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World Premiere of “Catch A Killer” on 9/21 at Nashville Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On September 23, 2024

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews

Poster for Catch A Killer

The World Premiere of “Catch A Killer” took place at the Nashville Film Festival on Saturday, September 21^st. The idea of a serial killer basing his (or her) kills on famous slasher movies was somewhat original, but the entire film needed work. There are low-budget horror movies out there that show signs of originality (“Cuckoo” comes to mind), but this isn’t one of them. Written and directed by Teddy Grennan, the film starred Sam Brooks (“Fear Street, Part 2: 1978,” “Stargirl,” and “Long, Slow, Exhale”). Grennan is known for “Ravage” (2019) and “Wicked Games” (2021).

The film should have been a natural fit for me, since I was as an active voting member of the Horror Writers’ Association for years (and the author of “The Color of Evil” trilogy”). It wasn’t. I thought the plot, which leaned heavily on familiarity with the horror movie genre would be a natural and that Writer/Director Teddy Grennan had an intriguing concept, but it just didn’t work, for me. What were the weak points? The sound, the cinematography, the story and the over-use of herky-jerky shots of previous gory murders from famous films.

SOUND

For one thing, the screener had sound problems. I actually changed computers three times to watch it. You could not hear the dialogue well on any of three computers, especially at the very beginning of the film. I’d blame my computers, but this was on a desktop and two laptops. Beyond the volume issues, the sounds that were used to accompany the action of the film never seemed to “fit.” At one point, a sound like a drain backing up was used, which had nothing at all to do with what was onscreen.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Flashes of murders in a herky-jerky fashion opened the film. It was disorienting. Did not encourage me to keep going, but I did. (Once more into the breach!)

PLOT

Leading man Sam Brooks as Otto in “Catch A Killer.”

I found it unlikely in the extreme that the handsome leading man, Otto (Sam Brooks), had joined the police force at 17 by forging his GED and lying about his age. We may need more police officers, but no 17-year-old has been hired to be a policeman by pretending to be 18. Unbelievable. I also wasn’t buying the hot 26-year-old blonde getting Otto fired from the force.

Why a pregnant love interest? Although “Rosemary’s Baby” is mentioned at one point, the connection was tenuous. It was just something thrown into the plot that added nothing, ultimately.

THE SCREENPLAY

The dialogue was unrealistic. At one point the line is “I know this sounds pretty strong.” The term “Yo” was heard just prior to that. Nothing about the screenplay sounded “normal” or “natural.” (“Kojak is back, Baby.” “Kojak” ran from 1973-1978. Nothing like a timely allusion.)

Then there’s the factual content, like the statement that “9 out of 10 murders have forced entry.” Really? We’ve all been watching marathon doses of the Forensic Files for years, so that is not gonna’ fly. 55.7% of burglaries involve forced entry, while 37.8% are unlawful entries and 6.5% of would-be burglars attempt forcible entry. The most common time for break-ins is between 10 AM and 3 PM Those statistics are from a site called Statistica.com. True, it does not mention break-ins that lead to murder, but I think we all know that the cops will be focusing on people who knew the victim(s)—often the spouse, unfortunately. Yes, this is supposed to be a serial killer, but even serial killers have what are known as M.O.’s and the Orion map tie-in was really reaching.

CONCLUSION:

World Premiere of “Catch A Killer” at the Nashville Film Festival on September 21st.

The acting by the principals was adequate. Sam Brooks was photogenic and the supporting female leads were fine.

As I’ve said in other reviews, the actors (or actresses) are only as good as the material they are given. I will be surprised if this film rises above the 4.0 to 4.5 ratings that previous efforts by this writer/director/producer have garnered. I was also irked by the obvious attempt to “coast” on the much bigger movie “To Catch A Killer.” I have had this happen to me many times with my novel trilogy “The Color of Evil.” Somebody pops up with just “Color of Evil” and takes ads on your Amazon page, etc.

It is really annoying to have a different creator attempt to “coast” on the good reviews you may have built up with a similarly named film or book. Yes, it is legal, but maybe create your own title. Having said that, I learned only years later that there was a short story (Stephen King) with the same title, so perhaps that is what happened here and there really was no attempt to “use” the much better-known film. I hope that’s the explanation, except that “To Catch A Killer” seems much more widely disseminated as a title.

This one just didn’t work for me. Good luck to all on future ventures. After all, even Matthew McConaughy started out with “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and look at him now.

“Saturday Night” Lights Up the Screen at the Nashville Film Festival on 9/21/2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 22, 2024

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews, Uncategorized

Jason Reitman brought his newest film, “Saturday Night,” a re-enactment of the opening night (October 11, 1975) when “Saturday Night Live” went on the air “live” for the first time to the Nashville Film Festival on September 21, 2024. When “Saturday Night” played to a packed house at the Nashville Film Festival, Writer/Director Reitman brought casting director John Papsidera with him. That was a master stroke, because this re-enactment of the opening night of “Saturday Night Live,” boasts a star-studded cast. There are so many up-and-coming young talents (and established talents, like Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons) involved, that it is almost impossible to list them all. But it’s worth trying, so you can keep an eye out for the identities of the over 80 speaking parts, figure out who that individual was (in historical terms), and marvel at the job that casting them all must have represented.

THE CAST

The plot is told through the eyes of the creator of “Saturday Night Live,” Lorne Michaels. Michaels is played by Gabriel LaBelle, who was cast as young Steven Spielberg in “The Fabelmans” (2022). Jon Batiste plays Billy Preston; Kaia Gerber (daughter of Cindy Crawford) is Jacqueline Carlin; Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”) portrays an unnamed NBC page; Lamorne Morris (recent Emmy winner for “Fargo”) is Garrett Morris; Tommy Dewey (“Casual”) is head writer Michael O’Donoghue; Nicolas Braun (“Succession”) handles two roles, as Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman; Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”) is George Carlin; Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) plays Dick Ebersol; Andrew Barth Feldman (“No Hard Feelings”) is Neil Levy; Taylor Gray (“Star Wars: Rebels”) is Al Franken; Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”) is Lorne Michaels’ first wife, Rosie Shuster, and Dylan O’Brien (“The Maze Runner,” 2014) is Dan Aykroyd. I’m certain I’ve failed to properly mention all of the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow in the film about 1975’s up-and-coming stars of tomorrow, but you’ll want to see how close the actors come, appearance-wise, to the real stars of “SNL.”

John Papsidera, Connie Wilson and Jason Reitman at the Nashville Film Festival.

(L to R) Casting Director John Papsidera, Connie Wilson, and Writer/Director Jason Reitman in Nashville at the Nashville Film Festival showing of “Saturday Night” on September 21, 2024.

There are over 80 speaking parts in the film. John Papsidera (a sometimes Nashville resident), who also worked on “Oppenheimer,” described that as a huge number. The most difficult cast member to decide upon turned out to be Dan Aykroyd,(said the duo in the Q&A after the screening). Finding the right actor to play Aykroyd took the longest and turned out to be the most difficult. With the others, they said, they “tried to find the essence of the person. The movie is about who they are.” The key was to find one main characteristic per character, so Chevy Chase was primarily portrayed as egotistical. Garrick Morris was trying to identify how he fit in amongst the cast. O’Donaghue displayed the ability to say the nastiest things but have them come from a place of humor. Gilda Radner was always taking care of others.

THE PERFECT DIRECTOR FOR THE FILM

Back in 2007, right after “Juno” had made waves for Reitman, garnering Best Director and Best Picture Oscar nominations, Jason was asked what he wanted to do next. He mentioned his desire to write for SNL (as well as continuing to direct.) Jason was given a one-night stand opportunity to participate in the behind-the-scenes goings on writing for one SNL episode. He shared that Ashton Kutcher was the host (and starred in the skit Reitman wrote, entitled “Death by Chocolate”) and Gnarls Barkley was the musical guest “which gives you an idea what decade it was,” laughed Reitman. The cast members were discouraged from interacting with their real-life counterparts during shooting—(assuming the original was still alive.)

