The Virginia Film Festival: An Embarrassment of Riches

Historic and heartwarming (Loving). Family-friendly and inspiring (The Eagle Huntress). Searching and shocking (The Promise), romantic (La La Land) and jaw dropping (Liv Ullmann, Werner Herzog and Shirley . .. that’s right, MacLaine)—if it boasts more than 125 films, and way too many admiring modifiers to choose from, it’s the 2016 Virginia Film Festival, screening […]

Connections abound at this year’s film festival

The lead-off film at this year’s Virginia Film Festival (Nov. 3-6) is remarkable in its story and its timing. As we look out from our fledgling blue state to the country’s contentious societal landscape, the nasty presidential campaign to be decided on Tuesday and the glaring Supreme Court vacancy, director Jeff Nichols syncs up history […]

Don’t Breathe is overcome with bad choices

No film is completely perfect, but it takes a special kind of wrongheadedness to make a decision that completely divorces an audience from enjoyment by being both morally repugnant and betraying its own narrative. This is the experience of watching Don’t Breathe, technical wunderkind Fede Alvarez’s follow-up to his promising remake of Evil Dead, which […]

Femme fatale: Literary allusions in the Haysom homicides

The tale of UVA students Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soering, who were convicted in the 1985 double murders of Haysom’s parents, has long riveted central Virginia, and a new documentary reveals how the two saw themselves as tragic characters out of Shakespeare and Dickens. Initially Soering confessed to the murders, he says, to protect his […]

Regal relents, shows Star Wars

A week ago, C-VILLE reported how Regal Stonefield Stadium 14 refused to show the highest grossing film ever, Star Wars, if it was shown at independent movie chain Violet Crown in downtown Charlottesville. In an abrupt change of heart, Regal lists Star Wars, The Revenant, Hail, Caesar! and Deadpool as screening February 19, even though they’re […]

VIDEO: C-VILLE Weekly talks with the Virginia Film Festival organizers

This morning C-VILLE Weekly launched its new C-VILLE Live series with an interview with the organizers of the 28th Virginia Film Festival. Jody Kielbasa, director of the festival and vice provost of the arts for the University of Virginia, and Wesley Harris, programmer for the festival, stopped by our office this morning to answer some […]

ARTS Picks: BANFF Mountain Film Festival’s World Tour

BANFF Mountain Film Festival’s World Tour is the greatest trip you can take without leaving your seat. Presented by Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, the two-day event features 18 films that span the worlds of skiing, climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and more. Though each film is unique, they all strive to protect the planet. Proceeds benefit […]