Guest Blog: Nashville Film Festival In Review
by Justin Stokes It’s been nearly a month since the Nashville Film Festival. The local film community, however, still seems to be in the festival’s wake. Bringing together patrons and partners in the...
View ArticleGuest Blog by Justin Stokes: Frances Ha – Nashville Arts Magazine Review
Frances Ha – Nashville Arts Magazine Review Rating: 4/5 (Stars, etc.)Friendship and self-discovery are two of the most powerful themes in motion pictures. It is the desire to discover not only who we...
View ArticleGuest Blog: Film review –“We Steal Secrets”
by Justin Stokes We Steal Secrets Director: Alex Gibney 5/5 Stars In the dawn of a digital age, it seems that many facets of our lives are controlled by computers. Functioning as the gate-keepers to...
View ArticleFilm Review — Medora
Hope Through Hoops Medora Review by Justin Stokes Competitive sports have always served as a gauge for the collective pride of an area. The team that gets the loudest cheer is the most loved. So what...
View ArticleFilm Review—Art War
by Justin Stokes Every year, the Nashville Film Festival presents films that entertain, enrich, challenge, and change their audiences. And while the ten-day festival promises to be the biggest and best...
View ArticleFilm Review–Hunger in America
Hunger in America by Justin Stokes There’s an epidemic of starvation going on. And it’s right in our backyard. From Zac Adams comes Hunger in America, a film that pushes past amber waves of grain to...
View ArticleFilm Review: Cold in July at the Belcourt Theatre
Cold in July Film Review by Justin Stokes 1989. East Texas. Waking up to the rummaging of a burglar, family-man Richard Dane (Dexter’s Michael C. Hall) shoots the intruder dead. After a brief moment of...
View ArticleFilm Review: Decoding Annie Parker – July 30
Decoding Annie Parker Belcourt Theatre • July 30 by Justin Stokes Tragic events have an isolating effect on those affected, removing personal connections from friends and family. But it doesn’t have to...
View ArticleFilm Review: Finding Fela!
by Justin Stokes When charged with creating a biographical work, “Who are they?” is the cardinal question the creators must ask. And when lost in the emotional complexity that offers more questions...
View ArticleThe Return of the Violin—Nov. 5-15
by Justin Stokes The paradox of an instrument lies in knowing both an expert design and the regard of “simply being a tool.” Why can’t an instrument have a life and history all its own? And does that...
View ArticleThe 54 Film Fest Offers a Creative Challenge for Aspiring Filmmakers (Feb...
Many local filmmakers see the appeal of the “shootout” competition: You’re given a set time and narrative parameters under which your teams must make a great film. Partnering with Nashville Arts...
View ArticleFilm Review: The Great Flood—March 30
Belcourt Theatre • March 30 by Justin Stokes Nothing brings people together quite like a disaster. Taking advantage of archived footage and cobbling it together into vignettes, experimental filmmaker...
View ArticleFilm Review: Buskin’ Blues
by Justin Stokes At times, the only reward for being an artist is the satisfaction of the art. But what if that’s all you needed? Buskin’ Blues, presented by The History Boutique and directed by Erin...
View ArticleLove & Mercy: A Poignant Look at Mental Illness–June 5
by Justin Stokes To some, mental instability seems to come out of nowhere. But at what point does the facade of happiness crack to fault lines of guilt, sadness, or tremendous pressure? Esteemed...
View ArticleFilm Review: Web Junkie–July 13
Web Junkie Explores Internet Addiction in China by Justin Stokes Giving its viewership another reason to beat the summer heat and stay indoors, NPT’s broadcast of niche content from the PBS global...
View ArticleFilm Review, On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam
By Justin Stokes “When I was a little Mexican, running around the deserts of Arizona, there was always this mystique about tall, white men with gray hair running industry . . . running the military . ....
View ArticleOctober: An Exceptional Month for Film: IBFF, NJFF, & the Belcourt’s annual...
October: An Exceptional Month for Film By Justin Stokes If the summer is the season of big motion pictures with mass appeal, what caliber of film should one expect by October? Scary films? Quiet indies...
View ArticleFilm Review: Hear Me Now, Special Screening On November 3
By Justin Stokes Defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “one habitually cruel to others who are weaker,” bullies are those classroom creatures whose existence craves fear, respect, and dominance in...
View ArticleFilm Review: Film cadets at the Watkins College of Art, Design & Film –...
by Justin Stokes The film cadets at the Watkins College of Art, Design & Film have spent the fall semester learning the art of making a film. During three nights of screening, twenty projects...
View ArticleFILM REVIEW – TURN IT UP! : A Celebration of the Electric Guitar
Of all the instruments that have professed their sonic praise of America, the electric guitar’s hosannas ring the closest. Why is this? Precisely what is it about this instrument that makes it so...
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