Tag: Digital Media

Michael “Nick” Nichols’ years of work for National Geographic have taken him around the globe, providing an up-close look at some of the few corners of the world that remain untouched by human civilization. His recent work in the Serengeti uses state-of-the-art advances in photo technology to investigate lions, documenting their world and their behaviors with infrared light and flying cameras. Nichols will give an interview at the Paramount on Friday, June 14^th, and will sign books later that afternoon at The Haven, where “The Short Happy Life of a Serengeti Lion” will be on display all month.

Though Photoshopping and digital retouching have become common practices in both journalistic and creative photography, Martha Rosler’s recent work foregrounds the process, creating deliberately artificial digital collages that create jarring juxtapositions of familiar imagery. Her 1960’s collages combined imagery from the Vietnam War with domestic images from advertising, and her recent work continues that same theme, addressing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while also confronting a more contemporary visual aesthetic, to create pixilated mash-ups of commercialism and injustice, images whose incongruence forces the viewers to re-think the aims and styles of two parallel trends in image-making. Rosler will conduct a conversation about her work, followed by a book signing, at the Paramount Theater on Saturday, June 15. Theater of Drones is on display at the Freedom of Speech Wall through early July.

Listen to Rosler’s discussion of her work: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coi_GQ7pOt8

Go to www.look3.org for complete festival details.

Window to the soul

In a project that mixes art with outreach to the incarcerated, Virginia-based artist Mark Strandquist asked prisoners “If you had a window in your cell, what place from your past would it look out onto?” Answers were collected, those sites were photographed, and prints were given to the prisoners to hang in their cells. “Much like the Bridge, Mark sees art as a way of starting a conversation within and throughout the community,” said Bridge Executive Director Matthew Slaats. The community will have a chance to view “Some Other Places We’ve Missed” during several events, including an artist talk on June 14 and an expert panel discussion titled More than A Witness—Photography as Social Engagement on June 15. Free, times vary.

Through 6/30 The Bridge PAI, 209 Monticello Rd. 984-5669.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ftGWUkzaK8

The stories of factory workers are always relevant, but they’ve been prominent in the public consciousness recently with April’s horrific factory collapse in India, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in history. There’s a very different story on display in “160 Actions to Make a Jacket,” Susan Meiselas’ in-depth portrait of garment factory workers in Rochester, NY — employees of Hickey Freeman, one of the few companies that brings workers to the US rather than outsourcing labor. Meiselas’ work closely documents not only a common form of labor that is so often overlooked, but also traces the personal histories of the factories’ individual employees. She’ll be interviewed about her work at the Paramount Theater on the morning of June 14^th, and her photographs will hang at The Garage until the end of the month.

Go to www.look3.org for complete festival details.

I first got the run down on how babies are made from Kim Blodgett in whispers on the kickball field when I was seven. I thought my friend must be poorly misinformed (and possibly a little disturbed) until the technicalities of sex and puberty and changing hormones were eventually confirmed in our fifth grade health class. But the emotional realities of teendom—friendship, crushes, bullying, family dynamics—I learned from Judy Blume.

My girlfriends and I would pass well-worn library copies of her novels to each other on the schoolbus, wondering if our parents, teachers, and librarians had any idea what was really written on those pages. I read Just as Long as We’re Together four times back to back, and in middle school I got my hands on Summer Sisters, which was so juicy I dog-earred the sexy scenes and read them aloud, between giggles, at slumber parties.

I was not the only giddy pre-teen affected by Judy Blume’s thick catalogue of Young-Adult fiction—Blume has been publishing bestsellers since 1969, selling more than 82 million copies in nearly three dozen languages. Her writing has penetrated The New York Times Bestseller List and popular culture (Chelsea Handler has Blume to thank for the title of her memoir, Are you There Vodka? It’s me, Chelsea), and stirred up controversy and more than a few book bans for “objectionable sexual content.”  Five of her titles have even made the American Library Association’s list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books.

Blume has been a trailblazer of her genre since she began writing more than four decades ago, bravely exploring racism (Iggie’s House), divorce (It’s Not the End of the World), masturbation (Deenie), and teen sex (Forever), and challenging assumptions about the maturity and emotional capacity of her young readers. Her response to criticism and censorship has always been that parents should “let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear.”

Remarkably, none of Blume’s books has been adapted to film until now.

