David Minor Theater

Over the last year, we have wanted to go to the David Minor Theater, but never got around to doing it until today, finally. 

It's a theater and pub. You can order food before you go in for the movie, and they bring it into you in the theater. There's beer and wine, and if during the movie you want some more, you can just text them! 

The Lobby

We went for Atomic Blonde, today at 6:50PM and the movie was fun. The theater was small, and snug, and completely reminded me of the movie theater in Stars Hollow in Gilmore girls. heh. 

Random piece of art in the theater room

The theater we were in had just three rows of seat, where about 6 people might fit per row. Seats included couches and barca loungers and such. It was so knick-knacky and random and we just totally loved it. 

Theater room

Theater room with Saurabh

This was right next to where I was sitting. I think an old film reel projector thingy?

Look at his door stop that held the door open of a theater room

The veggie pizza we ordered, while, generally decent, tasted better in this setting. I can't wait to go back! :)

Screen on the Green - 2015

Out of my 11 years in DC, I have heard about Screen on the Green at least for 9 of them. I had never been. This year, I was determined to make it. 

Our plan on August 3rd didn't quite work out as we ended up at Denson Liquor Bar for a couple of drinks before the movie, and well...never made it to the mall. 

So, on August 10th, even with the threat of rain, we packed our blanket and headed to the mall. We settled in, and started eating our sandwiches (DC Classic and Mushroom Melt) and soup from GCDC. At dusk, it begins. First, with a cartoon. We watched "Feed the Kitty". The dog Marc Anthony in it was adorable. He fell in love with this random kitten that showed up in the house and buried itself in his fur and went to sleep. The rest of the cartoon he tries to hide and protect the kitten, who kept getting him into trouble, from his mistress lest the mistress throw the kitten out. The cartoon was adorable and reminded me of the cartoons I watched as a kid. 

Back to the Future was the movie that night and personally I think it's a great movie to watch outdoors. We watched about an hour of it before the rain came. It was a great experienced, and I definitely want to come back next year if we can...But, for now, I am glad we did this. :)

Man, Cheetah, Wild

In Man, Cheetah, Wild Kim Wolhuter follows a cheetah family, up close and personal. He walks barefoot, most of the time, through the Mala Mala game reserve as he follows a cheetah and her five cubs from when they are are little until they are a year and a half away. 

It's amazing how he is able to get really close to them. The first time he sees the cubs, after filming them from a little ways away, he goes closer and just lays on the ground as they little ones come to investigate him, liking his toes, climbing over him and checking him out. SO SO SO SO amazing and precious. 

The rule to interfere in life of the wild animals is either when they have been injured by a man made object, or if an endangered species is in trouble. When the cubs are a few weeks old, a lion is stalking them. Other predators kill cubs of other predators as they see them as competition. Kim feels the need to intervene. He RUNS towards the lion!!!! And chases her away. But, she comes back, with reinforcement. Now, the mother takes the offensive, and Kim works with her to chase them away! 

The movie is incredible. Watch it! 

The Best Job in the World

Left to Right: Maryanne Culpepper, Mark Thiessen, and Pamela Wells

Today I went for the movie - The Best Job in the World at the NG museum. The movie is on NG photographers and captures the intense situations that have to be in to get the famous photos we see in their magazines for the last 125-ish years. As usual, it was an incredible movie! The shots, the stories, the near escapes just take your breath away. 

The movie follows Cory Richards as he goes to Antarctica to climb the Wohlthat Mountains, where no man has ever been, to photograph from the summit. The story is incredible, and braving the conditions there is just insane. The get stuck in storms, their base came gets completely buried in snow and they have to dig it out before they can do anything else. They took 15 days to reach the summit on Bertha's Tower. And once on the top, one of them said "We are on top of the mountain at the bottom of the world."

