Top Stops

True Indie: 'Smoke Signals'

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:49 -0500

"SMOKE SIGNALS" was the first movie written, directed and produced by American Indians. See the 1988 award-winner Sunday.

» National Museum of the American Indian, 4th Street & Independence Avenue NW; Sun., Dec. 7, 2 p.m., free, 202-633-1000. (L'Enfant Plaza)

Written by Express' Nathan Martin
Photo courtesy Miramax

Walking a Hard Line: Cash's Folsom Prison DVD

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:11 -0500

YOU KNOW ABOUT THE Elvis '68 comeback special, but you may not remember that another man in black had a comeback show earlier that year. There weren't any TV cameras on hand for it, but the new two-CD/one-DVD set "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: Legacy Edition" (Columbia/Legacy) captures Cash at his most relevant, if perhaps not at his peak.

Though he'd never done hard time, 1955's "Folsom Prison Blues" made inmates think he was one of them, and Cash's haunting, damaged face further bolstered his outlaw rep. But after a few years, he had his own downfall, turning to pills and booze (watch the 1965 clip of him on Pete Seeger's TV show) and, as June Carter helped clean him up, Cash opted to restart his career and publicize the plight of inmates by doing a live prison recording.

Two recordings, to be exact. Disc one is the morning concert that would become the album "At Folsom Prison," while disc two is the heretofore unreleased afternoon concert. Both are the uncut shows, complete with announcements and unissued tracks, plus onstage partner in crime Carl Perkins doing "Blue Suede Shoes." It's all much rawer than the scenes in "Walk the Line."

Time and Experience: Niels Van Tomme on Belgian Video Art

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:34:54 -0500

CHOCOLATE, BEER, FRITES, Plastic Bertrand, Herge, Magritte -- say "Belgium" to an American and you're lucky to get half of these in response. Recently relocated to New York after a couple of years in D.C., Belgian-born curator Niels Van Tomme observes that his countrymen seem quite comfortable with a national identity that remains nebulous, expressed in local cultures attached to the languages of larger neighbors: Dutch, French, a smattering of German.

Although it consciously eschews nationalism, "Onthaasting" ("Slowing Down") unites Belgian video artists under a sensibility. This deadpan, absurdist twist on the Italian dolce far niente emerges as actors re-create a seaside vignette for Guillaume Bijl's "James Ensor in Ostende ca. 1920" or a man whose shoes are nailed to the floor struggles to remove his vest without taking off his jacket in Cel Crabeels' "Topologic" or the artist uses a cordless drill to spin a bouquet of flowers into pieces in an episode of Messieurs Delmotte's "Breakdown Dream."

» EXPRESS: Does the Belgian government's subsidy of artists allow them to play with their spare time?
» VAN TOMME: All the Belgian artists are hard workers, but at the same time I think there is a difference.

» EXPRESS: A difference in the way we conceive of leisure?
» VAN TOMME: People [in Belgium] like to experience time, whereas here in the United States, it's about filling up time.

Growing Up on Camera: 'War Child'

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:43:24 -0500

EMMANUEL JAL BRIMS with the sort of charisma that only stars possess. But it's telling that his magnetism still showed when he was a 7-year-old child soldier in Southern Sudan, not just now as an adult hip-hop artist and international activist.

The footage of Jal in a late-1980s refuge camp in Ethiopia was shot by a French journalist who was documenting the exodus of people from war-torn Sudan, whose southern area then was what Darfur is now. But the video almost didn't make it into the documentary "War Child" by D.C. filmmakers C. Karim Chrobog (director and producer) and Afshin Molavi (producer).

"We were nearly done with the film," Chrobog said, "and we had one still image of him as a child. And toward the end, Emmanuel called me from London and said, 'Karim, I have this DVD that somebody just gave me on the street; a Sudanese buddy of mine. And apparently I'm in the [40-minute] film — and I'm 7 years old."

Hump-Day Flick: 'The Nomi Song'

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:42:29 -0500

IN NOV. 2007, I saw my oldest friend for the first time in 15 years. Lots of good reminiscences, including a chat about Klaus Nomi.

When we were in our early teens, his older brother had the first Klaus Nomi LP; my friend and I listened to it and had no idea what was going on, but we liked it — I think. The operatic new-wave music was so strange that maybe it fascinated us more than it captivated us. Then we probably played Anti-Nowhere League and The Who and INXS and Boston and New Order and The Strawbs. It was just like that in our mixed-up world; punk, new wave and classic rock went hand-in-fist where we lived in then-rural Michigan.

