Latest / Nashville Movie Dispatch / Vick's Flicks, Ep. 191: Previewing the 2026 Nashville Film Festival

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Vick's Flicks, Ep. 191: Previewing the 2026 Nashville Film Festival · Nashville Movie Dispatch

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Reviews, news, deep dives into filmographies, and really, whatever the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: hell we want to talk about from the movie world.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: This is the VixFlix Podcast on Nashville Movie Dispatch. Welcome
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: back for another brand new episode of the Vix Flix
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: podcast right here on Nashville Movie Dispatch. I'll be your
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: host for the show, the EIC at SoBros Network, big
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: natural Stoney Keeley. You can follow me on social media,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: either at Stoney Keeley or at StoneyKeeley615, wherever you take
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: in your social media. Joined as usual by my co-host
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: for this show, the man whose namesake it bears, He
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: is a board member of the Music City Film Critics Association.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: And he's our resident film critic here on Nashville Movie Dispatch, Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Big Shot himself, Brandon Vick. Brandon, how you doing today,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: my man?
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I'm tired.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a long week. It's been a long week.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: It's been a hell of a month.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: It really has been.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Towards the end of it, it has. And I don't
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: think it's slowing down in October either. I don't know.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: I'm doing everything I can to make sure it slows
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: down in October, if that makes sense.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, and listen, some things this month, some things
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: next month, they're fun stuff. I'm not complaining, totally complaining. But,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: you know, it's just some things and then things that, like,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: you know you're doing. And then it comes where, like, oh,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: a couple things popped up. And before you know it,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: you've got four things going on in three days and
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: just feels like there's not enough time in this world
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: for them. But, you know, hey, we're going to be
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: talking about the Nashville Film Festival on this episode. And
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: I feel like once we kind of get through that,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: I got a little trip for the day job. Once
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: all that gets settled in, I'm actually looking forward to October.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Me too. I think October is when the stuff gets fun. Yeah.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So, you know, we're almost there. We're almost there. Yeah.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Well, you did mention today's show is about the Nashville
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Film Festival taking place from September 24th through September 30th,
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  Speaker 1: virtual and in person. Like they've done in a lot
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: of the recent festivals, like this is quite a sprawling
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: festival for the in-person screenings they have. Multiple venues taking
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: place over the course of the next week or so.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: But it is a lovely time of year. And it
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: seems like we've finally gotten a bit of a break
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: in the 100-degree weather, at least. So I always encourage people, like,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: if you have the time, get out and see a
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: movie over the course of this week. It might not
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: be something you've heard of. You know, it's not like
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: you're going to see Avengers Doomsday or anything like that. Right.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: there is a certain charm in attending a film festival
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: and just seeing something that you've never heard of because
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: you never know what you might find. We do this
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: quite frequently covering festivals from Nashville to Atlanta to Raleigh,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: North Carolina. And it's always kind of hit or miss,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: but every now and then you find a little gem
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: that you're like, wow, this was, this was really something.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: So I would encourage everybody to get out there and,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: and see a movie this week. But where do you
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: want to start the preview, Brandon? What do you want
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: to start off with?
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Well, just for like most of the time, I usually
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: spend most of my time at the Bell Corridor at
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: the Green Hills Regal Theater.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: I usually pick one too. And I don't know, do
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: they have any screenings at the Franklin Theater this year?
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: You know, that's the thing.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I love going there, but even though it's more of like,
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: if you have to, if I have to go there,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: then I'm probably staying there.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: I was about to say that was, that was a fun,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: that was a fun day. I picked a couple of
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: screenings starting at 11 o'clock in the morning, went to
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: one at three o'clock and just going to downtown Franklin
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: this time of year when the leaves are starting to
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: change and all that. That's, it's just a lovely day.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: That's all.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: That's the only reason there's no movies there.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Um, I was about to say, I don't, I don't
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: think there's a single screen.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: I think the big one is probably a hooky, which is, um,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: for local folks, it's downtown, almost the Nashville yards. It's
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: pretty new.
