Jason Shawhan

Tunisia

Media prophet. Film critic. Cohost of @JJLpodcast . Catsitter. Very Gay. DJ (https://t.co/iAHxgygd8b). (He/Him). Black lives matter. http://jshawhan.bsky.soc

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Articles

'Demons' Is a Delirious Dive Into the Demonic

1 month ago | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

Who hasn’t wanted to take the ongoing stress of making a living and put that energy into radical body transformation? Why not take the seething tension of interpersonal conflict and use it to shed your nails and start eating faces? If you’re going to dabble in nihilism, how can specific acts of score-settling human cruelty and the disassembling of all systems compare to the act of liberatory demonic possession?
Alison Moyet Looks Back on Four Decades of Singular Music

2 months ago | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

Playing 8 p.m. Sunday, April 27, at Marathon Music WorksYou might think you’ve never heard Alison Moyet, but regardless of your own aesthetics and means of engaging with music, that’s probably not the case. That would be putting aside more than four decades of elegant, passionate performances from an international icon based in the U.K. who’s had the occasional American success.
‘The Shrouds’ Proves There’s No One Else Like Cronenberg

2 months ago | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

When you spend a lot of time immersed in the work of a particular filmmaker, you can find yourself fitting patterns and finding through lines across decades. And it can be great, because you feel like you’re defining a commonality that allows everything to make sense according to some easily summarized plan.
A Meditation on 1972’s Underappreciated ‘Play It as It Lays’

2 months ago | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

For a film that so expertly captures the sun-blasted anomie of Southern California and its habit of desaturating whatever shades and emotions trespass into its path, it’s the bookending moments in labyrinthine, verdant gardens that shape the emotional space we find ourselves in. One of the greatest and most difficult-to-see films of the 1970s, Play It as It Lays is finally receiving its laurels in the form of a 4K restoration, with four upcoming screenings at the Belcourt.
Let’s Get Physical: ‘The Keep,’ Bruce Vilanch and More

2 months ago | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

Join us for a brief journey through some of what’s new and interesting in the world of physical media, from sexploitation classics and lost films maudits to historical moments in American cinema. The Keep (Vinegar Syndrome UHD/Blu-ray)The fact that this even exists is still staggering.
Nostalgia Is the Noose: ‘Hell of a Summer’ Is Comfy, Sharp Comedy-Horror

2 months ago | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

There is a very specific kind of horror performance that makes legends — an insecure and uncertain character portrayed with the kind of sure hand that only an actor’s complete confidence in the film can yield. The apotheosis of this kind of turn is Crispin Glover in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, but you’ll also see it in Hank Harris in Hellbent, Stephen Geoffreys in Fright Night or Nicolas Cage in Vampire’s Kiss.
Rachika Nayar, ANOHNI and More Thrill at Big Ears

2 months ago | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

It is not an exaggeration to say that Knoxville’s Big Ears Music Festival is one of the most impressive in the world, and most certainly one of the coolest things that happens annually in the state of Tennessee. There is such an overwhelming array of performers, styles and experiences available that you could talk to 10 people in attendance and it’s possible none of their concerts would overlap.
‘Misericordia’ Is a Sly, Smart Peek Into Reality’s Messiness

Mar 26, 2025 | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) is an interesting fellow. He’s got one of those faces that seems reminiscent of several different people at the same time (in this case, young Edward Furlong, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Snakeman), and he has the very relatable condition of not being able to access or express exactly what it is he wants from life and others. He responds to kindness and loss, and he has some degree of moral study or experience that has stuck with him throughout his life.
Now It's Dark: Revisiting David Lynch’s Filmography

Mar 6, 2025 | nashvillescene.com | D. Patrick Rodgers |Jason Shawhan

In 2017, ahead of the Showtime premiere of Twin Peaks Season 3, Scene editor-in-chief (then managing editor) D. Patrick Rodgers and senior film critic (then regular film critic) Jason Shawhan revisited the catalog of legendary auteur David Lynch. We compiled our thoughts on each of Lynch’s 10 films, along with a weirdness rating system devised via unscientific social media polling and our own opinions.
‘The Monkey’ Tops the Current Wave of Interesting, Grotesque Horror

Feb 18, 2025 | nashvillescene.com | Jason Shawhan

Writer-director Osgood Perkins has, with just a quintet of films — all of them superb — made himself one of the most distinctive and thought-provoking creators in horror. He can do slow-burn drama, gothic fantasy, grungy glam and tragic timeslips with unsettling ease, juggling theme and mode but always focused on the way people engage with the most unfortunate of circumstances.