Tiger Eyes, adapted from her 1981 novel of the name, will run at the Vinegar Hill Theatre June 16-23, and Blume will be in attendance at the double screening this Sunday. The film was co-written, produced, and directed by her son, Lawrence Blume, who told Time Magazine he had wanted to adapt Tiger Eyes to screen since he first read it as a teenager. The story follows Davey, played by model/actress Willa Holland (of The O.C. and Gossip Girl fame), as she struggles to navigate high school, family life, and love after her father’s murder.

The author will take questions and sign books beginning at 3pm, before the 4pm screening, and again following the 7pm screening. Crozet’s Over the Moon Bookstore will sell copies onsite of many of Blume’s best-loved titles, and if time permits, the author will sign one old favorite brought from home. But only one, otherwise Blume could be there all night.

Tickets to the screenings are limited and can be preordered through Visulite’s website or in person at the theater.

Sunday 6/16 $10.50, 3-5:45pm, 7-9:30pm Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 Market St. 977-4911.

Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan made a movie together. See, they’re both into patterns. After all, in a recent interview in New York Magazine, Smith said, “I’m a student of patterns.” Shyamalan made a movie, Signs, about crop circles (which, really, are patterns). And finally, they’re both in a holding pattern of making shit movies, so it should be no surprise they combined their talents for After Earth.

Smith and Shyamalan have produced a small miracle: After Earth makes no effort to entertain. To be fair, more of the awfulness lies with Smith than it does Shyamalan. After Earth began as an original story by Smith (the word “original” is used advisedly), so he bears an enormous amount of the blame. Plus, he hasn’t made a truly watchable movie since Hancock in 2008. Shyamalan hasn’t made a watchable movie since The Sixth Sense.

So what have we learned? Nothing. I’m just killing time. As for the movie, Smith seems more interested in making his son, Jaden, a movie star than making a decent film. Unfortunately, the younger Smith has zero charisma and a stilted delivery that makes one wonder how either the elder Smith or his mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, is actually his parent. One thing the parent Smiths have is charisma, though Smith Sr. has done his best since roughly Seven Pounds to make his audiences forget it.

I’ve never bought the argument that movie stars should only do what they do best. For Smith, that’s comedy. He’s also shown he can play drama (The Pursuit of Happyness, for example), but he has a habit of conflating drama and dourness.

That’s what’s on display here. He plays Cipher Raige (I swear I didn’t make that name up), a general in some armed forces squadron that doesn’t make sense and the movie makes little effort to explain it. Humans were forced to leave Earth, ended up on a planet where giant bugs called Ursas can smell fear, and he made waves killing Ursas because he realized fear is a choice (helpfully printed right on the movie poster).

For other reasons that don’t make sense, they crash land on Earth, Cipher is injured, and his wimpy son Kitai (Jaden Smith) must find a homing beacon so they can signal for a rescue. What’s the best place to do that? A volcano at the other end of a mountain range, of course. Everything on Earth is trying to kill them (global warming is the little-spoken reason), and Kitai does his best to kill himself through a series of stupid decisions.

None of this movie’s absurd plot or dumb character motivations would be so disagreeable if After Earth had a sense of humor. But like all of Shyamalan’s movies, it takes itself so seriously it’s hard to believe anyone making it had fun. Why should the audience? Plus, it has Shyamalan’s standard leaden pacing and wooden line delivery, neither of which is aided by a repellant script. And what’s with the accents?

Good news, though. The summer movie season has barely begun, and After Earth will soon be a distant memory.

After Earth PG-13, 100 minutes, Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX.

Playing this week:

42
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Epic
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Escape From Planet Earth
Carmike Cinema 6

Fast & Furious 6
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Frances Ha
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Great Gatsby
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Hangover Part III
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Carmike Cinema 6

Iron Man 3
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Jack the Giant Slayer
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Mud
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Now You See Me
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Oblivion
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Oz The Great and Powerful
Carmike Cinema 6

The Place Beyond the Pines
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Renoir
Vinegar Hill Theatre

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Spring Breakers
Carmike Cinema 6

Star Trek Into Darkness
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Tyler Perry’s Temptation
Carmike Cinema 6

Movie houses:

Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294

Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6
979-7669

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213

Vinegar Hill Theatre
977-4911

Passion plays

Daughter If You Leave/Glassnote

The first full-length album from London-based band Daughter is a sonic and emotional feast. “Lifeforms” encapsulates the album’s sound, tone and content, with echoing, reverb-heavy guitars, singer Elena Tonra’s husky, lilting vocals, and her metaphorical lyrics about cleaning up after your dead. The ebullient “Human” focuses on recognizing self-worth despite our shortcomings. “Youth”’s gorgeously down-tempo electric guitar augments Tonra’s subtle delivery “And if you’re still breathing/You’re the lucky one/ Cause most of us/Are heaving through corrupted lungs,” and when she connects all of this to the power of love, the result is rapturous. “Still” is the album’s most raucous track, with skyscraping guitars, hypnotic beats and an almost orchestral cacophony of distortion. Breathtakingly beautiful, sonic aesthetics, Tonra’s vocal ability, and deep, probing lyrics make If You Leave one heck of an album.

