and it's also I mean, it is quite heartbreaking.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
I will say, I've only gotten to see five yet.
And at the end of this show we'll talk about
some things that we have tickets to go see once
the festival starts. But given what we've seen so far,
is it well? I'll say, I'll speak for myself. If
you get to see one movie from the Film Festival
this year, I think this is what I would recommend.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah, I do too. I think it's quite Again, I
would kind of really stick to that synopsis that you
read from the Nashville Film Festival Guide and then just
take it all in. And I was. I was highly impressed.
I got it as a four out of five.

Speaker 3 (24:38):
I gave it a four out of five too.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah, And for those wonders, this will be going on
on the twentieth.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
September twentieth, that Saturday night, eight pm at Regal Green
Hills Theater fourteen.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
That's what I'm saying. Like I might be able to
convince my wife, like we.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
That's prime time. You can make that eight o'clock.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
We could go get us a nice dinner at Emmy Squared,
go have a drink at the bar.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
Have you gone to that Italian place?

Speaker 3 (25:03):
No? Not yet there macaroni grill?

Speaker 2 (25:05):
No?

Speaker 3 (25:07):
No, what what is over there? Is it?

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Some Italian carabas is over there? But I mean that's like, right.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
An actual Italian rest?

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (25:14):
Okay, yea, No, we haven't been.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
Maybe there's some kind of bakery chopped.

Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah, yeah, I know what you're Italian at. Yeah. Maybe,
uh yeah, maybe I'll I'll convince her. I'll just send
her this synopsis and.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
Be like, yeah, this sounds good.

Speaker 3 (25:28):
There was a part of me that, honestly, this is
so stupid. I'm gonna I'm gonna out myself for being
a total meathead. But I read understand that things might
not be what they seem, and for a split second,
I was like, oh, is this gonna fi? Yeah? Sci fi?
Is this gonna be spooky? Is there a ghost in
the car?

Speaker 2 (25:45):
We're gonna watch a thriller?

Speaker 3 (25:46):
And instead it takes the most painful time.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
You're just like, fuck, listen, my dog part was enough.

Speaker 3 (25:54):
I was I was, I was bawling. I'm like I
had my laptop up because we got the screener in advance.
I watched it on my MacBook. I have my laptop
out on the kitchen counter while I was doing the dishes,
and I'm just sitting there with my hands covered in
like food and water and soap, and I'm just tears
streaming down my face. I can't even see what I'm doing.
I'm just like, what the what the fuck is pace?

Speaker 2 (26:16):
And I think and I and I got to say
this too, about where kind of the the approach and
to the dad character. And the reason that John I
think plays it so so well is there are so
many indicators that he loves his kids and he loves
that dog. So what it must take to go on

(26:39):
this journey and he's the only one that knows what
he thinks must be done.

Speaker 3 (26:45):
Man, it's to just feel like that isolated and alone
and helpless. Oh my god, It's it's something man, It's uh,
it's crazy. I would recommend this when if you get
the chance to go Saturday night. It's a it's a tear.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
Jerker, Yeah, it is, so be prepared.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
What's next on Let's talk about creative vets because I
think you and I have different opinions on it.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
I mean, I think the bottom line, I think we're there.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
I just I and I have a full review of
this up on Nashville Movie Dispatch.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
By the way, Oh yeah, that's right, so people already
know your thoughts. But yeah, I mean, so it's a documentary.
It's what a little over an hour long?

Speaker 3 (27:27):
It's an hour and eight minutes, and that's.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Like total, so I'm pretty sure it's even shorter than that. Yeah,
I mean, listen, it's a great subject. I didn't know
about it. So as far as just making people aware,
I think it it does its job quite nicely.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
I mean, my wife's in the music business, so I'm
telling her about this movie and she's looking at me.
She's like, uh huh uh huh is this Creative Vets?
And I was like, yeah, how'd you know?

Speaker 2 (27:58):
But Butsville, Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's very true.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
Creative Vets. The synopsis A combat veteran finds healing through
art after the loss of a fellow service member, leading
to the establishment of Creative Vets, an organization that offers
transformative experiences in the arts to veterans. Sixty nine minutes.
So it's technically an hour nine and.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
This is I think this shows what it to the
clock on Friday.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
And two pm on a Friday. That's I know that's
going to be hard for a lot of people to swing,
but it is an easy breezy out it is.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
And that's a Greenhills too, Green Hills as well there
So for me, I I mean, I respect the hell
out of it. And the story about Richard who is
the one that basically has come up with creative vets
because I think his name was Jacob, his partner was

(28:53):
just they were kidding around one minute and the next
he was sniper killed him. And it starts off by
basically having where like, hey, you know what, we brought
these vets in and we're gonna do music, and they
bring these singer songwriters and they don't and it's not
that they're writing it, but they're telling their stories and
the and then the song writers are basically making what

(29:16):
they will of it to make a song. I think
the I think a little bit of the issue that
I had is it seems like we started on one
thing and then we kind of abandon it for something else.
So I would have liked to have seen more of
that process first and then there are some of the

(29:36):
vets that that you know, they do some talking in
the doc, but you don't really get to know them
at all, or their story comes later, but it's not
it's sort of just like a one or two line thing.
There is I was we were talking about. There's one
about an older VET who it was in the navy