They fly from South Africa to a Russian base in Antarctica. When they are headed from the base to closer to the Wohlthat mountains, as they load their plane one of them says "Blizzards, planes, and snow mobiles. Every little boy's dream. We are professional children." :D :D 

While they showed Cory's story, they showed stories of other NG photographers and the images they took and what they had to go through to get them. There was the guy who photographed drug dealers, the one who found the titanic, one who photographed the Vatican like it never had been, the one with the Leopard Seal (my favourite story), the lady who photographed the horrible man who trafficked women in Bosnia, the alligator attack while trying to photograph them, an active volcano in Africa with the world's largest lava lake (this was just INCREDIBLE!). 

The leopard seal story was special to me. The photographer was in the water, photographic the seal that had a penguin its mouth. When the seal saw the photographer, he dropped the penguin and came toward the photographer, with a head bigger than a Grizzly bear it was definitely scary. But, the seal didn't end up attacking him and instead got curious as to what this creature was. He gave him a penguin, when the photographer wasn't interested, he got him dead penguins. The photographer still wasn't interested, and he just kept getting him penguins, thoroughly confused as to why the photographer didn't want it! The photos he was able to get of the seal, were just amazing! :)

After the movie, there was a discussion with photographer Mark Thiessen, executive producer Pamela Wells, and producer Maryanne Culpepper.

 Lava Lake (photo courtesy: National Geographic)

Leopard Seal (photo courtesy: National Geographic)

Random Fact: On average for each assignment they take 24,000 photos! :-o

Cravings and Promises with S & S

 Enjoying R & R food

We met Smita and Shounak at the Medical Center metro to go to Madras Palace to satisfy our dosa craving. Boston had been a terrible let down for that craving, so without much expectation we went to Madras Palace. We all got the buffet, the food was delicious and hot Sada dosas were brought to the table. The perfect crispness and delicious chutneys meant weeks long cravings were satisfied! :D 

Since, this blog hasn't been regularly updated, photos of the dosas never crossed my mind. Boo! 

After dinner we went to Smita's place. Played some Scattergories and then headed to bed so we'd be up for the 9:10AM Skyfall IMAX show in Silver Spring. In the morning, Smita made us some delicious cold coffee and then we headed out. The movie was excellent (though getting there proved slightly challenging because of the Thanksgiving Parade). I did sell my right ear to get the tickets though. $18.50 for a matinee IMAX! What the hell happened to movie ticket prices??? I know I haven't been for a movie in a while, but has it been THAT long? :-o

As we were leaving the theatre after the movie, the parade passed by! :) The even threw stress balls at the crowds! We got one. A yellow one :)

Thanksgiving Parade in Silver Spring

Kids at the Thanksgiving Parade in Silver Spring :D

Santa at the Thanksgiving Parade! After October 31, people can't WAIT for all things Christmas!

Then we headed to Columbia to the R & R Taqueria that S & S had been ravvvvvving about! It lived up to the hype they created and more! :) A small deli in a gas station selling Authentic Mexican food. Delicious!!! They even have fresh juices! Imagine my delight and surprise! :)

The Deli is small, with about 7-8 barstools and a counter, if you have to eat in there. It is essentially filled with people waiting in line to order or waiting to collect their food. It is best to take your food and eat in your car or somewhere around the gas station. We ate at the car :), the weather was excellent!

The kitchen at R & R Deli

We got the R&R Taco enchilados (two lamb tacos rolled in a corn tortilla, and dipped in Mexican sauce, sour cream and cheese), Mexican chorizo taco, Pollo taco and the Huarache a la Mexicana (Huaracha - handmade tortille mixed with refried beans, topped with Mexican cheese, meat, avocado, sour cream and onions. Huarache a la Mexicana - Steak mixed with onions, tomatoes, jalapenos and ranchero sauce). The tacos were okay, a little dry. But the enchilados and the Huarache....OMG! Divine!!!! I'd go back there for dinner, if I could. 

Fresh Strawberry Juice - ABSOLUTE DELICIOUS! Liquid Strawberry! :)

Smita's Chicken Enchillados with Mole sauce and Shaunak's Steak Huaraches

Mexican Chorizo Taco and Pollo Taco

R&R Taco enchilados

Huarache a la Mexicana

Soy Andina

Soy Andina translates to 'I am Andean'.

