Month: April 2006

Categories
Living

Pizza: the pie

To hear Fabio Esposito tell it, the pizza business just won’t leave him alone. When he opens Fabio’s N.Y. Pizza in the former High Street Pizza Hut building next month, Esposito will draw on seven years of experience running the original Fabio’s N.Y. Pizza in Gordonsville. “’Your kitchen is our second kitchen,’” he recalls his Gordonsville customers telling him, before he and his wife Elena sold the place two years ago.
    The family vibe there was so palpable that, when the Fabio’s staff was hopelessly slammed, diners would pick up bus tubs and lend a hand. Some of those same loyal customers, Esposito says, urged him to stake a claim in Charlottesville. He began work on the new location about two months ago.
    And so, come the first week of May, you’ll be able to park in the nice big parking lot, enter a renovated interior, and order pizza-by-the-slice, whole pies, subs, sandwiches or salads. You can get your pizza Chicago deep-dish style, with a thin New York crust, or sliced into Sicilian squares; or, if you’d rather, sink your teeth into a calzone or pepperoni roll. And you won’t mistake Fabio’s for the delivery-and-takeout-only Pizza Hut that it replaces, Esposito says. He’s rejiggered the layout of the space to accommodate tables, and plans to eventually add a patio outside.
    Highly scientific studies of the Pantops-area lunch landscape, Esposito says, have revealed that “everybody’s packed.” He hopes families and office escapees will pack in for his pizza, as well.

Hola!
If you’re muy in the know and you have 85 clams laying around, you’ll get yourself a reservation for the Viva Espâna Spanish wine dinner on April 20 at Fossett’s Restaurant at Keswick Hall. (Got all that?) It’s a chance to try Spanish dishes like paprika beef skewers with eggplant ragu, or crawfish beignets with piquillo pepper remoulade—all paired with wines of Spain. David Shiverick of Langdon/ Shiverick Imports, a Cleveland wine importer, will be on hand to pour vintages like the 2004 Falset Etim Blanc Grenache. Sounds bonita.

Adios!
Though we haven’t been able to reach Amigos owner Rudy Padilla (also of El Rey Del Taco fame), we can report that his original Amigos location in Woodbrook Shopping Center has closed. No word on the expectations for Amigos’ Fifth Street and Corner locations—nor on what they’ll do with all those leftover beans. We’ll stay on the story.

Deli deal dead
We recently waxed expectant about a second branch of Littlejohn’s opening in the former A&N space on the Downtown Mall. Now, it seems, we’ll have to fend off our pastrami cravings a little longer. “Negotiations broke down” at A&N, says operator Chris Strong, who still hopes (along with brother Michael Crafaik, owner of Michael’s Bistro) to grow Littlejohn’s in some other spot—although not necessarily Downtown. Stop by the landmark Corner deli and lobby for your most-hoped-for Littlejohn’s locale. (Reubens in Ruckersville, anyone?)

Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Categories
Arts

Thank You for Smoking and Take the Lead

Thank You for Smoking

R, 92 minutes
Now playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
For times call 817-FILM

