✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: September 20-26

Jerod Ra'Del Hollyfield -

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 Nashville Film Festival Music City’s Oscar-qualifying movie event of the year celebrates its 55th iteration with a host of independent features, shorts, music videos, episodic shows, documentaries, and Creators Conference workshop panels. Highlights include the Tennessee Horror Shorts Program, the urbanite satire The French Italian, the horror film Your Monster, the animated comedy Memoir of a Snail, the pitch black French comedy Endless Summer Syndrome, Sundance sensation My Old Ass, Jason Reitman’s SNL movie Saturday Night, and This Is a Film About The Black Keys. Through Wednesday at Regal Green Hills, The Belcourt, The Franklin Theatre, and the Soho House. 

The Substance (Dir. Coralie Fargeat; Starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid) This groundbreaking body horror movie about an aging icon who injects an experimental youth serum to create a younger version of herself won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival and whipped up a media frenzy after its premiere there. Now playing in theaters. 

Essential Coppola In the two-week leadup to Megalopolis, The Belcourt has culled together the best of Francis Ford Coppola’s oeuvre for a big-screen celebration. This week brings The Godfather: Parts 1 and 2, Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, Peggy Sue Got Married, and–our vote for the director’s personal best–The Conversation. 

Transformers One (Dir. Josh Cooley; Voices of Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson) The Transformers probably didn’t need an animated origin story, but the reviews have been surprisingly solid. Now playing in theaters. 

Never Let Go (Dir. Alexandre Aja; Starring Halle Berry) An evil quite literally tests the threads of family togetherness in this post-apocalyptic horror entry from the director of The Hills Have Eyes and Crawl. Now playing in theaters.

Whiplash 10th Anniversary Reissue (Dir. Damien Chazelle; Starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons) The Oscar darling about a talented percussion student and his authoritarian conservatory professor returns to the big screen. Now playing in theaters.

The Shade (Dir. Tyler Chipman; Starring Chris Galust) A teen tries to break the cycle of his anxiety disorder in this psychological horror flick. Now playing in theaters. 

A Mistake (Dir. Christine Jeffs; Starring Elizabeth Banks) A superstar surgeon gets caught up in the heinous red tape of the medical profession. Now playing in theaters.

All Happy Families (Dir. Haroula Rose; Starring Josh Radnor) Family trauma surfaces when a disparate Chicago clan reunites to fix up the family home in this dramedy starring the guy from How I Met Your Mother. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20

DC Batman Marathon Before the next Joker hits theaters in two weeks, Warner Bros takes a trip down memory lane with its back catalog of Batman movies from Tim Burton’s original to the animated The Mask of the Phantasm. Also showing is utter DC box-office bomb Blue Beetle. Now playing in theaters. 

Bolly/Tolly/Kolly/Lollywood and Other Special Presentations of Asian and Middle Eastern Imports.

Jung Kook: I Am Still (Korean; Dir. Park Jun-Soo) One of the dudes from K-Pop sensation BTS gets his own doc. Now playing in theaters.

Kadaisi Ulaga Por (Tamil; Dir. Hiphop Tamizha Adhi) China takes over the world, and only one man from India is standing in the way of WWIII. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.

Kahan Shuru Kahan Khatam (Hindi; Dir. Saurabh Dasgupta) “The film explores the young romantic family entertainer genre with a focus on an accidental love story. The film is a Wedding Crasher's Tale of Falling in Love with the Bride & an innocent message to take away.” Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.

Yudhra (Hindi; Dir. Ravi Udyawar) “Action-packed ride with romance and drama involved.” Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.