Mmm…South Australian salt flats….

As ever, be sure to refer to our comprehensive, super-sweet, blah blah &c. guide to Silverdocs for all your documentary needs!

Opening tonight:

Act of God, in which people who’ve been struck by lightning proffer “anecdotes [that] may have you zoning out between crashes of thunder,” Tricia Olszewski reports.

Intangible Asset No. 82, about a quest to find South Korea’s greatest drummer. Justin Moyer calls it “a testament to the power of music and mysticism.” Harrumph!

Ella Es El Matador, a film about female matadors that centers on the charsimatic Maripaz Vega. Sarah Godfrey says: “It’s impossible not to immerse yourself in the action.”

Ma Bar, about 73-year-old Scottish power-lifter Bill McFayden. According to Justin Moyer, it “packs the primal emotional punch of a feature film.”

Read More “Tonight at Silverdocs: Ella Es El Matador, Winnebago Man, Voices from El-Sayed, and More” »

*IT AIN’T ALL ABOUT SOTOMAYOR: The Post fronts the news from California: a 6-1 ruling by the State Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, citing widespread support among voters.

…the California court said voters spoke clearly, through last fall’s ballot initiative known as Proposition 8, in wanting to limit marriage to a man and a woman. At the same time, the court said that the marriages of the approximately 18,000 couples who wed before the ban was passed remain valid and that same-sex partners can still enjoy equal legal benefits through recognized civil unions.

NBC Washington has stuff on the Dupont Circle protest. I found the Sexist’s coverage less depressing.

*OH, YEAH, ABOUT SOTOMAYOR: Slate’s Andy Bowers teaches you how to pronounce the SupCo nominee’s surname. Spoiler: It’s “”so-toe-my-YORE.” (Bowers has the audio, though.)

*WJLA has coverage—and, naturally, video—of yesterday’s flooding.

*Over at Young & Hungry, Tim Carman previews the H Street Country Club, admonishing, “you’ll never get a tee time.” He’s referring to that 9-hole indoor putt putt course, of course, and he’s got awesome photos to prove it. Prince of Petworth’s take on the situation:

Read More “Our Morning Roundup: Protest & Putt-Putt Edition” »

*VA GOVERNOR WATCH: The editorial board of the Washington Times chastises the Democratic Governors Association for taking premature swings at Bob McDonnell, former Attorney General of Virginia and the GOP candidate for Virginia’s upcoming gubernatorial race. Among the Times’ charges: the DGA has created a shadow org., Common Sense Virginia, from which to “spew poppycock” about McDonnell; accepting money from union bosses; and DGA’s harping on McDonnell’s stance that Virginia not accept a large influx of federal stimulus money. The DGA notes that though Republicans are throwing a ton of energy into upcoming gubernatorial elections, McDonnell raised only $2.2 mill in the first quarter of 2009. (Common Sense Virginia will not be endorsing any of the Democratic candidates.) The Post, meanwhile, reports on the Democratic side of things—where McAuliffe, predictably, is on the defensive.

*D.C. Police report that they’ve made an arrest in Sunday’s fatal stabbing of 34-year-old Tyrone Wheaten in the 2400 block of Elvans Rd. SE. 38-year-old Troy Richardson is being held for Murder One:

Read More “Our Morning Roundup: Baby Turtles for Sale(?)” »

Colleague Mike Riggs has already noted a few wrinkles in the Maureen Dowd-Josh Marshall plagiarism incident.

Putting it bluntly, Riggs says: “Dowd stole some shit and admitted it.” Fair enough.

In Slate, Jack Shafer has an uncharacteristically mellow view of the proceedings. After chiding, “Bad, Dowd, bad—deserving of hard time in a pillory!,” Shafer proceeds to exonerate the columnist—Dowd “almost sets things right,” he says, a conclusion the media critic arrives at through six-point reasoning:

1. She responded promptly to the charge of plagiarism when confronted by the Huffington Post and Politico. (Many plagiarists go into hiding or deny getting material from other sources.)
2. She and her paper quickly amended her column and published a correction (although the correction is a little soft for my taste).
3. Her explanation of how the plagiarism happened seems plausible—if a tad incomplete.
4. She’s not yet used the explanation as an excuse, nor has she said it’s “time to move on.”
5. She’s not yet protested that her lifting wasn’t plagiarism.
6. She’s taking her lumps and not whining about it.

Taking these points one by one:

Read More “Jack Shafer Throws Maureen Dowd a Bone on Plagiarism” »

Note to photo editors/Web producers/guardians of good taste: Please don’t run a gratuitous photo of Sasha and Malia Obama next to a piece announcing that Chicago “has become the nation’s most violent city for youths.”

The piece itself is pretty harrowing, describing monstrosities straight out of the biography of Rasputin:

Read More “WaTimes Implicates Sasha & Malia in Chicago Youth Violence” »

*SNIPER APPEALS: The Post reports that lawyers for John Allen Muhammad, the Beltway Sniper, are appealing Muhammad’s 2003 sentence. Muhammad, they say, was not mentally competent to represent himself over a two-day period during the fall of 2003, and his trial lawyers should have argued as much to the judge. This is Muhammad’s last opportunity to avoid the death penalty without intervention from the Supreme Court or the Gov. Kaine.

