ARTS Pick: The Haunting of Hill House
Ghost writing: When Shirley Jackson decided to write a ghost story, she took inspiration from a real-life 19th-century scientific investigation, and created The Haunting of Hill House. Jackson said it […]
Fest bets: Making the most of your Virginia Film Festival schedule
Every year, the Virginia Film Festival brings the best in films past, present, and future. Critics and writers appearing at VAFF include Jamelle Bouie of The New York Times and […]
Building character: Actor Dennis Christopher on Breaking Away
In his 50-plus year career, actor Dennis Christopher has defied typecasting. His wildly varied characters include an Olympic runner in Chariots of Fire (1981); tormented Eddie Kaspbrak in It (1990); […]
Culture through the restless lens of UVA’s Kevin Everson
Kevin Everson is known to be prolific, but it’s still startling when he says “I made 17 films this year.” Asked which shorts he’ll be showing at the Virginia Film […]
ARTS Pick: The Avett Brothers
Making hay: On their website, The Avett Brothers claim humble beginnings: They grew up on a small hobby farm, grumbling often over the fact that they had never seen the […]
ARTS Pick: Mason Ramsey
Adding up: Mason Ramsey has always been a precocious child—his family says he was crooning and harmonizing before he could talk. By age 4, Ramsey was singing at the Kentucky […]
ARTS Pick: Rosier
New trad: Explorations in indie, jazz, pop, and bluegrass turn the bilingual songs of Rosier into sophisticated, emotional journeys. It’s not surprising that the Montreal-based band has a facility with […]
In Living Black and White—with Shades of Gray: Colorless Expression Proves Lively in Second Street Gallery’s “She’s in Monochrome”
What do we really see when hues are subdued, diminished, or deleted outright? Tough question. If you’re like me—colorblind—that’s kind of how you go through life. Art’s power when deprived […]
Fall for it: Expert tips for throwing a wine harvest party
After the harvest rain-out of 2018, this year’s Virginia wine vintage brings especially welcome news: a healthy, plentiful crop of ripe reds and whites, now bubbling merrily away in fermentation […]
Spirited debate: Tasting and talking Virginia whiskey (and one rum)
Whiskey goes way back in Virginia. In 1620, English settler George Thorpe made the first batch of spirits in Jamestown using corn—not barley, as was the tradition in Europe—obtained in […]