FILM & TV




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Photos | the Flaming Lips & Modest Mouse on Brown’s island

Sunday night’s show on Brown’s Island felt like a ritual, maybe even a communion, as a field full of strangers came together under clear skies and perfect weather. Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, and opener Friko gave the crowd exactly what we came for. Modest Mouse...

The Lost Cause Boys’ Club

“The rebel yell, reinforced by a glorification of the lost cause was everywhere manifest,” reported John Mitchell Jr., editor of the Richmond Planet, an African American weekly newspaper, at the time of the Robert E. Lee monument’s unveiling.  It was the spring...

What the F@ck is Orange Wine?! (and Where to Find It in Richmond)

And no, it’s not made from oranges.. The first time I encountered orange wine (or skin contact white wine), I was wowed by the color and it’s presentation. It’s gorgeous. This beautiful, amber-hued liquid danced around the edges of my swirling wine glass. I gave it a...

The New Corner Store: How Vape Shops Took Over Richmond

A former Richmond smoke shop owner breaks his silence on selective enforcement, shady distributors, and the regulatory loopholes driving Virginia’s booming gray market. In neighborhoods across Richmond, it’s hard to miss them: brightly lit vape shops glowing with LED...

Sound Check | Spooky Cool, Weedeater, The Be-Sides & More!

Sun’s up, we ain’t dead yet. Plenty of good stuff on the bills -- your favorites, my favorites, maybe even your next favorite. Got a show coming up? New single? Simply want someone to talk music? I am your guy at griffin@rvamag.com....

Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Fantastic Planet (1973)

And what a fantastic planet it was. Renè Laloux’s 1973’s Fantastic Planet (or Wild Planet depending on how literal you like your translations) is a positively surreal. Winning the 1973 Cannes Grand Prix Prize, the film is imaginative, engrossing, and original in the most fantastical sense. And what a fantastic planet it was. Renè Laloux’s 1973’s...

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Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Brief Encounter (1945)

Before he would direct his later career epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, director David Lean ended his string of play adaptations with perhaps the most celebrated romance movie ever. Before he would direct his later career epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, director David Lean ended his string of play adaptations...

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Kyle’s Criterion Corner: ‘A Brighter Summer Day’

Certainly better late than never. Certainly better late than never. Chinese filmmaker Edward Yang’s often-cited A Brighter Summer Day is to many the holy grail of Eastern films that tragically haven’t seen the light of day in America outside of film festivals or piracy. Leaving a large footprint as part of the New Taiwan Cinema movement during...

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Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Death by Hanging (1968)

The opening query of provocateur Nagasa Oshima’s political Death by Hanging is the question of “…have you actually seen an execution or an execution chamber”? The opening query of provocateur Nagasa Oshima’s political Death by Hanging is the question of “…have you actually seen an execution or an execution chamber”? Beginning like a documentary...

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Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Different shades of tragedy always seem to expound from filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. Different shades of tragedy always seem to expound from filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. For 30 years they’ve been enticing us with their strange but strikingly great movies that seem to run the gamut of eccentrics being surrounded by oddballs, creeps, and...

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Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Bitter Rice (1949)

1949’s Bitter Rice is a provocative pulp disguised as a crime drama through an Italian neorealism lens. 1949’s Bitter Rice is a provocative pulp disguised as a crime drama through an Italian neorealism lens. Infused specifically American pulp and light noir, it still feels dangerous, lurid, gritty, and socially aware within all its sexy,...

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