2018-01-26 19:25
One pleasant afternoon in the mid-1970s, I was walking some 20 yards behind a guy heading east on the 800 block of West Grace Street. It was probably summertime. Curiously, he picked up th… Read More
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Since 1985, in various formats, SLANT -- an independent voice based in Richmond's Fan District -- has offered its readers original commentary on politics and popular culture, including cartoons and selected sundries. Warning: Sometimes that means satirical content. All rights are reserved.
2018-01-24 17:57
Facing east on Monument Avenue I was waiting for the stoplight to change. Then a fresh thought struck me like bolt from the blue. It was some 30 years ago.The sights were as familiar as cou… Read More
2018-01-15 23:59
Senior guard Johnny Williams (photo from VCU)This edition offers a link to the piece I wrote for STYLE Weekly previewing the 80th match-up of the University of Richmond Spiders and the Virgi… Read More
2018-01-01 23:37
On Saturday afternoon (Dec. 30) at the Siegel Center Virginia Commonwealth University's senior forward, Justin Tillman, turned in his fifth double-double performance of the season –… Read More
2017-12-26 17:10
This photo of Larry Rohr riding through the Biograph's larger auditorium on was shot on March 1, 1980. In 1975 “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” produced by Lou Adler… Read More
2017-12-11 19:14
Photo from STYLE WeeklyNote: The remembrance below was originally posted here on SLANTblog nine years ago (Nov. 20, 2008), shortly after the death of Rozanne Epps (pictured right). Afte… Read More
2017-12-06 06:34
Tues., Dec. 5, 2017: It was the 105th consecutive sell-out crowd for the home-standing VCU Rams. ESPN was in the house, so a national television audience had also watched the Texas Longhorns… Read More
2017-12-05 20:04
If this happens no one will be more surprised than Rebus. Oh, and Donald Trump, of course. Read More
2017-12-04 23:06
Shaka Smart returns to Richmond on Dec. 5, when his Texas Longhorns will face the VCU Rams at the Siegel Center. ESPN2 will carry the telecast (7 p.m.).VCU's senior forward Justin… Read More
2017-11-23 16:30
Note: This piece was originally published by STYLE Weekly on Oct. 4, 1999. *With the turning of the leaves, The Fan District of Richmond, Va., will again be transformed into a livin… Read More
2017-11-21 20:01
Kyle Guy drives past Malik CrowfieldGood storytellers know "discovery" is a device that can magnify the power of a message embedded in the plot. That's why they sometimes allow their readers… Read More
2017-11-21 19:59
Kyle Guy drives past Malik CrowfieldGood storytellers know "discovery" is a device that can magnify the power of a message embedded in the plot. That's why they sometimes allow their readers… Read More
2017-11-15 16:02
Report No. 1 Justin Tillman with the smooth jumper over Noah HorchlerMonday night at the Siegel Center VCU's senior power forward, Justin Tillman, schooled the visiting University of N… Read More
2017-11-14 16:37
The Big Guys at the BIOGRAPH 45 party (Feb. 11, 2017).My involvement with the Bijou Film Center was bookended by gala events celebrating the 40th and 45th birthdays of Richmond's semi-legend… Read More
2017-11-10 01:06
From Benedictine to West Pointby F.T. Rea (Sept. 2004 issue of FiftyPlus)Fresh out of Virginia Military Institute, Bobby Ross took on his first mission as a football coach in 1959. Benedic… Read More
2017-10-27 19:26
Camelot at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave lasted 1,036 days. For the children in school on Nov. 22, 1963, the murder of President John F. Kennedy was stunning in a way nothing has been since. On… Read More
2017-10-19 02:37
Lt. Gov. Ralph NorthamYou'd think that after Hillary Clinton's shocking defeat in 2016, owing in some part to a lack of support by disaffected Democrats, that in Virginia we wouldn't have ma… Read More
2017-09-26 18:00
Like millions of people I've been watching the splendid new Ken Burns documentary, “The Vietnam War.” It has me put me in a trance, at times. Remembering more vividly what l… Read More
2017-09-22 17:32
