Judging by its trailer, Dean Fleischer-Camp’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On might come off as utterly silly—and in parts, it very enjoyably is. But, ironically, its hero, a charmingly ridiculous one-eyed shell with feet, ranks among the single most human movie characters of 2022. This substantial little tale of survival, loyalty, and courage is […]
Judging by its trailer, Dean Fleischer-Camp’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On might come off as utterly silly—and in parts, it very enjoyably is. But, ironically, its hero, a charmingly ridiculous one-eyed shell with feet, ranks among the single most human movie characters of 2022. This substantial little tale of survival, loyalty, and courage is […]
March on: An old classic is infused with modern sensibilities at the Virginia Theatre Festival. Acclaimed playwright Kate Hamill takes Louisa May Alcott’s beloved Little Women in a contemporary direction that sees the March sisters grappling with traditional gender roles, political beliefs, family dynamics, and love, as they grow from children to adults in a […]
Break loose: Local singer-songwriter Silas Frayser formed a sound that rests between acoustic beach rock and folk rock. His 2021 EP, The Silas Frayser Band, features emotive vocals, catchy picking, and lyrics that deserve a second listen. The guitarist’s duo provides the smooth tunes needed for a stress-free night following Pandemonium Day—a day for letting […]
Looking back: Photojournalist Eze Amos took more than 9,000 photographs on August 12, 2017. Now, five years later, he is sharing what he experienced and witnessed during and after the alt-right rally in his exhibition, “Witnessing Resistance.” Featuring 18 images taken between 2016 and 2017, the show is narrated by Amos, and it acts as […]
David Sickmen and The Hackensaw Boys have been a lot of things to a lot of people over their two-decade run. But they’ve never forgotten where they’re from. “When we go out in the world, I still say the band is from Charlottesville,” Sickmen says. “Charlottesville was a magical place in the mid-’90s and into […]
Pop-noir: New Jersey-bred singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins captured the romance and danger of the Jersey Shore’s sprawling boardwalk with psych-rock grooves, girl-group melodrama, and a bit of honky-tonk on her 2020 release Italian Ice. Not ready to let the sounds of summer go, a year later Atkins released Memphis Ice—a stripped-down, cabaret-style reimagining of the songs […]
Do-Re-Mi: The hills are alive with The Sound of Music. The Charlottesville Opera, directed by Cara Consilvio, brings to life the beloved true story of Maria and the von Trapp family with grand vocals and compelling emotion. Accompanied by a live orchestra directed by Michael Slon, the production stars Branch Fields as Captain von Trapp, […]
Read on: Looking for some summer book recs? New page-turners from Bruce Holsinger and Corban Addison are sure to boost your beach reading experience. On Thursday, UVA professor Holsinger celebrates the release of his fourth novel, The Displacements, a suspenseful tale of privilege lost in the wake of natural catastrophe. Friday, hear from Addison about […]
For fans of writer/director David Cronenberg’s films, his newest, Crimes of the Future, is cause for celebration. It’s 100 percent unadulterated Cronenberg, and marks a return to the sub-genre he essentially invented: body horror—unsettling excursions into human biology in revolt against itself. And for those unversed in Cronenberg, this will be a thought-provoking, observant, shocking, […]
A wild calling: In quintessential Virginia fashion, Wild Common came together as a band in a country farmhouse. The crew of friends wanted to make music that let everyone “bring in our own traditions, our own styles, musical genres, and then see what came out of it,” says guitarist Brennan Gilmore. They came to rest […]