The Year in Movies
🎥 The movies we want to see this year · Break-ins strike fear · Session end in sight · Love Circle · Film rundown · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
Well, it’s Valentine's Day. Grab your loved one and tell ‘em you love ‘em. Splurge as you deem fit. And if you’re single, Nashville is a good place to be (numbers-wise). Among those over twenty, 58 percent of the county is unmarried. South of us in Williamson County, just 32 percent of residents are without a spouse.
Relatedly, an interesting bit of info stuck out to me in the Business Journal’s data dump on the largest municipalities in Nashville—meaning the Metropolitan Statistical Area. If you exclude the incorporated cities within Davidson County—Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Goodlettsville, and Oak Hill—the city proper lost 5,149 residents between 2020 and 2023.
Weather-wise, Middle Tennessee is under a flood watch the whole weekend with significant rainfall expected tonight according to the National Weather Service.
Onward.
This weekend’s release of Captain America: Brave New World ushers in the opening salvo of the year in movies. With pandemics, strikes, and corporate activism all hopefully in the rearview, the year offers a bounty that, for the first time in awhile, is laser-focused on original concepts despite the latest iterations of Superman and Avatar. While we have a complete rundown of the year’s offerings in our hot-off-the-presses 2025 film guide, these are the films that have us most excited to visit the multiplex over the next ten months.
10) Jurassic World: Rebirth
The franchise gets back to its horror roots as Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali play mercenaries journeying to the defunct park’s research island to extract some cancer-curing dino DNA. With original JP screenwriter David Koepp and Godzilla/Rogue One director Gareth Edwards mining Michael Crichton’s novel for unexplored story threads, it looks like a worthy successor–even without Jeff Goldblum. (7/2)
9) The Drama
The mad millennial genius behind 2023’s Sick of Myself and Dream Scenario enters the romantic comedy fray with Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mamoudou Athie, and Alana Haim. Whatever Borgli has planned should cement his reputation as the greatest cinematic social critic of the 2020s. (TBA)
8) A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Former Nashvillian Kogonada follows up instant classics Columbus (2017) and After Yang (2022) with this big-budget fantasy tale of a couple (Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell) drawn together on a journey suggested by a magical GPS. It may sound awful, but there’s not a more singular and emotionally generous filmmaker working today. (5/9)
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🚨 Victims Of Car Break-ins Live In Fear At last night’s monthly West Precinct community meeting, we learned that the possibility of retaliation has struck fear into those who testify against carjackers in Nashville. A property manager who oversees apartment complexes in West Nashville said auto thefts and break-ins are a normal occurrence in her area.
“We have somebody, they had one vehicle stolen, and then a couple of weeks later they had another one broken into,” she said. The property manager went on to explain that, due to the nature of the crimes, the criminals know where their victims live. As a result, those who testify in court to help prosecute cases feel unsafe. “Ultimately, we have to relocate them because of their fear,” she said.
The fear of retaliation is underscored by lax sentencing for the juvenile offenders often responsible for car break-ins—a practice that leads to a revolving door of recidivism, quickly putting perpetrators back out on the streets. “At what point do you guys take the initiative to increase the patrolling?” the property manager asked West Precinct Commander Steven Bowers. “After being broken into two or three times, they stop calling you guys….It's almost out of people's hands at this point.”
🌾 Senate Ag Overhaul For Easements During Monday’s State of the State address, it became clear that Governor Bill Lee still has his heart set on establishing a farmland conservation plan. When looking closer at this year’s Senate Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Committee, a few changes may stack the deck in his favor.
Last year, the bill that would have set up a grant fund to help farmers by placing land in a conservation easement suffered a theatrical death in the Senate Ag Committee. At the time, the committee’s chair, Senator Steve Southerland (R-Morristown), raised concerns over restrictions established by the easements that threatened the autonomy of farmers.
This year, when Lt. Governor Randy McNally announced his committee appointments for the 114th General Assembly, Southerland found himself replaced. Not only was Senator Shane Reeves (R-Murfreesboro) appointed as the new chair of Senate Ag, but three of the four co-sponsors listed on the revived farmland easement bill filed this session sit on the reworked committee. This includes new committee member and freshman Senator Jessie Seal (R-New Tazewell). Adding some conspiratorial color to the mix, former Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains)—who was openly skeptical of the bill as a sitting member on last year’s Ag Committee—was primaried and replaced by Seal.
As the bill moved through the state legislature last year, it received overwhelming support in all the House committees despite its failure in the Senate. The current bill is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Committee next Wednesday.
🗣️ Rumor Has It It’s been speculated that the General Assembly will make quick work of this year’s session to conclude before the start of former House Speaker Glen Casada and his former aide Cade Cothren’s federal trial. According to the Tennessean, “nearly two dozen members have been subpoenaed in the case,” which is set to begin on April 22nd.
Rumor has it that all the Senate chairs were pulled into a meeting this week and told that this year's session will end on April 17th, giving legislators a little over eight weeks to make hay or bust.
♥ NASHVILLE'S LOVE NEST
Love Circle has long been used as a popular spot to inspire a little romance, but its name didn’t come from the twitterpated feeling one gets while taking in the panoramic views of the Nashville skyline. In 1926, the city acquired the land from John W. Love to build the Love Circle Reservoir atop the highest point in the old city of Nashville.
According to the park’s historical marker, two million gallons of water sit beneath the hill. Humorously, early settlers referred to the area as Bald Hill—but, no need to mention that to any love birds planning a picnic proposal atop Music City’s beloved urban escape.
DEVELOPMENT
- 📸 Inside downtown Nashville's newest venue, Show Pony (NBJ)
- For-sale Green Hills CVS sees price reduced again (Post)
✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: February 14-20th
The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a complete list of upcoming titles, check out our 2025 Film Guide.
Captain America: Brave New World (Dir. Julius Onah; Starring Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford) The reluanch of a Chris Evansless Captain America finds The Falco taking over the role as he battles a crime syndicate’s plans to turn Ford’s newly elected president into an unstoppable Red Hulk. Reviews are mixed, but it’s a worth a trip to see if it’s just a victim of chatter from the always online. Now playing in theaters.
Paddington in Peru (Dir. Dougal Wilson; Starring Emily Mortimer, Jim Broadbent) The live-action franchise based on Britain's famous bear has only grown in reputation over the last ten years. This time, Paddington goes abroad to find his missing aunt. Now playing in theaters.
Love Week @ The Belcourt and Other V-Day Special Events. Nashville’s arthouse celebrates the season with five romance classics in various genres. From Casablanca and French New Wave classics Jules and Jim to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Gone Girl by way of Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues, there’s something for the sentimental and jaded alike.
This weekend also sees the rerelease of holiday A24 hit Babygirl at Regal. AMC hopes to capitalize on Demi Moore’s Oscar buzz with a rep screening of 1990s Ghost. Both chains are offering Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because, why not?
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
🎻 West Side Story: Film with Live Orchestra @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $36+, Info
🎸 Father John Misty @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $39.50, Info
🎸 Sam Baker with Special Guest Rodney Crowell @ Riverside Revival, 7p, $25, Info
🪕 The Clay Hess Band @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info
🎸 Cody Johnson @ Bridgestone Arena, 7p, $50, Info
🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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