*The Washington Times condemns Rep. Jim Moran for “champion[ing] the idea of bringing terrorists like 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other al Qaeda detainees to historic Alexandria.” Back in March, our own Amanda Hess noted the furor over a sex shop that threatened to undermine the dignity—nay, the decency—of Old Town Alexandria. First a naughty boutique, then political detainees—what’s next? According to the Times: “the nuclear waste that Nevada won’t take.”

*D.C. Police report that 82-year-old James Booker went missing from his home in the 1700 block of Irving Street NE:

Read More “Our Morning Roundup: WaTimes Goes NIMBY” »

From a sign posted on the wall of Mixtec:

TO OUR WONDERFUL CUSTOMERS:

DURING THE LAST WEEKS WE HAVE EXPERIENCED TROUBLES WITH OUR CREDIT CARD TERMINAL. WE WILL TRY TO RUN YOUR CARD, BUT ARE ALSO ACCEPTING CASH & CHECKS (WEDDING & ENGAGEMENT RINGS—AND SEXY UNDERWEAR).

—PANCHO VILLA, MEXICAN BANDOLERO

Photo by avlxyz

*The President and Vice President supped at Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington yesterday. According to the Post, they went dutch.

*THIS WEEK IN CAL THOMAS: The Washington Times commemorates the 30th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher’s election as Prime Minister with a fawning piece whose best moment is its opening anecdote:

The newly elected Mrs. Thatcher takes her all-male Cabinet to dinner. The waiter asks her what she would like to order.

“I’ll have the beef,” says she.

“What about the vegetables?” asks the waiter.

“They’ll have the same.”

Read More “Our Morning Roundup: Potentates Like Their Beef” »

ON THIS DAY IN 1863 William Randolph Hearst was born. Please enjoy the following clip, in which Hearst Charles Foster Kane defends his decision to pour millions into a cash-hemorrhaging newspaper because the people deserve the truth, dammit! And ‘cuz it’s fun to start wars.

Perhaps the Orson Welles estate would consider making an offer on City Paper et. al.? I bet they could beat $13.3 mill.

(Via StumbleUpon)

*THE BLOGOSPHERE REACTS: Arlen Specter (R-PA D-PA), facing a strong 2010 primary push from Republican congressman Pat Toomey, switches parties, giving the Dems a quasi-60-seat presence in the Senate. This has the ’sphere all riled up. For some spirited commentary, visit Robert Stacey McCain’s  blog (”Specter reminds me of the high-school slut trying to sleep her way to popularity”) or Gateway Pundit, where RNC Chair Michael Steele is quoted as saying “Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.” President Obama, meanwhile, pledges his “full support” to Specter.  Which could include campaigning for him in a Democratic primary.

*Obama’s “no-news press conference doesn’t impress” the Washington Times. Snap!

Read More “Our Morning Roundup: Cloning Bin Laden” »

Highly recommended: Small Crime

Our guide to Friday’s selections; weekend picks below the jump.

YAY!:

I.O.U.S.A., a documentary on the Federal Reserve that, according to Jule Banville, “does for our economic crisis what An Inconvenient Truth did for global warming,” only “with a lot more humor and a lot less PowerPoint.” 6:30 p.m. at Goethe-Institut.

Small Crime, a comedy about a mysterious death on a bumptious Greek island. I said: “Servetalis steals the show as an expressionless but compassionate protag, and a lo-fi but sweeping soundtrack underscores innocuous moped chases. Come for the atmosphere, stay for the love affair—and by the end, you won’t really mind that Zacharias’ death might not have been all that mysterious, after all.”

Read More “Tonight at Filmfest: Small Crime, Rain, and More
Plus: Weekend Picks!” »

Bleak by Jowl: Dancers is dark and gripping.

Only four nights of cinematic splendor left, folks. Here’s this evening’s wheat and chaff:

YAY!:

Dancers, a romantic thriller about a lovesick Swedish woman obsessed with her boyfriend’s dark past. “Heavy-handed” at times, write Sarah Godfrey, but “fascinating” where it counts. 8:30 p.m. at E Street Cinema.

Four Nights With Anna, a stalker flick about lonely Leon, who drugs a young lady and then enacts a series of creepy-ass fantasies. Jeff Winkler: “In the hands of a torture-porn hack, Leon would be just another psycho, but famed Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s deliberate and precise storytelling reveals a weirdo who is both disturbing and sweet.” 6:30 p.m. at Regal Gallery Place.

Read More “Tonight at Filmfest: Dancers, Four Nights With Anna, and More” »

Because it’s Food Day, people.  And we’re blogging like mad on Young & Hungry.

Get into it.

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

In witchcraft and wildflowers, Granny knows best.

YAY!:

The Witch of the West Is Dead, about a timorous Japanese girl who thrives under Granny’s tutelage. Jule Banville says it’s full of “lush shots” and filmed with a “Zen-like approach…land[ing] an emotional punch.” 6:30 p.m. at the Avalon.

Sparrow, about Hong Kong gangsters who lose their mojo when an attractive lady starts fuckin’ with their heads. “Smart thieves make great protagonists in any well-directed film,” says Tricia Olszewski,
“and Sparrow is no exception.” 6:30 p.m. at E Street Cinema.

Read More “Tonight at Filmfest: Sparrow, The Witch of the West Is Dead, and More” »