FILM & TV

VHS Club | Escape from New York

VHS Club | Escape from New York

Given our current political predicament, no line in cinema feels more relevant than when Bob Hauk, the police commissioner in Escape from New York, says to Snake Plissken, “The president’s gone missing.” To which Plissken coolly responds, “President of what?” ...




more in culture

Why Norfolk’s NEON District Works—and What Richmond Can Learn

In 2013, a two-day event transformed a neglected stretch of Norfolk, Virginia, into a pop-up arts district. It wasn’t a city plan—it was a vision. Volunteers opened temporary galleries in boarded-up storefronts. Food trucks rolled in. Sidewalks were painted with...

The Vinyl Crypt of Scott’s Addition: Wax Moon’s Strange Magic

Off of Broad Street, deep in Scott’s Addition between warehouses and alleyways, is a black hole in the wall filled with music, vintage VHS, and (perhaps most importantly) Richmond’s preeminent collection of horror-themed pinball machines. I came to Wax Moon on a cool...

It’s Still Our City | Ep. 10 Lady E

“I met this phenom many, many moons ago at DLB, and I was instantly smitten. She’s always marched to the beat of her own fuckin’ drum—and still does. So much respect. And then I heard her sing... oh mylanta. Her voice absolutely floored me. She moved to Richmond at 18...

VHS Club | Near Dark

"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....

FILM REVIEW : Predators

It seems obvious from the title that the filmmakers behind Predators were, in some way, trying to channel the success of Aliens. The two franchises have always been closely related, and even though that relation culminated in the two abysmal Alien Vs. Predator movies, both series always garnered respect separately. They began in very much the...

Read More

predators-movie-poster.jpg

FILM REVIEW: Grown Ups

There are many things that go into making an enjoyable comedy. One of the most important is good chemistry between the lead actors. This is something that Grown Ups, the new Adam Sandler comedy has in spades. This is achieved in a rather simple way. The lead actors playing a group of friends are, in fact, all friends in real life. Sandler teams...

Read More

grown_ups_ver2.jpg

Film Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

It is probably a safe assumption that most young men between the ages of 20 and 35 spent a great deal of their childhoods watching Transformers or G.I. Joe or both. Hasbro owned the children of the ‘80s and early ‘90s. It is probably a safe assumption that most young men between the ages of 20 and 35 spent a great deal of their childhoods...

Read More

Gi_joe1.jpg

Film Review: Moon

Moon is that one film that science-fiction enthusiasts wait for. After an onslaught of commercial pictures in the genre, a film like this reminds us that science fiction can exist in an intelligent realm. Moon is that one film that science-fiction enthusiasts wait for. After an onslaught of commercial pictures in the genre, a film like this...

Read More

moon-movie-poster.jpg

Todd Raviotta, Richmond Filmmaker

Todd Raviotta has finished his first feature, and he’s been sitting on it for almost a year. At this point, he’s used to waiting. “It took five years to make,” he says, “but I had been thinking about it before I even shot anything for a year and a half, and some of the roots of it go back to when I was a kid.” Mediated: The 21st Century...

Read More

Todd Raviotta by Teddy Blanks_RVA Magazine 2005