I went through my huge tax planner this past week, delinquent as I always am about getting these things done on time. There’s a page toward the end with about a million different causes that I could choose to support with extra money on top of my taxes. Usually, I give during the year, not at tax time, so I just run my pen down the No column. However, if you live in the District, think about giving a buck or two to the DC Vote folks who got their name on the tax forms in DC this year:

Especially when Heroes star (and Save the Whales spokeswoman) Hayden Panettiere’s part of the pitch…

I was flipping around area websites, looking for possibilities for the weekend (even though it’s supposed to be rather frigid, it’s nothing compared to my winters in Chicago) and stumbled upon this tidbit of info.

Seems that Mount Vernon has been capitalizing on the success of the recent Nicky Cage movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets. If you’re not familiar with the movie, there’s a scene where our intrepid puzzle-solving hero (Cage) decides he needs to kidnap the President of the United States (played by Bruce Greenwood) and does so at a garden party at Mount Vernon. And it revolves around a ‘hidden passageway’ in one of the estate’s basement rooms.

When I first saw the movie, I do remember commenting to my wife afterwards that in all likelihood, we’ll see several D.C. sites jump on the ‘free’ marketing bandwagon and promote themselves along with the movie. And lo and behold, Mount Vernon did indeed.

This weekend is the last available date you can go visit the site for the scene. There’s no additional cost - it’s included in the regular admission and you can only visit that space on the weekend. General admission to Mount Vernon is around $13 for adults and is well worth the cost - it’s a beautiful estate right on the Potomac.

It’s interesting - as usual - how movies portray things that are out of context with the real world. The room used in the movie, according to the website, was actually “designated as the ‘Cellar Kitchen’ on a plan prepared by George Washington at the time he planned additions to both ends of the building in 1774. This space appears to have been used as a kitchen for the slaves assigned to serve the Washington household.”

No mention of a secret passage, however. And I would suggest if you go check it out, don’t try - I’ve a sneaking suspicion that Hollywood made it all up…

photo of AFI theatre by Flickr user Buschap

I have long accepted that films that I actually want to see will only appear at a couple of movie theatres in the area, appear later than in other cities, and play shorter runs.

That said, I am uncommonly disappointed as I plan a movie-going excursion to find out that the movie I have been eagerly awaiting the local debut of, Anton Corbijn’s Control, is only going to be on at E Street, and even there, only for one week.

(Well, technically there was also a screening at the AFI Silver Theatre. One. On Thursday night.)

This movie has been the talk of the internet! There is buzz! Oh, the buzz! Sigh.

Does anybody else feel this way? Are you schlepping out to Silver Spring or Shirlington every time you want to catch a movie? Still mourning the loss of Visions?

Hey! SciFi! What the hell is up with the neglect? Why no BSG movie preview lovin’ for DC?

As if it was not enough that I was left hanging months ago, literally jumping out of my seat and screaming at my television at the end of the season finale, now I’m going to be taunted by my twitterfolk in Chicago, Boston, LA, Seattle, and NYC that they’ve seen it a full twelve days early.

Are we not geeky enough for you? Are we not sufficiently devoted to political intrigue presented in a space milieu? If you prick us, DO WE NOT BLEED?!?

My tortured fangirl’s heart weeps.

It was a sad day for me when the Washington Post reported that the AMC Loews Dupont 5 Theater would be closing its doors for good on January 13, 2008. You see that’s my neighborhood theater and it takes me less than 10 minutes to walk there, so despite the uncomfortable seats, small screening rooms, and unfriendly staff, I’m truly going to miss it.

The trend in theaters has been moving from smaller venues to giant megaplexes - places where big groups of noisy people can go and see the latest blockbuster movies and sit in luxurious stadium style seating. With the Dupont Theater leaving, the only other choice (that I know of) for seeing whacky foreign films will be at the E Street Cinema, which is a great theater but not the easiest to get to.

When I asked my friends if they’d heard about the theater closing their reaction was either, “What?! No way! That sucks and is so not fair,” to “Eh, who cares. That place was a dump.”

What’s your reaction?

Photo by cyaneyed

Yesterday we were working in/near Annapolis at a private residence on a “creek”. It was lovely out there. Apparently fall has arrived and the cooler days are a relief from the first week of shooting in the hot muggy-ness. More about the shoot yesterday in just a sec.

The day before that, my colleague and I were searching for Radio Shack to buy some more equipment. (Luckily, we didn’t need anything made or sold by Hilti.) We need handfulls of LED lights and 3v batteries. Working in the movies is oh so glamorous! While we walked down the street, I looked over and saw this and had to whip out my camera:

Was I excited because I’m a political or news junkie? Sadly, no. I got excited because I’m a movie junkie and All The President’s Men is one of my favorites. (Full disclosure, I have also read the book.) I still love it when I’m actually at a place I’ve only known about or seen in movies.
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We were working/shooting in Baltimore today (not DC, I know) and on the way back we saw this amazing vehicle:

There is a guy in LA who has something similar, but this is way wackier and therefore way better. Has anyone seen this car? Does anyone know about it? (Sorry for the crap video, but it was a quick grab before we lost him.)

More about our shoot at Eastern Market yesterday after the fold.
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I’m Julia and I’ll be your guest blogger today! (And for another week or two.) I hail from Los Angeles and am out here for work. I am a Visual Effects Producer and I’m working on a feature film, shooting in DC and Baltimore. I’ve never been to this part of the country so I’m extremely excited to be a tourist on my few days off. But we have a saying in my biz: “It’s LO-cation, not VA-cation” so I can never count on anything as schedules change all the time.

But if my schedule does remain true, my first tourist stop is the National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles. I love airplanes. Love them!

Enough about me. Tell me about you. What is your secret favorite non-touristy spot in DC? Or your favorite nook of the Smithsonian that no one ever goes to or talks about? Isn’t there a medical museum or a spy museum somewhere? Do tell…

(If you want to make your own faux Hollywood sign graphic, go here.)

Screen on the Green 2007

Are you enjoying this year’s Screen on the Green movie line up? I’ve heard that “Annie Hall” was gay boys central and a few people walked out on “The Thing”.

My Betrothed Butterbean and I watched our first movie just this past Monday. “Wait Until Dark” was a great thriller if a little 1950’s. Robbers bent on killing wouldn’t even rough-up a blind Audrey Hepburn for a heroin stash, but her husband was a cold-ass, not even giving her a post-trauma hug.

At least we had good views. The chair people seem to have dissipated, or maybe we just got good seats upfront.

Next week is “All the Kings Men” followed by “Casablanca”, both which we’ve already seen. Hopefully next year HBO can come up with better movies, like maybe a fictional DC resident retrospective.

What would you suggest?

All cities have their different flavors of movie theaters. The nice ones, the not so nice ones, the old ones, the new ones, the one that shows “artsy fartsy” movies, the one that shows blockbusters, the one with the giant screen, the one with the dollhouse sized screens. Here’s my breakdown of the theaters in DC:
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