You probably already know that Breathless is charming and essential and a classic. A newly restored version is making the rounds right now and I caught it in Silver Spring this week. Presumably, this re-release was the catalyst for Dan Hoffman’s timely article on why Breathless resonates so much more than other Very Important Films. It does. Probably because Michel and Patricia’s stories are so deceptively simple. Yes, Michel is a cop killer on the loose in the big city, but he otherwise behaves just like your own goofball friends. Patricia has plenty of glamor, but she’s living in the believable squalor of an intern abroad working at a newspaper. Also, I always forget how amazing Martial Solal’s original score is.

…Now some long-overdue viewing notes:

• Greenberg = Fine. I’m catching up on publishing my film notes, and it’s been a couple of months. As always, I really want to like Ben Stiller. I just don’t remember Greenberg making much of an impression on me.
• La Dolce Vita = Highly recommended. Obviously.
• Exit Through the Giftshop = Highly recommended. A/K/A “the Banksy movie”. Highly entertaining play on documentary conventions with plenty of incredible footage and revealing things to say about the art world.
• Please Give = Highly recommended.
• The Man Who Would be King = Recommended.
• Carnal Knowledge = Highly recommended.
• Freakonomics = Fine. Silverdocs opening night selection strung together several short topics directed by documentary all-stars. Felt a bit like This American Life’s TV show to be perfectly honest.
• The Kids Grow Up = Recommended. Very much enjoyed Doug Block’s latest – a portrait of his own family as his daughter prepares to leave for college.
• Waiting for Superman = Highly recommended. Plenty to quibble with in the details of Davis Guggenheim’s education reform documentary, but his thesis that we’ve largely been doing things that make adults feel comfortable instead of doing things actually proven to help children learn is important. Will make a huge splash this fall.
• My Perestroika = Recommended.
• On Coal River = Fine.
• Utopia in Four Movements = Highly recommended. This is actually a film-performance hybrid. Deserving of a full post, but in the highly likely case that I don’t get around to it, please check Sam Green and Dave Cerf’s website for tour dates near you (San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, and Minneapolis are all coming up, so none of my four likely readers have any excuse for missing out).
• The Tillman Story = Recommended.
• Marwencol = Highly recommended. Google the plot summary to be astounded and then just let me tell you that it is all done skillfully and with respect for the subjects.
• Sleeper = Recommended. Especially outside in the neighborhood with friends and frozen yogurt and fresh fruit.
• I Am Love = Fine.

I went all in for the “Silver Film Buff” pass this year, which guarantees at least 10 films in 7 days. The second night of the festival may even wind up as a film / rock-and-roll double header since I’d also purchased tickets for The New Pornographers that night. Exciting!

As a public service to those who like sitting in dark rooms with me, I’ve pasted (after the jump) the films I’m almost certainly attending. Grab tickets now! Afterwords we’ll hit Silver Spring’s other famous dark room: The Quarry House.

Monday, June 21st

• 7:30 PM – FREAKONOMICS
  Alex Gibney, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki, Heidi Ewing, Seth Gordon, Morgan Spurlock
  2010 | Special – Opening | 85 min.

Tuesday, June 22nd

• 7:00 PM – THE KIDS GROW UP
  Doug Block 2009 | Sterling US Comp | 91 min.

Wednesday, June 23rd

• 7:30 PM – WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”
  Davis Guggenheim 2010 | Special – Centerpiece | 102 min.

Thursday, June 24th

• 6:30 PM – MY PERESTROIKA
  Robin Hessman 2010 | Sterling US Comp | 88 min.

Friday, June 25th

• 6:15 PM – ON COAL RIVER
  Francine Cavanaugh, Adams Wood 2010 | Sterling US Comp | 80 min.

Saturday, June 26th

• 11:30 AM – THE LIVING ROOM OF THE NATION [ 11:30 am seems unlikely, but maybe - E ]
  Jukka Kärkkäinen 2009 | Silver Spectrum | 74 min.
• 1:15 PM – CAMERA, CAMERA
  Malcolm Murray 2009 | Sterling US Comp | 60 min.
• 2:30 PM – UTOPIA IN FOUR MOVEMENTS
  Sam Green, Dave Cerf 2010 | Special | 65 min.
• 7:30 PM – THE TILLMAN STORY
  Amir Bar-Lev 2010 | Special – Closing | 94 min.

Sunday, June 27th

• 11:30 AM – FAMILIA [ Again, not sure how realistic 11:30 is, but maybe - E ]
  Alberto Herskovits, Mikael Wiström 2010 | Sterling World Comp | 82 min.
• 4:00 PM – A FILM UNFINISHED
  Yael Hersonski 2009 | Sterling World Comp | 87 min.
• 9:30 PM – MARWENCOL
  Jeff Malmberg 2010 | Silver Spectrum | 83 min.

