Festival Updates

OK, so you missed William Shatner posing Elvis-style with a hand-painted Gibson, unannounced appearances by Nicole & Keith & Faith & Tim, Brian O'Halloran from Clerks holding court in the downstairs lobby, and actor-director Giancarlo Esposito dressed sharper than a '30s gangster. You've still got two more days of the Nashville Film Festival, which closes Thursday, April 23, with a last-minute flurry of screenings, parties and concerts.

Wednesday offers a second crack at some of the festival's jury-award winners, including the ensemble comedy Poundcake (1 p.m.); The Narrows, featuring best actor Vincent D'Onofrio (3 p.m.); Spanish-language best-documentary champ Shakespeare and Victor Hugo's Intimacies (3:15 p.m.); and music-doc crowd-pleaser Rock Prophecies (9:30 p.m.). (A full list of the jury winners can be found on the Scene's blog Pith in the Wind at nashvillescene.com.)

That night marks the local premiere of Stacy Peralta's Crips and Bloods: Made in America (6 p.m.), followed by a panel discussion with Clemmie Greenlee of Galaxy Star Drug Awareness and Eric Capehart of All the King's Men, non-profit groups devoted to helping Nashville's at-risk youth. Other selections of note are the improv doc Trust Us, This Is All Made Up (3:30 p.m.); the comedy Weather Girl, with star Tricia O'Kelley from The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gilmore Girls in attendance (8 p.m.); the hit Japanese drama Vacation (9 p.m.); and Buick Riviera, in which two immigrants from opposite sides of the Bosnian conflict face a fateful American road trip (10 p.m.).

For Thursday, some of the fest's most popular films have added closing-day screenings, among them Kimberly Reed's remarkable family portrait Prodigal Sons (3:45 p.m.) and the honky-tonk drama Noble Things (4:15 p.m.). As for local premieres, Ondi Timoner's Sundance-winning documentary We Live in Public screens at 6:30 p.m., followed at 8:30 by a cool last-minute addition, Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer's new Memphis-set MTV multi-platform series $5 Cover. (Hell, we'd have settled for Brewer's excellent final-season episode of The Shield.)

The 40th anniversary NaFF closes on a high note—no pun intended—with a retrospective screening of Easy Rider (7 p.m.). Previously reported guest Peter Fonda is no longer coming, alas. But you can still see Nashville's all-star Long Riders rev up the soundtrack at Cannery Ballroom's 9 p.m. closing-night gala, featuring a special reunion performance by '60s garage-rock heroes The Remains. They'll be coming straight over from the screening of their tribute doc America's Lost Band at 5 p.m.

And if bikes and garage aren't your bag, man, walk upstairs from Cannery to Mercy Lounge, where the Non-Commissioned Officers will play songs from the soundtrack of Make-Out With Violence. It's safe to say the Deagol Brothers' Nashville-shot coming-of-age zombie movie is the festival's success story, garnering three major prizes (including the top honor, the NaFF's Dreammaker Award), selling out its main screening, and enlisting no less a champion than NPR critic and NaFF juror Elvis Mitchell. Have a rat on us.

See nashvillefilmfestival.org for more information, or consult last week's Scene festival coverage online at nashvillescene.com.

• No sooner does one festival end than another begins. As part of his appearance at the Full Moon Tattoo & Horror Festival this weekend (see p. 24), Troma Films co-founder Lloyd Kaufman will sign copies of his new book Direct Your Own Damn Movie! 4 p.m. Sunday at the Borders on West End. While he's here, Kaufman will be shooting a cameo in the fourth installment of Nashville director Glen Weiss' infamous Thong Girl saga. Who says the thong remains the same?