Charlottesville was closer to being represented at last Sunday’s Academy Awards than a lot of people realize. While Darlene Love of 20 Feet From Stardom sang during the acceptance speech for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, local cinematographer Todd Free watched from his couch on Belmont Avenue and thought, “I could have been there.” Free […]
Charlottesville was closer to being represented at last Sunday’s Academy Awards than a lot of people realize. While Darlene Love of 20 Feet From Stardom sang during the acceptance speech for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, local cinematographer Todd Free watched from his couch on Belmont Avenue and thought, “I could have been there.” Free […]
Jeff Bridges reunited with the Coen brothers in the 2010 Oscar-nominated Western drama, True Grit, based on Charles Portis’ novel of the same name. Seeking revenge for her father’s murder, cantankerous farm girl Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires the surly U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Bridges). Texas Ranger LaBeouf (Matt Damon) joins the unlikely duo in […]
William Fitzsimmons Lions/Nettwerk Records Lions is a towering achievement. A deeply personal record loaded with gravitas, the album feels like Fitzsimmons’ confessional or at the very least a reflection on life, love, death, moving on, and his relationships. From the opening strains of the gorgeous acoustic track “Well Enough,” where Fitzsimmons wonders about the mark […]
Take a family-friendly romp through the 1960s in Four County Players’ production of the mod musical Bye Bye Birdie. When teen heartthrob Conrad Birde is drafted into the Army, his agent plans to send him off in style with one last kiss from a lucky fan. Based on the legend of Elvis Presley’s draft controversy, […]
Is there any way to appropriately review 300: Rise of an Empire? This is a movie that has—whether it knows it or not—no ideology or purpose or ambition to be anything but a blood-and-guts spectacle on a massive scale. In fact, the blood and guts are so prevalent and unsparing they grow monotonous. Sure, there are […]
Music is meant to be felt. It’s a powerful, visceral force that doesn’t just please the ears, but livens the mind, excites the bones, and echoes across the soul. That, at least, is the philosophy behind Pains of Being Pure, New York’s up-and-coming indie rock band. Hitting the music scene hard in 2009 with its […]
First Fridays is a monthly art event featuring exhibit openings at many Downtown art galleries and additional exhibition venues. Several spaces offer receptions. Listings are compiled in collaboration with Piedmont Council for the Arts. To list an exhibit, please send information two weeks before opening to arts@c-ville.com. Angelo 220 E. Main St. “New Work: Marsh […]
During a stormy summer holiday, Mary Shelley and her companions were challenged by their host Lord Byron to see who could compose the best ghost story. After a few fretful days devoid of inspiration, the tale of Frankenstein revealed itself to her in a lucid dream. Gorilla Theater presents a modern adaptation of the thriller […]
“Social sculpture is the idea that whenever we’re shaping our own lives to be more beautiful, it’s an intentional act to bring more beauty or well-being into the world,” said Kate Daughdrill, a Detroit-based artist, farmer, and teacher who graduated from UVA. Daughdrill is one of 20-plus presenters slated to bring social sculpture to Charlottesville’s […]
When Juan Wauters emigrated from Uruguay to Queens, New York in the early aughts, he brought a love of music that was nurtured into maturity in the borough that brought us the Ramones. In his debut solo record, N.A.P. North American Poetry, Wauters delivers effortless hooks and sentimental lyrics with a heavy folk influence. The […]