Arts Pick: The Human Hands

Attention, folks: Sam Reider had little more than an accordion, a dream, and his senior year thesis as he drifted from gig to gig, doing research and transforming the American folk genre as he went. Reider settled down to make his first album, Too Hot to Sleep, with collaborative project The Human Hands, a group […]

ARTS Pick: Guster

Fan fare: Twenty-five years after Guster formed on the Tufts University campus, the band continues to evolve musically. From the acoustic melodies of 1995’s Parachute to the vibrating bass and hazy vocals of 2018’s “Hard Times,” the group has grown up while retaining its knack for stage humor and infectious melodies. The band announced a new, […]

Arts Pick: ARTCHO

Art stop and shop: Charlottesville’s creative community has much to show off year-round, but no one can see it all. ARTCHO makes an effort to cram lots of talent into one big festival, featuring 44 creators of all mediums, from the nautical fashion of Maxime Connor to Lori Jakubow’s brightly colored prints. Everything’s for sale, and […]

Changing the narrative: VAFF’s Light House Shorts to feature original film on black male achievement

By Adriana Wells arts@c-ville.com The Virginia Film Festival will screen an original documentary by four local young black men during its Light House Studio Shorts event. This past summer, Daniel Fairley II, the City of Charlottesville’s youth opportunity coordinator, sought to bring attention to the achievements of a number of black men in the Charlottesville […]

Arts Pick: Frankenstein

Look alive: What better time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s misunderstood monster than Halloween? Frankenstein received high-def attention in the filming of Danny Boyle’s adaptation at London’s National Theatre in 2011. In this electrifying resurrection, shown as part of the Live in HD series, Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the infamous doctor and Jonny […]

Classic masters: Peter Bogdanovich puts Orson Welles and Buster Keaton back on the screen

By Justin Humphreys arts@c-ville.com Decades ago, actor/writer/director/film historian Peter Bogdanovich promised his friend and colleague Orson Welles that, if Welles couldn’t finish his work-in-progress, The Other Side of the Wind, he would complete it for him. Now, Bogdanovich, at age 79, has beaten countless setbacks and fulfilled that promise. Academy Award-winning editor Bob Murawski and […]

ARTS Pick: Mary Chapin Carpenter

On Sometimes Just the Sky, Mary Chapin Carpenter takes measure of her 30-year career through fresh renditions of songs from her original studio albums. Carpenter curated gems from her catalog that reflect her soul and trace the evolution of her songwriting, from award-winning country music to the intelligent folk-pop and orchestral collaborations that currently define […]