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Crystal City BID to Host Outdoor Scary Movie Screenings

Published September 16, 2015 at 6:00PM | Updated September 17, 2015 at 7:19AM

The Crystal City Business Improvement District wants to scare the daylights of people this October by holding a series of nighttime scary movie screenings.

The BID and Charles E. Smith/Vornado will show a scary movie every Monday in October, starting with 1989 horror flick “Pet Semetary” on Oct. 5 at approximately 6:45 p.m.

“With most of the area’s summer film series wrapping up before the fall, we saw an opportunity to expand the fun,” Crystal City BID President Angela Fox said in a statement. “The cooler fall temperatures and earlier sunsets combined with Halloween make for the perfect opportunity for a scary experience.”

Movies will be shown in the courtyard on S. Bell Street between 18th Street S. and 20th Street S. Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes to the screenings and can win a $20 to Schakolad Chocolate Factory (1750 Crystal Drive) by tweeting or Instagramming a photo with the hashtag #CrystalScream — a take on the name of the BID’s “Crystal Screen” summer movie series.

Each movie’s start will vary depending on sunset, between 6:15-6:45 p.m., but should before 8:30 p.m. The schedule is as follows:

Oct. 5, 6:45 p.m. — Pet Sematary
Oct. 12, 6:34 p.m. — Scream
Oct. 19, 6:24 p.m. — Poltergeist
Oct. 26, 6:15 p.m. — The Exorcist

Disclosure: Crystal City BID is an ARLnow.com advertiser.

Arlington Central Library to Hold Outdoor Movie Screenings

By Heather Mongilio

Published July 30, 2015 at 11:45AM

At Arlington Public Library the library isn’t just for reading and summer reading events are not just for kids.

The library is holding two outdoor movie screenings (Aug. 6 and Aug. 13) as part of its Summer Reading 2015 for Adults event. Movies start roughly at 8:45 p.m. on the field next to Arlington Central Library (1515 N. Quincy Street).

Attendees are encourage to “bring a picnic and blanket and watch a movie under the stars.” Both movie showings are free. In the case of bad weather, the event will be canceled.

The first screening is “Empire Records” on Aug. 6. The movie, rated PG-13, is about a group of record store employees attempting to save the store from selling out, which just like the movie is a very Gen X concern.

“A flashback to a time when there were record stores and people paid to work in them,” the library notes on its event page. “It’s a day in the life of a staff of hip, quirky youngsters who are fighting a store buyout from a big greedy record store chain. Those once existed too.”

The second screening is “The Great Gatsby” on Aug. 13. The 2013 movie version of the classic book by F. Scott Fitzgerald stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, a mysterious rich man pining after an old love. The movie is also rated PG-13.

Outdoor Movies Coming to Clarendon, Columbia Pike

By Mariah Joyce

Published June 15, 2015 at 5:00PM

Arlington residents willing to brave the summer heat have a few more options for outdoor entertainment starting this month.

Outdoor movie festivals at Market Common Clarendon and Penrose Square on Columbia Pike have both announced their weekly lineups.

“Dinner and a Movie on the Loop” will take place on four consecutive Thursday evenings at Market Common Clarendon (2700 Clarendon Blvd), starting this week. The event was started last year as Now Playing at the Loop.

Market Common has added dinner to the mix this year, with a different local restaurant is providing a fixed-price meal before each movie, beginning at 7:45 p.m. In addition, guests can round out their family-friendly cinematic experience with free candy, popcorn and water.

All movies start at 8:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The schedule is as follows:

June 18 — How To Train Your Dragon 2
June 25 — Grown Ups
July 2 — The Sandlot
July 9 — The Wizard of Oz

Summer Movies @Penrose Square, a free outdoor movie series at Penrose Square (2597 Columbia Pike), started last Saturday (June 13).

The event, sponsored by the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, will continue into September. The schedule is as follows:

June 20 — The Hundred Foot Journey (8:45 p.m.)
June 27 — Now You See Me (8:45 p.m.)
July 11 — The Imitation Game (8:45 p.m.)
July 18 — Enough Said (8:45 p.m.)
July 25 — The Grand Budapest Hotel (8:30 p.m.)
Aug 1 — Life of Pi (8:30 p.m.)
Aug 8 — Chef (8:15 p.m.)
Aug 15 — Birdman (8:15 p.m.)
Aug 22 — The Second Best Marigold Hotel (8:15 p.m.)
Aug 29 — How to Train Your Dragon (8:00 p.m.)
Sept 5 — Big Hero 6 (7:45 p.m.)
Sept 12 — X-men: Days of Future Past (7:30 p.m.)
Sept 19 — Interstellar (7:15 p.m.)

Guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets to both festivals.

CPRO is also sponsoring another movie festival on the Pike this summer. Starting on August 16, CPRO will screen a movie every Sunday until September 20 at the Arlington Mill Community Center.