Below the reader will see a feature article about Daryl Cumber Dance that I wrote in 2003. It was published by a Richmond magazine called FiftyPlus. At that time Dance was an English prof… Read More
2017-09-22 15:28
As a professor, Balcomb Greeneis said to have had a significant influence on Andy Warhol.Revved up over an English class assignment to write a paper on "The Second Coming," by W… Read More
2017-09-18 22:29
Sat., Sept. 16, 2017: 10:27 a.m.: 1600 block of Monument Ave. It was a bright, beautiful Saturday morning all over town. Folks came to Richmond's storied Monument Avenue with their placards… Read More
2017-09-12 00:12
Image from IndeclinePlease note: My background to do with street art, graffiti, guerrilla art, etc., is a little different from most folks who opine about it in periodicals and on social med… Read More
2017-08-25 17:03
At this writing Pres. Donald J. Trump is still casting a long shadow over the nation's political landscape. That surely threatens to darken future elections, coast-to-coast. It's still anybo… Read More
2017-08-13 19:20
My photo of Richmond's Lee Monument (2007).The Unite the Right movement came to Charlottesville with a mission. Ostensibly, its publicity stunt was to designed to protest the removal of a st… Read More
2017-08-11 01:25
Biograph Timesby F.T. Rea with notes by RebusPart One The Intro Note from Rebus: “Have a good time!” was one of my first lines on a Biograph midnight show handbill. By the… Read More
2017-08-09 18:15
In the last few years much has been said about what to do in/with Shockoe Bottom. But not much has changed. At least the ballpark idea seems to have dried up and blown away.Anyway, I like wh… Read More
2017-07-19 15:53
Audrey Hepburn as Susy Hendrix in "Wait Until Dark." This episode of five film favorites is about scary movies. Films that made me jump out of my seat, or that thoroughly creeped me out. Mo… Read More
2017-07-14 15:03
Jeff Bridges and Stacy Keach in "Fat City"If you go back 100 years boxing and horse racing were probably America’s most important spectator sports. People had been watching versions… Read More
2017-07-12 22:27
While they may not be deemed to have been all that worthy by professional restaurant critics or know-it-all blogging foodies, my all-time five favorite sandwiches from Richmond restaurants t… Read More
2017-07-12 15:31
The characters were often damaged goods; usually someone had done them wrong; deliberately. The lighting was dramatic -- lots of shadows with splashes of chiaroscuro. As props, cigarettes… Read More
2017-07-11 17:13
Last month this space was devoted to courthouse dramas, films about trials. What should follow?Jailhouse flicks, naturally.Movies about people confined against their will have always appeal… Read More
2017-07-11 16:19
by F.T. ReaJoel McCrea and Veronica Lake in "Sullivan's Travels"Like lots of other film buffs I enjoy making up lists of good movies. Comparing lists and discussing the choices with friends… Read More
2017-07-10 18:06
Note: A version of this piece was published by STYLE Weekly in 1999. According to the Old Testament, Moses heard directly from God about the establishment of hard-edged standards of civilize… Read More
2017-07-07 19:45
Note: A version of this piece was first published by STYLE Weekly in 2006“…Now once more the belt is tight and we summon the proper expression of horror as we look back at o… Read More
2017-07-06 16:33
Note: With the electricity having been off for days, I was a spooked. I saw it as another sign of how getting old was humbling me. Hey! I had always loved storms. Hurricane Isabel changed th… Read More
2017-06-29 16:14
Nut in a Trump-Shell Read More
2017-06-29 16:07
For this edition of Five Film Favorites the common denominator is craziness. Not just somewhat eccentric, or sort of peculiar. I’m talking about bats-in-the-belfry loony.To get on t… Read More
2017-06-28 19:07
The courtroom in "To Kill a Mockingbird" by F.T. ReaAfter the crime has been committed, the cops have investigated it and the handcuffs have been slapped on the culprit some movies end. Mo… Read More
2017-06-22 17:43