SETS

Writer/Director Jason Reitman.

Reitman shared this, “We rebuilt the 8^th and 9^th floors of Rockefeller Center from the original floor plans. We lived on that set for 2 months.” Various catastrophes present themselves in the hour leading up to the first broadcast. As the press notes say: “The writers are stoned. The sound system is f*****. The actors are physically assaulting each other. The crew is in open revolt. They have 90 minutes to get their shit together or the network is pulling the plug.” It’s just a good thing that Lorne Michaels “believes in his vision and he doesn’t really bend.” Many wonder if the fabled creator of “SNL” will bend after this season and pass the torch to a new generation. After all, it’s been a good year for creative visionaries who believe in their visions to step back from power and hand off the baton to their subordinates.

THE SCORE

Jason Reitman and John Papsidera in Nashville on September 21, 2024.

Jason Reitman: “Jon Batiste is a genius unlike anyone I’ve ever met in my life. He has a photographic memory of sound. We decided we should try to do the sound track the way they did SNL: live. There is music in the movie that would never have been there if Jon hadn’t been giving it to me like that.” Batiste’s rendition of “Nothin’ from Nothin” that kicks off the first show is electric. Batiste’s interpretation of the Afro-haired musician Billy Preston (who actually wore wigs for his gigs) was spot-on. Steven Colbert had Batiste for a short time as his band leader; he seems destined for much more greatness. Another recommendation for those who love great documentaries would be the new one by Paris Barclay about Billy Preston’s life, entitled “That’s the Way God Planned It.” There’s an entire feature film in there, for sure.

SCRIPT

The writing shows Reitman’s award-winning touch (Gil Kenan is co-writer.) Reitman’s film “Juno” won a nomination for Best Screenplay based on Diablo Cody’s collaboration on the script in 2007. “Up in the Air” won the Golden Globe in 2010 for Best Screenplay (based on the Sheldon Turner book). The script was also Oscar-nominated for an Oscar (2009) while winning the BAFTA that year. The script for “Saturday Night” has more zingers and one-liners than any film released this year.

Here’s just one quick example: “Let me know when my expectations exceed your capabilities” (to the light crew, after lights nearly fall on the performers.) Another good one, aimed at a meddling middle-aged female censor (Catherine Curtin as Joan Carbunkle; no relation to Jane Curtin): “I’ve heard that love is blind, and now I know why.” A continuing joke involves the cast trying to sneak sexual references into their scripts by misleading Carbunkle, the censor, as to what the phrases actually mean.

AWARDS

Writer/Director Jason Reitman of “Saturday Night” in Nashville on 9/21/2024.

Jason Reitman (born in 1977) was on the set of “Animal House,” which his father directed, in 1978 He has been involved in making movies ever since, beginning with 6 short films submitted to Sundance” in 1998. Reitman actually won the BAFTA in 2009 for Best Screenplay and has continued turning out truly enjoyable films like “Tully” (2018) and “The Front Runner,”(also 2018) a story about the ill-fated Senatorial campaign of Gary Hart of Colorado which starred Hugh Jackman. If I see it is a Jason Reitman film, I’m in.

When I spoke with Reitman and mentioned meeting him previously in Chicago the year of “The Front Runner” he suggested (ruefully) that I might be one of the few at tonight’s screening who had seen the film. (While I’m not sure about that, I have been reviewing since 1970, and that is 7 years before Reitman was born.) When I mentioned “The Front Runner” (Hugh Jackman starred) Reitman said, “It turns out that people were less interested in Gary Hart’s Senate campaign than in Saturday Night Live.” It’s a shame, as “The Front Runner” and “Up In the Air,” “Tully,” “Thank You for Smoking” and “Jennifer’s Body” are among my favorite films by any director working today.

More recently, Reitman directed “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (released on November 11, 2021) and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), which co-writer and collaborator Gil Kenan went on to direct solo. Reitman also produced (but did not write or direct) the DuPlass Brothers comedy “Jeff, Who Lives At Home” with Susan Sarandon, Jason Seigel, and Ed Helms starring, an early film (2011) with a lesbian subplot (also remembered from the Chicago International Film Festival in 2011).

STYLE

John Papsidera and Jason Reitman at the Nashville Film Festival on 9/21/2024.

John Papsidera and Jason Reitman during the Nashville Q&A following the screening of “Saturday Night” on 9/21/2024 at the Nashville Film Festival.

There were discussions of trying to shoot the film in one long scene (as Hitchcock attempted with “Rope”). It didn’t work for Hitchcock in 1948, either. Instead “Rope” is made up of several 8 minute continuous shots. This was the length of film that fit onto one reel then. That ambitious idea had to be shelved in 2024 as well.

“Saturday Night” is shot using 16 millimeter film. The pace of the film is the pace of the production that night, as the cast struggles to make the project gel before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night. That was a great idea to assist the pacing, which is frenetic. As we learn, Johnny Carson was NOT supportive of SNL (originally called just “Saturday Night”). It represented the network (NBC) manipulating him during contract negotiations. The great (and oft-nominated Willem Dafoe) portrays David Tebet, the Chief Suit who will decide if “Saturday Night” goes on the air live or if canned re-runs of Carson’s “Tonight” show, will bump it. Like “Apollo 13,” even though we know how that plays out, it adds pacing and tension to the plot’s story and the show’s dilemma. (*I don’t know if that is true or creative license; it was a great idea and helps build the sense of confrontation.) Referencing the frenetic and often chaotic pace of the show on that night (and any Saturday night), the comment was made, jokingly, that the Michael Ritchie style was like “Robert Altman on amphetamines.”

KUDOS

Jason Reitman and casting director John Papsidera.

This is such an ambitious project. Hats off to all involved. “Saturday Night” is documenting the passing of the torch from one comedic generation to another. With the current political situation in the United States, movies about passing the torch from one generation to another are a hot commodity. With Jean Smart (“Hacks”) set to hostess the opening program of the 50^th year of “Saturday Night Live” on October 11^th, this edge-of-your-seat attempt to show who the original “Saturday Night Live” not-ready-for-prime-time players were yields a great movie that makes you feel something. As Reitman said, “It requires so much control to pull off the chaos.” He also pointed out “the distinction between simply telling a story and feeling something.” Paying tribute to his profession, he marveled, “It (filmmaking) draws on the talents of people in so many different disciplines.”

The film is “the prism that captures the light of an emerging generation.” The 50^th season of “SNL” is upon us; the release date of October 11^th is an homage to the television show’s debut date. Let the comedy begin

Does “Saturday Night” work?

Yes, it does. “Saturday Night” is hugely entertaining and never flags. Check it out at the theater on October 11, 2024,

“Will & Harper” At Nashville Film Festival on 9/20/2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 21, 2024

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

The Josh Greenbaum directed documentary “Will and Harper” is showing at select theaters now and will stream on Netflix beginning September 27th. It showed at the Nashville Film Festival on Friday, 9/20/2024 having premiered, originally, at the 40th Sundance Film Festival in January, 2024. The 114 minute documentary depicts Will Ferrell’s 17-day cross-country trip with his close friend of 30 years, Harper Steele, who has just come out as a transgender female. Over 250 hours of film was shot and then reduced to this 2-hour look at being transgender in America in 2024. Harper—who was head writer at “Saturday Night Live” and started the same week that Ferrell did in 1995—was born Andrew Steele in Iowa City, Iowa, one of five children of University of Iowa professors.

