Big-budget movies have artistic potential, but first and foremost, each and every movie produced by major production companies is made for a profit.
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.”
Fourth-year Commerce student Campbell Ross will take the stage at The Southern this Thursday to represent the University during the venue’s Laugh Your Ass Off stand-up comedy night. The LYAO series is part of a local initiative to fill what Lindsay Dorrier, marketing manager for The Southern and The Jefferson, calls “a glaring hole in the local entertainment scene.” Dorrier created the LYAO comedy showcase, using the scheduled performance of comedians Noah Gardenswartz and Kenny Wingle to forge a connection with the University and draw students Downtown in support of Ross. “I’m interested in club level comics that don’t hold back,” he said in an email — and it seems Ross fits the bill. Upon being asked to recommend a successful student comedian, Christopher Hutson, fourth-year College student and president and co-founder of the Student Stand Up Club, said he immediately thought of Campbell. Ross began performing in high school, when he presented a mixture of stand-up comedy and improv for a senior project. Now Ross tackles a variety of topics onstage, and said his time at U.Va.
Each year, critics and movie buffs decry the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ list of nominees for the Academy Awards, chastising the Academy for missing obvious choices, overlooking powerful performances, or focusing on too narrow a set of films.