Dido Girl Who Got Away/RCA

With her latest release, it’s clear that not a lot has changed for Dido in the decade or so since she became an international music star. Her jazzy, breathy, and rich vocals still captivate on tracks like “Happy New Year,” the majority of her songs still focus on love (“Loveless Hearts,” “Love to Blame”), and she still mixes her angelic vocals with dance and trip-hop beats in catchy ways (“Blackbird”). “Girl Who Got Away” and “Go Dreaming” are two live-life-to-the-fullest standout tracks and “Let Us Move On” gets a jolt of energy from rapper Kendrick Lamar. For the most part this is familiar material to longtime Dido fans, and Girl Who Got Away may not be her most original work, but it’s still a good time.

Xenia Dunford His & Hers/Route 242 Music

Singer-songwriter Xenia Dunford’s first full-length album is noteworthy due to her powerhouse vocals and engaging mix of folk, rock, and Americana, and because her previous releases were more steeped in jazz and the blues. “Rhyme and Reason” showcases Dunford’s honey-smoked rasp as the mid-tempo, piano-led track bursts into an all-out rocker, while “1963” is an upbeat folk-meets-New-Orleans-jazz track that will have you dancing the whole way through. “Best I’ve Ever Had” finds Dunford extolling the virtues of an ex, while the somber piano ballad, “Home Waits for Me,” takes a look at starting a new chapter in your life. The magic of His & Hers has as much to do with the variety of musical style, as Dunford’s passion and vocal power.

Wow. Where does one begin? The insipid dialogue? Paul Walker’s non-presence? A plot that makes almost no sense? Stunts that defy the laws of physics?

Nah. Let’s start here: I can’t believe how much fun I had watching Fast & Furious 6. Don’t get me wrong. It’s so absurd and stupid that it doesn’t really deserve to exist. On the other hand, it reaches such heights of absurdity and stupidity, I kind of admire its willingness to be nothing more or less than a big, brash, loud, dumb action movie.

Anyway, it’s summer movie time, right? Why shouldn’t we kick back, relax, and enjoy this impossible feat: One character flies at highway speed (and then some) through the air, wraps his arms around another character hurtling toward him at highway speed, and the two of them fall, unharmed, onto a car. Who am I to grouse over a silly stunt that, frankly, looks pretty cool despite its obvious CG-ness?

Sometime between 2001, when The Fast and the Furious was released, and now, the series acquired a sense of humor about itself and about action movies in general. Does director Justin Lin know his movie is silly? Sure, and he’s willing to be silly in order to thrill and excite.

For those of us who don’t know the film series well, but know that Michelle Rodriguez’s character, Letty, died in Fast & Furious (which is the fourth film in the series), you may have one question: How is she in this movie, alive, and with the same character name?

As my uncle would say: “Because it’s in the script.” And also because, as another critic informed me, at the end of Fast Five, the sequel to Fast & Furious, it’s revealed by Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) Letty may have survived.

Don’t kid yourself: None of that matters. It’s about the cars, fights, and explosions. And, thanks to Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej Parker (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), it’s sometimes about a decent quip.

The story: Dom (Vin Diesel, who should thank whomever he thanks each day for this film series) and Brian (Walker, ditto) and the gang are coaxed out of retirement by Hobbs to stop Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) from stealing a McGuffin. The carrot: full pardons for the entire crew. And maybe they can find out what happened to Letty. Boom, crash, you get the idea.

A welcome surprise is the existence of a ragged and brutal fight between Riley (Gina Carano, who works for Hobbs) and Letty in a London Tube station. The editing is a little too quick but there are a few moments in which we can see Carano’s fighter’s physique putting the hurt on Rodriguez. Sure, they get up and walk away, but the choreography is something to see.

And finally, bonus points to Rodriguez. Whatever it is critics say about her or her film roles or her personal life, here’s something: She commits to a part and plays the hell out of it. I’m already looking forward to Fast & Furious 7.

