Conviction; R, 107 minutes; Opening Friday

Yes, the title has two meanings: Conviction refers to the guilty verdict that put a man in prison for many years, and to the certitude with which his sister then devoted her life to proving his innocence. But that just makes things doubly obvious. Well, if this ain’t love: Hilary Swank goes through the trouble […]

“30 Rock,” “Fatal Attractions,” “Sanctuary”

 “30 Rock”  Thursday 8:30pm, NBC This should be fun. My favorite comedy is putting on a live episode, and who better to conquer live television than that UVA alum and former “Saturday Night Live” head Tina Fey? I have no doubt that Fey, co-star Alec Baldwin, and Broadway vet Jane Krakowski can pull off a […]

The Social Network; PG-13, 120 minutes; Regal Downtown Mall 6.

Isn’t it too soon for a movie about the making of Facebook? Probably. But life and all its weird facsimiles come at us so quickly nowadays, which is partly why you know you want to see The Social Network anyway: to process.  Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, which aims to expose […]

“Project Runway,” “Sister Wives,” “The Making of Jackass 3D”

“Project Runway”  Thursday 9pm, Lifetime We’re getting close to Fashion Week, and overall I think the Season 8 designers have acquitted themselves adequately. All of the remaining contestants have the potential to put together solid final collections, although I’m specifically pulling for hyper-creative Andy and goth pixie Mondo. I’m fairly certain the third spot will […]

Checking in with Abel Okugawa

What were you doing right before we called?  I was in the process of coming up with a gear list for this recording and live music video that a producer friend of mine, Raphael Wintersberger, and I are trying to do. It’s actually in New York City, so it’s going to be a big trip. […]

Capsule Reviews

Alpha and Omega (PG, 88 minutes) Two wolves try to find their way home after being shipped by park rangers across the country in this animated romp. Voices by Justin Long, Christina Ricci and Dennis Hopper. Carmike Cinema 6 The American (R, 105 minutes) An American assassin (George Clooney) heads to Italy for one last assignment […]

Checking in with Avery Lawrence

 Tell us about your day job.  My day job is my studio called The POMP, located in Random Row Books. I call it a studio and print shop. I will have screen printing equipment and hopefully other stuff soon, but right now there’s a screen print station, a computer, lots of drawing and painting materials, […]

Mao's Last Dancer; PG, 117 minutes; Vinegar Hill Theatre

Come to think of it, Mao’s Last Dancer is just the movie you’d expect from seeing ballet star Cunxin Li’s memoir adapted for the director of Driving Miss Daisy (Bruce Beresford) by the writer of Shine (Jan Sardi). Not that it would ever occur to you to expect such a movie. But here it is, […]

"No Ordinary Family," "The Tenth Inning," "Law & Order: Los Angeles"

“No Ordinary Family”  Tuesday 8pm, ABC If you liked The Incredibles or The Fantastic Four (the comic series, not the crappy movies) you’ll probably dig this. The Powell family is the picture of modern American malaise. Father Jim (Michael Chiklis, “The Shield”) is having a borderline midlife crisis, mom Stephanie (Julie Benz, “Dexter”) is a […]