Feel free to slurp, I’m a big fan of slurping,” said Alp Ilsin of Budala Pottery in Belmont. So I slurp. Loudly. We drink a lot of tea out of exquisitely crafted pottery—tea cups or mugs, some with handles, some without. We drink so much tea I have to sheepishly excuse myself a few times […]
Feel free to slurp, I’m a big fan of slurping,” said Alp Ilsin of Budala Pottery in Belmont. So I slurp. Loudly. We drink a lot of tea out of exquisitely crafted pottery—tea cups or mugs, some with handles, some without. We drink so much tea I have to sheepishly excuse myself a few times […]
On a weeknight in late November, local filmmaker Brian Wimer gathered a large group together at the Al-Hamraa restaurant in the Ix Building to share his vision for the future of the space. The Ix is a large complex south of Downtown which has housed dozens of business and art projects since the original Frank Ix […]
Each year when I put together a list of the best movies—whether for work or for fun—it usually doesn’t take much effort. There are, generally, five or six movies that stand out above the rest, whether they’re huge Hollywood blockbusters or tiny indie gems. This year the story is a little different. When going back […]
Metal shows are rare in Charlottesville, but the few that do happen tend to be high-quality. This is due in part to the talents and good taste of the few local metal-heads, and Friday night’s show at the Main Street Annex is an opportunity to catch the two of the best local bands from any […]
Lively choreography and four-part harmonies add Broadway brilliance to the holiday season as the original cast of Jersey Boys reunites onstage as The Midtown Men. Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard, and J. Robert Spencer have kept their musical brotherhood alive since 2007 with hundreds of headlining performances, and now they add holiday hits and […]
Sam Bush and Kathryn Caine Love and Mercy/Self-released Love and Mercy will stoke the embers of even the most jaded cynic’s heart during the cold holiday season. This collection of covers succeeds in inspiring listeners to hope, even in the darkest times. Employing an engaging folk rock sound, Bush and Caine wind their way through spine-tingling […]
There’s a scene in Animal House where John Belushi’s character Bluto walks by a folk singer strumming a tune in the Delta Tau Chi fraternity house. He listens to the lyrics for a moment—“I gave my love a chicken that had no bones” —before smashing the guitar against the wall and handing it back to […]
At 11 years old, Kate Tamarkin sat in a dark Laguna Beach, California theater, her mouth gaping, flabbergasted at the boisterous sounds produced by the singers in a performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors. “I had not ever heard opera before,” said Tamarkin, who 40 years later is now the director of the Charlottesville & […]
Out of the Furnace is so dark, gritty, and earnest, it’s a wonder it was made in a film world where irony rules. The movie’s inhabitants—mostly blue collar factory workers, cops and their families in dying Braddock, Pennsylvania—take their lives seriously, and so does their director and co-writer Scott Cooper. Unfortunately, Out of the Furnace […]
When playwright Philip Barry wrote The Philadelphia Story in 1939, he had Katharine Hepburn in mind to play the show’s lead character—a vivacious young socialite named Tracy Lord. Hepburn not only starred in the show’s successful Broadway production, she contributed to its financial stability, and encouraged its adaptation into the 1940 film in which she […]