EVER WONDER WHAT happened to all those Italian-American doo-wop groups of the late 1950s and early 1960s after the British Invasion bands rendered their vocal harmonies unfashionable?
Veteran character actor Robert Davi did. So he made a movie that documents the plight of one such fictional group, The Dukes, a vocal quartet who find themselves so hopelessly out of style decades later that they can't even get plugged into the oldies circuit. Instead of collaborating on musical endeavors, they work together to pull off a heist in hopes of getting some bucks to fund a doo-wop club.
That's the plot of "The Dukes," an independent comedy that marks Davi's first outings as both director and screenwriter. His debut has been, as the saying goes, auspicious. When "The Dukes" made the rounds at film festivals earlier this year, it was met with rave after rave. The "Spinal Tap"-with-Brylcreem plot scored laughs, but the film's deeper message earned Davi deeper respect than he ever got playing villains such as Franz Sanchez in the 1989 James Bond film "License to Kill."
Variety magazine praised the comic chemistry between Davi and co-star Chazz Palminteri, who play the hapless band member who try to pull off the hopeless heist. The Monte Carlo Film Festival handed the film a Platinum Award for Best Screenplay, while the Queens International Film Festival hailed hometown boy Davi as Best Director. "The Dukes" also nabbed a Best Screenplay award at the Monte Carlo Film Festival de la Comedie.
The film will get a D.C. premiere at the American Film Renaissance Institute's fifth annual film festival, taking place Oct. 1-4 ("The Dukes" will then open in New York Nov. 14, and get a wide release the following Friday). Davi was named the festival's "featured star" and will do a question and answer session after the Oct. 1 screening.
Express caught up with him by telephone.
Continue Reading "Harmony as Allegory: Robert Davi on 'The Dukes'" »
WHILE GEORGETOWN isn't where one might expect to find an underground lounge, Modern lives on amid the wooden, beer soaked, fratastic bars that line M Street. This white, sleek, basement club is simple and direct -- it's got a Euro feel, a hip, circular bar and an ample dance floor that hosts movers and shakers several nights of the week.
If you're looking for a good dance party on a Wednesday (and face it, since we live in a town of suits, this can be harder to come across than one might think), you're in luck: that's the night Modern offers Dirt. DJ Jaybird spins dance-worthy dub all night while the bars slings drink specials and the crowd looks a little more Parisian than your typical D.C. drinkers. Live a little, kids: Get dirty on a weeknight.
» Modern, 3287 M St. NW; Wednesdays, 9 p.m., $5-$10; 202-338-7027.
Photo from The Washington Post
FREE WINE. Yeah, that got your attention. And the two complimentary selections served up by the experts at Georgetown's Bistro Lepic each Tuesday will be sure to keep it. Until things get a leeeeeetle fuzzy.
The tastings take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the wine bar, where there's also a 20 percent discount on all bottles of wine on Tuesday nights. Which will be handy when the freebies run out.
» Bistro Lepic and Wine Bar, 1736 Wisconsin Ave. NW; Tue. 6-8 p.m., free; 202-333-0111.
Photo by Carol Guzy/The Washington Post
AFTER NEARLY THIRTY YEARS of planning, the Georgetown Waterfront Park has finally met its fundraising goal of $9 million needed to go forward with construction.
The future park, located between 31st Street NW and Key Bridge and south of K Street NW, received $4.5 million from the Centennial Challenge, combined with $3.5 million from the District of Columbia and $1 million in private donations, according to National Park Service spokesman Bill Line.
Although plans for the park have been set for some time, Line said that the two-phase construction project will not be fully complete for another 18 months. Line said construction of the first phase of the park will be completed "in the vicinity of Labor Day"; the second phase is expected in January or February of 2010.
Continue Reading "Georgetown Waterfront Park Reaches Funding Target" »
IT'S A NOTION sure to draw interest in our trafficky little city: the Metro Board on Thursday will reportedly hear a proposal to run a Metrorail line through Georgetown.
It's a brilliant idea. Georgetown's one of the spots within Metro's existing sphere that's most clearly ripe for mass transit, with its array of shops and scads of residents. It's such an obviously smart place to put a Metrorail station that I've encountered many a newcomer who's incredulous that there isn't one already.
