Two hearts, one beat: The love-tinged fury of Shovels and Rope

Fueled by the passion of young love, the wanderlust of the open road and the thrill of chasing the rock ‘n’ roll dream, Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent spend their days covering the highways of America in a Winnebago. At night the married couple takes the stage as Shovels and Rope and delivers raucous, stripped-down […]

My Fool Heart starring Jim Waive gets a long-awaited screening

“There’s been a lot of Charlottesville movies,” Jeffrey Martin said, “but this one is about Charlottesville.” He’s talking about My Fool Heart, a feature film directed by Martin and produced by his wife Lucinda Buxton, which has been in production locally for the past three years. The couple recently relocated to San Francisco, but Martin is back in town […]

Charlottesville’s Art in Place program celebrates a new season

En route to the newest Art in Place installation, I watch a motorcyclist rip through a crosswalk. An angry truck driver breaks hard and then floors it. A pedestrian stops short and flips him the bird. As I approach Schenks Branch on McIntire Road, the mood changes. Alan Binstock carefully assembles his work, a glass […]

ARTS Pick: Clowning Workshop

Working through the tides of life’s natural ups and downs can get the better of even the best of us. Some shut off, while other’s go off (see road rage, going postal, and anger management). Enter the ringmasters at Charlottesville Circus Arts, who have a funny way of looking at life’s lemons.

Film review: Wreck-It Ralph rises above the arcade fray

Maybe it’s the 1980s and 1990s nostalgia for vintage video games. Maybe it’s John C. Reilly’s and Sarah Silverman’s terrific performances as Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz. Maybe it’s because so many animated movies lately have been just O.K. (Frankenweenie) or downright mediocre (Brave). But something about Wreck-It Ralph made my cold critic’s heart grow three sizes.

ARTS Pick: Skyfall

Every James Bond film deserves a grand-scale debut, so pairing Skyfall with the opening of the new Regal Stonefield Stadium 14 seems fitting.

ARTS Pick: Camel Flowers

“Camel Flowers” is a private collection of rare tribal Anatolian and Persian animal adornments curated by local business owner, Saul Barodofsky.  While highly decorative, these medallions, head dresses, knee pads and whips were devised to protect against evil, and bring fertility to the nomadic tribes who dressed their camels and horses with them.  The antique tack […]

ARTS Post: Marco Benevento

Want a recipe for experimental, space-age piano rock? Start with a graduate of the Berklee School of Music, stir in masterful key playing that sounds like anything but piano, add a dash of sonic loop-de-loops, and finish with vocals whispered from beyond the ether.