Vanessa Redgrave and David Hemmings in "Blow-Up"This edition of Five Film Favorites makes a short list of movies that absolutely bowled me over when I saw them for the first time. Each of t… Read More
2017-06-20 18:51
The USS PuebloFor as long as it has existed, dealing with North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) has never been easy for the USA. So, since the end of the Korean War (1950-5… Read More
2017-06-15 15:12
The Mamas and Papas onstage (1967).Movies and music go together. Like peanut butter and jelly? Perhaps more like Bonnie and Clyde.Anyway, because moving images and music, in one form or ano… Read More
2017-06-14 22:45
You're in your favorite vegetarian restaurant for lunch. As you order a bowl of black bean soup with extra jalapeño cornbread two guys in dark suits, both about 25, are making a commo… Read More
2017-06-13 17:40
Within the confines of the National Football League's macho culture, former-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick broke ranks. He took a stand that challenged the status quo by ta… Read More
2017-06-13 02:13
Ralph Northam (photo by WaPo)For each statewide office Virginia's Democrats and Republicans must select their candidates either by way of a convention (with delegates only voting) or a prima… Read More
2017-06-10 18:12
President Donald Trump tells shameless lies. Absurd lies. Transparent lies. Then he scrambles awkwardly to bully his listeners into agreeing with him. He lies when he hardly needs to.For ins… Read More
2017-05-29 18:38
On May 24, 2017, Montana's newest congressman, Greg “The Body-Slammer” Gianforte, followed up on President Donald Trump's boast to do with the willingness of Republican voters to… Read More
2017-05-26 18:57
In a Feb. 24, 2017, speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference, President Donald Trump declared the press in the USA to be the “enemy of the people.” Without a do… Read More
2017-05-20 23:01
Ed. Note: What follows is an episode of Biograph Times, which is a work-in-progress that hopes to one day become a book. The Biograph (1972-87) was an independent repertory cinema, located… Read More
2017-04-20 23:29
This category is especially tricky. There's no way I can remember what my favorite cartoons were when I was 10 years old, back when cartoons mattered to me more than most things in real l… Read More
2017-04-20 15:05
In the early-1950s television’s ability to reach into America’s living rooms was taking the country by storm. The advertising industry that was building up around television w… Read More
2017-04-19 16:37
Jack Burns and Whisky pass through a junkyard in "Lonely Are the Brave," which was adapted from the Edward Abbey novel, "Brave Cowboy." We’ve all seen lots of bad Western movies. Typi… Read More
2017-04-19 16:36
Filmmakers tell us stories. The people who write the screenplays and direct the movies we see on screens, large and small, sometimes appear to know a lot about life in the old West… Read More
2017-04-19 16:20
Note: This piece was originally published on Sept. 5, 2013. All rights are reserved. Yes, like it or not, the drumbeat for war is sounding again and stirring passions. The debate inside t… Read More
2017-04-04 18:55
Before it's too late, is it possible that Neil Gorsuch could stop to listen to his better angels? Might he have an epiphany and suddenly know the right thing to do?Imagine Gorsuch issuing a… Read More
2017-04-04 18:16
Is it possible that Neil Gorsuch could stop, before it's too late, to listen to his better angels? Might he have an epiphany and suddenly know the right thing to do?Imagine Gorsuch issuin… Read More
2017-03-28 15:55
Some 19 years ago, a spider bit me on the temple next to my right eye. The first symptom was an itchiness that got steadily worse. Initially, I thought it was poison ivy.It was my then-g… Read More
2017-03-26 20:13
Ted "The Kid" WilliamsCool has been a thread that has run through much of the art, music, writing and films that have seemed to reach out to me. Think what you will of me for that, but it's… Read More
2017-03-22 00:12
Note: This piece was published by STYLE Weekly on April 7, 2004. Thinking about today's ideology-defying brand of politics this piece came to mind. In this 13-year-old essay I was seeing the… Read More