THE GOOD

The best thing about the unscripted 17-day trip from New York to Santa Monica, California was how authentic and genuine the emotional relationship between Ferrell and Steele is. Both of them are reduced to tears, and you will be, too. Viewers come away with the feeling that Will Ferrel in real life is very much like his character in “Elf:” one of the nicest guys you could know. I hope that is sincerely the real Will Ferrell because, as a stranger in an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma bar tells him, “I like your support for your friends. There’s not a lot of it out there now.” Many have commented on how brave Harper is to have come out. There should also be praise for Will Ferrell (and friends) for being so supportive of Harper in MAGA America.

The trailer for the film shows Ferrell reading from the e-mail he received from Steele. It informed him that his old buddy was undergoing transgender surgery and would now be called Harper. Ferrell realized, somewhat belatedly, that he didn’t really know much about the transgender community. He proposed a 17-day cross-country road trip in Steele’s vintage Jeep Wagoneer (remember the wood?) to re-acquaint the new old friends. They were followed, discreetly, by a camera crew. As the film defines the goal of the documentary, “What are the new ground rules? How much has changed? How much is the same?” Apparently Steele had a reputation as someone who loved to take cross-country trips that stopped at dive bars, diners, and other such places—all of which sound dicey for a transgender woman traveling solo in the United States in 2024. Will would be able to run interference for his longtime friend as they criss-crossed America.

The music (Nathan Halpern) is very good, including the idea of having Kirsten Wiig write a “theme song” for their trip (She sings it at film’s end). The cinematography—including a stop at the Grand Canyon—is also wonderful. Harper” is simply a real-life, honest comic gem amidst a sea of boring drek. Hopefully, it will do some good in the world in the ongoing fight against hate. We’ve had enough of divisive rhetoric and mean-spirited people who want to make themselves feel powerful and others feel fearful. Let’s hear it for inclusivity and the love and good will towards others we are urged to practice by all religions.

THE STOPS

The pair set out from New York and made stops in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Iowa City, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Las Vegas and various other cities, most of them in “red” states. They were received well everywhere but Texas, where rude tweets follow the duo’s appearance at a steakhouse (Ferrell dressed as Sherlock Holmes and attempting to eat a 72-ounce steak). One Texas tweet that commented on the stop the pair had just made at Harper’s sister Eleanor’s house in Iowa City, called Ferrell “a Satanic illuminati pedophile in Iowa.” But the general reception was the opposite, although one critic has asked the obvious question if that is because a celebrity was running interference for his old friend. (Others wondered about product placement, since Pringles and Duncan Donuts get a lot of conversational time,)

IOWA CITY & SORROW

Harper’s sister, Eleanor, when she received the same e-mail that Ferrell got, responded to him quickly, “Oh, good! I’ve always wanted a sister.” However, when the pair actually stops for the night at her home in my old college town, Ferrell asks her what her reaction was upon receiving the news. She admits that “I was totally surprised” and defines the emotion she felt as “sorrow.”

I felt that sorrow, too, when Harper shared journaling snippets of the pain experienced for decades: “It wasn’t about body parts. It was about how I am in my head. Fix me or kill me,” is one entry. “A lot of transitioning is learning to accept yourself” is another truth shared in Peoria, Illinois, in a meeting with a 65-year-old transgender woman. “I dream of a world where I can lay my vulnerabilities out there for anyone…I knew something was weird in me growing up in Iowa, but it was impossible to think of doing anything about it.”

In a world where gay men are being executed in certain countries, you just want to repeat Rodney King’s mantra. May 1, 1992, King called a press conference in hopes of stopping the death and destruction after the L.A. riots. “I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids?”

CONCLUSION

This is a gem of a documentary, which contains so much pain and yet provokes so much laughter. One can’t help but smile when Ferrell, asked about his share of piloting the vintage automobile cross country responds, “I’m a narcoleptic and I’m not a good driver.”

As the theme song for the documentary goes, “a friend is a friend is a friend till the end.”

Catch this one when it streams on Netflix beginning September 27th.

“DEVO” Opens the 55th Nashville Film Festival on 9/19/2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 19, 2024

In Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Reviews

Opening night of the 55^th Nashville Film Festival on September 19, 2024, highlighted a documentary, DEVO, directed by Chad Smith, which premiered originally on January 21, 2024 at Sundance. As it was introduced to the audience at the Belcourt Theater, the comment was: “So insightful in ways that I never thought it would be.” The “Whip It” creators formed DEVO in 1973 in Akron, Ohio. They still seem to be ready and willing to continue as a band, if not as able as they were in the 70s and 80s. The dedication at documentary’s end was to three members of the group who are dead. At film’s end three of the surviving members—Bob Mothersbaugh, Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerard Casale—answered questions from the audience via zoom screen.

At the Opening of the 55th Nashville Film Festival.

The band credits the impetus for their formation to the political unrest at Kent State, Ohio, that led to the May 4, 1970 deaths of 4 students (and the wounding of 30) who were demonstrating against the Vietnam War. As someone who took part in demonstrations of the era at Berkeley, I can remember and relate to the horror the members of the group experienced at this historic mis-use of power in the United States. Nixon had expanded the war in Vietnam without an act of Congress; my generation’s young men were being sent to Vietnam to die in a war that was ill-advised and unwinnable. The draft was in full swing; we were mad as hell and not going to take it any more. The students had set fire to the ROTC headquarters on campus and burned that building down. President Richard Nixon decided to send in the National Guard, who opened fire on the unarmed students.

AHEAD OF THEIR TIME

DEVO:
photographed in Holland, 1978 by Barry Schulz.

Through the years, the band doggedly worked to satirize society and, as they admit, “We did some absurd things.” In explaining the famous “energy hats,” as well as the lacquered hair-dos that the band wore (based on JFK, not Reagan), the group admitted, “We like ironic humor.” They also said that the masks and hats and odd costumes were “a way to amuse ourselves—a very Meta idea.” DEVO was anti-punk rock, saying, “We’re the fluid in the punk enema bag.” Over the years, the group saw the future of film in music and began making music videos which were shown on MTV (MTV didn’t exist when the band first formed). Casale went on to helm music videos for current groups like Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters and Soundgarden.

Not only was the band way ahead of the curve in using music videos to promote themselves (most of which were directed by Gerard Casale), but they contributed to the birth of electronic music. Jim Mothersbaugh created circuit bending before there was a name for that process. Jim Mothersbaugh went to a muffler shop to build a guitar that was the precursor of the Moog synthesizer. In this respect, the film reminded me of the SXSW documentary “Resynator,” ,helmed by Alyson Tavel, which catalogued her father Don’s similar pioneering attempts to create the Moog synthesizer. (Highly recommended). DEVO has been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

FAMOUS FANS

Audience members at DEVO at the Nashville Film Festival on 9/19/2024.

After a video that the band submitted won an award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival their fortunes took a turn upwards. Famous fans included David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger, Dennis Hopper, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young. Over the years, the band made appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” David Letterman’s “Tonight” show, daytime talk shows like Merv Griffin’s, “American Bandstand” and many others. Neil Young put them in a movie entitled “Human Highway” in 1977 (released in 1982) where the members of the group wrote their own parts and portrayed nuclear garbagemen.

However, the group said, “Being self-aware put us in a delicate position” and added, “How soon will you become the people you hated?”

Q&A

During the post-film conversation with three members of DEVO the trio shared some amusing details of what they term the “headache” solo. This episode is shown onscreen. The small audience of 12 people dwindled to 6 people when all the band played were electronic high-pitched sounds. As Mark said, “The guitar players backstage were having a horrible time trying to tune their guitars. The bit ran five times as long as we thought it would. It was Supreme Dada—like Andy Kaufman performance art.”

