No. 675: On the Big Screen

From Megan Podsiedlik

Yesterday afternoon, the mayor broke ground on the new Nissan stadium alongside a handful of other Tennessee dignitaries, including Governor Lee, Tricia Yearwood, and Garth Brooks. “We’re excited about what this means, not only for Nashville, but for the entire state,” the governor told News4. Brooks’ involvement in the ceremony comes as no surprise given his Country Music Hall of Fame membership and Music Row bonafides; however, the country legend also has stakes in the new Nashville.

Ever since Brooks announced his plans to open a classic honky tonk downtown, he’s involved himself with other civic matters; last fall, Brooks helped Metro develop a traffic monitoring and management solution that operates from properties connected to his bar on Broadway. 

As the more transient and bustling downtown scene creeps across the Cumberland and onto the East Bank, legacy residents feel caught in a whirlwind of change. Over the past few years, a new demographic has settled in quite nicely, at least according to a recent survey from Imagine Nashville.

The group’s 100-day engagement project “found class, age, race and sexual orientation define feelings of ‘belonging' in the city,” according to the Banner. Mayor O’Connell, while discussing the independent nonprofit’s study, excitedly referenced their findings this morning: “It confirmed a lot of what we heard from residents on the campaign, and have continued to hear since taking office.”

Nashville’s gradual transformation into It City hasn’t gone unnoticed by national commentators. This Sunday, The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper will be premiering “What Happened to Tennessee? The Battle of Blue and Red,” in which commentator Van Jones returns to his home state to interview State Reps Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gino Bulso among other Tennessee Democratic and Republican leaders. The special will air at 8 p.m. EST.

Yesterday morning, Tennessee’s AG joined 22 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief “urging the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to uphold the people’s constitutional authority to make laws through their elected officials.”

The brief is in response to the FDA’s recent enactment of a nationwide elective abortion policy.

"This case is about protecting the authority of the people of Tennessee to govern themselves,” Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statement. “In our system, major policy decisions are made by the people through their elected representatives and decisions about abortion law are made by state governments. The US Constitution prevents federal bureaucrats from undermining Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act, no matter how much they disagree with it.”

Congressman Mark Green Will Run for Re-Election at Urging of Former President Trump (Star) Congressman Mark Green (R-TN-07) announced on Thursday that he has reconsidered his decision to retire from Congress and will now run for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2024 election.

Lawsuit lays blame for illegal dumping in Bellevue stream on Mt. Juliet firm (Tennessean) Illinois-based McShane Construction is suing Grade A Construction of Mt. Juliet for $2.9 million to cover the cost of repairing the environmental damage as well as resulting project delays caused by their alleged wrongdoings.

Justin Jones, who is suing over committee assignments, misses three straight meetings (TNJ) Jones is suing House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, in federal court over what he has called “illegal and unconstitutional actions” to silence his and other voices in the Tennessee Legislature last year. The suit alleges Jones was the victim of an “unlawful revocation of his committee assignments” before the House voted to oust him from his seat last spring for his role in the gun protest in the well of the chamber.

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• 📅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 Fri, Mar 1

The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. 

Dune: Part 2 The conclusion to America’s greatest intergalactic desert epic finally hits screens accompanied by the reviews we’ve hoped for since 2021. Watch Timothée Chalamet find the water and lead a revolution with Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Florence Pugh by his side. Now playing in theaters. 

Outlaw Posse Mario Van Peebles revisits the realm of his groundbreaking 90s western, Posse, by playing an outlaw traveling to retrieve stolen gold in Montana before a rival takes the bounty for himself. With Cedric The Entertainer, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, and Whoopi Goldberg. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20.

How to Have Sex One of the best coming-of-age movies in ages finds three working-class British teen girls on holiday in Malia, where they negotiate their desires with the brutal reality of young adulthood. Molly Manning Walker serves up an impressive and assured sophomore film after her gutsy debut, Scrapper, hit screens last year. Now playing at the Belcourt. 

• ⛪️ Rob Reiner's documentary on Christian Nationalism completely misses the mark (Read)
• 🇸🇻 President Nayib Bukele’s historic transformation of El Salvador (Read)
• ☢️ A small Tennessee town's forgotten history as a nuclear leader (Read)
• 🤡 Metro Arts launches initiative to 'return land, money, and resources' to 'Indigenous, African, and Asian peoples' (Read)
• And check out our podcast, YouTube, and article archive for more.