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  Speaker 1: It's got, Have you been there yet? I haven't.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: I told my wife I kind of just want to
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: go just see a regular movie sometime.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, same here.
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  Speaker 2: Just to experience it, which, I mean, if you went
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: to the film festival, you certainly can. But festival-wise, there's
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: just more attractive stuff for me back at Green Hill's.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: And I don't want to sound like an old man,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: but I do think about like, you know, am I
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: going downtown on a Saturday?
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: What's parking?
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: You know, I mean, it is a bit of a
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: bummer because parking is just a pain in the butt.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: So at least I kind of know like how to
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: do Belcourt. And also Green Hills is pretty good since
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: they've got a huge parking garage right next door. So
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: that helps.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: I do love that Green Hills Theater, too.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: I do, too.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I got a nice little bar up in the lobby.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Get there a little early. If the line's not too crazy,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: you can go sit, have a drink or two, then
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: go see your movie. And there's, listen, there's some fine dining. God,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: we are 40 years old.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: Some really fine dining establishments.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: There's some really good, there's a mall there. There's a
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: coffee shop. You can, you know, you can, you can
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: really have a quality afternoon out there.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: But I also like, and you know what? And it's rare,
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: but I still think it's cool that you have to
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: take an escalator down to see most of the movies.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: In Nashville, anyway, they're all one level. You just pick
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: your side. Green Hills, even though it's been around for
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: quite a while, it's still one you have to go
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: down an escalator to see most of them. They only
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: got two theaters up top. I like it over there.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: It's not a bad drive, especially if you get there
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: a little early. Get a nice spot. Like you said,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: there's some things to kind of grab some food if
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: you're early. Which, you know, around festival time for people
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: that do go, you know, you usually see some people,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: you know. I see some people from the Music City
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Film Critics groups and, you know, you talk about the
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: different stuff you've seen. But this year is a bit
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: different for me. Now, I'm very fortunate enough to get
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: some screeners. So I'll be talking about a few screeners.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: that I already got to see that we playing at
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: the festival, but I'm not, my first in-person screening won't
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: even be till Sunday just because of, um, what do,
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: what does, what does Hollywood insider say? Scheduling conflicts, AKA
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: birthday and travel. And, uh, so I'm not even getting
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: there until, until Sunday, but, um.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: I think Friday is going to be my day. I've
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: already got tickets for one screening Friday night, and I
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: think I'm going to try and parlay that into a
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: couple before it.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Nice.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: And maybe get out there a little early, spend the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: day out there. My wife's actually going to be joining
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: me for Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm jealous. That's a big one. You know, I
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: guess we could.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: It's sold out now.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Huh?
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: It's sold out now, so.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: I'm glad I got my ticket. Oh, yeah, I believe that.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: I think a good place to start... kind of getting
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: away from the location is, is just how, um, the
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: selection this year, the national film festivals kind of upped
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: their game a little bit.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: It feels like that. Yeah. Cause you and I have
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: been somewhat critical over the selection of films. I mean,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: going back to, I think it was 2022 maybe is
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: when we started kind of noticing, like, it felt like
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: the festival was really leaning into the music city aspect
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: of things and it's not to say that there's anything
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: wrong with that. We've seen some good like musical documentaries
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and stuff like that, but it did kind of feel
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: like there for a couple of years, the selection was
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: almost like too, too narrow. So to speak, it wasn't
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: really an expansive selection, but this year it feels like they've,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: they've gotten some pretty good stuff.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: And I think, and I think in years past it's,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: you know, The opening night usually leans really heavy into
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: music and stuff, which is fine. I get Music City
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: and stuff, and this one is Frampton, about Peter Frampton,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: which was also at Tribeca, so I get it. The
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: closing night ones haven't been bad. Kiss of the Spider
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Woman was last year's. They actually just announced, as of Monday,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Being Human, which just had its world premiere at Toronto.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: international film festival it's directed by the same person that