The movies at Arlington Mill will start at dusk. A schedule is expected to be announced mid-July.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 8, 2015 at 9:45AM | Updated June 8, 2015 at 10:08AM

FIFA Movie Shown in Arlington — Arlington is home to one of ten theaters nationwide that showed a biopic about Sepp Blatter, the embattled president of FIFA who last week announced that he would be stepping down from the international soccer organization. The AMC Loews Shirlington 7 grossed $161 from “United Passions” as of Friday. Nationwide the film, which cost FIFA at least $25 million to produce, grossed only $607. [Washington Post]

Crystal City Hosts Car ‘Micro-Factory’ — Crystal City is currently home to the Local Motors Mobifactory, a car factory in a shipping container. The “micro-factory” uses 3D printing technology to produce prototype vehicles. The micro-factory plans to remain at 1900 Crystal Drive for the rest of the summer. A grand opening is planned for Thursday. [Tech.co]

GGW on Tomorrow’s Primary — Greater Greater Washington weighs in on which Democratic Arlington County Board candidates would be best for smart growth, transit, walking and bicycling. The Democratic primary will be held tomorrow. [Greater Greater Washington]

CivFed Backs Affordable Housing Plan — The Arlington County Civic Federation has voted 47-29 to support Arlington County’s draft Affordable Housing Master Plan. The plan sets goals for affordable housing in the county and is several years in the making. The County Board is scheduled to vote Saturday on setting a public hearing for the plan. [InsideNova]

A Note on InsideNova Links — Normally, ARLnow.com warns readers of auto-play videos in articles that we link to in the Morning Notes. We have observed that InsideNova often hosts autoplay videos, with sound on, within its ad units. Because this doesn’t happen every time we visit, however, we will not include an auto-play video warning for these links. ARLnow.com believes that advertising should be local and relevant and should not purposefully interrupt or annoy readers. We hope that users who might use AdBlock Plus to block annoying ads from other publishers would whitelist our site so that we can continue to bring you interruption-free local news content and relevant messages from local advertisers.

‘Espionage’ Theme for Crystal City Summer Movie Fest

By Heather Mongilio

Published May 27, 2015 at 3:30PM

The Crystal City Business Improvement District has revealed the lineup for its annual outdoor summer movie festival. The theme this year: espionage.

The movies begin on June 1 at sunset with “Mission: Impossible.” Other spy-themed movies include “RED,” “Argo” and the “Bourne Identity” series.

The movies are shown weekly on Monday at sunset — around 8:30 p.m. — and are held rain or shine, except in the event of dangerous weather.

Families are encouraged to bring a blanket to the free event. The outdoor “theater” is located in the courtyard of an office building at 1851 S. Bell Street.

The lineup is:

June 1 — Mission: Impossible
June 8 — Mission: Impossible II
June 15 — Mission: Impossible III
June 22 — Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol
June 29 — Charlie Wilson’s War
July 6 — RED
July 13 — Argo
July 20 — Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
July 27 — Body of Lies
Aug. 3 — Enemy of the State
Aug. 10 — The Bourne Identity
Aug. 17 — The Bourne Supremacy
Aug. 24 — The Bourne Ultimatum
Aug. 31 — The Bourne Legacy

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 11, 2015 at 10:15AM

Shirlington Movie Theater to Renovate — The AMC Lowes Shirlington 7 movie theater will be undergoing a “complete renovation” this year, starting as soon as July. The theater will be getting reclining leather seats, like the AMC theater in Courthouse, plus a new concession area with beer and wine and new bathrooms. [Washington Business Journal]

Downed Trees, Wires in Arlington — On Sunday morning a tree fell on Old Dominion Drive, bringing wires down with it, causing power outages and and closing the road for hours. On Sunday night, an accident on Wilson Blvd caused downed wires and the closure of Wilson from N. Illinois to N. Jefferson Street. [WTOP]

Candidates: Lack of Diversity at Top County Ranks — Candidates for Arlington County Board spoke about the lack of diversity among top county staff last week, at a forum sponsored by the African-American Leadership Council of Arlington. The County Board has little direct involvement in the hiring of county staff, save the Board’s hiring of and direction to the County Manager. [InsideNova]

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

Rosslyn Summer Movie Theme: ‘LOL Fridays’

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 1, 2015 at 3:00PM | Updated April 1, 2015 at 5:39PM

(Updated at 5:40 p.m.) The Rosslyn Business Improvement District has announced the lineup for its weekly outdoor movie, returning this summer: quotable comedies.

Last year’s theme was “Office Space,” a chance for the thousands of workers in Rosslyn to laugh at movies’ depictions of their daily lives. This year, the comedies will be more farcical than ever, with modern classics “Wedding Crashers,” “The Big Lebowski” and “Zoolander” all lined up.

Each movie will start at dusk — generally between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. at Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway) — and is free to attend. Viewers are encouraged to bring picnics, or enjoy dinner and drinks beforehand; the Continental Pool Lounge‘s happy hour nearby ends at 8:00 p.m.