This is centennial year since Machu Picchu's discovery. In honour of this year, National Geographic has a bunch of events on Peru and Machu Picchu. We went for this movie, Soy Andina. The movie tells the story of two Peruvian Americans, Cynthia Paniagua and Nelida Silva . The movie shows their link to Peru through dance. 

After the movie, Cynthia performed live - she culminated different Peruvian dances in her piece, Despierta Peru. It was excellent! And after they had a question and answer session with Cynthia, Mitch Teplitsky (producer/director) and Nelida (who was phoned in from Peru)

Funny Incident: During the Q&A session, Mitch and Cynthia were talking into their "own" fixed mikes on the podium. Midway through the Q&A session one of the organizers hands Mitch a cordless mike and tells him, "You have been talking into the light." HAHAHAHAHA! He was QUITE embarassed!!!!

 Cynthia performing after movie - the best I could do with my phone camera

 Cynthia and others posing with the Machu Picchu sign at the entrance, after the performance

Harry Potter 7 - Part 2

Just like I went for the midnight release of the last book (the only midnight book release I've been for for the Harry Potter Series), I went for the midnight release of the very last Harry Potter movie. I went with excitement and a heavy heart. :( 

I can't believe it's all over! I enjoyed the movie :) But I preferred Part 1.

Probably my favourite part of the movie, the photo doesn't do justice though

The Last Lions

The Last Lions is a heart wrenching, nail biting, gripping tale of maternal instinct, survival, battle, competition and call of the wild.

The movie, anthropomorphically, tells the story of Ma di Tau (named after her first born) and her cubs. The movie follows her attempts to procure food for herself and her cubs, her establishment on a new island and her struggle with a pride that attempts to defeat her and take over.

The movie kept me at the edge of my seat throughout, never knowing what to expect. Large cats hold a special place in my heart, despite that, the story telling had me wishing for the death of some of the lions in the movie. That shocked me and exemplifies some compelling story telling abilities. That being said, it must be acknowledged that all the story telling is man made and the thoughts, flash backs and ideas of the animals that are narrated are probably just excellent story telling gimmicks.

An excellent movie that definitely strikes a chord and hopefully will help lion conservation. Great job National Geographic. Fantastic job Beverly and Dereck Joubert!!!!!!

One of my favourite scenes from the movie :). See naaaa...so cute!!!

Himalaya, Path to the Sky

If I had to describe this movie in one word, I'd say it was precocious.

This documentary follows an eight year old Buddhist monk in Zanskar, Ladakh. Having come, on his own accord with his uncle, to the monastery Kenrap believes he is a 'grandfather monk'. At the end of the movie he says he is 68 years old. :)

He is wise in his ideas and understanding. This is illustrated time and again in the movie. At one point he tells the film maker, while treading a dangerous, narrow, snowy, mountainous path that she needs to make her heart strong and if she believe she won't fall she won't. She asks him, 'What if I think I will fall?". He replies matter of factly, "You will fall.". Another time, after he'd just finished doing the dishes he was asked what his uncle would say if he came to the room and found it dirty, Kenrap says he won't say anything but he would be embarrassed if someone came home and found it dirty. These ideas are definitely not something you'd expect out of a typical 8 year old. Despite being wise beyond his ears, the movie is filled with his child like behaviour. He enjoys his play time and sings and dances as he feels. :) It's just so endearing to watch him live his life.

My favourite part of the movie was when Nagyul, who's coeval with Kenrap, is pouring water into vessels for heating makes a mistake and Kenrap exclaims, "This child is unbearable!!!!" and stomps out of the room. It's just hilarious!!!!!

The backdrop of the himalayas, the ice, the snow, the stark landscape, the beautiful flowing river is just gorgeous.

Seek out and watch this movie.

Gold and Copper

Smita and I went for Gold and Copper at the Avalon Theatre today. It's part of the silver jubilee DC Film Festival. An excellent excellent Iranian movie about an Iranian family having to deal with the debilitating disease of the wife/mother. The movie shows how their lives are impacted and how they deal with it. Extremely well made!