(30:02):
and there was basically a fire that happened on his
ship and he got out. He thought he got everybody out.
There was one left and it was basically just a
kid eighteen, but he did get him out. But he
said in my nightmare is always have that. And so
those are the stories I think that are the most effective,
and obviously Richard's story is the biggest one. So I

(30:23):
kind of wish there was more of that where you
could kind of see like what these guys are dealing
with instead of I mean, I feel like some it's
just kind of like, well, you know, we did this,
and you know it comes from the family. My dad
was that, you know, but nothing's ever really explored on
that front.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
So the critique is like, add another thirty minutes to
the film and dive.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
Into some of these school and you have that freedom,
right now I'm saying that as like they may have
to do go fund me. I mean, I'm just saying, yeah,
that this subject can do a ninety minute thing, and
I think we could have just added more depth to
these guys stories on top of the like the help
that Creative Vets provides. You know, there's stuff about the

(31:09):
golf course, the charity thing, which is fine. I don't know,
maybe because it was at the end mixed in with
some other stuff that just didn't feel as important as
I was more invested in the classes that they do,
you know, and the things that they offer, and then
they're like, well, you know, now it's over what I
think they did what forty nine fifty states, and then
it's also Puerto Rico. The outreach is there, but I

(31:32):
just don't know if that all of that and everything
that they even do and stuff comes across in this
hour and five minutes really movie. But as far as
what it does tell you, and I think its main
purpose is to just bring more awareness to it as
you and I had no idea what it is. I mean,
it gets the job done. I just think there's some

(31:53):
things that would have been more effective than maybe some
choices that they made or maybe that's the listen. Maybe
that's all they have and that's the footage, and this
is what you get. I mean, it is an indie film.

Speaker 3 (32:05):
I did say my my critique of it, and it's
not even necessarily a critique. The thing I had about
it was that you've got such a strong subject matter,
like I don't know you've for something like this. It
did feel a lot like you just got to hold
up the camera and make sure it's on. Man. That's

(32:26):
kind of the depth to the film meeting here. But
I didn't really have a problem with the structure. I
thought it was effective for only being an hour and
some odd minutes. It was just kind of like setting
you up, here's what we do, Here's how I got
to be in this spot, and now here's how we're

(32:47):
growing and expanding to help others. I did say, you know,
before we started recording, like it does kind of feel
like an advertisement for this organization, which is totally fine.
I'm not against that. I do think this is one
that again, like it's kind of hard to swing two
pm on a Friday to people that have day jobs,

(33:09):
but if you get the chance. I did. I did
think it was pretty effective in the stories that it
share that it did share. I really liked seeing the
songwriting rooms where the veterans are in kind of providing
their input with people that tell stories for a living,
that do it in front of you know, thousands of

(33:30):
people or in some cases maybe hundreds of people. But
I digress. It's Nashville. I mean, there's there's a room
in every building where you can play in front of
some people.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
One of them was at the Titan Stadium.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
That's true. Yeah, I really enjoyed getting to look in
on that process and seeing veterans share their story in
real time, and these songwriters saying, okay, well let's lean
into that. What do you think of this? And then
they write out lyrics, they play tune, get a melody.
You can see the look on the face, and then

(34:03):
by the end of the film when they actually see
the finished product and you can see him like man
getting choked up, like that's my story in the form
of a song. I thought that was particularly rewarding. I
liked seeing that.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
It's good and that's what I mean. I just don't
I feel like there are so many times where we
could have gotten more of that instead of maybe shifting
a bit, like Richard's story and then Jacob's family and
all of that. Like that that personal stuff always, I
guess hits harder than now I was. I'm with you,

(34:39):
that process was cool. I just felt like we didn't
really dig into that too much, and then by the
time we come back to it, it's like, oh, yeah,
but now watching their reaction to it, yeah, I mean
you still you know, I mean, it's still great to see,
but it's kind of like, well, I guess it was fun.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
Yeah, I I did. I thought. I can't remember the
man's name, it might have been Richard where he's talking
about how like therapy never helped with him. And then
here's some of the other veterans talking about like to me, like,
I know, you don't want to be critical of the VA.

(35:21):
That's kind of a touchy subject, but like the experiences
that like I've heard of with my relatives that had
to deal with the VA have not been very very good.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
Well, there's one where the guy says he never talked
to the same psychis.

Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yeah, and so you're constantly starting over and telling your
story over and over, yeah, and or.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
It just didn't work because I think the same guy
that saved that kid on this ship or submarine, whatever
it was. I think he said that he's tried different
stuff and that it didn't work. Now, he didn't go
into specifics, but you know what that's to me, that's
also another fine example of we could have touched on
that more too. Now maybe they don't maybe some stuff

(36:04):
they like you said, maybe they don't want to touch it.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
Well, if it's if you know, you kind of look
at like, what's the purpose of this? And I don't
know that they were necessarily trying to document troubles with
veterans affairs. They were trying to put over creative vets
and make it showing right. And so that's where I
do think it kind of gets a little tricky, like
do you want to start picking as a filmmaker, Yeah,
we'll start picking a.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Fight with the government. And I'm thinking the person that
is I don't I think the VA is gone Now.
I could be think but but they But I that's
what I kind of mean. I think for me, I
think there is there was just a narrow scope of
what we're of what we want to do. I wish
that would have been widened a bit and we could

