This Weekend at the Cinema: "The Congress" is NOT About Washington, DC

Greetings to our blog readers in Iceland, Japan and planet Mars!

Girl Power! Today, we feature three films starring women, which are either opening or are still showing at various theatres, cinemas and drive-ins in our mid-Atlantic portion of the United States.

We start off with the lovely Star Lite Drive-In in Christiansburg, Va (near Blacksburg) where they are screening "Lucy" at 8:45 pm and 10:30 pm this weekend; Scarlett Johansson once again delivers.

In Washington, DC, an indy film called "The Congress" is opening at the West End Cinema, but the film about an aging actress who decides to maintain her beauty by capturing herself digitally has nothing to with the U.S. Congress. Robin Wright who is in the Netflix series "House of Cards," which is actually about the U.S. Congress, stars in the film.

At the same venue, "Life of Crime" based on the Elmore Leonard novel "Switch" begins its run; the film features Jennifer Anniston and Tim Robbins. Curiously enough, it is also showing at the Tower Theatre out west in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The historic Byrd Theatre in downtown Richmond, Va., which usually shows second-run features is showing "Maleficent" with Angelina Jolie (is she the one married to Brad Pitt? Just kidding!). The cinema is also showing "Tammy" and "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

The Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., is showing "Life After Beth" which just one screening at 9:15 p.m. throughout the week; the same venue is opening "Calvary," an Irish film about a Catholic priest, this weekend, a film that is also showing at many arthouses, including the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC, and a/perture in Winston-Salem, Va., which is also screening "Alive Inside," a documentary explaining how music can dwelve into our souls and transmit healing powers. We suspect that the new age group of yesteryear Tangerine Dream is better able to perform this task than the speed metal band of yesteryear Anthrax???!!!!

http://www.starlitedrive.info

http://www.byrdtheatre.com

http://www.aperture.com

http://www.westendcinema.com

http://www.grandintheatre.com

From the Record Collection (7 of 8) Blondie "Eat to the Beat"

Today, we profile the punk band Blondie's fourth studio album "Eat to the Beat" (1979) which I found for a mere four bucks at a flea market in Greensboro, NC. The record had huge expectations as it followed the band's breakthrough smash "Parallel Lines" (1978), an album that included Blondie's arguably most-famous song "Heart of Glass."

"Eat to the Beat" had three singles of its own, including "Dreaming," "Union City Blue" and (my personal favorite Blondie tune) "Atomic," which was covered by the band Sleeper for the soundtrack of "Trainspotting." Subsequently, it has also been covered by Party Animals.

The video for "Atomic," featured the famous fashion model Gia Carangi, who died from AIDS at age 26. That troubled icon who was also a heroin addict was played by Angelina Jolie in the HBO film "Gia" (1998).

The fact that Blondie's lead singer Debroah Harry, who was also a regular at Studio 54 in New York and who has acted in many films, had blonde hair created mass confusion as many thought Blondie and Harry were one in the same. In order to clarify this, the band came up with a "Blondie is a group" campaign.

Harry founded the band with her lover Chris Stein, a guitarist.

A fourth single "Slow Motion" was meant to be released but the band was a victim of its own success as "Call Me," the theme from the Richard Gere movie "American Gigolo" recorded by Blondie became a number-one smash hit.

Harry was recently interview by the NPR-show "Sound Opinions."

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Angelina Condemns Koran Burning Project

It may not be often that a liberal movie star like Angelina Jolie would agree with a leading member of the U.S. military brass like Gen. David Patraeus, but they are on the same page when it comes to being against the Rev. Terry Jones' dubious plans to burn copies of the Koran at his radical church in Gainesville, Fla., this weekend.

Jones has said that he is going to burn the Korans to protest Sept. 11th even though virtually the entire Muslim world, including an imam from Iznik, Turkey, who I spoke while visiting his historic village just days after the terrorist attacks, condemned the events of 9-11.

"The Gainesville Sun" (gainesville.com) tweeted that the star of "Salt" was agast with the news of Jones' proposition.

Jolie, 35, said the following to members of the media about the Koran burning project in Islamabad, Pakistan, where she is visiting after a trip to nothwest Pakistan where the movie star talked to refugees of the recent horrific flooding that occured in that region:

"I have hardly the words that somebody would do that to somebody's religious book."

Jolie's trip is part of her mission as a goodwill ambassador for The United Nations' refugee agency. The U.N. has issued a $460 million pledge to help the flood victims.

The Koran burning project, which has also been condemned by Vatican officials, has been the buzz of Twitter and other chatrooms/discussion boards.

On Twitter, Nathan Tabor, a Christian conservative activist in Winston-Salem, NC, asked his followers on Twitter if they thought the Koran burning project was a good idea or not.

The film critic Roger Ebert, also on Twitter, compared Rev. Jones to Satan for his actions.

I will simply add my two cents and say that as the son of a Muslim immigrant, I think Rev. Jones is a 'budala,' that's the Turkish word for idiot.

Rev. Jones is with the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, which contrary to its name is not a progressive religious organization. His efforts also come as Muslims around the world are concluding the month-long Ramadan holiday.

Ironically, the actor Terry Jones, as a member of Monty Python, appeared in the highly controversial 1979 satire film "Life of Brian," which was considered to be blasphemous by many Christian groups at the time.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Star Wars

Well, 2009 is almost winding down and this looks to be our last Silly Photo to Fill Space for the year. I had contemplated making this an all quote blog, but I'm not sure that would work.

I must profess that I got the idea to find silly Star Wars photos from "The Roanoke Times," in Roanoke, Va., which featured an amazing photograph of a man dressed like a Storm Trooper going through a hotel during a science-fiction convention. Alas, we couldn't find that photo, but it's probably just as well as I have friends who work there who could track me down for hotlinking. And since The Roanoke Gun Show is coming this weekend (not an endorsement or advertisement), they could perhaps purchase a firearm and shoot me.

One guy who might like this photo though is my friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, who is an unabashed Star Wars fanatic. A few years ago, he ran for Rockingham County School Board and he made an ad with a Star Wars theme that was quite over-the-top. Knight did not win a seat on the board, but his ad became a Youtube sensation and it recently appeared on "The Jay Leno Show."

I would write more but I need find out what Paris Hilton is up to on Twitter. The last time I checked on her she was enjoying a weekend in Aspen, Col. There are a fair share of celebrities like Angelina Jolie who believe in humanitarian causes, but I don't see Ms. Hilton adopting a baby from an orphanage in Kandahar, Afghanistan, any time soon, but if she does, I'm sure she will tweet about it. And, we will post that info right here on this blog!