Schooling The World

Another movie at the NG museum...but a dissatisfying one. Carol Black tries to make the point that Western education is bad for all the smaller cultures all over the world. The movie tries to impress that western education is the bad guy, trying to take over the world and make it uniform, thereby wiping out the cultural elements in each culture that make it unique and make is subsist.

While, I think the movie had an excellent underlying point, I was very disappointed with its delivery of it. Throughout the movie it gave the impression that western form of education is bad and imparts bad things. Once or twice they did say that there is some good in western education, but it was hardly emphasised and got lost in all the negativity that permeated the entire movie.

I think, that western education isn't perfect, but there is no reason it needed to be dissed so much. I have always said that it's unfortunate how people forget their own culture and language in their race to master english and western cultures. Western educations isn't at fault alone in this outlook. In my opinion, Western education needs to embrace local cultures and fuse to form a better overall education. If the movie had expressed this in a more balanced way, I think the movie could have been very powerful.

Anyway, it was nice to watch, it made me think.

Can't waittttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is totalllllllllllly something I'd say. Verbatim.
(Except the first 5 lines)

Eagle Hunter's Son

Today we went for Eagle Hunter's Son at the NG Museum. This is the first time I have gone for a movie at the NG museum and left feeling less than blown away. The story, I felt, though nice wasn't extremely strong and at some points it felt that the movie dragged even though it was only a 97 minute film. The cinematography, though, was FANTASTIC. Set in Mongolia, the backdrop of the movie was breathtaking. The shots of the eagle were exquisite. So, even though the movie didn't impress, I'm really glad I got to see those shots. :)

Summer Pasture

This is a movie on Tibetan nomads shot in the Kham area. An excellent movie documenting the daily lives and hardships of the nomadic people. The movie was shot in the summer of 2007 for a period of 3 months.

The movie centers around the family of Locho and Yama and their little baby girl. Nomads move from pasture to pasture each season. They are working all the time to provide for themselves. Their main livelihood is the life stock, Yak in this movie, they have. It is just incredible how hard the life of a nomadic woman is. From the time she wakes up until she sleeps she is working. This is expressed in a couple of lines Yama says during the movie; "If I get some time, there is always something else to do." , "In the town people like to hold and feed their babies all day. We also love our babies, but we don't have time to hold them."

Recently, the nomads have a new source of income, the caterpillar fungus. Which is essentially a caterpillar that has been infected by a fungus. The fungus bores through the caterpillar and protrudes out of it to be able to spread its spores. This caterpillar fungus is used in Chinese medicine and is said to be good as an energy booster, immune booster and has aphrodisiac properties. Locho mentioned the price of this caterpillar might even be compared to gold. However, since no one can tell when caterpillar fungi might run out, Locho and Yama don't want to rely only on this as a source of income and settle in a town. They feel more confident with their nomadic life. Other nomadic families have, however, made their money and chosen to settle in a town. I, of course, hadn't heard about this fungus until now.

Their life is so incredibly different from ours, that one of their sayings that they mentioned in the movie had no real meaning for me, "Nothing is more bountiful than the land. Nothing kills more than the sky". While I can understand why they say this, it isn't something I can relate with in my life. It's just so surreal to watch them live their lives, constantly working through all the interviewing for the movie and everything. They are always working. Always.

An interesting thing I learnt about them is that they hardly eat any vegetables other than Troma, which is 'Tibetan Sweet Potato'. Their diet mainly comprises meat and dairy products.

Finally, I can't end this entry about the movie without mentioning the breathtaking backdrop the movie is set against. The green valleys of the Kham district are incredibly awe-inspiring!!! siiiiiigh!!!!

Locho and Yama's infant daughter, nicknamed Jiatomah ("pale chubby girl")

Did I mention HOWWWW incredibly aborable she is!!!!!

Caterpillar Fungus

127 Hours

After Madame Tussuad's which got done super quick, Smita and I went to E Street Theatre and bought tickets for 127 Hours. It was the only movie that wasn't sold out and was going to begin soon. FANTASTIC movie. I highly highly highly recommend it!

This part of the movie gave me an IMMENSE adrenaline rush!