The weekly showings begin on Friday, June 5. The lineup is as follow:

June 5: Wedding Crashers
June 12: Mean Girls
June 19: Happy Gilmore
June 26: Tommy Boy
July 3: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
July 10: When Harry Met Sally
July 17: Anchorman
July 24: Clueless
July 31: The Big Lebowski
Aug. 7: Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery
Aug. 14: The Hangover
Aug. 21: Despicable Me
Aug. 28: Zoolander

Disclosure: Rosslyn BID is an ARLnow.com advertiser.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 10, 2015 at 9:30AM

Pasha Cafe Changes Name — Pasha Cafe, at 3911 Lee Highway, has changed its name to Bistro 29. Owner Bill Hamrock tells ARLnow.com that “75% of the menu is the same,” but there have been some changes. “Some of our new items include: Fried Green Tomatoes, Shrimp ‘Tempura,’ Shrimp and Crab Potstickers, Bacon Wrapped Scallops, Balsamic Glazed Chicken and a Grilled Chicken Salad with Fried Brie and Mango Buttermilk Vinaigrette.” [Bistro 29]

Cigar Connection Closes — The Cigar Connection store across from the Ballston Metro station has closed after 12 years in business. [Facebook]

Garden Tool Lending Starts Wednesday — Arlington Public Library will restart its garden tool lending program for the season tomorrow, March 11. The program allows Arlington County residents with a library card to borrow gardening tools from Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street). The library says it’s the only such program in the D.C. region. [Arlington Public Library]

Celebrity Spotting in Ballston — Dancing With the Stars champion Julianne Hough and her boyfriend, Washington Capitals center Brooks Laich, were spotted grabbing a bite to eat at A-Town Bar and Grill in Ballston over the weekend. We’re told the couple arrived after the Caps beat the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night.

Arlington Startup Gets Acquired — Veenome, an Arlington-based tech startup, has been acquired by New York-based Integral Ad Science. Veenome’s software analyzes video content on web sites on behalf of advertisers. [Washington Business Journal]

Police Pose for Breakfast Club Scene — Five Arlington County school resource officers recreated an iconic scene from the movie The Breakfast Club, as part of a recruiting campaign for the police department. [Twitter]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

Drafthouse Offering ‘Princess Bride,’ Wine Tasting for Valentine’s Day

By Ethan Rothstein

Published February 12, 2015 at 4:30PM

If going to see “50 Shades of Grey” seems like an inconceivable way to spend Valentine’s Day, the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse has a throwback movie alternative.

The theater, at 2903 Columbia Pike, is hosting three showings of the 1980s classic film, “The Princess Bride,” at 4:00, 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Before the 7:00 p.m. show — currently listed as sold out on the Drafthouse’s website — there will be an optional wine tasting and standup comedy performance.

There will also be standup comedy performed before the final showing of the day, at 10:20 p.m.

Tickets for the two remaining shows are $10 each. Considering the 7:00 p.m. show sold out, you might have to fight to the pain to get tickets for the other two showings on Saturday.

Image via Arlington Drafthouse

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 5, 2014 at 11:20AM

New Incubator to Launch in Crystal City — Eastern Foundry, a new incubator serving small businesses that contract with the federal government, is launching next month in Crystal City. Eastern Foundry joins two other recent startup-oriented additions to Crystal City: TechShop and the Crystal Tech Fund. [Washington Business Journal]

Rosslyn Planning Meeting — The county will share “preliminary Concept Plan Alternatives” as part of its Western Rosslyn Area Planning Study at a public workshop on Saturday. The study is, among other things, considering redevelopment possibilities for the Wilson School and Fire Station No. 10 property on Wilson Blvd. [Arlington County]

Glen Campbell Movie Screening in Ballston — A special screening of the Glen Campbell documentary I’ll Be Me will be held at the Regal Cinema in Ballston (671 N. Glebe Road) on Saturday. The documentary explores the music legend’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. [Volunteers of America]

Tips for Car-Free Living in Arlington — Arlington’s transportation blog has seven tips for living car-free in Arlington. Tips include shopping at local stores, downloading the right transportation-related smartphone apps and borrowing a car when you need one. [Arlington County]

Photo courtesy Andrew Clegg

Crystal City to Show James Bond Movies Next Summer

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 5, 2014 at 10:15AM

Outdoor movies in Crystal City in 2015 will be shaken, not stirred.

Crystal Screen, the Crystal City Business Improvement District’s annual outdoor movie festival, will be showing 14 James Bond movies under the theme Bond is Back. One movie will run every Monday next summer from June through August.

“Crystal City broke the outdoor movie festival mold by launching the very first Bond-themed series back in 2008 and we are excited for the triumphant return of everyone’s favorite super-spy,” Crystal City BID President and CEO Angela Fox said in a press release. “There are so many great Bond films that we wanted to give the fans a chance to see their favorite ones all summer.”

Anyone can vote online for their favorite Bond flicks to be shown, from the catalog of 23. They range from “Dr. No” in 1962 to “Skyfall” in 2012 — yes, even the two Timothy Dalton films. The 14 films that win the online vote will be announced on August 25 at the final movie of this summer’s “In Flight” program, “Snakes on Plane.”

File photo. Disclosure: Crystal City BID is an ARLnow.com advertiser