37 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(04/29/16 2:23am)
In his follow-up to "Boyhood," Richard Linklater, in his typical laid back yet thought-provoking style, puts a retro spin on the classic college flick. The movie, which captures the weekend before classes begin at a Texas university, has been described as a spiritual sequel to "Dazed and Confused" as well as a thematic sequel to "Boyhood." Both labels certainly fit.
(03/24/16 3:06am)
The Virginia Film Festival’s recently announced partnership with Violet Crown Cinema is set to expand the variety of films showcased in Charlottesville with one-off screenings. Films missing a standard release in Charlottesville should benefit from this new series. Arts & Entertainment was able to sit down with VFF Director and Vice Provost of the Arts Jody Kielbasa and Programming Director Wes Harris to discuss the new partnership.
(03/03/16 2:41am)
The 88th Academy Awards were held Sunday, and the show was sharper than it's been in years, while also bringing quite a few surprises. This Oscar season’s outcome was the least clear in recent memory, and as a result, we can only claim a 66 percent success rate in our predictions.
(02/25/16 4:37am)
After a tumultuous and controversial awards season, the 88th Academy Awards will take place this coming weekend. The main story has been the lack of diversity among nominees, and hopefully the issue of representation in the movie industry won’t be swept under the rug with the passing of Oscar season.
(02/17/16 1:51am)
By this point last year, “Birdman” had just finished its sweep of the top three Hollywood Guild Awards, given out by the Producers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America. Despite attempts to portray the Best Picture race as still up in the air, any movie winning in this sweep is all but guaranteed to win the top Oscars prize — but this is a different kind of year.
(02/05/16 3:28am)
In the weeks after the announcement of Oscar nominees, the main story hasn’t been about the nominees themselves, but rather about the snubbed. #OscarsSoWhite dominates the conversation once again, after some controversy last year, but this time the hashtag’s strength matches outrage with deep sadness and fatigue.
(01/21/16 2:36am)
This year’s Oscar nominations are in, and as usual, viewers saw many deserving nods alongside a few unbelievable slights. Overall, A&E had a 76 percent hit rate with our nominations predictions.
(01/12/16 5:26am)
Oscars season is back, and this year looks like one of the craziest in recent memory. While several categories have clear front-runners and others like Best Actor may be all locked up, several top prizes are still uncertain.
(01/08/16 12:00pm)
The year 2015 came and went, but it’s not too late to take advantage of the great movies featured during the past 12 months. While a small number of franchise mega-hits drove the record-breaking $11 billion box office, the year had a deep slate of quality movies, from huge blockbusters to small indies.
(01/06/16 3:50pm)
The wait is finally over, and it was all worth it in the end. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” aces in reviving the feel of the classic original trilogy while setting a course for the future. The tone is full of fun, wonder, adventure and humor, but not without dramatic weight. The story is timeless and the characters are so captivating that reused plot elements are not much of a problem. It’s an old canvas on which to draw the beginning of a new story. The old is made new again, and the line between backward-looking homage and forward-looking excitement is walked delicately but effectively.
(12/03/15 3:28am)
While many public interest stories captivate wide audiences, there is a need for the careful handling of the facts since getting some information wrong may compromise the integrity of the piece as a whole. The new release “Spotlight” highlights obstacles of investigative reporting — namely the challenge of finding concrete facts to unlock the story. The plot involves reporters from The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team investigating the Catholic Church’s cover-up of molestations, a narrative told with the commitment of a news writer. The movie is an ideal example of the investigative journalism subgenre, reminiscent of the Watergate drama “All the President’s Men.”
(11/23/15 12:41am)
“Joy” (Dec. 25 Wide) – Writer and director David O. Russell reunites with frequent collaborators Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro, for the story of Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano. With “The Fighter,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle,” Russell has been a consistent provider of quality adult dramedies for the holiday movie season. Expect great performances all around, especially from Lawrence. Trailers suggest this is her best role in a Russell movie, which says a lot.
(11/12/15 2:43am)
Politics Prof. Larry Sabato recently hosted a special advanced screening of the Center for Politics’ new documentary “Ball of Confusion,” chronicling the chaotic 1968 presidential election. The screening was the first event in University President Teresa Sullivan’s “Things Every Voter Should Know” series meant to educate students before Election Day.
(10/22/15 6:44pm)
It feels like the previous Steve Jobs drama, “Jobs,” came out just yesterday. However, the new adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s biography of the former Apple leader from director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is the real deal and demands to be seen. The exact factual accuracy may deserve scrutiny, but the story presented in “Steve Jobs” is great enough that any minor inaccuracies do not matter too much.
(10/20/15 3:40am)
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have crafted a feel-good Cold War drama about American Idealism in a time of hysteria. The story focuses on insurance lawyer James Donovan, who was recruited to defend an accused Soviet spy in 1957 at the height of the Cold War.
(10/02/15 3:12am)
The programming for this year’s Virginia Film Festival was announced Sept. 28 at The Jefferson Theater by Jody Kielbasa, University vice provost for the Arts and Virginia Film Festival Director, and Wesley Harris, VFF Programmer, setting the stage for another active weekend of cinema in Charlottesville.
(09/19/15 1:51am)
Stephen Colbert returned to TV, with a cross-country rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” and an umpire’s call to play ball. While Colbert has promised that he is leaving behind his right-wing loudmouth character in his new gig — “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — nothing could stop the studio audience from chanting Colbert’s name as he took the stage. It has been nine long months since “The Colbert Report” ended, and it’s wonderful to have Colbert’s talents return to the late night landscape. While “The Late Show” has generally stuck to the standard network talk show formula, the first week suggests that the Stephen Colbert’s true personality is an invaluable addition to late night TV — full of fun, intelligence and heart.
(09/04/15 1:46am)
The summer movie season had a diverse mix of big-budget blockbusters, comedies and smaller indie films. Some thrilled the senses and captivated the imagination, while others disappointed. As moviegoers trade blockbusters for Oscar bait, it’s a good time to take stock of the best films this summer had to offer. For the sake of this list, “summer” will be defined as the first weekend of May up to the last weekend in August, excluding movies like “Furious 7” and “Ex Machina” that debuted in April.
(05/27/15 3:20am)
The release of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” provides a great opportunity to take stock of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, despite the fact Phase Two technically concludes with July’s release of “Ant-Man.”
(05/20/15 12:00am)
In 2012, Marvel’s first installment of “The Avengers” rewrote the book on superhero blockbusters and on modern franchises. Cinematic universes of many interlocking stories all set within the same world have since taken off, with other studios trying to replicate Marvel’s enormous success.