"You have to learn how to kill." In Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, the vampires aren’t sexy. There’s nothing particularly interesting about them. They’re not Eurocentric romantics; they’re pure Americana, highway drifters chasing the night. They burn. They kill....
When going back through memories of past events, old friends, and lost loves, it’s easy to get lost in them like a daydream. Trying to remember and re-experience every emotion and sensation like the first time, making sure you can recount as many details as possible. These experiences are not just fun to look back on, but they can also be...
Will Rosenstock, Bust Crew, and Venue Skateboards are bringing Richmond's best skateboarders to the Byrd Theatre next Friday with Nightmare Van. The crusty, gritty streets of Richmond are a haven for a familial group of skaters that seems to keep on growing. And on June 28, they'll hit the big screen, as Nightmare Van, a video by Will Rosenstock,...
Is it true? Mmhm, we do, we do, we do-oooooo... Conventions are easy to get lost and overwhelmed in. Between Pikachu and Ms. Frizzle cosplayers on your left and volunteers on your right screaming to see your badge, it’s a lot. But they are absolutely worth it. A couple weeks ago, one of the biggest fan conventions in rotation right now,...
The Criterion Collection edition of silent-era comic Harold Lloyd's classic film, The Kid Brother, proves that Lloyd could absolutely stand alongside his more well-remembered peers, Chaplin and Keaton. Few silent-era comedy personas could top the legendary career that was Harold Lloyd’s. There were, of course, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin,...
*This article originally appeared in RVA Mag #36, on the streets now at all your favorite spots. With a mashup of local idols as its actors and musicians, Richmond-produced indie film Last Call is a River City dream. Spearheaded by Richmond-based production team Aisthesis Productions, the film tells the story of a bartender who endures a...
Vine is dead, I know. But the recent onslaught of TikTok ads on the internet has left me feeling nostalgic for the once beloved video app. So in the spirit of love, Vine, and my opinions, “welcome back to... me, screaming.” In search of the right herbal tea, or bubble bath, or Netflix series, I have discovered that nothing eases my anxiety better...
To close out the 26th annual James River Film Festival, Gallery 5 celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a double feature from Silent/Music Revival and Strange Projections, featuring the classic St. Paddy's Day film, Leprechaun. The evening of St. Patrick's Day saw the James River Film Festival close out in fine fashion, with a bizarrely fascinating...
The hit Netflix series frighteningly subverts a host of romantic-comedy cliches to bring us a powerful point: our culture needs to stop romanticizing abusive men. The TV series You, an adaptation of Caroline Kepnes's addicting 2014 novel of the same name, premiered on Lifetime in September 2018. But it really caught fire once it moved to Netflix...
The excesses and studio battles around May's third film ultimately derailed her directing career, but the film's heart is its penetrating look at the actions of desperate men. While already an established comedian, writer, and actress by the mid-1970s, Elaine May was still a rising director, gaining fame for her ability to present unlikable men...
