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

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- The White House Soup de Jour Is...

In case you were wondering, today The White House is offering Tuscan Chicken Soup as its soup of the day, according to a tweet from WashDCNews.

The tweeters gathered this info from Chuck and Todd with the MSNBC show "The Morning Rundown."

Recipes for the dish can be found at cooks.com

Alas, President Barack Obama will miss out on the soup as he is giving a talk today in Seattle, which is more than 3,000 miles away from Washington, DC, but hopefully Michelle Obama will get to sample the soup.

We have no info on what Bo the White House Dog will be eating today, but as we find out, we will pass it along to you!


SIDEBAR: Some unique films are showing this week at college town cinemas in Virginia. The Vinegar Hill Theatre in Charlottesville is currently showing "Winter's Bone," a thriller set in Arkansas in which a young girl tries to track down her deadbeat father who put the family home up for sale so he could make bail before vanishing.

At the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, "Cyrus" will begin its week-long run on Friday. The independent mumble-core comedy starring Marisa Tomei, John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill deals with an average Joe who gets very lucky when he makes love to a gorgeous woman out of his league only to discover that she has a psychopathic 21-year-old son who happens to live with her.

Quote of the Day- Walt Whitman

I'm sure if the late poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) were alive today, he would be both delighted that we are quoting him today and that a high school in Bethesda, Md., is named after him!

We are quoting famous Americans all this month on July for the 4th of July, but to show that we are internationally-minded, we will also be quoting famous French people on Wednesdays in honor of Bastille Day, which will be on July 14.

Here is our quote from Whitman:

"There is no trade of employment but the young man following it may become a hero."

SIDEBAR: My friend Jason Garnett once again has a terrific lineup for The Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va., this month. Among the scheduled events is a screening of the 1953 film "Salt of the Earth," a liberal docudrama about labor injustices in California made by then-blacklisted actors which was effectively one of the first films banned in America for political reasons. It will show on July 12 at 8:00 p.m.

Other films in the lineup for Shadowbox include "The Goonies" on July 10, the soft-core Italian cult film "Chatterbox" on July 12 (I guess the ninth grade teachers at WWHS will never show this one in class!) and "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" on July 17.

The Lyric Theatre in nearby Blacksburg, Va., will be showing the new Oliver Stone film "Solitary Man" with Michael Douglas and Susan Sarandon that a friend of mine in Washington, DC, was raving about starting on July 16.

Cinema of the Week- (8 of 21)- The Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va.

I have a sneaking suspicion that one of these right-wing talk show hosts who spew venom and hatred as they foam at the mouth is secretly ashamed of his suppressed homosexuality as San Francisco council member Dan White was back in the day.

Of course, White, who was played by Josh Brolin in the film "Milk," is an infamous figure now since he gunned down activist Harvey Milk and the mayor of San Francisco some 30 years ago. After getting an all-too-brief sentence, White ended up taking his own life.

"Milk," which features an Academy-award winning performance from Sean Penn in the title role, is now playing at the Lyric Theatre located at 135 College Avenue in Blacksburg, Va.

Along with Virginia Tech athletics, the Lyric is one of more positive aspects of Hokie Town which has been coming to terms with the horrific mass shooting that happened there in April of 2007.

In addition to independent films, foreign flicks and documentaries, the Lyric is also a venue for musicians.

Acts that have performed there include the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Doc Watson, Eddie from Ohio, and Lady Blacksmith.

Starting on Friday, the Lyric shows "Frost/Nixon," which I recently named my favorite film of 2008.