Fear factor: These film fest frights keep you on the edge of your seat

Who says you can’t celebrate a holiday for two weekends in a row? Halloween may be on the 31st, but the Virginia Film Festival continues the fright with creepy offerings to audiences every night during its four days in Charlottesville beginning on Thursday. THURSDAY:The waters haven’t been this unsafe since Jaws in Thursday night’s mockumentary […]

Aliens invade! WTJU broadcasts “War of the Worlds”

Don’t be surprised if you hear about crop circles and UFOs landing on farms in Crozet tonight. Halloween has arrived, and WTJU 91.1FM is broadcasting a re-imagining of “The War of the Worlds,” the infamous Orson Welles alien invasion radio drama that terrified the country 74 years ago tonight. The UVA public radio station will […]

ARTS Pick: Mock Star’s Ball

The mark of a truly superlative Halloween costume is commitment. Sure, you can get by with a half-hearted zombie nurse, but tame decisions beget tepid treats. Let’s say that you get your band together and tog up like legitimate music legends—now you’re getting somewhere.

Album reviews: Tift Merritt, Muse and Mumford & Sons

If you have been a fan of folk or Americana music at any point during the past decade, the chances are good that you have heard Tift Merritt’s arresting vocals, beautiful musical arrangements, and insightful lyrics. Merritt has been casting a spell on audiences and critics since day one, but on Traveling Alone she demonstrates that she is not above tossing out a few surprises.

November’s First Friday Exhibits

First Friday 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. First Friday exhibitions: BozArt Gallery 211 W. Main […]

Virginia Film Festival celebrates 25 years of changing with the times

The phrase “calm like a duck” comes to mind. It is late September, 11 days before the announcement of the lineup for this year’s 25th Anniversary Virginia Film Festival, and festival director Jody Kielbasa and his staff are scrambling to pin down films and featured guests. Kielbasa is a pretty high-octane guy. Former Virginia Governor […]

ARTS Pick: Natalie Cole

Award-winning vocalist Natalie Cole has refreshed standards out of the Great American Songbook from Sinatra and her own father, Nat King Cole. With boundless vocal dexterity and a wealth of soulful emotion behind her lyrics, Cole is on tour supporting 2009’s Still Unforgettable, which harkens back to her ’91 Grammy Award for Album of the […]