Greatness, as simple as black and white
Before we get to the movie portion of this blogtastic program, I wanted to alert y’all to a neat art show this weekend. One of the comic book world’s most talented artists, Falls Church’s Shawn Martinbrough, is displaying some of his noir pieces on Saturday as part of “The Black and White Show,” also featuring New York artist Tyler Matthew Oyer’s “MAN” series (focusing on the displaced male form) and Washington native Anthony Patrick Jones II’s black ink abstracts.
Martinbrough will be featuring black ink works as well, including Batman work he did for DC Comics. I wrote about him a year ago when his “Ayre Force” graphic novel was released, and the “How to Draw Noir Comics” author is currently working on the second issue of “Luke Cage Noir,” a Marvel Comics miniseries that debuts in August. Ask him all about it at the art show, which runs from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Art Whino gallery located at National Harbor.
Opening this week in theaters is “The Soloist,” a little piece of Oscar bait starring Jamie Foxx as a homeless yet virtuosic cellist and Robert Downey Jr. is the L.A. reporter who decides his is a story worth telling. Sounds good, but the fact that the thing was moved from last fall right before an Oscar push makes me wary.
Instead, “Lymelife” looks a bit more interesting, with Alec Baldwin (who is always great) starring in an ensemble drama about middle-class Long Island life in the ’70s with Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon, Jill Hennessey and Emma Roberts, Julia’s niece. That’s opening at Fairfax’s Cinema Arts Theatre, as is the French flick “Paris 36,” a period piece about three dudes trying to open up a closed-down theater with a musical in 1936.
Not a whole lot new to the DVD shelves on Tuesday. The aforementioned Roberts family member toplines “Hotel for Dogs,” and Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway throw down, wedding style, in “Bride Wars.” Snoozefests all around. Kate Winselt nabbed an Oscar for “The Reader,” a good bet for the drama-deprived but not exactly a picker-upper. However, two franchises debut on Blu-ray: “The Da Vinci Code” gets an extended cut before the next chapter, “Angels & Demons,” hits theaters in three weeks; and bask in the wonder of William Shatner in hi-def with the first season of the original “Star Trek” series.
What else do you guys have planned for this weekend? Share in the comments section, and have a great one!