(36:48):
have explored more. But yeah, I again I do think,
I mean I think for what they wanted to do
and what they wanted to present, I mean i'd say
mission accomplished on that. On that front.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
I did think that get some.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
Good stuff from some of the guys.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
There was a really I would say important message in
that though, where it's like these traditional means of healing
are not effective for certain people, but then they find
art through creative vets, right, and you hear the man
talking like, I didn't know this was in me, and yeah,

(37:29):
it has helped me way more than any and any
other form of therapy has so far.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
And I like, uh, and it's it's it's said more
than a few times of basically art really is. Art
is seen as this kind of you know, it's not macho. Yeah,
they the I'm not gonna draw pain or anything like that.
And I I love how that kind of, uh, the

(37:57):
notion that that they could and do it because they
are this type of that masculinity element to you know,
just being in the military. Anyway, I love that and
I thought the well, first of all that that idea
was shattered, but then I loved Richard's art thing where

(38:21):
he was talking about, no matter how you feel about
the military, when they were walking on helmets, you were
walking on people who oh what was it? Protected you?
Served you and like, but they didn't realize that's what
they were stepping on. I was like, man, he yeah,
I really liked him. They could have just done one
just solely on him.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
To be honest, you had one veteran saying like, by
the end of the first week of the program, I
was beginning to get a little sleep and that hadn't
happened in fifteen years. Yeah, I really, I really thought
it was an interesting way to show how expressing yourself

(39:04):
and getting your story out there can be healing in
and of itself. And how these veterans talked about like
the one thing that they missed from the military was
the camaraderie and the brotherhood that you had where it's
you and the person next to you and you're fighting
for your lives, Like you don't you don't get that
in civilian life. Yeah, but through creative vets, they were
able to link up with people like them and to

(39:27):
do something that, you know, create art as a common goal.
I just thought it was a really just a really
admirable cause. But I agree with that that I think
they I think as far as far as the organization
itself and the work that they're doing, I think they
did well to highlight that.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
Yes, I would agree. I would agree with that and
I and it just goes in just to further prove
the point that a lot of them would rather just
keep in the military than come out into real life,
because that because that adjustment is horrifying for most of them,

(40:14):
and you would never and for someone like us, you
would never think that it would be that hard. But
just like they say, they never come back, that's the
same person. Yeah, that's and it's a you know, it's
scary and you feel for them. And then you have
something like creative vets where people are trying to make
a difference and it's working. So I mean, you know,

(40:35):
you have to applaud them for that.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
Yeah, I would agree.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
I gave I gave mine a three out of five.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
I gave it either three or three and a half.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
I don't, okay say we ended up getting basically the
same thing. I just thought there was there was more,
and honestly, I wouldn't doubt if there's another thing about
it and maybe it.

Speaker 3 (40:55):
You know, I don't know. I don't know that I
want more to be honest, because then I would probably
cry more.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Oh, it'd be way more depressing. I should have said that.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
Yeah again. Creativets is screening Friday at two pm from
Regal Green Hills, So that is September nineteenth, a couple
of days from now. What's next. We've got a couple
more that we both saw.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
Let's do the Gas Station Attendant.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
Okay, I love this one too.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
I ended up enjoying it by the end. I was
fascinated at first, and then I kind of felt like
I didn't It felt a little aimless to me. I
didn't quite know where we were going with it. I mean,
it's essentially about a daughter in a relationship with her father,
and also the story of her father and what and

(41:42):
what he was able to do and not able to do.
I've got the go ahead, Yeah, run that one down.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
As a young boy, h and Shanta Murray ran away
from home to escape the extreme poverty of his Indian village.
He traveled the country in search of work, dreaming that
one day his life would change. It did, following a
serendipitus encounter with a couple visiting India from Houston, Texas,
but life in the States was not the American dream
he imagined. Carla Murthy's film weaves together home videos and

(42:14):
phone conversations recorded while her father worked as a gas
station attendant in Texas. Alongside his story, she reflects on
her own experiences as the daughter of immigrants. Her mother
is from the Philippines, trying to make a life of
her own in New York City, and now as a
mother of two boys. What emerges is an intimate love letter,
a meditation on a complicated father daughter relationship, and a

(42:38):
poignant tribute to the immigrant working class. Screening Saturday, September twentieth,
three point thirty pm at Regal Green Hills.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
So I think all of that is essentially accomplished by
the UN as far as just the complexities of the relationship,
but also the decisions that he was made as she
was young for their family. Also, it is an immigration
or immigrant story. But yeah, I mean I and I

(43:10):
really liked him. If you're gonna do a documentary or
subject has to kind of, you know, be somewhat interesting, likable,
and their conversations. I really liked that. It just had
the words up there, because it's all in the voice. Yeah,
of the stress that he was going, that he was under,

(43:33):
and kind of this whole approach to life, like when
they go and take the jewelry to the it's the
first time she goes with them, I think in a
long time. Those intimate scenes or intimate moments I kind
of was really engaged by. And then there were other
parts that I just didn't know really where they were going.

