“James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen”
Learn how Colonial culinary tastes were shaped and American cuisine started to define itself at the screening of James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen. This 2022 documentary explores the life, […]
Silents Scored Live
Step back in time with Silents Scored Live, a silent-film screening with in-person musical accompaniment. Composer, film lecturer, and Violet Crown artist-in-residence Matt Marshall brings more than two decades of […]
The five worst films of 2024
When we asked our Screens columnist, Justin Humphreys to do a round-up of the year’s movies, he made his feelings clear: “I’m going to have to be very honest and […]
Virginia Film Festival lineup has broad reach
Stories of survival, the trials and triumphs of friends and families, animated offerings, and films from around the world. The 37th Virginia Film Festival brings together an incredibly diverse program […]
Bloody but unbowed
Australian director George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga traces the origin story of the hit Mad Max: Fury Road’s heroine, Imperator Furiosa (with Anya Taylor-Joy in the role originated […]
Back to basic
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Back to Black details the short, volcanic life of pop star Amy Winehouse. It’s a by-the-numbers music biopic that is mostly unremarkable, with the exception of the […]
Starvation diet
Director-co-screenwriter J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow is a well-made, engrossing story of survival told straightforwardly and conventionally. The film deftly depicts a horrifying, real-life tragedy and, although it is […]
Godzilla 1, Tokyo 0
Writer and director Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One is easily among 2023’s most engaging, exciting, and poignant films. This isn’t some pulp monster movie to be casually dismissed by snobs—it’s […]
The emperor strikes out
Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon covers the well-worn territory of the titular French emperor’s monumental military conquests and eventual downfall. Scott’s battle sequences are undeniably extraordinary, and it’s gorgeous overall, […]
Learning curves
Director Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is a love letter to 1970s cinema. An avowed cinephile, Payne affectionately evokes the era’s character-driven and frequently dark films with this wry comedy-drama. Payne’s […]