Bob Mothersbaugh, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Gerard Casale during the zoom interview after the documentary DEVO.

CONCLUSION

This documentary about a band best-known for their #14 Billboard Hit “Whip It” was quite interesting. It drives home the need for good marketing, good management, and good legal advice in areas like the music, publishing and entertainment businesses. While DEVO’s video marketing was good, it was ahead of its time as MTV did not yet exist. The management and the legal advice seem to have been spectacularly MIA.

That, as much as anything else, led to the death of DEVO—(if they are really and truly dead.) As Mark Mothersbaugh said, “Somebody decided that DEVO should die. We succumbed to the same reality we were satirizing.” He added, “DEVO didn’t officially end” and said, perhaps prophetically, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

A solid opening to the 55th Nashville Film Festival.

2024 Emmies: In the Books, September 15, 2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 16, 2024

In News, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

Just finished watching the Emmies and—although not a comprehensive run-down of who won what—here are some impressions of the evening. Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”) hosted and did an excellent job.

SHOGUN, ET. AL.

While I do realize that “Shogun” set a record for the number of nominations, I have not seen it and will now have to find the time to take it in.

For me, given my admittedly not-comprehensive viewing of the nominees, I most enjoyed seeing “Baby Reindeer,” “Hacks” and “Ripley” win multiple awards. The Writer/Director/Lead Actor of “Baby Reindeer,” Richard Gadd, had one of the most inspiring remarks of the night (for me), upon accepting one of the three awards (Lead Actor in a Limited Drama or Anthology Series), which was this: “If ‘Baby Reindeer’ has proven anything, it is that the only constant is good storytelling that speaks to our times.” As a failed writer who attempts to speak to our times, thanks for that, Mr. Gadd. Co-star Jessica Gunning, who was fabulous in her role, was also present and won (Best Supporting Actress for a Limited or Anthology Series). It was nice to see Gadd wearing a kilt.

HACKS

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder in “Hacks”.

As for the “Hacks” win, I was present at the sneak peek of this year’s “Hacks” at SXSW. The love and sense of community in the room eclipsed even the time that “This Is Us” cast came to town; in all honesty, I was not as big a fan of “This Is Us,” but everyone else in the room was. You could feel the love, just like this year’s season preview of “Hacks.” Jean Smart had some serious health issues that delayed filming. I was fearful that the series might die if she did. I truly enjoy her comic timing. It’s so nice to see a woman over forty with the lead in a wonderfully written humorous show. [If you haven’t watched it, get on that!] Hannah Einbinder, daughter of “SNL’s” Laraine Newman, portraying her young assistant needs to win an Emmy soon, however, as she is just as good in this two-woman series. This one I applauded loudly with its 16 nominations (48 overall).

THE BEAR

I enjoyed the dig at “The Bear” as not really being a comedy series. As a sometimes Chicago resident, I really tried to get “in” to the series. I just could not. I’m not that interested in watching people cut up vegetables. To me, the potential plot trajectory was easy to figure out. We watched about five of them and stopped. I really like Jeremy Allen White (Lip in “Shameless”), however, so maybe we will try it again. Not sure I have it in me, but it’s worth a shot.

KATHY BATES

Kathy Bates is going to reprise “Matlock” and she has lost tons of weight since I met her at the Texas Filmmaking Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Austin a few years ago. I enjoyed her quip about how it was hard to get a date after “Misery.” There was also a jab at how the network is aiming the series at old people.

RIPLEY

Steven Zaillion, who directed “A Civil Action” (1998), “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011) and many other memorable films won for this series based on “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” “A veteran go-to script doctor in the industry, Steven Zaillian has contributed, uncredited, to screenplays on a number of projects over the years. They include Patriot Games (1992), Crimson Tide (1995), Twister (1996), Primal Fear (1996), Amistad (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Black Hawk Down (2001), Road to Perdition (2002) and Body of Lies (2008). He was also called upon in post-production to rewrite some scenes for re-shoots of Salt (2010). Zaillion wrote four screenplays for feature films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Awakenings (1990), Schindler’s List (1993), Gangs of New York (2002) and Moneyball (2011). Of those, Schindler’s List (1993) won Best Picture and earned Zaillian an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.”

With that pedigree as a writer, I sat up and watched every episode of the series “Ripley” on Friday night and he won tonight. It is based on the book and film that starred Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow (1999). It took me until 4 a.m, to make it to the final installment, which was exceptionally clever.

I came away with this observation about Italy: I CAN’T CLIMB THAT MANY STAIRS!!! As I watched character after character (policemen, victims, suspects, etc.) struggling to carry luggage up huge staircases (the elevator was always broken) I quickly abandoned any thought of strolling through the storied streets of Rome or Venice. Of course, I have been there a few times in my life, but my left knee was in better shape then. I didn’t injure it in the bicycling accident until 1997.

Having devoted most of Friday night to finishing off “Ripley,” I was happy to see Zaillion win. The end of the series was masterful, and the series was much different from the book or the film based upon it. It was a much more successful new look at an old property than the recent revival of “Presumed Innocent” from David Kelley. But “Ripley” is shot in black-and-white so be warned.

CANDACE BERGEN

Candace Bergen.

It was nice to see Candace Bergen again. She got in a good dig at former VP Dan Quayle and how he had criticized her character of Murphy Brown on her hit TV show for giving birth without benefit of marriage. She commented that no current Vice President would criticize her for having a child. She ended her (veiled political) remarks with “Meow,”

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION

This winner (“The Traitor”) won for Peacock and Allen Cummings, the host, picked up the award. He’s literally one of only two celebrities in my 20 years of covering the Chicago International Film Festival who came to Chicago years ago and was rude to we “little people” (press). I won’t bore you with the details, but I did not clap when he won, even though I enjoyed his work on “The Good Wife.” The only one who was worse all those many years ago has since died, so that makes Allen Cummings the worst, for me.

LAST WEEK TONIGHT

John Oliver in November 2016

John Oliver won for the Outstanding Scripted Variety Show, which had 6 nominations this year and has amassed 67 total nominations. It was a well-deserved win, but the bit about Lorne Greene of “Saturday Night Live” having been nominated 85 times without winning was a comic jewel. There was also a similar bit about being nomiated 17 times without a win for a woman I think was Padma Lakshi (although, without a scorecard and in this category, not sure.)

OUTSTANDING TALK SERIES

“The Daily Show,” with 4 nominations, saw Jon Stewart (who only appears on Mondays) take the podium. Jimmy Kimmel, who was also nominated in the category and lost, got in a good zinger when he said something to the effect of, “I thought you said you were retiring.”

WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

This one went to someone named Will Smith for “Slow Horses.” “Slow Horses” is British and stars Gary Oldman. We needed captioning to watch it and tried hard to do so, without success. I wondered if Will Smith was going to slap anybody. (Oh. Wait. Wrong Will Smith).

My failure to know much about “Slow Horses” (other than that it is supposed to be good, like “The Bear,” but we couldn’t get into it), leads me to admit that I don’t know who Lamore Morris is or what show by Noah Hawley he stars in, except that he beat out Robert Downey, Jr., for the statue and he almost could not be gotten offstage. Seriously, he did not appear to have prepared any kind of “thank you” and it showed. All I can say is, “So many shows; so little time.”

JODIE FOSTER

Jodie Foster in 2011.