I grew up in a haze of cigarette smoke. My dad (emphysema) went through three packs a day. My mom (lung cancer) went through two packs a day. And I myself have respiratory problems that, let’s face it, are probably attributable to second-hand smoke. But I’m not such an anti-smoking fiend that I wasn’t able to enjoy Thank You for Smoking, Jason Reitman’s satiric comedy about a tobacco-industry lobbyist who actually seems to feel good about what he does for a living. Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is handsome (in a business-suit, expensive-haircut sort of way), and boy can he present an argument. Defending the indefensible, he has an answer for everything, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s the right answer or not. In fact, it doesn’t even matter whether he believes the answer—it only matters that he has an answer, a rejoinder, a witty retort. My parents would have loved the guy.
And you may, too. Based on Christopher Buckley’s 1994 novel—which, in taking on the smoking/anti-smoking debate, let both sides have it with both barrels—Thank You for Smoking is refreshingly un-PC. It doesn’t exactly praise Naylor, who would do anything for a cigarette, but it doesn’t really condemn him, either. Yes, he’d say just about anything to further the noble cause of Big Tobacco, but he’d be the first to admit that. With a personality that’s equal parts charm and smarm, he’s nothing if not sincerely insincere. Early on in the movie he makes a what-my-dad-does-for-a-living appearance at his son’s school, and before you’ve gotten over the shock of a man convincing a group of kids that the jury’s still out on the dangers of smoking, he’s framed the discussion in terms of children’s need to think for themselves. He has all the answers. It’s the questions that give him trouble.
The real trouble begins once he gets sent to Hollywood, a town that’s even better at blowing smoke up the public’s collective ass than he is. Naylor’s mission: get people smoking in movies again, and not just the hated RAVs (Russians, Arabs, Villains). Humphrey Bogart (esophageal cancer) used to smoke like a chimney, on and off the screen, and he was the very definition of cool. Why can’t the Dream Factory light up again? These scenes, starring Rob Lowe as a kimono-draped sensei (a la Michael Ovitz) and Adam Brody as his viciously sycophantic assistant, are the movie’s high point—the screen practically drips with sarcasm. And in Lowe’s über-agent, Naylor has finally found his match, a spin doctor whose entire life is a series of house calls. (“When do you sleep?” Naylor asks him. “Sunday,” Lowe replies.) Does this cause our nicotine-addicted hero to entertain second thoughts? On the contrary, he’s more wired than ever.
Then he gets kidnapped, but only briefly—just long enough for the kidnappers to cover his body with nicotine patches, a potentially lethal laying on of hands. Like Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, which reduced the abortion debate to a frolic, Thank You for Smoking gives off a caffeinated (or is that nicotinated?) buzz. It doesn’t go for big laughs—it just lets the smaller ones build on occasion. And Reitman, who adapted Buckley’s novel himself, adds little cinematic touches—like brief freeze-frames where Naylor fills in the background on somebody via narration—that help preserve the book’s slightly giddy tone. Strangely enough, there’s no actual smoking in the movie, even by Naylor, whom we’re told puts his mouth where his money is. On the other hand, we’re introduced to a former Marlboro Man (Sam Elliott) who now sucks from one oxygen canister after another. (Naylor drops off a suitcase full of cash to keep him quiet, of course).
Believe it or not, the movie does have a moral compass, and so does Naylor. Just don’t expect it to point due north. When Naylor heads out to Hollywood, he takes his son (Cameron Bright) along for the ride, and you expect a moment of truth to finally arrive. But there are no moments of truth in the PR business, only moments of truthiness. Like so many fathers before him, Naylor tries to pass on what he’s learned, and not even an exposé by a reporter (Katie Holmes) who specializes in undercover (as in between-the-sheets) work can dim the son’s admiration. Nor does a congressional inquiry led by a Birkenstock-clad liberal senator from Vermont (Bill Macy), who would gladly walk over his grandmother to nail Naylor. Nobody comes out of this poop-flinging contest smelling like a rose. But the pox-on-both-your-houses approach is like a breath of…well, not fresh air, exactly, but at least highly mentholated.

Take the Lead

PG-13, 108 minutes
Now playing at Carmike Cinema 6
For times call 817-FILM

I thought the whole idea of combining ballroom dance and rap was played out after Master P stood there while his partner put herself through the entire Kama Sutra on “Dancing with the Stars.” But here’s Take the Lead, which stars Antonio Banderas as a ballroom-dance instructor who teaches a group of inner-city rejects how to glide through life’s difficulties. Think Dangerous Minds, only featuring the tango and the waltz instead of old Bob Dylan songs. (Or maybe Mad Hot Ballroom: the next generation). Banderas’ character is based on Pierre Dulaine, the gentleman who convinced some of New York City’s most neglected public schools to add ballroom dancing to their curriculums. And although Dulaine’s program hasn’t graduated to the high schools yet, Hollywood producers can dream, can’t they?
What they dream about, I suspect, is combining the hip-hop market with the burgeoning Fred-and-Ginger dance revival. And if Banderas is still capable of generating some sexual heat after playing a dad in Spy Kids and a putty-cat in Shrek II, so much the better. Actually, he seems more than capable, moving his lithe body around like a caged panther, but the script puts a chastity belt on him. We never really know why Dulaine takes time out from his busy schedule to show these detention students how to square “Shake That Ass” with “Fly Me to the Moon.” The movie isn’t really about him. It’s about those detention students—the roughest, toughest, most back-talkin’ crew since “Welcome Back, Kotter.” As they slowly succumb to Dulaine’s charms, adding their own flava to his moves, most viewers will feel they could have written this script in their sleep. And scriptwriter Dianne Houston might just have.
But there’s always the promise of championship ballroom dancing, right? Unfortunately, this is a promise that the movie largely fails to keep. For some reason, director Liz Friedlander keeps cutting away from Banderas’ big tango number, leaving us to wonder whether it was all put together in the editing room. And the hip-hop/clippety-clop finale, where the Cosby Kids show the fox-trotters a thing or two about expressing yourself, suggests there really isn’t a future for this strange hybrid—a pity, perhaps, because each has something to learn from the other. Ballroom dance could stand to loosen up a bit, and hip-hop could use a few pointers on how to treat a lady—although the movie has to fudge the fact that, in ballroom dance, it’s the man who takes the lead. Or, as one of the students puts it, “Mr. Dulaine is getting his flirt on.”
I wish.

