The record-breaking success of 1989’s Batman green-lit a wave big-budget retro-adventure films, including the outlandish, neon ensemble piece Dick Tracy; the brash, moody grotesquerie of The Shadow; and the feather-light, straight-faced camp of latecoming entry The Phantom. Nestled amongst them is 1991’s The Rocketeer; though it was considered a modest disappointment upon release (Disney thought […]
After almost four years of serving the Charlottesville community, Random Row Books will close its doors at the end of the June. The building that houses the store—a former auto repair shop near the corner of West Main Street and Ridge/McIntire Road—will eventually be demolished, along with other buildings on the property to make room […]
Michael “Nick” Nichols’ years of work for National Geographic have taken him around the globe, providing an up-close look at some of the few corners of the world that remain untouched by human civilization. His recent work in the Serengeti uses state-of-the-art advances in photo technology to investigate lions, documenting their world and their behaviors […]
Though Photoshopping and digital retouching have become common practices in both journalistic and creative photography, Martha Rosler’s recent work foregrounds the process, creating deliberately artificial digital collages that create jarring juxtapositions of familiar imagery. Her 1960’s collages combined imagery from the Vietnam War with domestic images from advertising, and her recent work continues that same theme, […]
The stories of factory workers are always relevant, but they’ve been prominent in the public consciousness recently with April’s horrific factory collapse in India, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in history. There’s a very different story on display in “160 Actions to Make a Jacket,” Susan Meiselas’ in-depth portrait of garment factory workers in Rochester, […]
Heavy metal is a tree with many branches, dozens of sub-genres and cross-bred styles. But Charlottesville’s Corsair has older influences than most of its peers, reaching back past the aggressive thrash era of the ’80s, to focus on a time when the distinctions between heavy metal, glam, and hard rock were less clear. Its sound […]
Guided By Voices is one of the most prolific and beloved rock bands of the past 30 years. The Dayton, Ohio group fronted by Robert Pollard has released dozens of albums, EPs, singles, and three boxed sets of original material, frequently changed band members, broke up and reunited, splintered off into various solo and side […]
Josephine Foster sings in a high, witchy whisper with an operatic lilt. Her wild, ethereal flightiness grounded by her prim enunciation and classically perfect pitch. She occasionally collaborates or plays with a backing band, but usually accompanies herself on solo guitar, harp, or ukulele. Her style is both baroque and bizarre, suggesting music from decades […]
The Men are a Brooklyn-based quartet of rockers who, since 2010, have cranked out an album a year for the esteemed Sacred Bones label. While their earliest efforts sounded like a raw Joy Division bootleg, the band has quickly grown and expanded its palette, adding eclectic influences, its vocals softening and becoming lazily anthemic as […]
“Chaplin or Keaton?” is one of those eternal questions, like “Star Wars or Star Trek?” “The Beatles or the Stones?” There’s no correct answer, but the side you pick can reveal fundamental aspects of your character. Charlie Chaplin is far more famous today, with his “Tramp” character’s iconic bowler hat, mustache, and cane making him […]