For a film about advanced alien life forms thousands of light years away, "What Planet Are You From?" hits pretty close to home.
I've often wondered what causes a film to flounder. Do the people involved know that it's bad? Do they actually work hard to change what is going wrong, or do they just idly sit back in anticipation of their obscenely large paychecks? Unfortunately, "The Next Best Thing" gives no answers to those questions - but it does offer another example of the quintessential bad movie. Where exactly does director John Schlesinger (who won an Oscar 30 years ago for "Midnight Cowboy") go wrong?
"Drowning Mona," directed by Nick Gomez (TV's "The Sopranos"), may be the most disappointing film of the year, not because it's bad, but because it had the potential to be so good. There has always been a dark side to the cinema, from the classic noir of the 1940s to the sordid indies of the 1970s.
Being a basic college town, Charlottesville has its fair share of jam bands touring through it. With a few notable exceptions, the jam band genre often conjures up the same response: "Don't these guys sound just like a Phish/Grateful Dead/Allman Brothers imitator?" But ekoostik hookah, performing at Trax Thursday night, though heavily influenced by the pioneers of their genre, have a unique sound and story to tell, making them anything but your average jam band. "It's hard to say what makes us different once it's all put together," says hookah guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter Dave Katz as he attempts to answer the perennial jam band challenge: what sets you apart from other groups? At first glance, their history seems to be that of the average hard-working band.
Daytime television may not provide emulation-worthy acting, but the scandalous plots realized everyday between the 11 o'clock edition of Sportscenter and the first edition of the evening news can be found in the music world as well. Treat yourself to this saga: Man produces child with woman (Billy Corgan produces Hole's album, "Celebrity Skin," with Courtney Love); woman publicly slanders man, saying the child is not his (Love publicly slanders Corgan, saying he did not do nearly as much work on "Celebrity Skin" as he claims to have done); man breaks ties with woman and goes after woman's best friend (Corgan breaks ties with Love and lures Hole bassist Melissa Auf De Mer into the Smashing Pumpkins). It's textbook soap opera, exactly what Corgan and the Pumpkins needed to reclaim their past glory after the ill-fated "Adore," the band's 1998 release which, despite its ambition, continues to be shunned by critics and Pumpkins fans alike.
Writers are terribly romantic figures. Their eccentricities and, at times, maniacal brilliance make them convenient inspirations for directors, not to mention useful additions to any dinner party.
Throughout the 90s, Oasis' career rode on a dizzying wave that carried it to the greatest of heights and dropped it to the deepest of lows.
While it may not warm the heart as much as Meg Ryan's earlier films like "Sleepless in Seattle" or "You've Got Mail," the new "Hanging Up" still offers plenty of laughs and features some very commendable performances. Part of the reason behind the film's success is that its director - who also stars in the movie - is actress Diane Keaton.
Dustin Hoffman. Melanie Griffith. Nathan Lane. Without the foresight and vision of director Mike Nichols, none of these actors (and probably countless others) ever would have entered the coveted pantheon of household names. In fact, Nichols may be about to work his magic again.
You don't go into an action flick expecting much more than cheap thrills and a few pretty faces.
Today's college student may be unfamiliar with Archie Manning. But if your father is anything like mine, then you probably grew up listening to recollections of the quarterback's star-crossed career with the New Orleans Saints.
Readers of The Cavalier Daily, I have suffered for you. Having never been much of a Violent Femmes fan, I did not know what to expect when I volunteered to review "Freak Magnet," their newest release. Well, that's 45 minutes of my life that I will never get back. The best thing I can say about "Freak Magnet" is that it isn't as bad as Hanson.
They can handle the accusations about clogging millions of arteries each year. They can take the rap for slaughtering more than half a billion animals annually.
In the opening moments of "Boiler Room," written and directed by newcomer Ben Younger, the voice of the protagonist explains why he is particularly influenced by the lyrics of the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.
"They're gone." Several characters in the drama department's production of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" repeat this seemingly superficial line after two friends move to another town.
The "Guide to Getting it On!" is everything a sex book should be. It's frank, it's funny, it's opinionated in all the right places and objective in all the others, and, as it says, it "doesn't have pictures of male or female private parts that look like they were taken from a cadaver." It does have pictures though: ones so graphic that they would make your grandmother keel over, although they will probably just make you laugh.
Well, the award's name may be Grammy but this year's playing field of nominees, made up almost entirely of young upstarts and industry newcomers, sure don't reflect the prowess nor the values of an older generation. Unless, of course, you count Santana. And in this race, most people should, because Arista Records (the same label that hyped the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard" to triumph several years earlier) is putting all their money on the Latin veteran, hoping he will ride a wave of seniority and name recognition in a sea of fresh faces to award victory. That's too bad, because although this should have been a veteran's year at the Grammys, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences picked the wrong ones to shower with praise. Related Links THe Official Website for the 42nd Grammy Awards I am referring to Cher.
In Fayerweather Gallery's latest exhibit, "Julian Day 2451579," artist Susan Lutz offers a unique perspective on art, proving that images are not limited to flat, one-dimensional paintings.
There's an episode of "South Park" when the little scamps are battling the evil robotic Barbra Streisand, when they realize that only one thing can destroy the beast: Robert Smith.
While Charlottesville has developed a reputation for its thriving music scene, thus far that scene has been confined largely to one kind of music.