Categories
Living

Teach your children well

Starting the studio in their home with no budget, the two have since been able to attract a very diverse clientele of 35 students from ages 4 to 54. Last year, Jay and Morwenna moved Fingerdance Studio three blocks off the Downtown Mall, on Seventh Street NE. Morwenna and Jay are young, hip, talented and educated teachers who stress the importance of music theory, encourage students to learn about their instruments, and always make sure that musical instruction is an enjoyment, not a stress. Morwenna and Jay are always open and willing to find new ways of relating music to everyday life, and like to tailor their instruction to each individual student, since everyone learns differently. Morwenna, who has played with Charlie Haden, Dianne Reeves and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, is familiar with a wide variety of styles including classical, jazz, bluegrass and more. Her main area of expertise is in gypsy swing and rhythmic funk chopping. Jay, who has shared stages with Dave Matthews Band and Nickel Creek, and has been part of Corey Harris’ band, plays finger-style guitar mainly in the tradition of his mentor, Pierre Bensusan.
    On Saturday, April 22, Fingerdance Studio will feature a showcase of its students performing at The Gravity Lounge. I asked two of their players about favorite musical styles. (New students can find more info at www.fingerdancestudio.com.)
 
Sam Rivkin: I am 15 and started taking guitar lessons with Jay two years ago. I started on acoustic, but play electric more now. I play in a band, Counting on Jane, with Lauren Ginsberg and Mary Jean Wilson. Mostly we play covers like “Mandy Goes to Med School” by The Dresden Dolls. For CDs, I like Modest Mouse’s The Moon and Antartica because it has a different sound, and Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. For guitar records, I like Carlos Sanatana’s music, and I like Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced because he is able to play so much different stuff. My friend just bought me his Live at Woodstock on DVD.

Alexandra Osvath: I am 16 and a student at Albemarle High. I studied piano for nine years and am in my fourth year studying violin with Morwenna and Philip Clark. For the showcase, I’ll be playing Irish fiddle tunes and Hungarian gypsy tunes. For violinists, I like Vanessa Mae’s playing a lot—especially Bach’s Violin Partita in E. As far as other CDs, I like Sparky’s Flaw’s CD Oasis’ Wonderwall, Casting Crows’ Lifesong, some Rolling Stones and Enya. I like the whole spectrum.

Categories
Uncategorized

Other News We Heard Last Week 4/11 – 4/17

Tuesday, April 11
Allen announces re-election bid, blames myopia on dad
Virginia’s junior U.S. Senator, George Allen, officially kicked off his re-election bid in Prince William County today, the first stop of 11 on a three-day tour. Though speculation is rampant that Allen wants to succeed Dubya as the next Republican President, Allen would not address the possibility directly today. The Associated Press reports that Allen places his short-term orientation squarely on the shoulders of his dad, former Redskins coach George H. Allen. “My father ingrained in me, and in his players, that the future is now, and I’m paying attention to the present—the now—and we’ll worry about the future when we get to the future,” Allen reportedly said.

Wednesday, April 12
Motorists spending another 49 cents per gallon this year
AAA Mid-Atlantic reports today that gas prices in Charlottesville, today averaging $2.71 per gallon, are 49 cents higher than they were one year ago and 42 cents higher than this time last month. AAA blames the steep rise on tensions between Washington and Tehran. If Americans spend $247 billion on a war against Iran too, then could we get costs at the pump under control?

Thursday, April 13
Warner needs a dental plan
Blogging today on The New York Times’ paid service, Times Select, legal scholar and political pundit Stanley Fish joins the Hillary-in-’08 chorus. His rationale? Other would-be contenders just don’t measure up, including the man the Times recently dubbed the anti-Hillary, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner. And what’s the problem with a Southern governor who’s a self-made millionaire and widely lauded for his ability to work across party lines while keeping a big budget under control? His teeth (“too many,” Fish declares). Which brings to mind a much-circulated jab at another dark horse, Camilla Parker-Bowles, namely that any (wo)man can ride a horse, but it takes a special talent to look like one.

Friday, April 14
Vanity Fair-Charlottesville lovefest continues
They like us, they really like us! O.K., maybe Vanity Fair only likes some of us, but the May issue, on newsstands today, includes a sealed-with-a-kiss appreciation of Charlottesville architect and onetime UVA A-School dean William McDonough. He is one of eight green architects and designers dubbed “The Re-inventors” in the magazine’s “green issue.” McDonough, who has designed enviro-conscious corporate campuses for companies like Nike and IBM, is planning “entire green communities in China, the U.K. and the United States,” VF notes. In its March issue, the magazine went all gooey for UVA writing prof Deborah Eisenberg, whose new collection of short stories was praised as “comic, elegant, and pitch-perfect.” Check newsstands next month for more updates on other fabulous locals.

Saturday, April 15
Nationals break losing streak, Zim helps
In our shameless pursuit of stories celebrating the first full season of the Washington Nationals’ rookie third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, a former UVA baseball standout, we note that a defensive error on Zimmerman’s sixth-inning at-bat against the Florida Marlins tonight helped push the beleagered team to a 2-1 victory. The win broke the Nationals’ six-game losing streak. Oh yes, 13 strikeouts from Nationals pitcher John Patterson also helped the effort!