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: uh that did coda oh okay it is an apple
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: tv film that does come out in november i think
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: but anyway they just had its world premiere so that's
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: that's pretty cool.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: And it's an opportunity to see it on the big.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Screen yeah but this year and they kind of announced
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: a handful of special presentations about i don't know maybe
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: a couple weeks after its first initial reveal and it's
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: yeah i play rocky is is in it you mentioned
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: your mother your mother your mother those two are very
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: popular titles going around festivals um right now. There's Tinder
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Loving Care, which is supposed to be Mike Lee's last film.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: That's on the last day of the festival. I got
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: tickets to that. So there's some interesting stuff that has
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: some name recognition that is nice to see because we
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: kind of would get it every, there may be a few. Now,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: with some of these projects, please take a look. Go
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: to NashvilleFilmFestival.org to look because a lot of these movies
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: are playing within like two hours of each other. Yeah.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: So you, it's up to you. It's a one time thing.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: So I, they, you know, once they do the best
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: of the fest and all that, it's, I don't, you
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: won't see any of those titles I just mentioned. Um,
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: I think it's just kind of a one and done,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: but yeah.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, they also, they have Tenzing, which is an
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Apple original film as well. Tom Hiddleston, Willem Dafoe in that. Um,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: there's a, uh, We got the Helen Mirren movie. We
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: got the Carrie Coon movie. There's all kinds of stuff
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: this year. It feels like that special presentation section is
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: really loaded.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: What is the... A Talent for Murder is the Helen
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Mirren movie.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: And the director is Anton Corbin. It's probably said a
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: bit fancier. Sure. But he directed an underrated Clooney movie
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: that I watched... It grew on me every time I
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: watched it, but it was called The American.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: But he also directed, and I think this was about
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: a couple years after that, that Philip Seymour Hoffman in
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: it called A Most Wanted Man. And that one was
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: really good. So I'm really interested in that one. I
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: believe that is the first festival movie I will see
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: in person. Because that's on Sunday afternoon.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: That was, man, this is where, like, worlds colliding for me. Like,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: there's so much stuff on Sunday that's screening that I, like,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: that feels like the hot day.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: It is. And it just also.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Happens to be the day that I have to sit
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: in a radio studio and unfortunately watch the Tennessee Titans
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: and talk about them.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: On the radio. Right, well, okay, come on. Come on.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: I'm also seeing The Leader that same night that has
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Vera Farmiga in it, has Tim Blake Nelson in it,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Jim Parsons is in it, about.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: It's about a Colt. Well, one of those, one of
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: those Colts that they, uh, that they've been doing, but
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: that actually shockingly has two times. It's also playing at the,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: I'll find it in a minute. It's playing at the
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Soho house. So I have tickets for Sunday and it's
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: at six 30 at green Hills, but it's also playing
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: on Tuesday at seven. at the Soho house.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: So, Hey, multiple opportunities.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, so that's, that's cool. Uh, that's quite rare.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: It is the, um, Bonnie Lou Nettles, a magnetic and
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: deeply intuitive nurse searching for divine meaning beyond conventional religion
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: becomes convinced she has been chosen to guide others toward
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: a higher spiritual evolution beyond the stars. When she meets
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: Marshall Herff, Applewhite, Tim Blake Nelson, a gifted yet psychologically
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: fragile music teacher. They basically start an intense bond. It
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: says part spiritual, part spiritual partnership and part emotional dependence together.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: They craft a belief system that blends Christianity, mysticism and
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: cosmic destiny.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: So.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: I'm interested in that. And I actually saw a thing
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: just on Tuesday where Nashville Scene, they released some movies.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: And the leader was one of them.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: And they really praised Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: And I thought, well, that makes sense. But they had
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: some stuff that... Uh, we had seen, uh, talking about sparks,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: which I just, I just saw, uh, your mother, your mother,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: your mother's on there. Little, uh, Hollywood, Tennessee was on there.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: So that was, um, that was pretty good. I recommend
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: reading that beforehand. Cause that gives you some idea. I
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: think there's like 15, 17 films that they go over.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: So what do you think the odds are this year
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: of seeing Tim Blake Nelson in the lobby of the
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: theater watching football on his phone again?