(43:55):
Some of it felt repetitive to me. But then we
would kind of hit one of those emotional scenes and
it's like, oh, okay, I may you know, maybe this
is what we're leading to. And then by the end,
after she finds something out and there seems to be
a you know, the family kind of has drifted apart
after one of those Christmases where everybody rented its house

(44:16):
or something together, and you kind of find out what
he was doing, and it's it's almost I mean, it's
it's it really boils down to that, you know, you
you can't pick them, yeah, but you love them anyway,
and so so yeah, I felt like it was it
was the whole the whole journey was rewarding by the end,

(44:39):
and I think we kind of got there. I felt
like at times it was slow, other like I said,
kind of meandered a bit, but anytime they kind of
came back together, and especially like when they were having
these sort of conversations and it's kind of like an onion,
you kind of like, oh, okay, we're peeling away a
little more. Yeah, that's that was the best stuff.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
I thought this was such a big story that it
felt like an odyssey to me. I mean, I just really,
I mean just from like an immigrant story to there's
so much meat on the bone here. For me is
that it felt like, you know, this is a film

(45:19):
about poverty and the pursuit of a better life. It's
a film about chance encounters. And I think in that,
like this serendipitous encounter with this couple from Texas that
decided they wanted to sponsor this man while they were vacationing,
like because of that, he gets to come to America

(45:41):
and try to build a better life than.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
He never knew what like why.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
They and and she asked him why did they do it?
And he says, you're probably the twenty thousandth person to
ask me that. And I still don't know don't know why.
I think there's there's a lot about the perception. I mean,
at the beginning of the film, Carla says, I started

(46:07):
seeing my dad in every gas station I pass, and
you think, like we were kind of having a conversation
before this about the film's title, it's the gas station
Attendant now, and I don't.

Speaker 2 (46:18):
And I'll say I said I had an issue with
it because it's not I felt like we could have
come up with something better after seeing this relationship. Yeah,
but I see your point now, and I kind of
feel like, okay, all right, we can keep it.

Speaker 3 (46:35):
Yeah, well I thought it was. I thought it was
and sort of touching on generalizations, yes, maybe even a
little tongue in cheek is not the word because it's
not humorous. But it's like, you're calling this film the
gas Station Attendant as if this man was just a
gas station attendant, and you don't know, like how big

(46:58):
of a story he actually has to to where he's
going in life. And to me, I feel like that
is intentional. And she starts talking about seeing her her
dad in every gas station that she passed, and.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Then involved where someone had been robbed and shot that was.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
And so it just kind of kind of makes you think, like,
you go into a gas station and here's the gas
station attendant. You buy your snacks, you pay for your gas, whatever,
you go on about your business, but you don't know
what the person on the other side of the counter
has gone through just to get to that point, and
how many other people have similar stories to this that

(47:37):
I feel like we kind of take for granted. And
so for that it was. It was kind of like,
on the surface, I caught myself going into this thinking
this movie was going to be one thing because it's
called The Gas Station Attendant. But then when I got
into it and we do start peeling back the layers
of this onion, then you kind of realize there's so
much more to this, and it's it's kind of a

(48:00):
found moment where you think, like, I didn't know we
were going to get into all this, Like did.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
You think this was going to be a sci fi movie?

Speaker 3 (48:07):
I did not think. I did not think it was
going to be a sci fi movie, but I was
kind of it sounds and it sounds bad, but it
kind of did seem to me like there was something here.
But I'm like I could also see this just being
like a kind of a boring documentary about nothing, and

(48:27):
at the end of it, we're just like, oh, treat
your gas station attendance better. But I think this was.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
So she lured and then yeah, which.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of identity in this too.
She even says like she doesn't really know where she's
from or where she's going at a certain point. I
think there is an inspiring story about the work ethic
and setting your pride aside to provide for your family.

(48:59):
I mean, we talked about a guy or this film's
about a guy that was a fucking engineer working in Seattle,
and then when he got laid off and the opportunities
dried up, he had to make do I mean he
ran a Denny's for a little bit. He gets a
job at a gas station to help with the bills.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
Well, the whole thing is how long are you going
to be there? And he doesn't know.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
Yeah, it's you know, I think there are This is
without outright saying it is a fair critique of our
socioeconomical practice in this country of just giving people whatever
credit line of credit they want, whatever debt that they
can get into. More the more the merrier and it

(49:40):
gets them into trouble yep. And he makes decisions based
off of desperation because he owes so much money.

Speaker 2 (49:47):
But there's also that that kind of perseverance and American
dream where the next thing will be successful. Yeah, because
he even opens up another jewelry place when they move
somewhere else. I think it's in Texas or what. But
so part of it is just that kind of guy
he is. And one thing I really but that I

(50:09):
really thought was was great is the uh he knew everybody.
Everybody was his best friend. He was that kind of guy.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
That's another thing is she talks about how he would
speak soft and sweetly and he would be friendly to
guys and or to everybody. And I think, like that's
another important message too. It's like, you think about what
this man has been through as you learn more about
his journey, and you think about the financial trouble he's in,

(50:42):
and he doesn't seem to let it affect how he
treats the world.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
Because he could be bitter and angry, he can walk
around being bitter and angry, and.