Sunday, April 16
UVA TV star advised to sprout some fuzz
On the theory that male TV stars with facial hair—even a mere 5 o’clock shadow—achieve higher ratings than those without, The Washington Post today issues constructive criticism to Benjamin McKenzie, the mid-20s UVA grad who plays 18-year-old Ryan Atwood on “The O.C.” With viewership down to 5.8 million for the Fox program, compared to 19.8 million for “Grey’s Anatomy,” which stars the follicularly fertile Patrick Dempsey, the Post chides McKenzie & Co. “Frankly, we’re surprised that these clever boys of Orange County with their pop-culture smarts have fallen behind a trend. For shame.”

Monday, April 17
Two days deferred, tax time remains harsh
Thousands of last-minute filers realize today that having that extra weekend to prepare their taxes was no benefit, it only makes them feel worse about their slackness as they drive to the post office at midnight. And just to rub salt where it’s really not wanted, we point this out: According to The Washington Post, Dick and Lynne Cheney, taking advantage of special loopholes, will be getting a $1.94 million tax refund this year on an adjusted gross income of $8.82 million. That’s gross all right.

Categories
News

Archives Home Page

Select a year to review
 
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
Categories
Living

Fight club

Recalling the exact moment when he was inspired to turn the hills and forests around Charlottesville into a blood-splattered battlefield, where armed horsemen, martial-arts madmen and men with laser guns hunt humans for sport, David Lee Stewart cracks a smile and chuckles, “I guess it started with a cave.”
    Rest easy, Buckingham County residents. All of the aforementioned characters are safely confined to the silver screen (Except maybe those martial-arts men. I’m pretty sure the trees around here are crawling with ninjas).
    Set to make its public debut at this year’s Blue Ridge-Southwest Virginia Vision Film Festival in Roanoke on April 20, Confinement is the latest feature length offering (following 2001’s Concealment) from Stewart, a UVA computer-support employee, amateur spelunker and budding independent filmmaker.
    “It was surreal and it was bizarre,” Stewart says of his first experience exploring the cave near the West Virginia border. “We’re crawling around with hard hats and flashlights way under the ground. [My friend] is walking around showing me all the cool things inside the cave and I’m secretly thinking, ‘How I could I use this in a movie?’”
    The location dovetailed perfectly with an idea that Stewart had been kicking around for years: a survival tale involving people being hunted in a battle arena (a la the ’30s horror classic The Most Dangerous Game). And so Confinement was born.
    Now—three years, one police encounter and countless gallons of costume blood later—Stewart finally has time to relax and reminisce, chuckling over the travails of amateur filmmaking. Shooting in his spare time, and with little or no budget, Stewart had to rely on family and friends in lieu of professional actors. This keep-it-in-the-family approach was not only cheap, but also allowed Stewart an opportunity for a little Freudian venting. “I even gave my mom a cameo,” he says with a devilish grin. “She got shot with an arrow in the head.”
    Despite budget restrictions, Stewart worked hard to achieve a high level of professionalism, meticulously choreographing the movie’s stunts and fight scenes (“We did full contact, except for face,” he says), and rendering the film’s polished special effects on his home computer. Of course, shooting on location without a permit—even in a cave—presents problems of its own. The production was interrupted several times—most memorably when local police and park rangers, sweeping the forest for weekend drunks, found Stewart and company toting realistic-looking prop rifles. The cops insisted that the “weapons” be put away, and the incident delayed shooting nearly three hours.
     But then, no one ever said that being the next Steven Spielberg (or even Roger Corman) would be easy. And Stewart certainly doesn’t plan to slow his march to splatter-film greatness any time soon: After Confinement finishes its festival rounds he’ll seek a distribution deal before moving on to his next project, Containment, which will also be shot in Charlottesville.

Short film reviews

American Dreamz (PG-13, 107 minutes) Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy, In Good Company) delivers this ripe parody of American politics and pop culture. Seems that an unpopular American President (Dennis Quaid) wants a bit of publicity, so he signs on to appear as guest judge for a mega-popular, “American Idol”-style singing contest. Little does he know that Muslim terrorists have seeded the show with a singing suicide bomber. The humor is broad and cartoonish, but Hugh Grant does strike a chord as the show’s mean-spirited host. (Devin O’Leary) Coming Friday; check local listings

ATL (PG-13, 105 minutes) Four friends prepare for life after high school, each taking a different life path in this rap-fueled inner city drama/comedy. Cast includes assorted rappers-turned-actors like Big Boi, Bone Crusher and Jazze Pha. ATL stands for Atlanta, by the way. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

The Benchwarmers (PG-13, 80 minutes) A trio of dorky dudes (David Spade, Rob Schneider and Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder) try to make up for their pathetic childhoods by forming a three-man baseball team to compete against standard Little League teams. This one’s only funny if you like the lamest of output from Adam Sandler’s drinking buddies. (It’s written by Alan Covert, who gave us the glory of Grandma’s Boy.) (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (PG, 140 minutes) C.S. Lewis’ Christian-Lite parable about four children who travel through a magical wardrobe cabinet to a fantasy land caught in a war between an evil witch and a messianic lion goes live-action (mostly). The film relies a bit heavily on the CG effects, not all of which are entirely convincing. (The film has a too clean, too manufactured look about it.) Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Shrek 2) doesn’t quite have Peter  Jackson’s (Lord of the Rings) skill with this sort of material. As a result, the film reads like a juvenile version of Return of the King. Still, kids will probably surrender to the film’s seductive aura of magic and wonderment. (D.O.) Playing through Thursday at Jefferson Theater