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: No, no, it's on iPad.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: On his iPad.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: On an iPad. He was serious. I hope so. But
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: here's the thing. It's Sunday. So unless he's a big
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: NFL guy, because he was watching college when I saw him.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: That's true.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: Then I'm like, well, he might, I don't know. He
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: also might not even be.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: There at all. Hey, we don't know.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: No, but he has been there. I just want people
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: to understand he has been there.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: He's, he's got a film and it seems like every
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: single Nashville film festival that I've been to.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: He does. We're, you know, he's going to be awarded something. He's,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: he's being awarded some, I think it's Knoxville film festival
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: or something, but he's being honored with some kind of
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: trophy that's named after somebody.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: But well, He's awesome.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: We saw old Henry at the festival and he, that
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: movie was so much better than I thought. And that's
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: kind of what you're talking about, where you find these
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: little gems where it doesn't really seem like it could
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: be something. And it just totally surprises you. That one
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: sticks out in my, that one sticks out in my mind,
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: at least recently in the past handful of years.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Well, like Brandon said, you can visit NashvilleFilmFestival.org to take
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: a look at the film guide yourself. They've got it
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: organized via grid, calendar grid, via map, so you can
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: see what's playing at all the various locations. Pretty nifty
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: little website feature there. But Brandon, I understand you've already
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: got some movies to talk about.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I got three. I was able to watch a
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: few And they always kind of give you a list.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: You can only ask for so many, and some you get,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: some you don't. But I ended up, I did end
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: up getting three. They're all very different. One was a documentary,
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: and the other two were very different types of films.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: There was one called Take Me Home. And that's going
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: to be playing on Sunday at 2 o'clock at Green Hills.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: It is directed and written by Liz Sargent. This is
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: per the Film Fest's website. It says, Anna, a 38-year-old
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Korean adoptee, cares for aging parents in a fragile balance
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: of meeting each other's needs. When a Florida heat wave
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: shatters their family and Anna's routine, her future is uncertain
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: until she creates a world she can thrive. Says Liz
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: Sargent's intimate debut drama, this is her directorial debut or feature,
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: directorial debut, examines the shifting demands placed on a unique
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: and uniquely challenged family in a Florida suburb. Says working
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: with a terrific ensemble, the director details the struggles of Anna,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: who is also the director's sister, Anna Sargent. A fellow
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: adopted sibling, Emily, who is played by Allie Ahn, and
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: devoted father, Bob, Victor Slezak, who is covering signs of dementia.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: So I like this one pretty good. Again, it is
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: based on Sargent's short film. It's a... I like the
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: depiction as far as just what it has to say
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: about disability and the real-world struggles that come with it.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: also the healthcare failures that are taking place where they're
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: just unable to take care of the people who really
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: need it. There's a tragedy that happens towards the beginning,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: which is sort of the event that kind of shakes
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: up their family routine, the foundation there. And so there's
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: a lot, within all of that, there is this kind
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: of dealing with grief and loss we talked about the
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: older sister, Emily, and she's really kind of struggling with
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: the frustration, but also the guilt of kind of going
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: on and living her own life while the younger sister, Anna,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: is there to take care of them, who also has,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: she's also disabled. But it is, but Anna's performance is funny,
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: though it is deeply sensitive. But the fact that it is...