Fast & Furious PG-13, 130 minutes Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Playing this week:

42
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6

At Any Price
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6

The Croods 3D
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6

Disconnect
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6

Epic
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Escape From Planet Earth
Carmike Cinema 6

The Great Gatsby
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Hangover Part III
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Carmike Cinema 6

Iron Man 3
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Mud
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6

Oblivion
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6

Oz The Great
and Powerful
Carmike Cinema 6

The Place Beyond
the Pines
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6

Renoir
Vinegar Hill Theatre

Spring Breakers
Carmike Cinema 6

Star Trek Into Darkness
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Tyler Perry’s Temptation
Carmike Cinema 6

Movie houses:

Carmike Cinema 6

973-4294

Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6
979-7669

Regal Stonefield 14
and IMAX
244-3213

Vinegar Hill Theatre
977-4911

“Chaplin or Keaton?” is one of those eternal questions, like “Star Wars or Star Trek?” “The Beatles or the Stones?” There’s no correct answer, but the side you pick can reveal fundamental aspects of your character. Charlie Chaplin is far more famous today, with his “Tramp” character’s iconic bowler hat, mustache, and cane making him an easily recognized caricature around the world, a century after his first appearance. But many film aficionados and comedy fans prefer Buster Keaton, “the great stone face,” and his heart-stopping stunts.

Keaton’s work is full of compelling contradictions. He maintained a stoic, deadpan expression even as the world collapsed around him. He brought an elegance to orchestrating calamitous mishaps and destruction. Both a wide-eyed innocent and a cynical prankster, he conveyed an irrepressible gentleness and thoughtfulness even while risking his life, and health, by executing incredibly dangerous stunts. Whereas Chaplin’s films are broad and often sentimental, Keaton’s work is more subtle and graceful, and more ambitious in its staging of comedic mayhem.

Born to Vaudeville performers, Keaton was raised on the stage, learning how to execute cartoonish pratfalls as soon as he learned to walk. He began his film career as a gag man and character actor in Mack Sennett’s productions in the 1910s, often working alongside Fatty Arbuckle. He perfected his skills by directing his own short films in the late teens, and hit his stride in the ’20s as a director of a series of features in which he starred. Steamboat Bill, Jr., Go West, College, and Battling Butler are among his masterpieces.

The common tragedy of silent stars is that sound killed many of their careers. It’s possible that Keaton might have survived the transition—the intertitles in his films are often as funny as the sight gags—but his career was crushed by studio mismanagement when he transferred to MGM, compounded by debilitating alcoholism. He never regained his winning streak of the 1920s, but in later years he regained some stability, working as a joke writer for the Marx Brothers and Lucille Ball, and cementing his legacy through numerous cameo appearances in film and television.

Buster Keaton’s beloved 1926 film The General screens at the Paramount on Sunday, May 26. This marks the film’s second appearance at the theater in as many years, but it is a perennial favorite. Keaton counted it among his favorite films, and everyone from Orson Welles to Roger Ebert has claimed it as not only his best comedy, but one of the greatest films of all time.

The General stars Keaton as a railroad engineer for the Confederate Army (a questionable choice, justified with the specious argument that Keaton thought the audience would rather root for an underdog) whose fiancée is kidnapped by Union soldiers. Keaton pursues them by rail, and the film’s first half is a breathtaking and sidesplitting locomotive chase, as technically impressive as it is hilarious.

In an era predating not only modern CGI but even the simple technological advances required for stop-motion or miniature model-work of the mid-20th century, the only way to film the elaborate chase sequences by train was to get your hands on some trains and actually do it. Keaton races from one train car to the next, climbing along and under a driverless moving engine, firing cannons, switching tracks, and de-coupling cars, often all within a single shot. That Keaton was able to execute these sequences without getting himself killed is impressive. That he was able to instill these moving trains with his own perfect comic timing is the essence of his genius.

The film loses a little steam in its second half, but retains its funnybone, and builds towards a climax in which a speeding train collapses a burning wooden bridge, filmed (you guessed it) by sending a speeding train across a burning wooden bridge, in what was considered the most expensive stunt of the silent film era.

The Sunday screening of The General will again be accompanied by musician Matt Marshall, who teaches film at Hollins University and at UVA, and who frequently composes and performs silent scores in the area. Live music is one of the joys of silent film screenings, and Marshall’s good sense and light touch are far preferable to the often plodding and chintzy scores on Kino’s DVD releases. The screening will include wine and food tastings and a raffle in the lobby at 3pm, a pre-film program at 4pm (including comments from film historians, an archival newsreel, and a Popeye cartoon short), with the feature screening at 5pm. The event is free.

Sunday 5/26 Free, 3pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

Share your thoughts on the era of silent film in the comments section below…