Is the new Ghostbusters movie good?
👻 Ghostbusters review · A new TN hit piece · D-5 race update · Kupin on the ropes · Moon landing · Much more!
The news during Holy Week was dire. According to Gallup, only 30% of American adults attend church regularly, a marked decline of more than 12% over the last twenty years. Curiously, amid this narrative of Americans’ alleged demand for increased secularity, Hollywood’s output has taken a decisively spiritual turn. From Sound of Freedom and the tepid new Bob Marley biopic to the resurgence of religious horror in The Exorcist: Believer, The First Omen, and Immaculate, movie culture has noted our spiritual lack. Yet, no film has been able to diagnose it with as much depth and savvy as the latest battle between the Ghostbusters and an ancient evil.
Since the original became an unlikely box office hit in 1984, Ghostbusters has dealt head-on with the role the otherworldly plays in the increasingly secularized American metropolis. Released during the ramping up of the Cold War’s last act, it is perhaps the most enduring franchise to come from Hollywood’s brief turn toward academics and inventors as blockbuster heroes, a time in which Indiana Jones, Doc Brown, and the teenagers of Real Genius and Weird Science served as a cinematic rebuttal to Russia’s scientific and military prowess.
Ghostbusters has long been the only Hollywood property that willingly avoids the schism between the scientific and spiritual. In a world of ghouls ranging from the oozy to the apocalyptic, the real villains of the franchise have always been institutions–whether the dogmatic Academy that cast out the heroes for their fringe theories or the EPA led by middle manager Walter Peck (William Atherton) who put the Busters in jail in the original hours before armageddon befell New York City.
📰 In Other Media The latest hit piece on the state of Tennessee comes from George Chidi writing for The Guardian. Titled “You have imprisoned our democracy: inside Republicans’ domination of Tennessee,” it peddles the same tired arguments about the state’s Republican supermajority. In particular, it pays favorable attention to Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and chair of the Metro Human Relations Commission Maryam Abolfazli, all of whom are portrayed as martyrs for the cause. As far as hit pieces go, it's pretty uninspired, but we'll add it to the binder.
My go-to response to these rote attacks is to point out that, despite all this negative press, people still move to this state in droves and, uniquely, start families here. Between 2020 and 2022, for example, Tennessee was one of only five states in the country where the population of children aged zero to four increased. This trend is particularly strong in the ring counties surrounding Davidson.
🗳 District Five Race Speaking of Abolfazli, she's planning a run for the state's 5th Congressional District seat, now held by Andy Ogles. She'll be joined on the Democratic ballot by Kiran Sreepada of College Grove and Arnie Malham of Nashville. On the right, current council member Courtney Johnston is considering challenging Ogles with support from The Best of Tennessee, a new nonpartisan initiative to change what they say is the state's “dysfunctional political environment” and curb a “bubble of ideological extremism.” Cybersecurity executive Tom Guarente is also considering a run on the GOP ticket, but word on the street is that the Republican forces aligning against Ogles think their best chance of unseating him is to run just one candidate.
🥊 Kupin on the Ropes On Tuesday, the council deferred a rules change that would allow constituents to use the public comment period to speak on any relevant issue. As it stands, speakers are limited to staying on the topic of a specific piece of legislation.
As those who tune into council meetings know, constituents who have taken advantage of the public comment period have found creative ways to work around the standing rules. Such was the case last meeting during comments concerning the East Bank master development agreement and ground lease agreements with Fallon and StadCo. Councilmember Kupin found himself in the crosshairs of ridicule regarding everything from his disregard for indigenous people to the strife between Israel and Palestine. A sample:
"Councilmember Kupin, on your Twitter or X page on February 9th, you actually documented a meeting with Mr. Albert Bender of the Indigenous Peoples Coalition during which you feigned regard for the Native American history that was destroyed in order to make way for this latest capitalistic enterprise," declared one speaker.
"After speaking to Mr. Bender, I learned that not only did you make disingenuous assurances that they were listened to and that their concerns were validated, but you also slipped in this anti-BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel] legislation. So I'm confused. We can address international issues, or is it only when it benefits you and fits the narrative that you want?"
Another speaker, after being warned by Vice Mayor Henderson to "address the body generally," proclaimed: "You [Kupin] do not stand for indigenous rights, so you better count your blessings that I am not in your district. All I know is that I am sick and tired of being ignored. The indigenous people are sick and tired of being ignored. God, I'm so tired of being here. No, I’m done."
DEVELOPMENT
🌕 A prescient and insightful response to the moon landing published in the New York Times on July 21, 1969, against a din of dismissive ridicule from writers and intellectuals, peaks through like the first ray of sun after a storm.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
✨ LA LOM @ The Blue Room, 8p, $28.13, Info
+ instrumental trio
🎸 Black Pumas @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $39.50+, Info
+ psychedelic soul
🎻 Beethoven & Shostakovich @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $29+, Info
🪕 Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival @ Multiple Venues, Info
🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
✷ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: April 5-11
The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a complete list of upcoming releases, check out our 2024 Film Guide.
The First Omen No one was asking for a prequel to one of the genre’s all-time greats, but its trailer and early reviews make it seem like Fox has somehow cracked the code. Now playing in theaters.
Monkeyman Dev Patel stars and makes his directorial debut in this highly stylized vigilante tale about an underground fight club employee who goes after the syndicate responsible for his mother’s death that looks to be one of the month’s most rollicking times at the multiplex. Now playing in theaters.
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World The latest from the Romanian Film Renaissance features a twentysomething production assistant working 16-hour days on generic streaming projects and cultivating an online persona who is besties with Andrew Tate. This sprawling interrogation of existence and the online economy could be one of the year’s best. Now playing at the Belcourt.
The Abyss: Special Edition James Cameron’s still-impressive underwater epic about an isolated sub crew led by Ed Harris who may or may not be making alien contact gets a director-approved 4K restoration never before seen on the big screen. Now playing at the Belcourt.