First fiddle

American violinist Hilary Hahn has been a mainstay of the celebrity-soloist circuit since 1991, when she made her major orchestral debut at the age of 15. Over the last decade, Hahn has twice been awarded the Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra, and in 2010, a piece she commissioned from composer Jennifer Hidgon […]

Life is not a fairy tale

 Life is not a fairy tale “Scream Awards” Tuesday 9pm, Spike Spike’s “Scream Awards” are somewhat misleading. While the ceremony does honor the horror genre (mainstream horror, at least), it also doles out trophies to sci-fi, fantasy, and comic-book movies. Categories include everything from the mundane (Best Supporting Actor, Best TV Show) to the more […]

50/50; R, 99 minutes; Carmike Cinema 6

For a striving young screenwriter, which is the worse break: being Paul Reiser’s cousin, or randomly getting cancer? Will Reiser is two for two, and some people will be wondering whether he really deserves to have a movie made about his life. 50/50 is a funny movie, and an honest one.

Beyond abracadabra

“A magic trick is like a little story,” said Steven Klein.
In Make Believe, a 2010 documentary film produced by Klein and directed by Charlottesville native J. Clay Tweel

The horror, the horror

“The Onion News Network” Tuesday 10pm, IFC “The Daily Show” has been winning Emmys for years for its cynical news parodies, but The Onion has been doing that shtick for decades now, and must’ve wanted a piece of that sweet Old Spice advertising budget. “The Onion News Network” debuted in January of this year and […]

Victory lap

In Chad Harbach’s debut novel, The Art of Fielding, morning sprints and protein shakes are the stuff that dreams are made on. The book follows shortstop Henry Skrimshander, the rising star of Wisconson’s Westish College Harpooners, as one wayward throw knocks his meteoric rise off course and forever alters the lives of his teammates. Excerpted […]

Play ball

What’s very clever about Moneyball is that it’s so inside baseball, it’s inside out. The truth is that this is more of a business movie than a sports movie.

Life choices

“Homeland” Sunday 10pm, Showtime Claire Danes returns to series television with this new political thriller. It’s terrifying to think that Danes, now 32, got her big break back in 1994 as a 15-year-old actually playing a 15-year-old on the short-lived but iconic teen drama “My So-Called Life.” Now she’s all grown up, with some major […]