Duma (PG, 100 minutes) A young South African boy befriends an orphaned cheetah cub in this harmless, live-action flick inspired by Disney’s old true-life adventure tales. The animals are more interesting than the people, ultimately. Think The Yearling, but with fangs. From the director of Fly Away Home. (D.O.) Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre    

Failure to Launch (PG-13, 97 minutes) Matthew McConaughey plays a 30something slacker dude who refuses to move out of his parents’ house. Naturally, Mom and Dad hire a freelance relationship interventionist (a what?) played by Sarah Jessica Parker. See, she tricks men into falling in love with her, so they’ll grow up and move out of their parents’ houses. Then she dumps them. (Where exactly was this career field on high school job day?) Of course, since this is a romantic comedy, our girl actually falls for our guy. Now, all we have to do is wait around for the reveal of the Big Lie, followed by the inevitable Bad Breakup, trailed shortly by the Tearful Public Reunion. Too bad the film’s charismatic stars are wedded to such a generic romcom script. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6   
Ice Age: The Meltdown (PG, 90 minutes) Gee, that was a pretty short ice age. Seems that the Earth is now warming back up again, and our heroes, the mastodon, the saber-toothed tiger, the sloth and the squirrel thing, must find a new home to live in. Queen Latifah, Jay Leno and Seann William Scott add their voices to the cast this time around. If your kids were entertained by the first one, they’ll be entertained by this one. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Inside Man (R, 129 minutes) Spike Lee tries his hand at a more mainstream thriller with this intermittently successful heist drama. A gang of bank robbers led by Clive Owen takes over a bank in Manhattan. Hostage negotiator Denzel Washington is called in to handle the situation. Naturally, there are lots of twists and turns along the way as the bank robbers scheme to get out with the dough. Do they have a secret plan? Will it be patently obvious to most viewers? Washington does good work (and Jodie Foster drops by for a short time), but Lee isn’t quite prepared for this sort of adrenaline-filled cinema. At least he avoids some of the more egregious genre clichés. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (PG-13, 90 minutes) So…um…I’m trying to work this out. He’s Larry the Cable Guy, but he’s a health inspector. Why didn’t they just make him a cable guy? O.K., clearly I’m overthinking this. Here we have redneck comedian (or “blue-collar comedian” if you prefer) Larry the Cable Guy in his first feature film. If you think Larry’s catchphrase “git-r-done” is hilarious, you’ll probably bust a gut at this film’s fine selection of fart and poop jokes. Still, it would be a lot funnier sitting at home on the couch with a six-pack of Stroh’s. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Lucky Number Slevin (R, 109 minutes) Scotsman Paul McGuigan (Gangster No. 1) contributes this crazed crime story about a case of mistaken identity that leaves a down-on-his luck slob (Josh Hartnett) stuck in the middle of a gang war between Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman (scary). To make matters worse, he’s being pursued by an infamous assassin (Bruce Willis). Our boy Slevin’s situation is slightly ameliorated by the attentions of Lucy Liu, but the body count continues to rise. At times the film becomes wrapped up in its own twisty cleverness—which is wedged somewhere between the filmy smartness of Hitchcock and the showy self-awareness of Tarantino. Still, it’s a hell of zippy ride. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

Phat Girlz (PG-13, 100 minutes) It’s got a “ph” and a “z” in the title, so you know you’re in for some wacky fun. Mo’Nique (“Moesha”) stars as an aspiring plus-size fashion designer struggling to find love and acceptance. Her dreams get a bit closer when she meets a handsome African gentleman who comes from a culture that reveres women of size. Come prepared for lots and lots of “full-bodied lady” jokes. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Scary Movie 4 (PG-13) David Zucker (who pioneered this sort of spoofy genre back in 1980 with Airplane!) returns for yet another outing in the Scary Movie franchise. Anna Faris returns as well as the intrepid reporter trying to find out why so many wacky things are happening. There are send-ups of Saw, The Grudge, War of the Worlds, and others too numerous to count. Expect plenty of cameos as well, including a fairly clever sequence involving Shaquille O’Neal and Dr. Phil. The rest revolves around the usual lowbrow sex and potty humor that the kids so dearly love. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

The Sentinel (PG-13) Kiefer Sutherland, taking time off from his TV gig as a government agent in a frantic race to save the president from assassination, signs on for this theatrical thriller as a government agent in a frantic race to save the president from assassination. Michael Douglas is Sutherland’s foil and former mentor, a disgraced special agent to the White House, who is being framed in the murderous conspiracy (or is he?). Eva Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”) tags along for eye candy. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings

She’s the Man (PG-13, 105 minutes) Although it’s based loosely on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, this teen romcom probably owes more to the immortal ’80s comedy Just One of the Guys (what, you didn’t have Showtime in 1986?). Amanda Bynes (from Nickelodeon’s “The Amanda Show”) stars as a teen who dreams of plaing soccer. Naturally, when her brother heads off to London for a couple of weeks, she disguises herself as him and starts attending his elite prep school dressed in drag. Over the course of this preposterous charade, she falls in love with one of her teammates, setting off a series of hopelessly tangled love affairs. (Seriously, rent Just One of the Guys from Netflix. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Silent Hill (R) For those of you who already have BloodRayne and Doom on DVD (or, more likely, PSP), here’s the latest videogame to make the leap to the silver screen. Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black) stars as a woman searching for her sick daughter in the creepy, fog-enshrouded environs of a mysteriously deserted town. (Deserted, of course, except for all the demons, monsters, ghosts and what-have-you.) At least Uwe Boll (Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, BloodRayne) is not involved. French director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) lends some polish to the rather predictable goings on. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings

Stick It (PG-13, 105 minutes) The rather rude title is meant to lead
a certain air of attitude to this film’s subject, the world of competitive gymnastics. Seems we’ve got a rebellious teen (“Life As We Know It”’s Missy Peregrym) who gets herself enrolled in an elite gymnastics program run by legendary trainer Jeff Bridges. Naturally, our gal brings some of her street-smart ’tude to the balance beam, making this the Bring It On of gymnastics movies. Unfortunately, it’s already been brought. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings

Take the Lead (PG-13, 108 minutes) Reviewed on page 48. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Thank You For Smoking (R, 92 minutes) Reviewed on page 48. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

V for Vendetta (R, 132 minutes) This adaptation of the cult comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd comes to us courtesy of writers/producers the Wachowski brothers. Don’t let the lingering funk of The Matrix Revolutions scare you off, though. This tight, dystopian thriller is a must-see for comic book fans. Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings) plays a mysterious masked figure named V, who seeks to overthrow a totalitarian government in near-future London. Natalie Portman plays the poor waif who gets caught in our anti-hero’s complex plot. The dialogue is, of course, sluggish and ultraphilosophical (it comes courtesy of the Wachowskis, after all), but the plot is timely and the action is adrenalized. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

Walk the Line (PG-13, 136 minutes) Joaquin Phoenix gives everything he can to the role of country music legend Johnny Cash, even going so far as to sing his own tunes. Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon follows close behind as Cash’s longtime love June Carter. The romantic/contentious relationship between Cash and Carter is effectively the highlight of the film and plays off some good chemistry between Phoenix and Witherspoon. At the end of the day, though, the film is a conventional biopic that takes a bit too much mystery out of one of music’s darkest outlaws. (D.O.) Playing through Thursday at Jefferson Theater

The Wild (G, 94 minutes) Despite the fact that this computer-animated toon features a group of animals (including a lion and a giraffe) escaping from the New York City Zoo and making a madcap trek to the wilds of Africa, Disney would like to inform you that this is nothing like last year’s Madagascar. Which, of course, it is. The voice cast (including Kiefer Sutherland, Janeane Garofalo, Eddie Izzard and William Shatner) has fun at least, and there are enough fart jokes to keep the kids laughing. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Semionole Square Cinema 4

Categories
Arts

get listed

etc.
If you’re going to try to support yourself as a juggler, you’d better be the best. Apparently, Mark Nizer is. Whether he’s keeping
five ping-pong balls aloft using only his mouth, or juggling a
burning propane tank with a running electric carving knife and a 16-pound bowling ball, it’s guaranteed that the audience will never look at ordinary objects the same way again. Saturday, April 22, at the Paramount.
$13-22, 7:30pm. 215 E. Main St. Downtown Mall. 979-1333. www.theparamount.net.

Music

In 2006 alone, local goth/punk heroes Bella Morte have toured with MSI and KMFDM, played the Warped Tour, headlined DragonCon, the Drop Dead 3 Festival, The Black Sun Festival and Gothstock. What’s next? Well, they’re stealing in (under cover of night, we presume) to grace the Satellite Ballroom with their otherworldly presence on Saturday, April 22. Come out and give Andy, Gopal, Tony, Micah and Jordan the old slam-dance welcome back. $8, 9pm. 1427 University Ave. 977-3697.

stage
Even those who don’t know much about opera probably know the “Toreador’s Song” from Georges Bizet’s Carmen. If you’d like to know more about the fiery gypsy gal, the jealous soldier Don José, and all of their attendant bullfighters and smugglers, come to Opera Viva’s inaugural production to
see how the whole affair plays out. Directed by Anne Holt. Friday, April 21 and Sunday, April 23, at the Newcomb Hall courtyard. Free, 8pm. 924-8808.

