Arts

No holiday season is complete without traditions, and the Paramount has formed a triple-bill to launch it big on “black Friday.”

It’s that time of year again when transparent Oscar fodder makes its way to the local theater. Generally speaking, that means the ratio of able-bodied actors playing physically disabled real-life figures increases, and we get movies such as The Sessions.

Brent Birnbaum’s “ …And Justice for Mall Of America” at Second Street Gallery suggests we leave our crack tennies and other cultural misnomers at the door. Bombarding the viewer with hundreds of potent cultural images, his searing and clever installation of contemporary Americana announces the territory of the deal.

The life of a musician might be interesting, exciting, and occasionally even glamorous, but it’s not the sort of career path that comes with health insurance or a dental plan. When working musicians have an illness or an injury, there isn’t always a way to pay for it.

The party pours in to the Jefferson on Thanksgiving Eve when Love Canon gets cookin.’ The band is celebrating the new release of Greatest Hits Vol. 2 Mixtape, and revelers can burn the dinner rolls early with hot harmonizin’, mandolin shreddin’, banjo rollin’, speed pickin’ interpretations of ZZ Top, Loverboy and other early ’80s MTV staples.

Ashley Florence’s show almost acts a patchwork quilt: the separate photographs stand as works in their own right, but lend to each other when viewed in succession. They form a sort of portrait of the artist as seen through her own lens, in addition to actual self-portraits that are part of the show.

Mistaken identity, misplaced romance, and missing laundry—these three commonplace topics typify the daily existence of the college student. UVA graduate Jason Averett’s new comedy, Chance, aims to harness the overlooked drama of an ordinary student’s day and depict it on stage, with all its relatable humor intact.

Let’s face it: A James Bond movie is good for what it is, and Bond is good at what he does. Namely, he kills a lot of people, saves countries (his own and a few others), beds women, drinks vodka martinis. He allows us to escape for a couple hours. No more, no less.

Alison Sudol, a.k.a. A Fine Frenzy, has one of the most heavenly voices in all of alternative folk rock, and she puts it to good use on her third release, Pines. A concept album about a pine tree being given a chance to create a life of its own choosing, Pines takes you on a mesmerizing musical journey.

Music critics have deemed Angel Olsen’s voice “blood-curdling” for a reason. Sliding from nearly spoken word to the theatricality of cabaret in an instant, her range makes a chilling impact on each song she records.