“Dick Laurent is dead.” The one road you might never leave is David Lynch’s The Lost Highway. Released in 1997, between the cathartic black box of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and the bruised dreamscape of Mulholland Drive, The Lost Highway might be Lynch’s...
In search of something more rough and real, Pilipino director Lino Brocka’s 1975 docudrama, “Manila in the Claws of Light,” is steeped in social realism in its depiction of the lower-class struggle of a young twenty-something named Julio (Bembol Roco). The film follows Julio into the seedy underbelly of Manila on a search for his lost love,...
My summer Monday night tradition for the past several years: drive to my mom’s and make dinner with my grandmother, crack a bottle of wine, plant on the couch by 8 p.m. and glue our faces to the TV to watch 25 men battle over one lucky lady (I’m a purist, I don’t watch The Bachelor. The Bachelorette is where it’s at.) My grandmother and I will...
To kick off the summer, VCU's Institute for Contemporary Art is premiering a free film series to showcase local and national filmmakers in conjunction with their current exhibition, Declaration. Launching today and running year-round, the ICA Cinema Series will offer free movies at the arts center's auditorium once a month along with...
The term ‘Uncle Tom’ conjures up harsh memories of America’s racist past. Yet to author and filmmaker Jared Brock, the phrase is something different entirely. According to Brock, who premiered his latest work at the Black History Museum & Cultural Center last night, it’s in some serious need of clarification or as he says, ‘redemption’. In...
It’s been about two weeks since I saw Avengers: Infinity War. I saw it twice over the course of 48 hours, on the night it premiered and then again on the next night. Over 10 years of storytelling and 19 films have led up to the ultimate big bad of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the most pearl-clutching post-credits sequence in Marvel...
Richmond provides the backdrop for many productions, from random alleyways on “Homeland” to the Laburnum House on the canceled “Mercy Street,” but it’s rare that the city receives the type of exposure Jai Jamison is aiming for with his forthcoming short, “Slave Cry.” A pilot for a proposed TV series, Jamison said he wanted to tell a contemporary...
The Lisbon girls, oh the Lisbon girls. Sophia Coppola’s brilliant and vibrant 1999 debut “The Virgin Suicides” follows a group of teenage boys (now men 25 years later) obsessed with the five teenage Lisbon sisters, fixating on their lives just prior to their mystifying, premature deaths. Adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel, the film faithfully...
Tonight, the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF) kicks off at the historic Byrd Theatre, launching a week-long screening of more than 150 films. RIFF includes films from a wide range of genres and styles, from animated shorts to documentaries, and features works from over 35 countries. The festival opens with “Nona”, a narrative feature...
From slavery to freedom through food and resistance, John Dabney’s story is one not often mentioned, but one that should be celebrated and honored not only for Black History Month, but for the mark he left on Richmond as well. And that story will be told at the Black History Museum this week with a screening of The Hail Storm: John Dabney in...
