"I love when movies are dangerous. Are they anymore? I don’t think so." We consume noise. We’ve lost the signal. The transmission is overwhelmed by “content,” not art. That’s the point. To wear you down. To accept mediocrity. The celebration of film and music has been...
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...
The 8th Annual Richmond Environmental Film Festival, which kicked off last night, has come around once again for its week-long showcase to raise awareness on environmental issues featuring local and national films at various venues across the city. Every year, the festival bolsters its lineup with an arsenal of films, providing breathtaking,...
No film about adolescence has stood the test of time quite like John Hughes’ ode to forced school on a Saturday quite like “The Breakfast Club”. A quintessential 80’s flick, released slap dab in the middle of the decade, was a rounding success at the time of its release and then went on to become a fevered favorite among those looking for...
Good nonsense is indeed hard to find. Terry Gilliam’s 1977’s “Jabberwocky” is less the spiritual successor of his previous landmark comedy “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, but more of a continuation on that film’s satirical bent of the Dark Ages with silliness run amok during very cruel, nasty times. Based (very) loosely off of the mythical...
A cornerstone for gay cinema, “Desert Hearts” is director Donna Deitch’s first scripted feature, but also a rare coming out in independent cinema and the romance genre. It’s 1959 and Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) needs a divorce. She rides in on a train to Reno, Nevada to fulfill and establish a six-week residency, all while trying to maintain her...
In a beautiful manifestation of native culture through film, The Pocahontas Reframed: Native American Storytellers Film Festival conveyed the importance of traditional storytelling in a world oversaturated with instantaneous information. This past weekend, veterans of the French Film Festival, as well as some new collaborators, pulled together...
In a celebration of native peoples and indigenous culture, Richmond will be hosting The Pocahontas Reframed: Native American Storytellers Film Festival (PRNASFF) this coming weekend. The three-day free event will be held at the Byrd Theatre will feature multiple films and performances all focusing on Native American peoples, culture, language,...