Speaker 3 (50:50):
Then you also think about it in hindsight. By the
time they're talking about this and you look back and
you say, it's that demeanor, it's that nature that impress
him to this couple that decided to sponsor him, to
get him to start this whole thing. Anyway, it was
kind of a it was a flooring moment for me
because it's it's just like it's a reminder that you

(51:11):
never know what just simple acts of kindness can bring you,
and how rewarding they can be at times. I think
there is some like generational not necessarily trauma, but there's
a message in here about how your decisions can affect
your kids. And Carla talks about having to pay off
both of their debts, which she does at the end

(51:33):
and all's well that ends. Well, Yeah, I think there
are messages in here about family and about appreciating the
time you have. She says at the end, I wish
I just had more time, and you know, she asks
him or she wonders like how did he get up

(51:54):
and keep going? How did he do it? So it
was it was really stirring to me to see, like
the family portrait, And I do think there's a lot
of this film that I think, like if you there
is a lot of like watching home movies and I
know that's not the thing for everybody. Yeah, it takes

(52:14):
its time and really letting these moments breathe. Uh, there's
a lot of driving on the interstate and scenes of
city scapes and stuff like that. I get that, but.

Speaker 2 (52:27):
I but these but these other moments you're talking about
help with it. And I think that's what like. But
they're kind of letting it play out in a way.
But it I feel like in a way they're kind
of saving it till that last part. Oh yeah, where

(52:48):
oh this is this was the big problem. Oh, this
is why they didn't talk for hope, you know what
I mean, Like some of it is kind of like
filling in space just to be like, but it's coming.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
Yeah, So I don't know. By the time we got
to the end of it was I was pretty I
was pretty impressed by how many branches this story branched
off into.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
And that was just one guy.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
It was just one guy, just one gas station attendant.
So there was one quote that I wanted to say.
It was like when he got to Texas. There's a
quote from the movie where he says, here at least
I have hope, And I thought that was oh, man,
like it just kind of reminds me of some of
the things that I take for granted sometimes.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
Oh yeah, and you know, and I guess in this
time we're living in that's a bittersweet quote.

Speaker 3 (53:45):
Yeah. So The Gas Station Attendant screening Saturday, September twentieth,
three thirty pm and Regal Green Hills, Yep.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
I gave I gave that one three and a half.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
By the end, I was, I gave it a four.
I was. I cried, I thought, I laughed.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
So omaha.

Speaker 3 (54:06):
We I feel like we talk about this every year
when it comes to like seeing films that you really
like at a film festival and like it's a shame
you can't get a physical copy. I mean, I'm not
saying you can. I don't know this for sure, but
I can't imagine I can go on Amazon and buy
a physical copy of The Gas Station Attendant, but probably not.
It is it is one that I would like to
have in my collection that'll probably never never.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
Be able to well start the start the campaign.

Speaker 3 (54:31):
Now, I'm just gonna email Carla and be like, carl
you can you get me.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
On a CD?

Speaker 3 (54:37):
Can you give me a blu ray of this? All right?
So that leaves us with I Was Born This Way
as the last one that yeah, we both saw. So
let me see when it's screening. I want to say Sunday.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
Yeah, I think it's that's twenty first Sunday, the twenty first, right,
seven point thirty pm at Green Hills.

Speaker 3 (54:59):
Man, these are all at Greenhills. This is yeah, this
is fantastic.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
Almost everything it says.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
There's a Q and A with it as well. I
I don't know who's going to be there for it,
but the synopsis. According to the Nashville Film Festival's film
guide Surviving the oppression of racism, homophobia, and childhood trauma,
Carl Beam found his voice through song as a gospel
singer in the New York gospel scene, and then through
his nineteen seventy four album Universal Love. But it was

(55:25):
his singing of the nineteen seventy seven disco hit I
Was Born this Way that would earn him fame. The
song was celebrated as the world's first gay anthem. However,
being askewed a mainstream music career instead of choosing instead
choosing a vocation in activism, he started the Minority Aids Project,
serving a vital role for underserved populations during the AIDS crisis,

(55:49):
and he founded Unity Fellowship Church, the first LGBTQ plus
church people of color, using I don't know what that
sentence for people of color. Maybe I don't, I don't know,
using innovative rotoscope animation and featuring appearances by Lady Gaga, Questlove,

(56:09):
Billy Porter, and Dian. Was it Dione or Dione I
can't remember.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
I think it's Diale Warrick. I think it's a Dion.

Speaker 3 (56:16):
We're great, We're We're nailing this. I Was Born This
Way is a feature length documentary exploring the life and
legacy of Bean and his resounding message love is for Everyone.
I liked this one quite a bit as well. Fantastic
documentary that highlights the life of the revolutionary Archbishop Carl
Bean from disco singer to activists.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
Yeah, I thought it was. I mean, it's good. I
didn't know anything about him song. Yeah, so part of
it is just the discovery of it all. I think,
as like a documentary, I think it's pretty standard stuff.
It is the animation. I think they kind of rely
on that a little too much. But some of it's great.