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: When I found out it was the filmmaker's real sister,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: it makes sense because it... How can you.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: How can... In order to find someone and present them
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: in their authentic form is... Obviously, it's very effective. But
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: the fact that you know how close... I mean, how
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: close this story... goes, you know? I mean I think
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: there could be a I'm sure there's some sort of
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: connection of Emily the sister and maybe Liz in real
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: life it is funny it does find humor where it
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: can And there's, and, you know, I mean, it's also
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: about this search for community and independence because Anna really can't,
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: she's taking care of her adoptive parents, but she is
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: also in a position where she shouldn't be the sole caretaker.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: But there's also this sense of that she can do
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: things and she wants to do them by herself. And,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: you know, it's kind of trying to push through her
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: disability to be able to do what she wants and
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: live out the life she wants. And she, and you know,
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, she's seeing that in her older, with her
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: older sister. And, but again, the whole, the themes are,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's, it's very compassionate, but complex. The, but
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: I do like that. It's a very tender telling of it.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: There's no right. I mean, there is no, Judgment, there's no,
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's anger, but it's not in the malicious type.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: So I really liked the way it was told. And again,
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: directing your sister who is living with this condition is
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: very effective, but like I said, it keeps it very honest.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: The only thing that I had a problem with and
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: unfortunately it does kind of dampen the overall experience, is
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: the ending, it switches from this real sense of hopelessness
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: to just straight up pure fantasy. It is such a
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: sizable shift in tone that it kind of leaves everything
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: we cared about with these characters unresolved and not like
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: appropriately confronted. I, I, I jotted down that it, the
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: ending is, is a shame and it's sort of cow
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: cowardly in a way, like the, the building up to it,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: excuse me, the building up to it, but then to
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: kind of just have like kind of cop out at
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: the end. I don't know. It, it, I, I, I,
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: It's a shame that it ended the way it did,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: but I still gave it a three out of five.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: I think there is a lot there, but it was
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: disappointing to see the choice that Liz makes at the end.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: So Take Me Home is screening, to be specific, Sunday,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: September 27th, 2 p.m. Central at Regal Green Hills Theater 5.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: They even have a note on the website. I didn't
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: notice this. Parking information. Free parking is available in the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Green Hill Cinema parking garage on level four.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Thank God.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: They really take care of you there.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they do. So there's another one called One Plant.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: So this is a documentary. And this is going to
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: be showing on Saturday, September 26th at 2 p.m. Central
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: at Regal Green Hills. It is also going to be
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: available starting September 28th on the virtual cinema.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I think I've already got my virtual cinema tickets
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: for that.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: For this one?
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: So this is, again, back to the film festival site.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: It says, after losing his mother to alcohol and opioid addiction,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: filmmaker and hemp farmer Jordan is left searching for answers,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: frustrated by a medical system that seemed to fall short.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: He turns to a long-stigmatized and misunderstood plant, wondering if
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: it might have offered a different path. What begins as
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: a personal search quickly evolves into something much larger. Setting
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: out with Camry travels across the country, meeting farmers, scientists, doctors, builders,
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: and entrepreneurs working to reintroduce hemp as a valuable resource
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: for food, medicine, materials, and agriculture. So again, all this
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: comes from a mother's addiction story. and death. So it
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: starts out very personal. Um, and he, and he really
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: kind of goes through on why we fear it, the
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: stigma of it, but then wants to uncover really the
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: truth of how it can help. What is it really?
