I’m in Music City for the Nashville Film Festival, which is both an in-person and on-line event. Check out my coverage so far:
- Previewing the Nashville Film Festival
- Under the radar at Nashville Film Festival
- The Nashville Film Festival – in your home
- International cinema at Nash Film
IN THEATERS
Without Getting Killed or Caught: This lyrical documentary traces the lives of singer-songwriter Guy Clark and his painter-songwriter wife Susanna. Their roommate was troubled songwriter Townes Van Zandt, Guy’s best friend and Susanna’s soulmate. This is a film about an unusual web of relationships amidst the creative process. It’s already slipped out of Bay Area theaters, but I’ll let you know when it streams.
Also in theaters:
- The Eyes of Tammy Faye: some dignity for the clown.
- The Card Counter: a loner, his code and his past.
- Best Sellers: orneriness goes viral.
- Respect: struggling to take command of her own artistry
- The Lost Leonardo: is it a hustle? Does it matter? SEE THIS NOW – probably not long for theaters.
ON VIDEO
Wildland: A teenage girl is orphaned and is placed with relatives that she doesn’t really know. She gradually learns that the family, headed by her mom’s estranged sister is a ruthless criminal enterprise. Wildland simmers and evolves into a nail biter right up to its noir-stained epilogue. Laemmle.
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- The Unknown Saint: a shrine to really bad luck. Netflix.
- CODA: a thought-provoking audience-pleaser. AppleTV.
- Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed: Improbability squared. Netflix.
- Searching for Mr. Rugoff: the best movie taste of any barbarian. Laemmle.
- Curiosa: erotic, but do we care? Laemmle.
- Riders of Justice: Thriller, comedy and much, much more. It’s the year’s best movie so far. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube. #1 on my Best Movies of 2021 – So Far
- Dirt Music: a gorgeous bodice-ripper with a WTF ending. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- Kansas City Bomber: self-discovery at the roller derby track. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
- No Sudden Move: Steven Soderbergh’s neo-noir thriller has even more double-crosses than movie stars – and it has plenty of movie stars. HBO Max.
- The Neutral Ground: the supremacist legacy of old statues. PBS.
- Mama Weed: it’s always fun when Huppert gets outrageous. Laemmle.
- Summertime: no longer invisible and unheard, giving voice through verse. Laemmle.
- What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael: the drive for relevance. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
- Truman and Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation: Two gay Southern geniuses, revealing themselves. Laemmle.
- The Dry: a mystery as psychological as it is procedural. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Turner Classic Movies is aligned with my trip to Nashville, the Ground Zero of Country music. On October 4, TCM airs Coal Miner’s Daughter, one of my 5 Great Hillbilly Movies. Sissy Spacek won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in this successful biopic. In an early major role, Tommy Lee Jones plays Loretta’s husband Mooney. Levon Helm, the Arkansas-bred drummer for The Band has one of his rare but compelling film roles as Loretta’s Daddy. Besides the performances, the movie works because Loretta must grow from nobody to star, girl to woman and hick to worldly.
Coal Miner’s Daughter was one of the big Hollywood movies directed by Michael Apted, whose 7 Up series is one of the most significant documentary series in cinema history.