Film review: Deadpool plays it up to a niche genre

In the culmination of a tease that began with Ryan Reynolds’ pointless and tonally inconsistent cameo in 2009’s disastrous X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes the psychotic, violent, traumatized, fourth-wall-breaking and utterly hilarious Deadpool. Hilarious, that is, if you have more than a passing familiarity with the tropes of comic book films. The jokes in Deadpool tend […]

ARTS Pick: Lady Taij

Inspired by the poetry of Maya Angelou at a young age, Staunton artist Lady Taij delivers thought-provoking, silky rhymes that detail a rarely observed female perspective on a scene filled with “sex, drugs and rap.” Her edgy lyrics float over an infectious R&B accompaniment and confident social commentary. Thursday 2/18. $5-8, 8pm. The Ante Room, 219 […]

Having a laugh: Freewheeling duo Cherub refines its electronic sensibility

Jason Huber and Jordan Kelley burst out of a tiered cake wearing cowboy hats. Kelley pops and pours champagne. Both men strip down to nothing save metallic underwear, hats and boots. So begins the NSFW video for “Doses and Mimosas,” the Nashville-based electro-pop band Cherub’s breakout 2012 hit. As the video plays on, it’s clear […]

ARTS Pick: Country Sweethearts

Take five of Virginia’s finest singer-songwriters, pair them with some of country music’s most poignant love (or lost-love) songs and put them onstage for the annual Country Sweethearts Valentine’s Day show. Be it single and looking, or fed up and freedom-bound, there’s no way to deny the pure passion that emanates from these authentic voices. […]

ARTS Pick: Lovefest

The Beatles taught us that “All You Need is Love,” and they’re probably right. “The tricky part is how to get it, keep it, give it, know it,” says indie-folk songwriter Devon Sproule. Learn more at Lovefest, where Sproule and her friends Mira Stanley and Chuck Costa of The Sea The Sea play sets about […]

Album reviews: Cross Record, Sierra Hull, Trixie Whitley

Signature styles Cross Record Wabi-Sabi/Ba Da Bing Records Emily Cross’ sophomore release is equal parts creepy, beautiful and utterly haunting. From the unusual opener, “The Curtains Part”—with its orchestral flourishes, off-kilter jazz horn, in-and-out ambient acoustic guitar and breathy, airy vocals—to “Wasp in a Jar”—with its plodding, thick-as-molasses bass and distorted electric guitar led by […]

Film review: Hail, Caesar! finds humor in the absurd

Hollywood farce Hail, Caesar! is a masterstroke of screwball absurdism from the Coen brothers, as they return with the subgenre of technically impeccable yet thematically anarchic comedy they practically invented. Harkening back to their output in the 1990s, Hail, Caesar! is a satirical genre parody and period piece in the vein of The Hudsucker Proxy […]

ARTS Pick: Invisible Guy

The bio of clarinetist Ben Goldberg bounces from klezmer accolades and Thelonious Monk covers to Nels Cline and Charlie Hunter collaborations, musical interpretations of Allen Grossman’s poetry and an ode to Elliott Smith. His latest incarnation is Invisible Guy, a uniquely talented trio, formed in the San Francisco Bay area with pianist Michael Coleman and […]