The Nashville Film Festival has always been good to SoBros Network – in fact, 2024 marks Year 9 that our resident film critic, Brandon Vick, has covered the festival. For me, this year marks Year 4. It’s our home festival, and no matter what the programming has looked like, we can’t turn down the opportunity to head to some of our local theaters to scope it when they’ve been so gracious to allow us to do so. This year was no different. While Brandon and I will be recording a podcast reviewing all the films we’ve seen as a part of the festival, and I’ll probably write a piece or two as well, I thought I’d paint a picture for you guys as to what Saturday at the Nashville Film Festival looks like.
When the film guide and schedule drop, we immediately start going through the logistics of how we’ll plan to tackle the film. For me, it’s a difficult stretch to make work because it’s football season, and I am ultimately a football writer. For Brandon, it’s a matter of “when can I get where?” For the last three straight years, Saturday has been the day for me. This year, Brandon concurred that I probably picked the best day to go. My only wish is that it’d been cooler than pushing 90 degrees like it was. Each of the last two years have been delightful, driving out to The Franklin Theatre and taking in the beautiful fall scenery with a cool autumn breeze blowing. Or, we’d enjoy a football game at the bar with the windows open before our first screening at Green Hills. Nope – not this year. This year brought with it a lot of sweat.
My day started at 1:30 PM with a screening of Griffin in Summer. I made it to Green Hills with only a few moments to spare, but the NashFilm team was quick and helpful, getting my media credential to me in swift fashion. I navigated the traffic in the downstairs lobby, and made it to my theater as the screening was firing up. Apparently, there was a red carpet event that I had just traversed, though I didn’t catch who was down there in my rush. Something I’ve learned throughout the years is that you never know who you’re going to see pop up at this event. After the screening, Brandon and I had a bit of time before our next screening, Porcelain War. So, we opted to take a stroll upstairs and enjoy a frosty adult beverage at the bar. I wish every theater had a bar. We processed our thoughts on Griffin in Summer, discussed what we liked, what we didn’t like, and nailed down our star ratings while college football played on the television. We ran into our buddy Dom Fisher of Geek Vibes Nation and caught up with him for a bit – talkin’ film at the film festival, who’d have thunk it?
Year 9 of @SoBrosNetwork at @nashfilmfest pic.twitter.com/SfyInBPc7d
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) September 21, 2024
As refreshing as our break was, it was time to sober up for Porcelain War. My wife expressed an interest in the subject matter, so I bought her a ticket to join us. We moseyed on down to the theater and settled in for our second screening of the day. The documentary chronicling the lives of Ukrainian artists who had stayed behind to defend their country was moving. Hell, I needed a moment after the film to gather myself, feeling a little shaken up by the raw nature of the footage of the war.
Brandon pinned down dinner reservations at Emmy Squared for 6:15PM. With the previous screening ending a little earlier than expected, they were able to fit us in around 5:45PM. It’s one thing I love about the Green Hills location. For one, the theater is nice and easy with the reclining seats, but it’s also close to great dining spots and the Green Hills Mall. I started with a cocktail dubbed ‘Intrusive Thought,’ and found it to be a generous pour with rich flavor – “butter washed bourbon” as the menu describes. Any time my wife and I are at Emmy Squared, we start with the Zia fries – waffle fries loaded up with queso, ranch, bacon, and scallions. Emmy Squared is known for their burgers and pizza – this trip, it was the latter for us…the MVP pizza with pepperoni added to it. It was a fulfilling meal, but we needed to walk it off. So, with a little time to spare ahead of the big Saturday Night screening, we decided to take a lap around the mall.
Why the hallways at Green Hills Mall feel like purgatory pic.twitter.com/WUBVCAFPSU
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) September 21, 2024
The Saturday Night screening was one of the coolest things I’ve been able to experience at the Nashville Film Festival. Co-writer/director Jason Reitman and casting director John Papsidera were in attendance to introduce the film. Both stuck around afterwards for a Q&A, which was cool to be in the room for, allowing the wisdom of two established careers in the industry to permeate throughout the room. The film was great – instantly one of my favorites of the year so far. It was well-cast and Reitman somehow created a film that resembles an odyssey despite the fact that the story is largely contained within one studio. We wrapped up our day discussing the movie outside the theater as one does, shaking hands, saying goodbye, and hopping in the car to head back home to Mount Juliet.
If you’re a film nerd, the Nashville Film Festival is an easy way to celebrate the art in our fair city. With multiple screenings at multiple venues, there’s a little something to choose from for everyone. This year’s festival may be wrapping up, but every year at this time, I always encourage folks to keep pieces such as this one in mind for the next year. It’s always a good time, and as I always say, there’s never a bad moment to catch a movie, drink a beer, and talk film with friends. That’s the spirit of the Nashville Film Festival to me.
If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to The Vick’s Flicks Podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or wherever you take in your shows!
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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