Outdoor Screens Heat Up, AFI Gives us Science, and DC Shorts Aren't That Long Away

Here are some film tips for the rest of month:

Adventureland must be doing well at the Cinema & Drafthouse because they keep showing it every week. The next showings are Tuesday, July 14 for the hefty price of $2.00 and Thursday, July 16 at 6pm for a whole dollar. Now that's the deal of the week!

This Wednesday, the NOMA Summer Screen, at L Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave. NE, presents Standing in the Shadows of Motown, a very cool film about the history of the Funk Brothers, the musicians who backed up dozens of Motown artists. It's worth it just to see and hear Joan Osborne singing What Becomes of the Brokenhearted and Bootsy Collins singing Do You Love Me?

The AFI in Silver Spring is again hosting free screenings this summer of films presented by NIH's Science in the Cinema Program. Screenings are at 7pm:
July 15: The Painted Veil (great scenery, Naomi Watts)
July 22: Warm Springs (a 2005 TV movie about FDR with a great cast)
July 29: Inherit the Wind (a classic)
These screenings are very popular, so try to get there early if possible.

Screen on the Green begins next Monday, July 20, with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Start tuning up for the HBO Dance.

July 28-Aug. 1 marks the Stars on the Avenue, Bethesda's outdoor movie week, at the corner of Norfolk and Auburn Avenues. It's always a very comfortable setting with chairs already set up. I will try to make Dial M for Murder on Wednesday, July 29.

THURSDAY, JULY 30, 7:30 PM
TURN LEFT AT THE END OF THE ROAD -Free film, panel and reception co-sponsored by the Middle EastInstitute and Embassy of Israel
Moroccan immigrants (who think of themselves as French) aren't too happy about the arrival of Indian immigrants (who think of themselves as British) in their dusty Israeli desert town, making for a captivating mix of old enemies, cultural mine fields, the very British game of cricket, teenage girls and the sexual revolution of the Sixties.
Although reservations are full, I think there will be places for people who just show up. That's what happens when events are free.

Theater J at the DCJCC is again giving away free tickets to The Seagull this week, if you have not seen it yet. For Wednesday and Thursday shows at 7:30 pm, e-mail Theaterj@Theaterj.org for your free comps.


September looks good.

Put Thursday, Sept. 10 on your calendar. That's the opening night of the DC Shorts Film Festival. Last year the films were pretty good and the party on a DC rooftop was amazing. They are also looking for people who can host fillmmakers during their run of Sept. 10-17. They'll give you a lot of freebies if you can help. This is an extremely well-run and fun-to-watch festival.

The Shakespeare Free for All not only moves venues this year, from Carter Barron to the Harman Center, it also moves time periods. The much-awaited re-production of The Taming of the Shrew will take place Aug. 27 to Sept. 12.