It was nice to see Jodie Foster win for her spooky role on “True Detective: Night Country” (even though the plot eventually defied logic and collapsed under its own weight ) but I have to admit that the thing that struck me the most about seeing her again (besides the fact that she had bare arms that looked toned and muscly) was that she publicly kissed her female Significant Other as she rose to accept her award. That is after beaucoup years of being mum about her status as a lesbian raised by a lesbian mother. There was also an award (The Governor’s Award) given to a man nobody knew, Gary Berlanti, for his LGBTQ support and activities,

Berlanti came to the microphone and made a very heartfelt statement about being gay in America in the bad old days. It made me happy that we do not live in the Russia or Iran or Iraq that actually makes it a crime to be gay (and, in some cases, executes such individuals) and reminded me of a powerful documentary I saw years ago at CIFF entitled “Be Like Others.”

Berlanti’s win and trip to the stage led me to hope that he would put in a pitch about voting for the candidate who promoted acceptance of all races, colors, creeds and sexual orientations. He missed that opportunity, although John Leguizamo got in some very relevant remarks about how nice it was that Latino actors (et. al.) are now getting to play the roles that they were born for, i.e., people of whatever ethnic persuasion the script required. Rita Moreno’s documentary “Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It” stressed this aspect of movies of yore, and Leguizamo mentioned Natalie Wood being cast as Maria in the original “West Side Story,” by name (as well as Marlon Brando and others being cast for roles that should have gone to the minority portrayed.)

Ask yourself which presidential candidate or ticket would be most likely to welcome minorities and promotes inclusivity and vote accordingly. It will be interesting to see and hear the reactions of networks like Fox to tonight’s Emmy ceremony.

The Moose Is Loose on Friday the 13th (2024)

By Connie Wilson

On September 14, 2024

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Local, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Pop Culture

@trump_mania
President Trump stops by TreeHouse Pub in Bettendorf, Iowa! #trump #donaldtrump #donaldjtrump #trump2024 #trump #maga #makeamericagreatagain
♬ original sound – JH

Amanda and I were mightily amused by the Moose. (It doesn’t take much to entertain us).

Harking back to my post-debate piece on the Harris/Trump September 10^th debate, faithful readers—all 3 of you—will remember that I asked the question “IS LUCY SAFE?” regarding a pet cat that we were forced to re-home because of our wintering in Texas. Lucy—like the pet cats and dogs that Donald J. Trump claimed during the September 10^th debate are being kidnapped and eaten in Springfield, Ohio—was an indoor/outdoor cat, as she had come to us from the ravine behind our house. Could she have become a statistic in Trump’s always unreliable statistics?

The newspapers on the day after the debate, were filled with memes and comments on that unlikely topic of the debate, i.e., the kidnapping of cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio and their alleged use as an entrée by Haitian immigrants. In Springfield (a town that Bart Simpson calls home) it has apparently gotten so bad that the city fathers have asked for understanding. They have acknowledged that their city’s sudden fame and prominence has become a real problem, complete with bomb threats.

Taylor Swift and cats

The dog/cat debate came on the heels of the RFK, Jr. revelation ( made to Roseanne Barr while on television) that he once picked up a dead bear that was road kill and took the animal with him to clean it and eat it. While this may be normal behavior for the Kennedy clan, most of us would not stop and scavenge a dead animal, taking it along to clean and eat later.

In the version I read, RFK, Jr.. then remembered that he had reservations at Peter Luger’s Steakhouse—an establishment I have actually eaten at once—and, therefore, decided to forgo cutting his own steaks from the dead bear. Instead, the young RFK, Jr., dumped the dead bear in Central Park, along with a bicycle. This may have been imeant to make others think the bear bicycled there and expired. (I’m not sure I understand the part where one stops and picks up road kill, saving it “for later,” but I definitely found the bear/bicycle story to be even more unbelievable than the Springfield cats & dogs story.) Also, I wondered if the Moosehead was much smaller than the whale head that RFK, Jr., is said to have cut off with an electric saw after the animal washed up on a beach.

Does this moosehead rival the whale head that RFK, Jr., also is said to have removed with a chain saw?

So, with the two paragraphs above as preamble, imagine my surprise when, upon leaving a restaurant known as the Treehouse, there was a $1,795 dollar moose head sitting outside the door in a flimsy wooden cage. Wow. This was random even on a Friday the 13^th! And WHY was the moose head—worth nearly $2 grand—sitting there with no security and no obvious owner? Was Brian Rashid planning on mounting it somewhere within the restaurant? Did it have anything to do with the Bull Moose Party? (That’s the last time a very questionable assassination attempt went awry when the bullet struck a copy of Teddy Roosevelt’s speech, as I understand it.)

THE TREEHOUSE

Brian Rashid, owner of “The Treehouse”

The Treehouse (Bettendorf, Iowa) is owned (or co-owned) by Brian Rashid, who is a big Donald J. Trump admirer. On September 20, 2023, DJT stopped by the Treehouse restaurant in Bettendorf, Iowa, after campaign stops in Maquoketa and Dubuque. Articles online suggest Rashid has had 12 or 13 DUI arrests and may have been illegally triggering alarms to see if law enforcement responded promptly enough to suit him. It is somewhat remarkable that the GOP party in Scott County was not aware of all this about the owner of the Treehouse, since it isn’t what most campaigns would want associated with their candidate…unless the candidate is Donald J. Trump. Trump handed out pizza to random patrons; he signed autographs for some of the lovelies assembled in the restaurant.

DJT at the Treehouse in Bettendorf, Iowa

Trump at work charming Iowans and signing…uh…autographs?

THE MOOSEHEAD

The moose is loose.

As we were exiting the restaurant on September 13^th (FRIDAY, the 13^th), there was a large moose head immediately outside the door, with a price tag commensurate with the going rate on large moose heads: $1,795. (The moose is loose!). I couldn’t help but wonder if RJK, Jr., had a hand in this random moosehead situation right outside the door of one of the area’s most vocal Trump supporters.

DINING AT THE TREEHOUSE ON FRIDAY THE 13th

I cannot fault the food, (although the Scott County Health examiners have done so after inspections), but on Friday the 13^th the women’s bathroom was tied up the entire night. No idea what, exactly, was going on in there, but there is only one rest room for the men (a one-holer) and one rest room for the women (also a one-holer). I stopped and tried to enter the women’s rest room on our way into the restaurant, as I had consumed two Diet Dr. Peppers prior to our trek across I-74 to dine. A full 40 minutes later it was still impossible to gain entrance. Then our friends (a couple with two children, one a third-grade girl) arrived.

Isla wanted to wash her hands. I accompanied her to the rest room that had been “busy” when we entered.

It was still busy. At least 40 minutes had passed since my first futile attempt to use the rest room.

If you want a Moose head, be prepared to shell out Big Bucks. (But money well spent—right?)

I encouraged my small companion to give the door handle a good try. She certainly did.

Later, she announced her intention of standing by the door until the occupant emerged. (That was way more than I was willing to do.)

Soon, Isla returned to our table and shared the news that the toilet in the women’s rest room was “all backed up” and that she heard a woman “throwing up” behind the door. (She gave a very good imitation of the noise she heard. Bravo, Isla!). She advised that any of us wanting to use the bathroom should try the men’s rest room. (Nothing like a smart third-grader to cut to the root of the problem and figure out what is going on behind a locked door.)

The food and service was satisfactory, but the rest room situation was not great. I told our server that the women’s rest room had been continuously occupied for at least an hour and he acknowledged that it was “probably a staff member.” (Ewwww)

So ends my tale of the Treehouse Restaurant in Bettendorf, Iowa, (which offers the Plantation Salad, well-known in the area if you are 50 or older). And a story of cats, whales, moose, RFK, Jr., DJT and Friday the 13th, 2024.

“Voice of Shadows:” Long on Creepy; Short on Screenplay Sense

By Connie Wilson

On September 13, 2024

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews, Scary stories, Television

“Voice of Shadows” has the benefit of a truly intriguing trailer that should interest viewers. It appears to be a classic horror film dealing with a possibly haunted house and an elderly woman named “Milda” (Jane Hammill) who lives in it. And dies in it, willing the house to her niece Emma (Corinne Mica). There’s also a claim that Milda has “died twice” and a poorly explained tie to occult goings-on in the past.