It's smart. It's exciting. It's a long time coming.
It ain't gonna happen.
Here's the idea, as reported by WTOP's Adam Tuss:
Another rail line would be built from Rosslyn, across the Potomac River, through the top of the District, and then connect with other lines in the city. This way more rail cars could be sent through the downtown core, spreading out riders.
For Metro officials, the plan is a way to not only serve riders and residents keen to see subway service in Georgetown, but more importantly, as Tuss suggests, an effort to break up the crush of passengers that Metro packs through the downtown corridor each day — especially since, as WTOP reports, some parts of the system will start hitting capacity within the next 10 years.
Continue Reading "Metrorail to Georgetown? It's a Pipe Dream" »
VIDEO GAMES as a social activity? Now they are.
Tuesday nights at the Rhino Bar, a simple pumphouse becomes a Guitar Hero paradise, filled with would-be rock stars itching to show their prowess in public. And really, what's the point of practicing fake-guitar ten hours a day if you're not going to show it off?
» Rhino Bar and Pumphouse, 3295 M St. NW; Tues., 10 p.m., free; (202) 333-3150
PIZZERIA PARADISO IS APPARENTLY the place to be for themed dinners. On Monday, both the Georgetown and Dupont locations will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day with another $16 pizza-and-beer combo.
Choose from the "It's Not Easy Being Green" pizza, topped with garden fresh kale and artichoke, or the "Traditional Irish Pizza Pie," topped with homemade corned beef, cabbage and potato. Wash that down with Victory Brewing Company's Donneybrook Irish Stout at the Georgetown location and Murphy's Irish Stout at the Dupont location.
» Pizzeria Paradiso, 3282 M St. NW; 202-337-1245.
» 2029 P St. NW; 202-223-1245. (Dupont Circle)
Written by Express contributor Suemedha Sood
ALTHOUGH YOU MAY HAVE THOUGHT that cupcakes had jumped the shark, they continue to sell out at Georgetown's Baked and Wired. When they're good, who can resist them? They're like puppies and babies. Just. So. Cute.
And now there'll be a new spot to get your 'cake on: Georgetown Cupcakes. A sign at the shop indicates that it'll open for business on Thursday, just in time for Valentine's Day. Just the place to snag some sweets for your sweet.
» Georgetown Cupcake, 1209 Potomac St. NW, 202-333-8448.
» Baked and Wired, 1052 Thomas Jefferson St. NW, 202-333-2500.
File photo of Baked and Wired's cupcakes by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post
A MAKESHIFT MEMORIAL to a former love interest of President John F. Kennedy has gone up at the spot along the C&O Canal towpath where she was mysteriously shot and killed in 1964. As The Post's Reliable Source reports this morning, a jogger came across the white wooden cross on Sunday.
The memorial includes a photocopy of an image of Mary Pinchot Meyer and the words "cherries in the snow." Meyer's death sparked numerous conspiracy theories — her ex-husband was a top CIA official — and plenty of intrigue over the years.
In accordance with National Park Service policies, such makeshift memorials are usually disposed of.
» "Resurrecting Memories of JFK's Slain Mistress" [Reliable Source/WaPo]
Photo by Amy Argetsinger/The Washington Post
A FEAST FEATURING seven types of seafood may seem excessive. Yet in the final days before Christmas, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is exactly what's featured at several area restaurants in celebration of the holiday, Italian-style.
All across the Old Country, eschewing meat before Christmas Day means savoring dishes such as anchovy lasagna in Piedmont, cod ravioli in Parma and fried eel in Naples.
Though eel and anchovy may not be centerpieces on local holiday menus, D.C. chefs offer opportunities to embrace tradition for the faithful and the excuse for non-Catholics to indulge in the day's catch.
All month long, chef Enzo Fabbraro at D'Acqua is preparing dishes from his Italian childhood, an eight-course tasting menu — seven fish dishes and a dessert — for $75, including ostrica al tartufo (pan- fried oysters and black truffles with a prosecco-flavored sauvignon), strozzapreti (seafood ragout in a lobster-cream reduction) and black-fin tuna salad with cannallini bean and red onion.
Continue Reading "Eating Around: Fishing for Christmas Cheer" »
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