(56:59):
But then I know it's like used at the end
where he's singing and that's fine, I guess, but I
don't know. I thought, Oh, we're gonna do this with
the childhood, and then like maybe it was just but
I don't know. I think it's kind of relied on
too much or that, and I don't really know if
some of it is even needed on certain aspects of

(57:21):
his life and the whatever phase it's in. But so, yeah,
I liked it. I mean, I I think it helps
to have someone like Billy Porter adds a lot to
it because he's a fan and he's also trying to
get this song that was on the flip side of it,
and I know so that Yeah, I mean if some

(57:41):
of it, I think was pretty predictable that that song
was gonna end up and Billy Porter was gonna do
it and everything else as a but it's a thing
for him where they're singing together. I mean, I think
it's a great I don't think the documentary itself is
very innovative, but I do think that the subject matter
again with being was was really fascinating. I was interested

(58:05):
in in it quite a bit. Again Lady Gaga because
she did born this way and kind of found out
parts of it, I feel like, yes, it's nice to
have her name up there. Some things didn't really feel
like it added anything to the doc, but having him
talk and for most of it, other people know he
has passed away. That and there you can tell some

(58:27):
of the interviews were after it because they would they
would always say he was something. I'm like, he must
he must be gone. Yeah, he does a lot for
the doc. I like that he's sitting there trying to
tell you and he is who he is. And I
don't think that man has changed no matter what he left.

(58:48):
I'm gonna assume good money because they wanted him to
do all these other songs and he said, no, that's
not he really he wanted to be that activist and
you know that was just in his heart and then
he ended up basically kind of starting this church that
doesn't really judge anyone, but I do think it's probably
the LGBTQ church. I mean, I think everybody who is

(59:13):
one of those I think is there. But that's also
who what that song meant to them. Yeah, I thought
there would be something more with the song, but it's
really about him because the song is not like the
story about the song and him singing it and what
it was like, I don't really it didn't really seem
that groundbreaking to me.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
And they can just kind of go over it like, well,
this is what they handed me. And I looked at
him and I was like, oh wow, I'm gonna say it. Yeah,
and he says it, and then they sing it and
it comes a hit.

Speaker 2 (59:42):
Now quest Love and them we're trying to add kind
of the you know how crucial it was during this time,
especially saying yes I'm gay, Yes I'm gay in the
sixties and seventies. But but yeah, and then like you know,
they kind of throw in like the disco is dead
part the thing I think I see all the time
where that one radio guy's burning all the disco and stuff.

(01:00:05):
So there's things like that where I'm like, Okay, I
don't really know how, you know, I don't really think
it added anything to it, but I did, like I
did like hearing from him, and I liked his story.
I I kind of I can kind of take it
or leave it when they try to try to make
it about the kind of reinvention of the song, and

(01:00:30):
we kind of leave bean for a little bit. Yeah,
I kind of wish we kind of would have just
stuck with him and overall again didn't know about it.
Now I do now you kind of see that was
that was the anthem then, just like a lot of
things like with godgu I'm born, this way is for
a new generation. It's nice to see how like you know,

(01:00:53):
those that have inspired others sometimes are forgotten by depending
on you know, how old you are. And this does
a great job of giving him his flowers, which he
rightfully deservedly does.

Speaker 3 (01:01:07):
So I listen. I thought it was a story about
resilience and love, and I think it showed us how
the pride and comfort to stand before people as yourself
unashamed can be a revolution in its own right, as
Questlove alludes to near the end of the film. Yeah,
I think seeing Lady Gaga's involvement in this documentary kind
of stresses the importance of keeping the work going and

(01:01:30):
continuing to fight for equal rights for everyone throughout the generations.
You know, It's not like Carl Bean can just cut
this track in seventy seven and boom, we were done.
We've arrived. It takes something like Lady Gaga to pick
up where he left off and keep that going. I
thought those were effective things. Again, like I think you

(01:01:50):
said it, the documentary is not exactly revelatory or groundbreaking
or anything like that, but I did think it was
effective and I did think this was both documentary. Again.
Screening Sunday, September twenty first at seven point thirty from
Regal Green Hills. This is just a big advertisement.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
For Regal for Green Hills.

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
So those are those are the films that we saw together.
At this point, I think we kind of need to
pick up the pace and go through. I watched a
documentary called Comparsa, which is set in Seudad Poronia and Guatemala.
We meet a pair of impressive teenage sisters who use

(01:02:32):
art as a means to demonstrate support and spread awareness
for their cause, which is exposing a system that turns
a blind eye towards violence against women. This is the
result of like a women's home where women are supposed
to go to feel safe, to be rehabilitated, that sort
of thing. They didn't like how the workers were treating them.

(01:02:52):
They protested, and they somebody started a fire in the building.
It burned down and a lot of women died. It's
quite harrowing to see how not only that something like
that can be allowed to happen in a place where
women are supposed to feel safe, but to see how

(01:03:14):
that sort of trauma and other domestic violence and abuse
towards women can give young girls such a burden to
carry that it sticks with them every day. I mean,
even when these two sisters that we meet are so
impressive and you think, like, wow, they have this drive
to create and to support other women who have been

(01:03:36):
through the same thing, And it's striking because you see
it as a positive sort of thing. It's like, oh, Wow,
they're helping other women. But when you peel it back
a little bit and you think about the fact that
something happened to them that struck them so deeply and
so painfully that it's something that they work to get

(01:03:57):
through every single day of their life, it's a very
very it's a very heroin thing. It's a very it's
a very sad thing to see women that are so
young having to kind of wrestle with that on a
daily basis. So there's also some hope in the story
to see how present they are in their community and

(01:04:19):
to see what they start through their work, how it
directly helps others. It's it's a long one, and I
mean it feels pretty long to get through. It's a
very like slow burning story. It's very very slice of life.
You're getting a day in the life of these sisters.

(01:04:41):
You're getting the full extent of their story. It's very
fleshed out, very very heavy stuff. But I think the
subject matter is something that I think we could all
stand to probably brush up on a little bit and
to think like, this is something that is happening in
all areas of the world.

Speaker 2 (01:04:59):
Yeah, I'm glad. There's a lot of feel good films.

Speaker 3 (01:05:03):
Yeah watching. Yeah, So what do you got? What do
you and oh sorry, that Comparsa is screening Friday, September
nineteenth at five thirty from Regal Green Here, Regal Green Hills.
There you go.

Speaker 2 (01:05:19):
The two I watched, I got one called Little Trouble Girls.
It's about sixteen year old Lucia joins Catholic school choir
befriends Senor Anna Maria during a choir retreat at a convent.
Lucia's attraction to a restoration worker creates tension with Anna
Maria and challenges her faith. This was directed and co

(01:05:44):
written by Erska didjokik Okay, I'm sure that's right.

Speaker 3 (01:05:52):
Yeah, we're great with pronunciations.

Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
But this is really just and honestly, I think it's
really well shot. I think it's told quite slowly. I
don't think there's any Some of it's kind of ambiguous.
I think something is supposed to be relevatory, but they're

(01:06:16):
really not. It's really just a coming of age drama.
It's a sexual, spiritual awakening from this sixteen year old
who is obviously still figuring stuff out. She's really just
kind of this goodie two shoes and then she kind
of meets this almost like the mean girl's crowd. But
they are, or they at least appear to be very

(01:06:38):
knowledgeable in things that she's not, that she's never even
done or seen, and so this weekend ends up being
really a pivotal one in the fact of not just
with friendships, but also the woman that she is becoming

(01:06:59):
and things that she is experiencing that have not happened before.
It's an I mean, you know, I don't. I gave
it two and a half out of five. I think
I think during this time and again, the way that
it's told, I think every now and then it gets

(01:07:20):
a bit tedious. Uh it is. It is just a
slow and again there's nothing too exciting. It's really just
simply about this girl and kind of her discovery of things.
Uh as like I said, as womanhood is approaching, some
of the things where like, oh she's you know her

(01:07:41):
and this Anna Maria. Uh, there's kind of flirting there,
even though that's not what Lucilla wants, but you know,
there is still that kind of attraction slash confusion. But
then it's sort of like about this older guy. And
so some of it does seem rather juvenile, but that's
also a forty year old GUI watching this, so I

(01:08:04):
know that these things are a big deal rather you're
you know, boy or girl and when you're a teenager
and so, and especially in this environment the religious constraints
that have been applied to the whole group. I mean,
they're there as part of the Catholic choir. And she
also has a mean choir teacher who, after she seeks

(01:08:29):
to kind of tell him, after he says she she
can trust him, he ends up just being a dick
to her after. But it all basically leads to her
finding more out about well about men and about herself
most importantly about herself. So that is playing on Sunday

(01:08:53):
at Green Hills at eight thirty. It's called Little Trouble Girls,
if you want to check that out. And then this
last one is actually The BALTIMORENS. It is written by
j written and directed by Jay Duplass, and actually the

(01:09:14):
the star one of the stars of the film. Michael
Strassner also co wrote it with Duplas. Now the J
do Plas is marked Duplas's. They are brothers. They're basically
hit makers in the indie world. And this is according
to IMDb, A newly sober Man's Christmas Eve dental emergency

(01:09:35):
leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as
they explore Baltimore together.

Speaker 3 (01:09:41):
How about that?

Speaker 2 (01:09:42):
So I enjoyed this one. It all happens on Christmas Eve.
Now listen, I've never been to Baltimore. I've never really
wanted to go to Baltimore, but I will say there
is beauty in Baltimore. But Michael Strassner again, who's the star,
and he plays he plays Cliff, and then Liz Larsen

(01:10:08):
is DEDI that's the dentist, and they are so great together.
They're cute, they're charming. The whole film feels like it's
like a nice and warm and cozy, like it's funny,
it's ridiculous, but and he has a fiance. But the
but the the sincerity in the story and in their relationship, and.

Speaker 3 (01:10:34):
Then the way.

Speaker 2 (01:10:36):
That just Cliff's almost innocence, where like he knows like
he doesn't mean anything by it, he's not trying to
hurt anybody, but he is obviously sober. He's He's also
is really big into sketch and improv, but he's never
done it sober, so it's almost like he's he's pretending

(01:10:58):
that he can live in this world that suits his fiance,
but he knows that his calling is there, but with
that comes the risk of losing it all and going
back to drinking and so but meeting this dentist DDI

(01:11:20):
is and she has something going on with her, like
problems with her ex husband and her daughter, and the
way that they kind of just stumble into each other's
lives but also feels like they were meant to find
each other to confront these things in their lives that
they're both struggling with separately, and the way they tackle

(01:11:42):
them together. On top of you know, it's cold, it's
Christmas jackets, scarves, I mean, tis the season. I really
liked it again it's it's sweet, it's innocent, it's funny.
But the Baltimorens was It's quite delightful.