etc.
Gear up for the Cavs
football season at the Spring Football Festival at Scott Stadium, Saturday, April 22. Scarf kettle corn,
Dip-N-Dots, shaved ice and other assorted stadium concessions. Try on uniforms, or test your mettle on an official NFL obstacle course. Hear live music by the UVA Band and Kendra and the Kingpins. And who knows—
maybe you’ll even snag an autograph from former Cav greats Alvin Peraman or Heath Miller. Free, 1:30pm. Scott Stadium. www.virginiasports.com.

get listed
Fax: 434-817-2758
E-mail: getoutnow@c-ville.com
art@c-ville.com
classes@c-ville.com
dance@c-ville.com
film@c-ville.com
kids@c-ville.com
music@c-ville.com
outdoors@c-ville.com
stage@c-ville.com
words@c-ville.com
or
C-VILLE Weekly
106 E. Main St.
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Deadline:
5pm on Tuesday one week
prior to publication.
Include date, time, venue (with street address),
price, contact information including phone number, and a brief description of your event, class or workshop.

High resolution, good quality photos are
strongly encouraged.

Categories
Uncategorized

wellness • kids • arts • OUTDOORS • Grab Bag

Acting for Film classes 1144 E. Market St. 977-1371. Offers weekly workshops on acting for film with Emmy-winning director. Call for days and times. $150 per month.

Biscuit Run Studios potluck 981 Old Lynch-burg Rd. 977-5411. www.biscuitrun.com. Hosts an open house and potluck supper every Wednesday, 6pm. Free.

Charlottesville Camera Club 250 Pantops Mountain Rd. 973-4856. www.avenue.org/ccc. Visitors welcome, meets at Westminster Can-terbury the second Tuesday of the month, 6:30pm. Free.

Charlottesville Salsa Club 407B Monticello Rd. 296-8292. sundaysalsa@cvillesalsaclub.com. Sponsors Salsa and other dance lessons at La Taza Coffeehouse every Tuesday, 7pm. Free.

Charlottesville Swing Dance Society Swing Swap 1200 Forrest St. Murray High School. 980-2744. www.avenue.org/swing. Practice session in swing and other kinds of dance. A DJ takes requests for a variety of dances including East and West Coast Swing, Hustle, Two-Step and Cha-Cha. Singles and couples welcome; no partner needed, every Thursday, 7:30-9pm. Free.

Court Square Dancers 201 E. Market St. 971-8863. Perform traditional English garland, stave and ribbon dances in the McIntire Room of the Central Library. Open to all levels of female dancers and musicians of either gender, every Thursday, 7-8:45pm. Free.

Crozet Library’s Monday Evening Book Group 5791 Three Notch’d Rd, Crozet. 823-4050. Meets the first Monday of the month. Next meeting on May 8 will discuss Saturday by Ian McEwan, 7-8:30pm. Free.

DanceFit Movement Center 609 E. Market St., Studio 110. 295-4774. www.njira.com/dance fit. Holds “DanceFit” every Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30pm. $10-13.

Flamenco Dance Classes 500 Albemarle Sq. 978-3800. Learn Flamenco dance with Kristi O’Brien every Saturday through June 10. Beginners, 3-4pm; intermediates, 4-5pm. $12.

Glass Palette classes 110 Fifth St. NE. 977-9009. Offers two-week classes on glass making including: “Kiln Formed Glass,” every Saturday, 11am-3pm; “Fused Glass Jewelry,” every Sunday, noon-4pm. $225/$250.

Improv Comedy Class with the Bent Theatre Company (formerly Whole World Theatre). Meets in front of Sylvia’s Pizza, 310 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 466-9574. Class is offered every Tuesday, 8-10pm, with an all-class jam session every Saturday, 4-6pm. $100 per month.

International Folk Dancing 1180 Pepsi Pl. 960-2227. Instructor Ezher Uremez offers lessons in circle, line and partner folk dances from all over the world every Tuesday, 6-8:30pm. Free.

Kluge-Ruhe Collection tours 400 Worrell Dr. 244-0234. Offers 45-minute guided tours every Saturday, 10:30am. Free, no reservations necessary.

Live Arts classes 123 E. Water St. 977-4177. www.livearts.org. Holds ongoing programs, including: “Actor’s LAB” for adults with acting coach Carol Pedersen, for an intense workout guaranteed to stretch acting muscles, every Saturday in the Rehearsal A space, 10-11am. $15. “Playwright’s LAB” meets the first and third Monday of every month to provide a safe, inspirational forum to share, read, hear and discuss scripts and receive feedback, 6:30-9:30pm. Free. “Play Reading Series” meets the second Sunday of the month, 3-6pm. Free.

McGuffey Art Center classes 201 Second St. NW. 295-7973. Offers ongoing and one-day art classes including: “Mapping the Dark,” a course on conceiving art with Ros Casey every Tuesday, 9:30am-noon or 6:30-9pm, $215; “Beginning Drawing,” every Tuesday, 7-9pm, $225; “Watercolor Open Studio,” every Tues-day, 5-8pm, $100. (Materials not included.)

Oratorio Society of Charlottesville-Albemarle 1117 Fifth St. SW. 882-1738. Holding additional auditions for singers on Monday evenings for the 2006 season. Contact Joy to schedule an appointment.

