Arts Culture

Iconoclastic as ever

For many years, filmmaker and UVA film professor Kevin Jerome Everson has figured prominently in Charlottesville’s moviemaking community. His experimental films have continually bypassed cinematic conventions in favor of “formal exercises,” he explains. A regular Virginia Film Festival guest, Everson will screen nine shorts on Friday, “all shot this calendar year,” he notes, and marked […]

Justin Humphreys | October 25, 2023

Arts Culture

Take a seat

The Holdovers Director Alexander Payne is a devoted cinephile who loves the style of intimate, wryly funny, character-driven films that were plentiful 50 years ago but are now nearly extinct. Payne’s films honor this bygone era of storytelling in welcome ways, including his newest work, The Holdovers. Set in 1970, the reliable Paul Giamatti stars […]

Justin Humphreys | October 25, 2023

Arts Culture

Heads will roll

Set in ninth- and 10th-century Europe, Robert Eggers’ brutal revenge saga The Northman is a lavish, sweeping film, but its unrelenting gore will undoubtedly repel many viewers.  Loosely based on the Scandinavian legend that inspired Hamlet, with elements of Macbeth thrown in, The Northman’s antihero, young prince Amleth, vows revenge after seeing his father, King […]

Justin Humphreys | May 11, 2022

Arts Culture

I, robot

Whether you love or hate Andy Warhol’s work, his impact on the arts as a provocateur, businessman, and impresario is immeasurable. Andrew Rossi’s six-part Netflix series “The Andy Warhol Diaries” sets out to pierce the façade its subject presented to the media. The series gives a fairly nuanced portrait of the godfather of pop art […]

Justin Humphreys | April 13, 2022

Arts Culture

Robotic delivery

If Terry Gilliam remade “The Jetsons,” it might go something like Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Bigbug. This French science-fiction comedy takes a generally dark movie sub-genre—robot servants revolting against their human masters—and transforms it into an outwardly sunny, pastel-colored farce. The results are a hilarious, fascinating satire that’s seemingly light, but overflows with pointed observations about unchecked […]

Justin Humphreys | March 23, 2022

Arts Culture

Direct miss

In Adam McKay’s satire Don’t Look Up, astronomy grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), discover a “planet-killing” comet that’s hurtling toward Earth. Aided by NASA official Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), our heroes bravely try to warn the world. As the news breaks, backwards mobs vehemently deny […]

Justin Humphreys | March 9, 2022

Arts Culture

On location

Since 2019, local filmmaker Ty Cooper’ Indie Short Film Series has given aspiring Charlottesville filmmakers a valuable opportunity to showcase their work. “It’s a way for you to enter the business without having to spend a lot of money,” Cooper says. Shorts are traditionally novice directors’ best way of making a name for themselves, but […]

Justin Humphreys | February 23, 2022

Arts Culture

Belly up

Adapted from J.R. Moehringer’s memoir, director George Clooney’s The Tender Bar is story worth telling—and at times it’s well-told. But the film never fully coalesces, and it feels like a rough cut in need of further editing.  The Tender Bar has the makings of a truly touching story: Young J.R. Maguire (Daniel Ranieri) transcends his […]

Justin Humphreys | February 9, 2022

Arts Culture

Carnival swindle

From start to finish, Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a dreary, plodding, flashy reminder of why filmmakers should leave great movies alone. The William Gresham novel was adapted into a 1947 film noir classic, and again by Del Toro­—but Del Toro’s misuse of excellent source material is the real nightmare here. The film follows […]

Justin Humphreys | January 26, 2022

Arts Culture

Flashback to fun

With the current glut of super­heroes, franchises, and remakes at movie theaters, a film like Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza stands out by default simply for being low-key, unpredictable, and featuring normal- looking people. It’s also low on narrative cohesion and depth, and still sticks out. In short, Licorice Pizza is enjoyable with a strong […]

Justin Humphreys | January 12, 2022