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Where did it come from? Um, it's cut into about
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: really three parts. Part one deals with fiber kind of
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: talks about the industrial uses. Part two is the grain
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: main focus is sort of on the food. And then
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: part three is called the flower, which kind of deals
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: with the medicines and treatment, um, treating addiction and just
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: having a better quality of, of life. The, um, it
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: really kind of hits where like they kind of show like, Oh,
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: like how honestly it's been used for years and years
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: and years and years. But some of the highlights was
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: like the Nixon administration was cracking down on it. It
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: made it into a drug war, having the propaganda, which honestly,
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: I think with us growing up, we were born in
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: the mid eighties. It was like all drugs are bad.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: And now we're living in a world where it's, there
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: are benefits to this stuff, but come to find out
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: that's something that we, that, society already knew decades and
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: decades ago and so it just goes to show you
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: that some of these campaigns that are run end up
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: sticking with you and so you just have this one
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: thought of what that drug means and if it's in
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: if it's you know if it's a negative if it's
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: in a negative light then that's just what you carry
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: and so um there's also also he doesn't really he
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: touches on it. We don't really go into it, but there,
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: but there is a comment about kind of the bad
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: reputation where I think, I think everybody has seen all
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: these like THC vaping stores, but a lot of their
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: stuff is untested and unregulated. And so they're like that,
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: like they try to dissociate from that. Cause that's not
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: what they're like the, all the people that he's talking
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: to are trying to do. And I mean, listen, the
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: big thing is, is, is like, Hey, saving lives and
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: saving the planet, which I think we could all probably,
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: get behind, I think.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: No kidding.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: Honestly, the doc was very eye-opening as far as what
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: hemp is capable of and its buried history. I thought
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: it was very informative and hopeful in a lot of ways.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: It's really sort of this comeback story of sorts. I
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: don't think it totally works in the attempt of covering
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: all of those aspects that I was talking about within
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: those three parts. We get glimpses into a lot of
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: these people's lives and the companies that are involved in
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: the industry. But I just don't think there's just not
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: enough time spent with them to fully comprehend their efforts
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: and what they're doing. It's also not as... It's just
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: not as personal as I think Jordan wants to be.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: And it's not even what starts out as a personal story.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: He comes back to it later. But there's really... There's
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: really nothing in between. It's all just kind of hypothetical
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: and like what could have happened, but we don't even
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: really get a full story with him and his mother.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: It's just more about kind of the, the struggles. There's a,
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: there's a sweet moment where he goes to this beach
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: and it was kind of like the places where she
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: felt safe and wasn't, but, but besides that, you don't really,
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: there's not this emotional undercurrent over, over all of it
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: that you think it will be when it starts.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Would you say it feels a little more like information-driven
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: in the narrative?
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: It very much is very heavy information. And again, it's interesting,
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: but the personal element that I feel like really makes
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: the documentaries that you remember is, is not quite there.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: He's covering a lot of stuff. Um, and I think
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: you could kind of get a generic idea about the
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: things that we could do to, you know, and the
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Cape and the capabilities of that, what we should have
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: been doing, you know, however long ago, but yeah, it's
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: definitely very informative more than this personal journey.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Gotcha.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Well, did you, uh, did you land on a star
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: rating for this one already?
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, well, actually I didn't write it down for
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: some reason, but I would, I would probably say, I
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: would probably say two and a half, two and a
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: half to three. Okay. You know, it's interesting enough. I
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: think it's a nice festival movie, but you know, and
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: hopefully it, it will kind of change some minds on
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: what hemp really is and what it can be used for. Uh,
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: the last one is a film it's under the new
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: director features called Sparks. So this I saw this was
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: one of those that's actually in the film, the Nashville
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: scene piece I was talking about. And some and I
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: and I and I don't know which scene staff person
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: wrote this, but they said it's it kind of has
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: the feeling of the of boys are from jupiter or
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: the boys go to jupiter we saw that in Memphis
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: yeah and honestly I'm like oh you're kind of right
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: now this is not an animated movie it does have
