CMT Blog: Movies

When your little kids come to you and tell you they want to see a Kris Kristofferson movie, that's just plain weird. But mine did, so I did some research to find out what I could about this Provinces of Night. And then I saw what it was that was pulling them in: Hilary Duff of Cheaper by the Dozen, Gossip Girl and most importantly, Lizzie McGuire fame. I am aware that Kristofferson has his own list of movie credits a country mile-wide dating back to the early 70s, but I just love that by bringing Duff and Kristofferson together in this movie it has piqued the interest of a generation of movie-goers who might not know enough about him and all his talents. Even though this movie has Kristofferson spending his life chasing whiskey, women, and song, I hope it will be rated PG-13 and comes to theaters soon after its screening this Saturday (April 17) at the Nashville Film Festival.

Photo courtesy of provincesofnight.com.

Kenny Chesney and his team arranged for a media screening of his new movie, Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D, in Franklin, Tenn., this morning (April 13), so I grabbed a seat in the last row to check it out. That's partly because I always like to sit in the back row at any concert (to gauge the crowd reaction) and also because I wasn't sure if I'd get into the 3D aspect of it. A little bit of that goes a long way with me, but I have to say, it's a lot of fun and the movie goes by pretty quickly. I can't recall how many Chesney concerts I've covered -- probably five or six -- and watching this film is just like being pressed up against the catwalk at a Chesney show. You get to see his facial expressions and (surprisingly) even his tears. Plus, he sings several of my favorites, such as "Big Star," "Living in Fast Forward" and "Anything but Mine."

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Letters to God is an inspiring, based-on-a-true-story film about a boy with cancer whose courage and faith change the lives of those around him. He writes letters to God on a daily basis like they're pen pals, and the letters have a way of bringing his family -- and one postman -- together. The Warren Brothers' "Dear Mr. God" takes that theme and wonders what the first letter would say. While it's a very introspective piece, the brothers will leave you with a refreshed feeling that ultimately says "thank you" and not "why me?" Check out the video that includes a sneak peek of Letters to God, out April 9.

Really, Miley? Are you serious? If you really think country music "feels contrived," as you said in this Parade interview, maybe you need to take a good long look in the mirror. Country music put you where you are, sweetheart. If it was not for country music, then the year 1992, when you were born, would've had no "Achy Breaky Heart." Your dad would not have built a multi-million dollar empire with which to fund your stardom. And the world would've been a very dull place without your dad and the country albums he released after his outstanding debut, Some Gave All.

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While Gwyneth Paltrow was in Nashville for the past three months shooting Love Don't Let Me Down, her upcoming movie with Tim McGraw, she was apparently moonlighting as a travel blogger. Her latest Goop blog has a very detailed list of everything she ate, drank, bought and watched while she was there. In her quest to find the best fried chicken, McGraw recommended Swett's. She liked it but also found the stuff at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack to be pretty good. And she loved the traditional Southern heart attack of a meal she had at the Loveless Café. But it wasn't all meat ‘n threes. She also took in shows at the Ryman, the Grand Ole Opry ("the quality of the concerts is truly remarkable") and the charming Station Inn ("When it fills up, they stick a paper plate on the door that says 'Sold Out.'") It sounds like she might've done some hootin' and hollerin' at Robert's Western World, but because it's Nashville, where paparazzi don't really live, it's hard to find pictures and videos of Paltrow out and about. Hard, but not completely impossible.

Photo credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

As I've been flipping through Joel Whitburn's Billboard Hot Country Songs, an invaluable book that recounts the peak position of every single that's ever charted in country music, I've jotted down a few surprising statistics about unlikely success stories. For example, here are seven singers that you might not expect to have a No. 1 country hit.

Clint Eastwood, "Bar Room Buddies." The rugged actor mostly talks through a tune from his film, Bronco Billy. Still, this Merle Haggard duet saddled up at No. 1 in 1980.

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Two words: Ryan Bingham. I know for some of you, he was all the Americana rage Before The Oscar (B.T.O.), so maybe I'm a little late. But after Bingham won the Academy Award with T Bone Burnett for best original song for "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart, I started looking into his other songs from the movie and beyond. While I'm not a fan of the moaning ballads, I do love his up-tempo tunes and his occasional use of the harmonica. But that said, it doesn't hurt that his roots include a really tough adolescence and some time on the bull-riding rodeo circuit. A life like that is bound to make for deep, heartfelt music.

"Gone, Gone, Gone"
"Don't Wait for Me"
"Dollar a Day"
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At an Oscar party last night, my friends were stunned to learn that I had not seen Crazy Heart yet. "It's about everything you love," they said. Country music! Smoky little bars! Scotch! Colin Farrell! Journalism! Now that Jeff Bridges won an Oscar for this role as the hard-living country singer Bad Blake, I've been getting even more flak for not going.

There were two reasons why I didn't rush out to see the movie. It was rated R, so I couldn't bring my kids -- too much hard drinking, chain-smoking and driving under the influence than I thought they should see. Plus, because I'd seen Pure Country and Broken Bridges, I thought maybe I'd had enough of films about fading country singers getting back to their roots. You've seen one, you've seen them all and all that.

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I'd want to see Love Don't Let Me Down even if Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw weren't in it, because this movie is all about Nashville. In fact, writer-director Shana Feste wanted McGraw to be in the movie so much that the moviemakers were willing to come to Nashville for him. (Paltrow portrays a country singer. McGraw plays her husband.) Setting the movie in Music City also helped "ensure authenticity in regard to music, musicians and locations," Feste told The Tennessean, adding that Nashville's film and music community quickly became the fifth star of the movie. Songwriters like Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Luke Laird, Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins have written tunes for the movie and hotshot producers Nathan Chapman, Frank Liddell and Byron Gallimore helped produce the film's music. And part of the movie is set in Barbara Mandrell's old house. I'm sure it will be the big names that pull people in, but it's that "fifth star" that I can't wait to see.

Photo credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

I saw Valentine's Day yesterday so I'm loving the soundtrack. The actual movie was good, too. Taylor Swift was great in the role of the dorky spaz teenager in love. And Ashton Kutcher was adorable. As were Julia Roberts and Jennifer Garner. It's just that once I found out Bradley Cooper's character was gay, and therefore couldn't hook up with Julia Roberts in some kind of happy ending, I left the movie feeling very, very sad. So for now, I'm just going to stick with digging the music. Some of the songs on my list are not actually on the official soundtrack, though, so be careful when you download.

"Today Was a Fairytale," Taylor Swift
"I'm Into Something Good," the Bird and the Bee
"Feels Like the First Time," Foreigner
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