Did You Know: Sharon Bulova is a Doodler!

You may think twice about telling your kid to stop doodling.

If you've ever wondered what Sharon Bulova, Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, is scribbling under the microphone during those incredibly long public hearings, it turns out she's a lifelong doodler. In addition to her duties as a public official for 25 years, Bulova has run more than a few pens dry by making cartoon likenesses of her colleagues. The drawings tell a sort of truth — from a certain point of view. Once you see them, you'll never mistake the mustache of U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly (D-11) for another, or the familiar dome of Mount Vernon Supervisor Gerry Hyland.   "Since becoming Chairman, I don't draw and doodle as much as I used to," Bulova told Patch from her office in the Fairfax County Government Center. "I used …

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Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

'Battleship:' A Waterlogged Absurdity You Can Cheer For

PG-13 'Battleship' feels like a two-hour Navy recruitment video.

I'm surprised blue and gold aren't the colors used on the movie poster for "Battleship," along with Go Navy! and Beat Aliens! If you leave your brain at the front door of the multiplex on a day you feel like rooting for the home team, you could do worse than vacillating between cheering and snickering for those two hours of this completely ridiculous, raucous mash-up of "Independence Day," "Pearl Harbor," and "Transformers."  Director Peter Berg, of "Friday Night Lights," "The Kingdom," and "Hancock," knows his way around the camera. So we can try to accept the fact that for some reason he feels the need to release his inner Michael Bay. What results is not exactly a good movie, but one that unapologetically embraces its cliches, even on …

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Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

'Dark Shadows': A Mere Shadow of What It Could Be

PG-13 Johnny Depp film opens in theaters this weekend.

Tim Burton, as the stylized director of such glorious oddities as "Edward Scissorhands," "Beetlejuice," and "Ed Wood," is the pied piper to the inner goth in all of us. So it is with a heavy heart Cinema Siren has to report "Dark Shadows," while it might have moments of loopy greatness and top-notch production and costume design, it is on the whole the most tragic of cinematic sins: A bore.   The greatness is in some particularly exciting and fast-paced scenes, that are strangely intermittent in its 116 minutes, and so at odds with the soap opera ploddings of the rest of the film. The first minutes of "Dark Shadows" show great promise. Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp, in his eighth partnership with director Burton) is the rakish son of a …

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Marvel's 'The Avengers' Brings Their 'A' Game

New PG-13 film opens this weekend in theaters.

The first big entry in the blockbuster sweepstakes season is setting a very high bar indeed. For lovers of comic book heroes, watching this Marvel team of a lifetime suit up, bicker, beat each other up and save the world is akin to geek nirvana. It is the very definition of bigger, better, more! It is an explosion of egos, to be sure. They're like the dysfunctional family of superheroes, with one black sheep causing most of the trouble. Thor and Iron Man. Cap and Iron Man. Thor, Cap and Iron Man. How do they have the time and energy to fight anyone else when they keep beating each other to a pulp? It's as fun to see if they'll get along long enough to formulate a plan or find a way to work together as it is to watch the many and …

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Tech Trends

Apps for Drawing

Find your creative spark.

Blue and yellow and red. That’s where it all begins. There’s something about the trees, flowers and grass greening up for the season that calls to me to pick up a crayon, pencil or marker and attempt to create their likeness. Technology has moved forward from the box of eight Crayola crayons that delighted us in pre–school to offering apps for our SmartPhones and Tablets.  Three that span the basics to a social network are: Crayons 4 Kids, Drawing Pad and Draw Something. Crayons 4 Kids (copyright by stuartjmoore 2012) This app for Apple devices is simplicity itself. It’s just right for the basics. Seven colors are available. You can draw, erase, and clear the screen. If your masterpiece is too appealing to erase, you can save it to your …

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Gallery: Actor Josh Adams Visits South County Secondary School

Professional actor met with performing arts students.

South County Secondary School students interested in drama met professional working actor Josh Adams this week. Adams, who works at The Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C., met with performing arts students to talk about his craft. He spoke with about 25 students on Monday about changing his appearance for roles and giving his all when playing a role.  His appearance at the school was also featured on NBC-TV, Channel 4. Adams can be seen in "The Big Meal," written by Dan LeFranc and directed by Johanna Gruenhut; the production opened this week at Studio Theatre's Milton Theatre. The play "shows five generations of a family in all their embarrassment and heartbreak," according to a news release from the theater.

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Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

2012 Summer Movie Preview

Ready for some blockbusters?

Every year about this time, it's the calm before the theatrical storm. Things are winding up in Hollywood, as the studios prepare for their marketing onslaught. Should we, the movie-viewing public, be getting excited? What can we expect this summer? What spectacles are headed our way? You can take stock of all the blockbusters they have pinned their hopes and bank accounts on below. So many movies and A-list actors…you might spend half your summertime in the dark! What are you looking forward to?  Written and directed by cult sensation Joss Whedon, "The Avengers" is already being hailed as an awesome slice of superhero sandwich bread. It has a little of what most movie-lovers want: action, suspense, good actors, a hot starlet, all directed…

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South County Students to Present 'West Side Story'

Tickets are on sale now.

South County Secondary School students will be presenting West Side Story, the classic take on Romeo and Juliet set in 1950s New York. "West Side Story is not often produced in area high schools due to the challenging music of the play, but I am grateful that South County is up for the challenge,” said South County Secondary drama teacher and the show’s director, Kathie McCormally. The cast and crew is made up of more then 58 high school students.  “We have 24 young men in the show, which is unique. Not many theatre programs are flush with male actors.” McCormally said. The show includes the talents of Dean Maldonato as Tony, Whitney Turner and Katie Murray as Maria, Kathryn Moore and Claire Gallagher as Anita, Nikko Custodio as Riff, …

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Robinson Presents Spring Musical

The performances start this week.

Robinson Secondary School’s drama department is presenting its spring musical “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” starting this week. The performances will take place on April 27, 28 and May 3, 4, and 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s Russell Theater. So far, attendees have purchased more than 1,000 tickets, according to the Drama department’s website. The musical comedy tells the story of a man who uses the book “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” to rise to the top of a company. Tickets are $12 each and can be purchased online or at the door.

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