The tag line for the film was, “A young working class woman stands to inherit an estate if she and her boyfriend abide by a set of bizarre stipulations.” The film was written and directed by Nicholas Bain (as Nick Bain) and shot in Minnesota—a surprise, as the house and setting seemed more European than American, but, then, Nick Bain is originally from Minnesota, which he left in 2014 to travel to Los Angeles to make movies.

THE GOOD

Right now, horror is an extremely hot genre. (It makes me think I should do something more with my screenplay for the three-novel set “The Color of Evil.”) If Nick Bain can write this script, mine might have a chance. The good news for me is that this script gives me hope for my own to succeed. “If this one can, my script can.” [That isn’t necessarily good news as my commentary on the script for “Voice of Shadows.”]

The cinematography by Neil Murphy and the music by Utkucan Eken and Elif Karlidag was quite good at setting the spooky overall mood. Trailer totally sucked me in. (Read on, to see if that first peek pays off).

The acting was adequate. We won’t be seeing any of the actors or actresses at the Oscars, but horror is a hard sell to the Academy.

The length of the movie, at 90 minutes, was like “the old days,” a welcome relief from the 3-hour marathon recent films. Bravo!

The house set was impressive, but the time the movie is supposed to take place in is a mystery. The old rotary dial phone would indicate long ago, but we never really find out.

The visual effects by Jeff Sardar were fine. The visual effects won the film an award at the Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film Festival. Having black stuff come out of the heroine’s mouth isn’t that new a visual effect, but it still works. For that matter, the film has had three wins and four nominations, with the Latitude Film Awards and the Romford Horror Festival naming it Best Feature Film.

THE BAD

Voice of Shadows horror film, featuring Aunt Milda

Voice of Shadows poster, featuring Aunt Milda

Guillermo Blanco (The Queen of Flow”) plays the lead of Gabriel. It seems that Milda, the old woman who owns the house, doesn’t like Gabriel. One of the “bizarre stipulations” that Milda has put on the inheritance of her impressive house by her niece Emma is that Gabriel never stay there—not even for one night. Given the “plot spill” that the script begins with, where Gabriel is in the confessional and confesses to being a murderer (for good reasons as he lays out the case for the first murder) that scene makes Gabriel’s first murder initially seem reasonable, (just as the old television series “Dexter” used to justify Dexter’s homicidal acts with a variety of plausible excuses.)

Gabriel’s character throughout is difficult for the audience to figure out. He is swilling liquor from a bottle while in the confessional. We can conclude from that that he drinks too much (and in the wrong places). That certainly might influence his decision-making. But Gabriel still seems very willing to murder people at a moment’s notice. The worst assault was a fellow named Ernest (Martin Harris). Gabriel’s motives for plunging a knife into Ernest are unclear; the screenplay goes downhill from there. I wanted to sympathize with and like Gabriel, because he initially seemed like a good fellow and Milda’s instant dislike for him appeared to be petty jealousy, but murdering multiple people with little or no motivation was a bit much, even for me.

The acting by female lead Corinne Mica (“Always, Lola”) as Emma and Maria Jose Vargas Aguidelo as Celeste and Guillermo Blanco as Gabriel was adequate. I thought that Father John, played by Michael Paul Levin was stronger in his supporting part. Bee Vang (“Stranger Things,” “Gran Torino”) plays Father James.

PLOT REVEALS

There was a lot of information dumped on the audience, beginning with the very first confessional scene. Too much telling and not enough showing. I’ve written scripts. A couple of them have even won awards. It’s better to assume the audience is savvy enough to put two-and-two together than to have your main characters ranting on about why they did this or why they did that in a long monologue.

It’s easy to see that Emma’s character and behavior is changing once her Aunt Milda leaves her the house. Emma begins disappearing with Ernesto to “the art gallery.” As a general criticism, most of the climactic scenes in the film—murders and the like—either have no explanation or are overly explained. So, for me, the script needed work.

There was nothing super original or new in the film, but the trailer is very well-done. As horror movies go, “Voice of Shadows” (the title made me think of “Stir of Echoes”) was a good effort with some inexplicable plot directions that might need rethinking or refining.

VOICE OF SHADOWS will arrive September 17 on digital and streaming platforms, including iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Fandango at Home, Vimeo, and local cable & satellite providers.

VOICE OF SHADOWS

Directed by: Nicholas Bain

Written by: Nicholas Bain

Starring: Guillermo Blanco, Corrinne Mica, Bee Vang, Michael Paul Levin, Martin Harris

Produced by: Guillermo Blanco, Martin Harris, Jamie Roberts

Executive Producers: Nick Breid, Todd R. Johnson, Dan Lehto,

Stephen McGraw, Nicholas Bain

Associate Producers: Matthew Fahey, Matt Roy

Cinematography by: Neil Murphy

Edited by: Mark Ferris

Music Composed by: Utkucan Eken, Elif Karlidag

USA I 2024 I Horror, Thriller I 90 minutes | NR

“Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken” on 9/22 at Nashville Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On September 9, 2024

In Editorial, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

Melissa Etheridge appears in a series streaming on Paramount Plus as of July 7^th, entitled “Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken.” The two episodes are being shown on Sunday, September 22, from 7 to 9 p.m. as part of the Nashville Film Festival.

Young Melissa Etheridge.

A native of Leavenworth, Kansas, Etheridge is shown visiting the Topeka Correctional Facility for Women, after having corresponded with many of the inmates for 9 months prior. It was a homecoming of sorts for the singer, as, like Johnny Cash, she had performed at a Kansas prison when she was only 12 years old, in 1973. Brian Morrow and Amy Scott directed the series and five of the inmates of the prison are shown reading the letters they wrote to Etheridge. Etheridge talks with the five women and performs for them.

Saying that their letters inspired her, Melissa wrote some original music for the concert and said, “I realize I can’t save anyone, but I’m looking to inspire.”

HIGH POINTS

The Mayor of Leavenworth, Jermaine Wilson, who did 3 years in prison himself, is shown talking with Etheridge about the upcoming concert. Wilson and Etheridge, together, stressed that they wanted to inspire and encourage the imprisoned felons, saying, “Mistakes don’t define you. You are not a failure. You are not a mistake. You were created on purpose for a purpose.”

Mayor Jermaine Wilson of Leavenworth, KS.

Mayor Jermaine Wilson of Leavenworth, Kansas.

In addition to much charitable work, Melissa also founded the Etheridge Foundation which attempts to legalize cannabis and other drugs that might be useful for therapeutic purposes. She shared with the crowd of women—many of them incarcerated specifically for selling, using, or possession of drugs—that she once had an arrest as she entered the U.S. from Canada through North Dakota, where cannabis was illegal. “The best I can do is to be an example—a light that holds you up and says you matter.”

PRISON STATISTICS

Meghan Davis, an employee of the facility, said that the likelihood of a woman being the victim of a crime never drops for women as it does for men. Women do not grow up and become less likely to become victims of crime. In fact, over the last 40 years, there has been an 84% increase in women convicted of crimes and imprisoned, many of them crimes that originated with a drug habit.

Of the 760 women incarcerated in Topeka, 500 are mothers or grandmothers. Prison employee Dani Essman talked about how many of the imprisoned women lose their identity. One of the women expressed gratitude for Etheridge’s actions, saying, “We were just grateful that she gave a shit.”

