In the Richmond of 2005, Teddy Blanks was everywhere—playing packed shows with Ross Harman as the pop duo The Gaskets, writing sharp film reviews and interviews for the early issues of RVA Magazine, and even acting in a short film that, for me, still holds personal...
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,...
The following is RVA Magazine's continued coverage of Charlottesville's Virginia Film Festival this past weekend. Staff writer Kyle Shearin was on the scene to highlight some of the films from the three-day event. If you missed the first in the series, you can check that review out here. “Permanent”, a new film, comes from Virginian...
Based in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia, the Virginia Film Festival has celebrated the art of film for over 30 years and this past weekend, it continued its tradition of highlighting new features and documentaries, fresh takes on timeless classics, and local filmmakers. Staff writer Kyle Shearin attended the festival and in the...
Not exactly a modern-spin on an old fable, The Lure is a stirring, if fragmented coming-of-human tale of two sisters who happen to be carnivorous, singing, vampire-like mermaids. After being lured by a family of intriguing music performers, Silver (Marta Mazurek) and Golden (Michalina Olszanska) two young, beautiful, mermaids find themselves the...