2017-03-03 02:10
Oh, THAT Russian. The ambassador. Sure,now I remember. Sorry, there's just beenso many Rooskies around here lately, it'shard to keep them all straight. -- Art and words by F.T. Rea Read More
2017-02-21 16:44
In games played through Feb. 20 eight of Virginia's 14 Division I basketball programs have winning records. If they all finish that way any of them could participate in postseason tournament… Read More
2017-02-19 20:21
Now we have Citizen Trump's slo-mo train-wreck presser on Feb. 16 for the record. One day that disturbing performance may have historians somewhat at a loss to explain to anyone who didn't l… Read More
2017-02-17 02:03
The RPI for college basketball depends heavily on strength of schedule. So once you factor in the reward the teams in power conferences have, for simply being in those leagues, some teams wi… Read More
2017-02-13 17:53
On Nov. 8, 1992, the revenge-driven crime spree ended as the man I remembered as Drake the Flake blew out his brains with a .32 caliber revolver. In the 11 hours before taking his own li… Read More
2017-02-10 04:20
Forty-four years ago an ad hoc group of 21 merchants along the commercial strip just north of VCU's Fan District campus cooperated for a one-time-only promotion called Discover the Fan… Read More
2017-02-09 16:41
Note: This piece was first published 17 years ago by Richmond.com (Feb. 16, 2000). *Anniversaries are knives that can cut both ways. Although we may raise the glass to remember… Read More
2017-02-03 18:37
On Sat., Feb. 11, The Bijou will host the party to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the opening party at the Biograph Theatre (1972-87) in Richmond. The doors to its downtown screening room… Read More
2017-02-03 16:49
In its day RKO was known for its ability to produce well-crafted, sometimes artsy or offbeat features using a smaller budget than the other so-called major studios. Nonetheless, it was al… Read More
2017-02-02 19:07
Although the Trump ride is just starting, I think what he's doing is obvious. He's showing everybody who has the power. With his mock-worthy executive orders he's also making things go bad… Read More
2017-02-01 18:38
We called our first Biograph Theatre softball team the Swordfish, after a joke in a Marx Brothers movie. The lucky Swordfish won 15 games of the 17 we played in 1976. (We never had another s… Read More
2017-01-12 17:54
What constitutes a “folk song” can be debated forever. So let's not. For this harmless exercise I'm working from a particular list of 100 songs, one according to Folk Alley's lis… Read More
2017-01-09 20:58
Facing Fascism: Time Capsules is what The Bijou is calling its mini-fest (small festival) of time-honored art-house films to be presented in its screening room at 304 E. Broad St. As you wil… Read More
2017-01-08 18:01
The name Detached first came to me as the name for a stoned-out, one-time-only magazine project. Mostly, it was a trip to San Francisco in early-1981 that gave me the inspiration. Spending… Read More
2016-12-30 00:16
Since election day most of the concern about fake news has been focused on the role such off-brand political stories may have played in tilting the presidential race. However, the bizarre Co… Read More
2016-12-09 03:20
Still just weeks after election day most of the interest in the fake news story surrounds the role it may have played in deciding the presidential race. However, the bizarre Comet Pizza stor… Read More
2016-12-05 15:27
The first pass at telling this tale appeared in SLANT in 1987. The version below was updated in 2012. Facing the anniversary of his death, on Dec. 8, 1980, I can’t help but wonde… Read More
2016-11-28 18:12
For cartoonists and comics who mock me? Yes, there has to be some kind of punishment for that. Donald Trump doesn't like to be mocked. His predicable reactions to Saturday Night Live skits a… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
2016-11-09 18:12
By F.T. ReaNote from Rebus:The little painting to the right was the third in a series Rea did in 1983 to amuse his mischievous girlfriend. In each of them I got killed off in a different way… Read More