POIGNANT SHARE

Melissa and her then-partner Julie Cypher had 2 children. Cypher gave birth to Bailey Jean and Beckett.^[⁶⁵^] Cypher became pregnant via artificial insemination using sperm donated by musician David Crosby.^[⁶⁶^] Cypher and Etheridge separated in 2000. On May 13, 2020, Etheridge announced on Twitter that her son with Cypher, Beckett, had died at the age of 21 of a drug overdose related to opioid addiction. (Her daughter, Bailey Jean, graduated from Columbia in 2019).

Beckett and sister Bailey.

When Etheridge shared this personal heartbreak with the crowd, she sang the song “Shadow of a Black Crow,” which she said she seldom performs. One of the lines in the song is, “I would rather die fast than ever drive slow. Father, forgive me, for what my mother don’t know.”

Etheridge—speaking to so many women who know only too well the curse of addiction—said, “He (Beckett) was either gonna’ find his way out or not, and in his case not.” Referencing the lyric “The scratch marks on my soul from the shadow of a black crow” Etheridge said, “I miss him here, but I know he is here (gesturing upwards).”

SECOND HALF

In the second episode of the Melissa Etheridge Paramount Plus offering “I’m Not Broken” Ms. Etheridge composed a song especially for the inmates of the Topeka State Prison. We witnessed the actual creative process as Etheridge discusses the evolution of the song. Band member Joe Ayoub tells us that they worked up the band’s part from Friday to Sunday.

Onstage.

particularly heartbreaking story, told by one of the five women spotlighted in the special (Andrea, Cierra, Jessica, Kristi and Leigh) shared with the viewers was that she became hooked on drugs and was pregnant by 19. Her baby died ten minutes before she gave birth.

Etheridge opened up about her son Beckett’s death on May 13, 2020. Beckett was born on November 18, 1998. Etheridge explained his addiction as stemming from Vicodin administered after a snowboarding accident. His addiction quickly spiraled out of control.

Beckett was 21 when the police found him dead after a wellness check that Melissa and her former partner Julie Cypher requested.

THE ODD

Beckett and Bailey.

I found Melissa Etheridge’s sharing of her personal trauma brave, but odd.

Melissa and son Beckett.

She said, “I do not let it take me out of my own sense of well-being. You can accept a person’s choices and it doesn’t have to destroy you.” She seemed remarkably calm and distanced from grief at the death of her son. I couldn’t help but wonder if, like the devotees of the new meditation start-up Jhourney, Etheridge has internalized the life rule “true peace comes from accepting things just as they are.” I admit that I was taken aback at the calm way Etheridge discussed the death of her 21-year-old son, Beckett. It was shocking and surprising; she seemed somewhat clinically detached. The death had taken place three years prior so that may help explain the low-key dispassionate discussion the film showcases.

CONCLUSION

The 2 part serial look into Melissa Etheridge’s life and creative process was interesting, but repetitive. There were too many shots of Etheridge performing on the temporary stage set up outside the prison walls. The interviews with the five inmates (Andrea, Cierra, Jessica, Kristi and Leigh) were conducted in less-than-optimal settings and there were a lot of those table shots. Perhaps film of the five inmates establishing the women’s relationships with their families of origin before they were incarcerated would have helped?

Onstage.

What comes through loud and clear is that Melissa Etheridge is a time-tested talent. She asks the assembled women if they are familiar with her music. Some are not. For them she described her audience as those aged 50 and up, as her Grammy-winning years were approximately 1993 through 2007. That’s a pity, as she is just as talented now as she was in earlier years— more seasoned and just as creative. She continues to write. This series is a tribute to a true talent trying to bring redemption and empowerment to incarcerated female prisoners. It is a wonderful humanitarian concept.

Melissa Etheridge onstage.

What else could have been done to liven up the many scenes of Ms. Etheridge talking with the inmates? The library setting was used repeatedly. Melissa performing onstage was entertaining, but also repetitive. Those were the weak points of the two-episode series, which will screen at the Nashville Film Festival on Sunday, September 22^nd, from 7 to 9 p.m., and on Paramount Plus.

THE GOAL

The goal of bringing hope to the incarcerated women of the Topeka Correctional Facility for Women was worthwhile and deserving of support. The plea for accepting drugs for therapeutic purposes is also a progressive step forward, just as Etheridge’s original song “I Need to Wake Up” for Al Gore’s 2007 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” which won the Academy Award, was part of a good cause, trying to alert the world to the dangers of global warming. (I can’t help but regret how our weather patterns might be different if Florida and the candidate’s brother had not been allowed to prevail in the hanging chads election of 2000. A candidate whose party had no plan at all to address global warming—and still does not—was declared the winner. Al Gore, who was extremely concerned about our stewardship of the planet, stepped aside with decorum. How times change!)

Reservations aside, it’s a pleasure to watch a Top-Notch Singer/Songwriter writing and performing her work. Etheridge’s social conscience cannot be denied. This two-part Paramount Plus series is a testament to that .

“The Day the Music Stopped” to Screen at Nashville Film Festival on 9/20/2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 7, 2024

In Editorial, Music, News, Pop Culture, travel

THE EXIT/IN

Exit/In bar in Nashville, Tennessee

“The Day the Music Stopped,” directed by Patrick Sheehan is a 95 minute film that explores the end of an iconic Nashville indie music venue, the Exit/In. Last year’s Nashville Film Festival ended with a buffet meal at the Exit/In. It was great. The Big Names who have played at the iconic Exit/In venue appeared on plaques that literally filled the walls.

The room hosted its last indie concert on November 23, 2022. Fifty-one years of music as an independent venue stopped when Goliath beat David. As Wikipedia explained, Exit/In’s demise, it had 25 different owners over the years from 1971 to 2022 and was not continuously open, but it definitely was a place where many big names in music either got their start or performed over the years. It even served vegetarian food for a brief period. Comedian Steve Martin performed there while climbing the ladder of success.

LAST INDIE OWNERS LOSE

The final owners before the Big Boys of Music moved in and took over were Chris Cobb and his wife, Teisha, who put up a valiant fight to keep the venue independent. However, on November 14, 2022, club operators, Chris and Telisha Cobb, announced their departure.^[^2] In December 2022 AJ Capital Partners, was announced as the new purchasers and operators of the venue.^[^3]^[^4] The venue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023. There are still shows at Exit/In and the Rock Block, but admission prices to the 500-seat space have, no doubt, increased. (There was even talk of how Live Nation would charge musicians a fee simply to use their lights.) There is a hopeful bit of film showcasing (Attorney General) Merrick Garland at the very end of the film that would probably bring forth a cheer from the group assembled in the photo below this paragraph.

Exit/In’s last indie show in 2022.

This film depicts the tumultuous last show as an indie venue and also charts a path forward that gives a glimmer of hope—a national movement, Save our Stages. Watching the crowd surfing group revel one last time you could feel the joy and also the sadness in the room.

The city and the state face the reality that capitalistic greed is destroying the music culture created in Nashville over decades. As Chris Cobb of the Exit/In said, “The winds of charge are certainly upon us.” Much of the fight centers on who owns the brand name “Exit/In.” (Still unresolved). A.J. Capital Partners (of Chicago) is the villain of the piece, especially when we learn that they are in business with Live Nation. It seems to be only a matter of time before the Big Boys gobble up all of the small venues that used to provide platforms for the future Taylor Swifts and Garth Brooks of the music business.

One by one, iconic venues are listed and (mostly) shown going under—Mercy Lounge (closed May 19, 2022), Douglas Corners, Exit/In, Lindsay Corners (saw Low Cut Connie there the last time I was in town), the Bluebird Cafe. The music business is still very unstable post-pandemic. Although Exit/In closed for what they thought would only be 3 months during the pandemic, the iconic venue once reopened in 1981 by Chuck Berry which spawned so many big names through the years is one of the casualties of what is described as “a corporate takeover of America by capitalists.” Exit/In still open, but it’s not the same.