Speaker 3 (01:12:04):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:12:06):
Again this one is a bit different. This one. I'm
giving it three and a half out of five. It's
on Saturday the twentieth. It's at seven pm. But this
is at the fancy Soho House and as far as
I know, it is sold out. Everybody wants to go
to Soho so yeah, anybody who hasn't been to Soho House.

(01:12:27):
It's like a rich person's home theater with little lamps
and footstools have blankets in them. I got to see
the second Knives Out movie there. Oh that's the only
reason I know screen it was. Yeah, it was a
Netflix thing.

Speaker 3 (01:12:41):
How about that Netflix?

Speaker 2 (01:12:43):
But yeah, if if that ends up having an extra
screening or this is also by Independent Film and the
IFC Film so so it's possible that it might come
out kind of maybe around November and December. So if
you don't get to catch it, but the National Film Festival,
keep an eye on it. Listen I watched it in September.

(01:13:09):
I'm I would love to watch it again around the
holidays as well. But yeah, but I can't. I can't
give I can't give Michael Strasner and Liz Larson enough credit.
They are. They are just wonderful together. I don't I'm
not familiar with their work before this, but they are.

(01:13:30):
The way that their characters connect is it's just it.
It makes you. It sort of makes you warm and fuzzy. Well,
how about that, I'm gonna say it warm and fuzzy.
So anyway, Baltimore, On's anyway, they'd already say I gave
it three and a half out of five.

Speaker 3 (01:13:47):
Yeah, okay, I've I've got tickets. I will be out
at Green Hills on Friday the nineteenth, couple of days
from now. I'm going to see Louder than Guns, which
is the singer of Old cro Medicine show and radio
journalist David Green sitting down to have an open conversation
about gun violence in America. So really we're just here

(01:14:07):
we go again, keeping the uplifting stuff. And then I've
got tickets for September, says at two thirty, as well,
what are you going to see at the festival this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:14:17):
So I will be there Friday to see Cactus Pairs
and Fuck Toys okay, which I actually started seeing stuff
about fuck Toys a few months ago. I don't know
if it was at Sundances Song anyway, apparently it's this
wild sat tire and so anyway, that should be good.
I really want to see Josh O'Connor's Rebuilding, Okay, that's

(01:14:43):
on Saturday or Sunday. There's a documentary called Speak that's
about the oh what's that competition sort of like the
Spelling Bee but not I can't remember, but that's a
documentary gar Yeah. Maybe if only there's a film guide
I could look at. But uh, the Kiss of the

(01:15:08):
Spider Woman. I am going to catch that one at
the at the closing night one and.

Speaker 3 (01:15:16):
What's that what's that movie called.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
Speak with a period?

Speaker 3 (01:15:20):
I will I will effort that as you're talking.

Speaker 2 (01:15:24):
I'm also going to try and see Peacock, which is
a foreign comedy film. And yeah, I think that's I
think that's it for now. I mean I have a
couple more on the radar, but you know, I never
know if I'm going to quite be able to to
see it or not. The Python Hunt.

Speaker 3 (01:15:47):
I wanted to see The Python Hunt too.

Speaker 2 (01:15:49):
That's a documentary on those damn snakes. But let me
tell you that that looks very interesting to me. And yeah,
and then I'm kind of looking forward to seeing what's
gonna be either Best of the Fest or the audience
Award winner ones. Just kind of see what pops up there.
But but yeah, so it's sort of busy.

Speaker 3 (01:16:10):
The super Bowl of Public Speaking, the NSDA nationals.

Speaker 2 (01:16:14):
Okay, n SDA, so it's public speaking one. Yeah, but
I think that was at sun Dance as well, and
the Rebuilding one is a part of the special presentations
as well, So I'm looking forward to looking forward to
those seeing, uh, seeing what all those are like. And uh,
I'm sure as always there'll be a wild ride. Can't
wait from one from one film to the next.

Speaker 3 (01:16:35):
Yeah, well that's gonna do it for us. Unless you've
got any parting thoughts. Ye, get out there and see
a movie this weekend Green Hills. Yeah, just show up,
show up there.

Speaker 2 (01:16:45):
He'll be fine.

Speaker 3 (01:16:46):
See whatever's there. I I say, make time for Omaha
on Saturday night.

Speaker 2 (01:16:50):
Yes, that's gonna be without seeing these other ones and
the ones that we've talked about. If that Soho house
becomes open, get get in there if you can. If not,
be on the lookout for it. But Omaha, that I mean,
I can't think of a better way to spend a
Saturday night than having your heart ripped out.

Speaker 3 (01:17:09):
There you go, There you go. That's gonna do it
for us, Rate review, subscribe wherever you take in your podcast.
Check out all of our work at Nashville mooviedispatch dot
substack dot com. He's Brandon, I'm stony and until next time,
you stay classy Nashville