I finally had a chance to see noon:30 play last night. I know two members of the band and have been trying to make it out to one of their infrequent shows for almost as long as I’ve lived in DC. They play with a ton of intensity and clearly have a lot of fun doing it. noon:30′s sound is punk/experimental with great, sometimes en Français vocals. The show started with some noisy drone guitar work and some improvised percussion involving a wooden plank. A fantastic version of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died” finished off their first set with a couple of friends joining the trio on stage and made a great fit alongside the rest of their music. I’m not going to do their sound justice describing it here, so maybe you should check out the clips on their MySpace page, friend noon:30 on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Last Saturday I was invited to an all-day birthday party in the form of a bus tour of Virginia wine country. Even though I’ve seen Sideways, I pictured something unnecessarily snooty and dignified. I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be the exact opposite. Our tour only went to two wineries (possibly because sensible vineyards try to cultivate an image that doesn’t include rehabbed orange school buses decorated with vinyl silhouettes of people dancing in bell-bottoms). Two proved to be exactly the right number for a reasonably paced introduction.

First up was the beautiful hillside Bluemont Vineyard. While there, I learned about a variety of grape called Norton that has been grown locally since the time of Thomas Jefferson. I found it to be well rounded and Bluemont’s best offering. Next up was nearby Veramar Vineyard. Their Cabernet Franc was my top pick for it’s pleasantly spicy flavors.

Loudoun County has a number of other vineyards. All are close enough to make a great day trip for any locovore/foodie in DC—so long as someone else is driving.

Yesterday was a tough call in Minnesota’s newsrooms. The Pioneer Press gave 2/3 of a page to the amazing news that I’ll still be cheering for Joe Mauer when I’m 44. The Strib instead gave 2/3 of their front page to the news that the United States is no longer a barbaric, backward land where health care is granted only to those who can either (a) work for a soulless corporate empire until they forget what it was like to be healthy, or (b) swear under oath that they’ve never, ever been sick before in their entire life.

USA! USA! Win Twins! Win Twins!

P.S. On big news days like today, you really are missing out if you don’t walk down to the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue where you can view all of our nation’s large and medium sized daily periodicals’ front pages and mingle with / eavesdrop on your fellow countrymen.

Jon Malis’ shot of Marines on the mall is one of my favorite in the quite good DCist Exposed 2010 show on view at Long View Gallery through March 21.

Columbia Room = Highly recommended

The newly-opened Columbia Room at The Passenger is an intimate speakeasy-style oasis custom built for a single purpose: impeccable presentation of cocktails. The space seats perhaps 14 in a two-tiered arrangement that puts all the focus on craft cocktail expert Derek Brown behind the bar. The Service by Brown and improbably-named fantastically-named sommelier Kat Bangs is personal and extraordinarily attentive.

Bangs and Brown both have worked at and helped develop some of DC’s best restaurants and in this intimate space their talents shine. Brown’s artistry and attention to detail are on display as he hand-carves ice to melt appropriately in each drink and methodically measures ingredients and tests temperatures.

A reservation at Columbia includes an opening glass of champagne, two cocktails and a light food pairing. I’ll leave deconstructing and geeking out over the particulars to experts like my coworker Matt, but the general outline of the evening is re-assembled after the jump. Highly recommended.

Cocktails: The Columbia Room at The Passenger, March 6

Champagne (A pleasantly crisp variety with hints of pear)

Cocktail 1 we were told was based on a Norse legend:
Calvados (apple brandy), sloe gin, buffalo grass vodka, peychaud bitters
…paired with: Apple and cheddar on bread with pickled fiddleheads

Cocktail 2 was selected by Derek based on our input of likes/dislikes:
Plymouth gin martini with citrus
…served with: (seriously decadent) garlic buttered popcorn

Cocktail 3 was not included in the reservation, but we elected to have another since the experience was too pleasant to bring to a close:
Scotch, orange bitters, chocolate bitters and orange peel between two architecturally stacked blocks of ice

I really like Jennifer Dorsey’s work now on view at Flashpoint gallery. The series documents two DC schools. Some of the photographs are nearly abstract closeups of surfaces like blackboards. Others are empty rooms in which you can imagine all the generations of students that have played basketball or learned geography in them. Can’t seem to find a link with more examples of her work, but will update if I do.

For now, I give you these candy hearts that cropped up around Logan Circle last week. I suspect they are related to these candy corn traffic cones that appeared last October and are credited to Diabetik.

Wheat pasted candy hearts, 14th & P, February 2010.

This weekend there are openings at Flashpoint Gallery, Civilian Art Projects, and a pop-up space in Colombia Heights called Activation. I hope to see you out there.

Mandoo Soup at Java Green

The best thing I ate this week was Mandoo soup at Java Green here in DC. The broth is flavorful, the dumplings are pleasantly plump, and a nice mix of vegetables and rice cakes (with perhaps a touch of sesame) round out the soup. Highly recommended.

P.S. Eat is the second in a series of series I think maybe I can possibly post to this space regularly. Eat will highlight the most delicious things I eat.