Author Archive
David Adamson Discusses the Art of Lou Reed
In 1993, gallery and atelier owner David Adamson became one of the first digital print makers in the world. Since then, he's worked with Robert Frank, Chuck Close, and Annie Leibovitz, among many others. On Friday, July 24, the Adamson Gallery held a private reception for Velvet Underground frontman, photographer, and living legend Lou Reed--the artist behind the gallery's latest exhibition, "Romanticism." Last week, Washington City Paper spoke to Adamson about his work with Reed and the technology behind the ethereal prints.
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The Weekend in Free
This weekend: astronauts, rebellions, and depression and pancakes.
Friday
- Jazz in the Sculpture Garden @ The National Gallery of Art. 5-8:30 p.m. Jazz saxophonist Marty Nau has performed with the National Symphony and backed up Dizzy Gillespie and Rosemary Clooney.
- Back to the Future @ Gateway Park. Dusk. Part of the 2009 Rosslyn Outdoor Film Festival's "I Love the '80s" theme.
- Epic Dance Party w/ DJ Doc Rok @ the Rock and Roll Hotel. 9:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. +21. Rok's stated goal is "to leave you in a breathless, sweaty mess" after an endless blitz of hipster-approved electronica, indie rock, and hip hop.
The Weekend in Free
The downside to living in a metropolitan area run by Hill hounds and corporate fat cats is a high cost of living. The upside? Plenty of free ways to while away the weekend. Introducing a weekly round-up of the most promising free-vents the D.C. area has to offer. This weekend: pickpockets, Red Bull vodka cocktails, and Cannes-worthy Brazilian lovers.
Thursday
- Fort Reno w/ Imperial China, FFFever, The Key Blanks. 7:15 p.m. A D.C. institution, and one of the best ways to spend a summer evening. Especially with tonight's lineup.
Screen On The Green Films Announced
HBO, Comcast, and the Trust for the National Mall announced the full Screen on the Green Schedule yesterday. The stunted (compared to last year's) schedule includes only four films. Screenings begin Mondays at sundown (8 p.m.).
July 20: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
More dates and trailers after the jump.
2009 Source Festival: Mash-Ups Require More From Audience Than Applause
"Heads or tales?... Peanut!"
Although "disillusionist" David London's joke-tricks seemed zany and conjured more from thin air than traditional magic, the MC's outside-of-the-box repertoire was on point considering what lay ahead. I wasn't sure what to expect from last night's premiere of Mash-Ups, Group E, at the Source, but it sure wasn't "Peanut!"
London and a number of other artists had nine months to collaborate and create the 20-minute performances. It's an unfortunate fact, since the prospect of watching the pieces take shape in real time is a pretty compelling concept. I might be wrong, but if you've met before, it's not a blind date (which is the premise of the mash-ups).
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HBO, Co-Sponsors Save Screen on the Green
No need for those "Save Screen on the Green!" T-shirts--HBO has found that crucial co-sponsor. DCist reports that SOTG has indeed been saved: "Comcast and the Trust for the National Mall have come on board along with HBO to sponsor the event."
DCist also reports that films will screen Mondays through August 10, starting with Close Encounters of the Third Kind on July 20.
‘Yes We Can!’ Save Screen on the Green
Ask Jesse Rauch if the beloved, now bereaved, Screen on the Green has a shot at resurrection and you'll get a resounding, "Yes we can!"
"We will have Screen on the Green this summer," Rauch said in an interview with Washington City Paper. "And if we don’t, we’re gonna have 16,000 people with DVD players and iPhones sitting on the mall, in a flash mob or something. We’ll find a way."
Summer Film Series: ‘Who’s Afraid of Elizabeth Taylor?’
With the lamented demise of Screen on the Green, the 2009 National Theatre Summer Cinema series is one of the few free film events left in D.C. This year's series honors philanthropist/diamond-, husband-, and Oscar-collector (Butterfield 8, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) Elizabeth Taylor.
The series--"Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Taylor?"--kicks off June 22 with Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, the 1958 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play about the family dynamics between an ailing southern patriarch (Burl Ives), his alcoholic, limp-mannered son (Paul Newman) and his attention-starved daughter-in-law (Taylor). All films are screened Mondays at 6:30 p.m., in the Helen Hayes Gallery of the National Theatre. Tickets will be distributed 30 minutes before show time, first-come, first served. Full schedule after the jump.
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Films Opening This Weekend
This weekend's film openings promise something for everyone—action movie buffs, the kiddies, and lovers of French and independent film.
- Terminator Salvation: "I'll be back... again and again and again..." And again. Yep, Warner Bros. thought a fourth film about post-apocalyptic crusading cyborgs would be perfect for summer 2009. This time around, it's 2018 and Edward Furlong's John Connor has matured into resistance-leader Christian Bale. Helena Bonham Carter makes an appearance and Common joins the quest to rally nuclear holocaust survivors and save the world.
- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: Lovable night guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is back, this time a successful inventor who returns to his old post at New York's Museum of Natural History where the curator, played to perfection by Ricky Gervais, tells him that many of the old exhibits are being shipped to the Smithsonian, for storage or destruction. Daley races to D.C. where he's joined by Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams)—and eventually everyone in the Air and Space Museum—on a heartwarming journey to save old friends and defeat the evil Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria).
Me and Zac Efron and Orson Welles
I had an inkling Zac Efron was meant for something more than the part of Troy, the face that launched a thousand and one puberties as the stereotype flouting High School Musical leading man. It was a sneaking suspicion of inevitability spurred by his August 2007 Rolling Stone cover, a G-rated yet suggestive enough shot, which seemed to say "I'm going to take over Hollywood's high school romcom/dramedy niche market. Your daughters (and, perhaps, sons) are powerless against my sculpted, spray-tanned abs." I'm sure parents and offspring alike sighed at the sight of Efron--'rents remembering David Cassidy, kids the way Troy gazed at leading lady Gabriella.
So when my roommate suggested we seek refuge from last week's deluge in the theater with 17 Again, I was curious to see if Efron's ridiculously pretty face could contort and show emotion--actually act--or if he was just the latest teen tart to be pimped by Disney. Turns out, Efron's pretty good. Pretty damn good.
Obama on Leno Tonight
Jay Leno's Tonight Show-hosting days are numbered, and he'll be darned if he can't step out of Carson's long shadow before his final bow. Enter Barack Obama, Leno's last hope. Obama's visit will be the first time in history a sitting president has appeared on a late night talk show. But in the wake of unmitigated economic decline and decidedly deflated feelings of HOPE, Obama stands to gain--and perhaps lose--more from the sit-down than Leno.
2009 New African Films Festival @ AFI
Americans often associate Africa with human rights violations, impoverished villages, and, more happily, the roots of America's best-loved musical traditions. Innovative filmmaking? Not so much. But for the past four years, AFI Silver Theatre's presentation of the New African Films Festival has celebrated the vibrant artistry behind African cinema. Informed by cinéma vérité, European new wave tradition, and indigenous culture alike, films range in origin from Morocco to Mauritius—a testament to Africa as a heterogeneous continent. The Theatre's fifth annual showcase opens tomorrow night, with the first features in a week of films fit to shatter the myth of African art as ossified artifact.
Reviewed: Cool Papa’s Party at MetroStage
Roz White, Jahi Kearse, and Gia Mora in Cool Papa's Party (photograph by Colin Hovde)
In Cool Papa's Party, director and author Thomas W. Jones II exhumes the life and times of showbiz legend and original hipster Sammy Davis, Jr. This séance of a Vegas variety show is both a charming love letter from one entertainer to another and a fast-paced history play that sometimes leaves contemporary audiences—strangers to hepcats scatting at the Sands and sharkskin suits sipping martinis at The Flamingo—in the dark.
In "Top Cat," which smacks of Judy Blume wisdom, the titular character (played by Jahi Kearse) parks it at the edge of the stage and sings a heartfelt appeal to God, theoretically the "heppest" cat this side of eternity. in the first sign that this is not an all-ages production, Cool Papa's earnest plea for divine guidance elicits snickers from the irreverent, under-35 crowd. But things get a little murkier from there.
The Oscars: What to Expect From the Shorties
For City Paper's Oscar liveblog extravanganza, be sure to check out Tricia Olszewski's Oscar coverage!
In the modern film world, producers of short films have few of the mass distribution options afforded the makers of Benjamin Button or WALL-E. But comparing the nominated feature films with the nominated shorts, it's the unfamiliar faces behind those 15-minute bursts of brilliance that truly deserve to win big this year. And the nominees are…
“That’s what she said”: At the Trough
It's 5:15 p.m. In other words, dinner time! Terrace Dining Room (TDR) is AU's dining hall. Beloved by some, reviled by more, tolerated by all. On the menu tonight is the average array of soul food (African pork roast, wtf?), vegan legume-based side dishes and the all-you-can-eat ice cream bar. Substitutions: grilled cheese instead of chicken at the "American Grill" station.
With only one unfried-entree dining option (who want's an Einstein bagel for dinner?) open to students, the likelihood of bumping into last week's hook-up is well above average. But, bent forks and fiestaware aside, the atmosphere is communal - all the students descending on the salad bar and carving station between 5 and 8 p.m., all of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity bursting into "I Want It That Way" at 5:30 p.m. on the dot. The atmosphere is comfortable, familiar. Which means, fraternizing with friends in a comfort food coma, people will say the darndest things.