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: Elsie Fisher in it from eighth grade who also does
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: a voice in boys go to jupiter but um the
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: film festival. So she plays Cleo. This is from their website.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: She's new to Sparks, Nevada. When she discovers a cigarette
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: vending machine that inexplicably produces a book on John Jacques Godard.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: When she meets the crop soon after Cleo's morphed into
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: a cinephile. And when she learns of the crops reservoir visits,
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: she's certain she could time travel and meet him in
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: sixties Paris. Um, It goes on, there's a crop leader, Antone,
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: he's enamored with her, but when she disappears, Antone starts
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: calling into question his own sense of purpose before unexpected
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: adventures materialize. So, this one is a bit of a
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: weird one. It opens up with, like, with Cleo. In
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: the very first scene, it's basically her mom talking down
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: to her, degrading her, saying she won't amount to anything,
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: she's never going to leave Spark. So, We know from
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: the beginning this is about escape. This is about getting
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: out of that small town and imagining a bigger world,
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: a better life. So the crop as it was run
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: is kind of the hangout. The reservoir, again, is considered
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: to be a time machine. And it's kind of ambiguous, mysterious,
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: sort of if it really works or not. I think
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: it could go either way. I'm sure that's on purpose.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: But Paris 1960, I mean, I'm sure that's cool. It's honestly,
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: it's very quirky and it's got this stylish vintage visuals.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: It's also got, it's really an intriguing premise and it's
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: got a great cast of young actors. Again, Elsie Fisher
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: is probably the most noticeable one. I just don't think
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: now this is only like 70 something minutes. So it's,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: it's a short one, but there's just not enough. There's
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: not enough depth or exploration with the characters and the relationships.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: And that whole Antone Cleo thing, as far as like
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: what she's trying to do and then him kind of
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: reevaluating his purpose is, and slash romance doesn't really work
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: either because of it, because we don't really get to
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: know any, any of them, like they're dreamers and they're trying.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: And I mean, like the whole thing is really just, again,
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: trying to escape this town and, you know, to have more,
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: just to have, just to be able to do more. And,
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: you know, again, that opening scene with Cleo and her
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: mother basically kind of puts it in perspective of what,
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: the real theme of everything is. Um, and there's even
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: some scenes that even feel like a daydream, which again,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: dreams being, being basically so important and interesting or being
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: of someone of importance or of interest is, is sort
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: of the, is what they want to achieve. Um, I,
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: I think this is a perfect little festival movie, um,
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: it again, it's different. It's, it's a bit peculiar. I
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: think besides the whole time machine thing, and again, interesting premise,
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: it's a, it's a nice idea that kind of needs
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: to be more, um, kind of more fleshed out on screen. Um,
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: but I, I landed at two and a half out
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: of five. I think there's enough there. Like I said,
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: I think that it's interesting enough and some of the
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: visual choices and stuff are, are pretty cool. But, um,
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: I could also see people going to see this and,
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: and maybe not thinking much of it and think they
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: have seen stuff like this before, like visually. Okay. But this,
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: as far as the storytelling aspect of it, it's, you know,
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: maybe not that impressive. So I don't know.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, Hey, it kind of sounds like the quintessential
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: festival movie.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: Exactly. That's why you go find out for yourself.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: I just got my, uh, my tickets because it's playing
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: on the, uh, the virtual cinema as well. So that'll drop. But, uh,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: it is also screening Saturday, September 26th, 1 30 PM
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: at green Hills. So there you go. We, we got
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: a nice little preview of the festival overall. You've talked
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: about three films that you've already seen that will be
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: screening as a part of the festival. Um, Man, it's here,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: the 2026 Nashville Film Festival.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: I'm excited. I'm ready. And we'll have another podcast that's
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: kind of going to wrap up everything once we start
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: seeing stuff. A lot of my tickets are also a
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: part of the ones that are voted on by the jury,
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: but also the kind of the fan favorites, best of
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: the best ones. So I'm interested to see what will
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: take those prizes and get a look. But yeah, it's here.
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: And, yeah, as a reminder, one more time, NashvilleFilmFestival.org for
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: all of the festival information. View the schedule, the film guide,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: all that is there. And who knows? If you see
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: me or Brandon roaming around somewhere, stop us and say hey.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: But that's going to do it for this bonus episode
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: of the VixFlix podcast, previewing the 2026 Nashville Film Festival.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: As a reminder, you can catch all of our work.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: at NashvilleMovieDispatch.Substack.com. For Brandon, I'm Stoney, and until next time,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: you stay classy, moviegoers.