Poem Site in front of 2331 Highland Ave., Fry’s Spring. 295-5057. “Songs in the Landscape” features poetry by Laurance Wieder, painting by Andrea Wieder and a take-it-with-you poem. New poetry on the 15th of every month.

Renaissance dance practice 1119 Fifth St. Ext. 979-3792. Explore European dance from the late medieval to early Baroque era, with emphasis on 17th-century English Country Dance and 16th-century Italian ballet at the Municipal Arts Center, no experience or partner needed. Every first and third Wednesday of the month, 7-10pm. Donations accepted.

Shergold Studio classes 652 W. Rio Rd. 975-4611. www.berkmarballroom.com. Offers dance classes, including: Foxtrot every Monday, Salsa I every Tuesday, Salsa II and Argentine Tango every Wednesday, Pole Dance every Thurs-day and Sunday, all 7pm. Pre-teen and Teen Social Dance Class every Thursday, 7pm. $32 for four lessons. General social dance party every Friday. Beginner’s dance lessons at 7pm, dance at 8pm.

Smocking Arts Guild of America meeting 420 Shoppers World Ct. 295-1481. The Monticello Chapter meets the third Thursday of the month at Les Fabriques to discuss service projects. 7pm, $10 per year.

Songsharing open mic at Fork Union Com-munity Center, Rt. 15. 979-SONG. www.song sharing.org. Saturday, May 28. Part of the Fork Union Community Music Series. Sign up to be one of four open mic performers. A headline act by a SongSharing volunteer musician follows. Time TBA. $3.

Songsharing open mic at Victory Hall Theater Main St., Scottsville. 979-SONG. www.song sharing.org. Saturday, May 21: Part of the Scottsville Community Music Series. Sign up to be one of four open mic performers. A headline act by a SongSharing volunteer musician follows. Time TBA. $3.

Studio Baboo workshops 321 E. Main St. 244-2905. www.studiobaboo.com. Holds work-shops, including: “Long and Lovely,” Sat-urday, April 22, 10am-2pm, $40; and “Metamorphosis” Sunday, April 23, 10am-4pm, $90.  See website for full schedule.

Sunspots glass blowing demonstrations 2039 Barracks Rd, Meadowbrook Shopping Center, corner of Emmett and Barracks Rd. 977-5531. Watch red-hot molten glass being formed into beautiful art objects. Demonstrations offer-ed Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm www.sun spots.com.  

West African Drum Classes 1104 Forest St. 977-1499. Kevin Munro holds lessons at the Charlottesville Quaker Meeting House every Wednesday, 6-7pm. $70.

Zabor Dance 609 E. Market St. 804-303-2614. Offers classes in Argentine Tango every Saturday for beginners, 6-6:30pm, and intermediates, 6:40-7:10pm. Also offers nightclub salsa every Saturday for beginners, 7:20-7:50pm, and intermediates, 8-8:30pm. $6.

Try This Now is a rotating listing of classes, workshops and ongoing events to help you broaden your horizons—take a hike, learn how to blow glass, or sign up your kid to act in a play. The schedule of topics goes as follows: First Tues-day of the month: Wellness; Second Tuesday: Kids; Third Tuesday: Arts and Fine Arts; Fourth Tuesday: Outdoors; Fifth Tuesday: Grab Bag. To get your event or organization listed, contact Susan Rosen at trythisnow@c-ville.com.

Categories
News

Casteen touts diversity

In his “State of the University” speech on Friday, April 21, President John Casteen said the Living Wage campaign is “revolutionary” and “deserves to be understood and debated.” Circulated e-mails gave Living Wage activists strict orders not to disrupt Casteen’s speech, so about 40 or so activists clad themselves in “living wage” banners and covered their mouths with “$10.72” gags.
If the protesters rattled him, Casteen didn’t show it. In a speech lasting just over one hour, he cast UVA as a school that, while having a few money problems of its own, has nevertheless made strides toward enhancing student diversity. State funding cuts to higher education have made UVA more reliant on its $3.1 billion endowment, he said.
He also emphasized the increased diversity of accepted applicants, noting the increase of American Indians, Spanish, African Americans and women on campus. Also, the class of 2009 includes 749 low-income students enrolled in the AccessUVA program, which minimizes their debt at graduation. On this point, Casteen, a former English major, waxed poetic when he said that now everyone can “drink from the cup of knowledge.”
Casteen also said that student protests were a source of strength for UVA, and that “we need solutions for problems described by [the Living Wage Campaign.]”
Casteen touched on UVA’s changing relationship to State government (the so-called charter legislation), too, and finally, on the constraints that his own scholarship imposes on him. “I don’t especially like the metaphor or the paradigm shift, not least because in language, the field whose study I suppose I know best, a shifted paradigm is a broken one,” he said. “It communicates not truth but chaos. And yet, the metaphor deserves consideration as we contemplate and create these revolutions that have been so much in our minds and work this year.”—John Borgmeyer, with reporting by Talley English