This Weekend at the Cinema: From New York to Athens (Ga)

Greeting to our blog readers in Colombia, New Zealand and planet Saturn!

"Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973) promised to be the 'final chapter' of "The Planet of the Apes," but 41 years later there is "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," which is screening at the Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC, along with "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

Elsewhere in the Tar Heel State, the Eden Drive-In in Eden, NC, a small town between Martinsville, Va., and Greensboro, NC, is showing two summer blockbusters "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Guardians of the Galaxy."

At the Hull's Drive-In in Lexington, Va., "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is also showing, but it is sharing its bill with "Into the Storm."

For a completely different crowd, The Film Forum in New York is showing a newly restored edition of "The Conformist," Bernardo Bertolucci's '70s Italian crime masterpiece; the same cinema is also screening the classic French film "That Man from Rio."

At the Cine in Athens, Ga., the cinema is screening "Boyhood," "A Most Wanted Man" and "Ida."

Finally, the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va., is screening the wonderful documentary "Life Itself," pictured center about the life and death of film critic Roger Ebert (pictured center); the film is directed by renown Chicago filmmaker Steve James ("Hoop Dreams").


http://www.varsitytheatre.org

http://www.edendrivein.com

http://www.hullsdrivein.com

http://www.filmforum.org

http://www.athenscine.com

http://www.thelyric.com

Sunday Comics Survey from Washington Post: Lincoln Wins!

Greetings to our fans in Seoul, South Korea, or where ever you may be today. Here is our weekly comic strips survey, today we are featuring comics from the Sunday "Washington Post" that ran on May 18th. Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos now owns the newspaper, and for $1.75 million, we will sell him this blog as well.

Among our favorites were "Pearls Before Swine," which takes the Abe Lincoln in McDonald's concept (a short story in which the 16th president takes a ride through a time machine) and examines what the 16th president would do in the age of Twitter. Stephan Pastis even dares asks the question about what Honest Abe would have tweeted right before going to see a play at Ford's Theatre, where he was assassinated.

Interestingly enough, the actual Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, now an active venue and museum (top image) has started a production of "One Destiny," a 35-minute one-act play about Lincoln's ill-fated visit to the theatre.

Similarly, "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" featured a great satire that reminded us of "Doctor Who" (center image), "The Argyle Sweater" featured an audition for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (bottom image) and "Foxtrot" featured a siblings squabble over a printer which was running out of ink.

Here is our survey:

1) "Pearls Before Swine"

2) "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy"

3) "The Argyle Sweater"

4) "Foxtrot"

5) "Rhymes with Orange"

6) "Lio"

7) "Dustin"

8) "Sherman's Lagoon"

9) "Judge Parker"

10) "Knight Life"


SIDEBAR: The other day, we had an entry dedicated to college commencement speakers. Today we add three more: 1) Ed Helms, Cornell University; 2) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, William and Mary and 3) John Legend, University of Pennsylvania.

http://www.gocomics.com


http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.fordstheatre.org/