THE OLD DAYS

Up-and-coming Nashville.

Many in the documentary talk about how, if you arrived in Nashville before 2012 or 2013, Nashville was a very different town. My daughter selected Nashville as her college town in 2005 (Belmont College). She can testify to the many changes that the city has experienced.

The film does a good job of explaining why 43 buildings on Music Row were demolished between 2013 and 2018. It also lays bare the dilemma that Nashville faces. “It truly is a crisis situation here in Music City.” As the Mayor outlined “an unparalleled series of challenges for cities with only a few million in cash reserves” the picture begins to focus. It’s not good news for those who considered Exit/In “a sacred space for Nashville.”

John Cooper, Mayor of Nashville.

John Cooper, the Mayor of Nashville, explains that, although Nashville has certainly enjoyed a booming economy, “We had not been a good steward of our finances.” When tough times hit, Nashville only had a few million dollars in its contingency fund, not enough to handle the crises that beset the city, beginning in 2010.

THE FLOOD, THE STORM, COVID & OTHER CATASTROPHES

Nashville flood of 2010.

First, there was the flood of 2010, which ruined downtown Nashville.

Then came the deadliest tornado on record on March 2, 2020 (25 people died). (There’s been another since then that killed 3 people on the block where my daughter lives in December of 2023.)

Just one week later, Covid struck the nation and the world.

Indie music venues were impacted very negatively. Even today, “a lot of clubs are in limbo.” It is an eco-system that cannot survive without assistance. The Exit/In closed for what they thought would be 3 months.

Add to the natural disasters the 63-year-old Nashville resident, Anthony Quinn Walker, who blew himself up inside an RV parked outside an AT&T building on December 25^th of 2020, taking most of historic 2^nd Avenue with him, and you have the makings of the dilemma that haunts creatives in Nashville now. As the film points out so well, the residents of Nashville have to ask themselves “Where are we heading?”

A GLIMMER OF HOPE

Famous spokespeople like Ben Folds speak out about the potential closing of RCA Studio A, the studio where Chet Atkins and Elvis recorded. It was established on June 20, 1924. It almost met the wrecking ball on Chet Atkins’ 90^th birthday, until some notable names like Ben Folds and Keith Urban stepped up and made efforts to save the iconic studio.

Erica Wollam, General Manager & Chief Operating Officer Bluebird Cafe.

Throughout the film there is much information about the fight to keep the Exit/In out of the hands of Live Nation. But Live Nation bought Ticketmaster and, as one executive told the owner of the venue, “In 10 years we’ll control the business from the top to the bottom.” A 2021 Live Nation document is shown onscreen that spells out how, if an artist were to cancel his or her Live Nation concert, “the artist will pay promoters double the artist fee.” It also highlighted how the cost of insurance to artists increased from 0% to 100% and, all-in-all, while getting only 40 cents on the dollar from any gig they might play in Music City under the auspices of the big music biz entrepreneurs, it has become more and more difficult to make a living as a musician—not that it was ever easy.

There are those who are fighting to save the stages. Jeff Syracuse, a BMI executive, is a City Councilman who is well aware of the competition for space in Nashville and how new talent is struggling to find a launching pad amongst dwindling indie clubs. Mike Curb, Chuck Elcan, Chris Cobb, Representative Johnny Garrett (R, Goodlettsville) are all shown working to pass a state-wide live music fund, the first in the nation, that would help struggling indie venues, which seems to be meeting some success by film’s end.

Honky Tonk Central.

Near the end of the film Chris Cobb (last owner of the Exit/In) is awarded the Blayne Tucker Advocacy Award for his work with Save Our Stages. I’ve never heard of Blayne Tucker. But I could relate to the talking head in the film who said “Money is gonna’ win a lot of the time.”

Patrick Sheehan, Stephen Thompson, Ian Criswell (Cinematographers/Director) and Michael Gomez (Photography), with editing by Sheehan have done a great job with this film. It sounds very familiar to an Austin (Tx) resident to learn that the music industry is not a straight-arrow biz. But it does have people within it who really love what they do and want to preserve music culture in their city for all the right reasons.

And then there are the others who just want to make as much money as they can as fast as they can; they don’t seem to care about much else. The creators of “The Day the Music Stopped,” both onscreen and behind the camera compiling this engaging documentary, obviously do care. With this documentary they are trying to help preserve the true spirit of Nashville. It’s a sobering look at greed spurred by the competition for space in Nashville. I hope those fighting the good fight catch a break in their struggle. Stay tuned for further developments in Nashville and nationwide.

Wild Bill & the Bruisers Rock Austin on August 30th, 2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 1, 2024

In Editorial, Music, Pop Culture

As part of our annual Wilson Family Fest, some of us journeyed out to hear Nashville band “Wild Bill and the Bruisers” at a bar in Austin, Texas, that was literally less than 5 minutes from our south Austin home. The Nashville-based band that plays on Broadway at various venues was only supposed to be the opening band for a band that had double-booked themselves, leading to the band playing from 8 p.m. until midnight at Sam’s Town Point at 2115 Allred Drive on Friday, August 30th.

Son Scott, Wild Bill (Will Allison), me on Friday night in Austin.

Since the daughter (Stacey) is a Nashville resident, and a graduate of Belmont University just like band leader Will Allison (aka, Wild Bill) she knew them all. Also in the 3-member band are lead guitar and vocals Ryan Hartman and Roger Ross on drums.

The band has an infectious enthusiasm; the crowd this night got into the spirit quickly. The band is releasing an album of their original songs. I think they announced the album would drop on September 14th, but don’t hold me to that. (Some of us were imbibing and dancing at the time.) I learned that my daughter has been doing the two-step a lot, and the rest of the crew (me included) certainly saw some accomplished dancers sweating up a storm in the low-ceilinged and hot Sam’s Town Point. If you look up “dive” in the dictionary, after the verb definition, you might find a picture of Sam’s Town Point, but it’s hard to fault the performance of the three musicians or the response of the crowd.

A friend of Will’s asked me to dance “the two-step,” a dance which I had never seen, let alone danced. Houston (my dance partner) informed me that the rules for this dance were: “Don’t look at your feet. Two steps left and one step right. Keep it close, like you’re in a closet.” I had just drunk my third or fourth Diet Coke (yes, I was drinking plain Diet Coke; after all, I’m here for the Texas Liver Institute to figure out why my liver enzymes are sky high, and your liver hates alcohol.) So, at least I was sober. (As Bill Murray would say, “At least I had that going for me,”)

Will Allison, aka Wild Bill of Wild Bill and the Bruisers

I was intent on hearing the band, as I had seen video of the lead on the bass throwing that thing around like it was a child’s toy. Will (Bill) needs a fairly high ceiling to do it justice and said he had developed a bit of a bad knee from going down on one knee to hoist the rather large fiddle into the air.

All-in-all, it was very entertaining. The honky-tonk and country tunes were big crowd-pleasers. I haven’t thought of the name Conway Twitty since the movie “Bye, Bye Birdie,” where it was changed to Conrad Birdie. That was 1963 and I was a senior in high school, so I was definitely not “up” on the catalogue of tunes that the band covered, but the original song “Do You Want to Dance With Me?” (on the new album) had a Huey Lewis and the News vibe. I certainly know who Johnny Cash was, but my knowledge of honky tonk and/or country music is seriously impaired by devotion to rock-and-roll. Enjoyed the Johnny Cash song Wild Bill selected, as he sold it well.

If you’re going to be in Nashville, check them out by checking their blog for dates and places, https://www.wildbillandthebruisers.com/

You won’t be disappointed.