Cheap Drink and a Movie: Pre-Movie Happy Hours

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:18:02 -0500

IT'S WELL AND truly winter, and short of free cupcakes, nothing will get you to venture outside. These days, rather than tromping from bar to bar seeking a clientele not composed of Republican staffers crying into their $2 beers, you want to go somewhere warm and stay there for a few hours. There are reasons Oscar-winning movies tend to come out at the end of the year, and one of them is that people want to curl up in a dark theater and forget that the weather outside is frightful.

But sometimes popcorn isn't enough. There are few D.C. theaters where you can get a stiff drink before your friend drags you to "Twilight," but here are some nearby watering holes where you can snag a cheap drink and maybe a snack before embarking on your cinematic adventure.

If you're catching a show at Gallery Place, take a tiny stroll down H Street to Matchbox, the claustrophobic upscale pizza joint. On weekdays between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., sit at the bar for $4 martinis, $2.75 pints of Yuengling and $2 off small pizzas. Yes, it's dark and cramped, but it'll get you in the mood for a movie theater.

A Rookie Effort: 'Hard Eight'

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:00:42 -0500

WITH LAST year's gritty masterpiece, "There Will Be Blood," director Paul Thomas Anderson earned a place among the world's greatest living filmmakers. But 11 years before his sprawling portrait of oil tycoon Daniel Plainview took the screen, Anderson kicked off his stellar career with another fascinating character study, "Hard Eight."

Starring Philip Baker Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly (back when he was a real actor), "Hard Eight" weaves a dark narrative that delves into matters of trust and betrayal amid a seedy underworld of gambling and prostitution.

If you want to catch "Hard Eight" on the big screen, AFI Silver is the place to go — they're presenting Anderson's films through Christmas day.

» AFI Silver Theater, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; through Dec. 4, $6-$10; 301-495-6720. (Silver Spring)

Written by Express' Thomas Floyd
Photo courtesy of Rysher Entertainment

Double the Pleasure: Frank Zappa Film Festival

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:55 -0500

LOVE HIM or hate him, you can't deny Frank Zappa was one fascinating person. Over the course of his career, the Mothers of Invention frontman not only penned tunes ranging from rock and electronic to jazz and blues, but also became a bit of a film auteur as well.

Having wrote and directed a number of music videos and feature length movies, Zappa led the Library of Congress to host a Mini-Film Festival of his work during its Rock 'n' Rolls in the Fall series. Come Monday, the library's Mary Pickford Theater will screen a double bill of Zappa, playing both his 1987 claymation venture, The Amazing Mr. Bickford, and his band's 1985 live concert feature, Does Humor Belong in Music?

» Library of Congress Mary Pickford Theatre, 101 Independence Avenue, SE; Mon., 7 p.m., free; 202-707-5677. (Capitol South)

Written by Express' Thomas Floyd
Photo by TWP

Speaking Up: Gay Rights Icon Cleve Jones

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:06 -0500

WERE IT NOT for Cleve Jones, the movie "Milk" might not have been made. At least not with fringe-pop director Gus Van Sant at the helm and an estimable ensemble including Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco and Sean Penn in the titular role of the homosexual San Francisco human rights activist and elected city adviser who was gunned down in 1978.

The enormous talent involved filming in just under two months, but the project took decades to greenlight — Jones considered it his duty to see that it did. His legacy has been bringing people together. He is responsible for creating the AIDS quilt, which has connected millions of people's stories and lives since the first panel was sewn in 1985. Jones' influence is similarly felt onscreen: "Milk" is very much a melding of ideals and passion.

» EXPRESS: You're played by Emile Hirsch in the film. What was it like seeing your experiences onscreen?
» JONES: Thirty years ago, we were all very aware. Being young and queer, you were forced to leave home. There was this massive representation of thousands of gay people; those who went to San Francisco were more radical. Everyone was conscious of something profound and new. What we accomplished was by the power of the individual.

» EXPRESS: What was that time like?
» JONES: It was exhilarating. It was incredibly romantic, when you recall it. The film beautifully tells the story — it was the way you'll see it onscreen.

Delayed Reaction: 'Uncle Meat'

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:57 -0500

IT'S NOT often that a film is released 18 years after its soundtrack. But then again, The Mothers of Invention were never too hot on conventional wisdom.

"Uncle Meat," the silver-screen counterpart to the band's 1969 soundtrack of the same title, went straight to video in 1987 after a lack of funds delayed the project for the better part of two decades. The movie features a slew of unique tracks by writer, director and band frontman Frank Zappa, including songs titled "The Voice of Cheese" and "Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague."

Curious? Well, you're in luck — the film is screening Monday at the Library of Congress as part of the Frank Zappa Mini Film Festival.

» Library of Congress Mary Pickford Theatre, 101 Independence Avenue, SE; Mon., 7 p.m., free; 202-707-5677. (Capitol South)

Written by Express' Thomas Floyd
Photo courtesy Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden