Articles by Eric Althoff
Aaron Sorkin has a bit of a history with the nation's capital. The creator of "The West Wing" and writer who adapted his play "A Few Good Men" into an award-winning 1992 film extols Washington, D.C., as a terrific -- though logistically difficult -- place to make a film. "Molly's Game" might at first seem a bit outside his typical gravitation to politics, but it certainly adheres to Mr. Sorkin's obsession with power and how it changes those who wield it.
Published
November 28, 2017
Shares Distilling can now be found on the Illinois banks of the Mississippi. For here, in Galena, the onetime home of Ulysses S. Grant, brothers Matthew and Mike Blaum are distilling gin, vodka, bourbon and something called "Hellfyre" because, well, "a bad ass spirit like this deserved a rogue letter here and there," the Blaums say on their website.
Published
November 27, 2017
Shares Darley Newman realized she would have do it herself. As the host of "Travels With Darley" and "Equitrekking" on PBS, the D.C.-based host and filmmaker acts as her own writer, producer and editor -- delivering a finished product to PBS of her journeys the world over. Even with a support staff, it's still basically a one-woman show.
Published
November 26, 2017
Shares New Orleans will not be ringing in its tricentennial quietly. The city famous for its Mardi Gras parties, hurricane rum drinks and nightly bacchanal has a year of events planned to mark the 300th anniversary of the city's founding in 1718 by French explorers. As important to the Big Easy's history has been the influence of the Catholic Church.
Published
November 23, 2017
Shares Gary Oldman, who portrays Winston Churchill in the new film "Darkest Hour," said that a statue of the late British leader in often encased "in a box" during protests in London's Parliament Square, not far from where the prime minister conferred in his underground bunkers with England's war cabinet during the Second World War. In "Darkest Hour," Mr. Oldman portrays the statesman right as he becomes the prime minister in 1940, just as the Nazi machine is preparing to bomb London.
Published
November 22, 2017
Shares Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe will deliver the opening night address at the Pocahontas Reframed Native American Storytellers Film Festival Friday evening. The festival, part of the legacy project of Virginia's American Evolution 2019 Commemoration, includes films by American Indian filmmakers as well as narratives and documentaries about their contributions to early and ongoing American culture.
Published
November 16, 2017
Shares One day author R.J. Palacio sat outside a New York ice cream parlor with her son when a young girl sat down beside her. However, unlike other girls her age, this one had pronounced facial scars and deformities. Her manuscript, "Wonder," was published in 2012, and followed a fictional boy named Auggie who, due to a difficult birth, bears many of the deformities Ms. Palacio observed on that mysterious New York youngster years earlier. Fearful of venturing out in the open world, Auggie maintains a healthy fantasy life, and ventures outside only under cover of an astronaut's helmet gifted by his father.
Published
November 13, 2017
Shares Dhani Harrison initially hid behind his family name in a band called Thenewno2 given that the son of Beatle George Harrison wanted to be taken seriously on his own musical merits. He also wanted, he said, to get his music heard "without people having some preconceived idea or comparing you."
Published
October 31, 2017
Shares Cypress Hill has never precisely been subtle about their stance on marijuana. In fact, member Sen Dog says the hip-hop group is at least partly responsible for pot becoming more acceptable in the culture than ever before.
Published
October 29, 2017
Shares The Jigsaw killer may be the most undead movie murderer in the history of horror given that even though the character was killed in "Saw III," Jigsaw returned via flashbacks in four subsequent "Saw" entries up until "Saw 3D: The Final Chapter" in 2010.
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October 29, 2017
Shares The District's Pod DC opens its Crimson View rooftop bar is just one of the many accomplishments overseen by Aaron Katz, president and CEO of the Modus Hotels. The new bar, which opened in September, is a fitting pearl in Mr. Katz's crown as he celebrates 10 years with the hospitality group. Mr. Katz holds both a J.D. and MBA from Georgetown and previously was vice president at Choice Hotels.
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October 25, 2017
Shares While Detroit has often been cited as a punchline for urban blight, what I discovered over a weekend in Motor City made me rethink many of my own preconceptions about this often maligned, most misunderstood of American urbanities.
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October 25, 2017
Shares The sounds of the seasons are here for you in the form of new rock, country, dance and various other musical genres as the weather (finally) turns from summer to autumnal.
Published
October 23, 2017
Shares Adam Schumman returned from Iraq a changed man. His story caught the interest of Washington Post reporter David Finkel, who wrote a nonfiction account of Mr. Schumann's and his platoon mates' return home in a book called "Thank You for Your Service." That book is now a major motion picture starring Miles Teller ("Whiplash," "Divergent") and written and directed by Jason Hall, whose previous script for "American Sniper" became the worldwide phenomenon directed by Clint Eastwood.
Published
October 23, 2017
Shares Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and Symposium is hosting a series of 11 documentaries in the nation's capital through Sunday to highlight investigative journalism.
Published
October 19, 2017
Shares Colin Hay describes his songwriting now as "trying to make sense of the senseless," whether it's loss or tragedies large and small. But even amid such heavy subject matter, Mr. Hay still tries to give his audiences a good show, as he aims to do at the District's Lincoln Theatre Saturday evening.
Published
October 18, 2017
Shares Rumors have swirled for years of a "Spaceballs" sequel -- which gained traction this summer when Mr. Brooks told an audience in Newark, New Jersey, that MGM was interested given the success of the new "Star Wars" films. "It's the ticking clock of all time, isn't it?" Bill Pullman, who starred in 1987 film, said.
Published
October 17, 2017
Shares There's little doubt that cries of "sweep the leg!" and "get him a body bag!" will be echoing across the Twittersphere next year when "The Karate Kid" reunion series "Cobra Kai" bows on YouTube Red. But who, if anyone, will be Daniel's love interest in the new series?
Published
October 17, 2017
Shares "I did not want to become an actor; I had no [such] dreams," Tamlyn Tomita told The Washington Times recently. "It really sounds very Pollyanna-ish, but I really did not know anything" about the business," she said, but "I found myself cast in 'The Karate Kid Part II.'"
Published
October 17, 2017
Shares In the West there is no such thing as a short drive. Thankfully, interstates turn excursions that once took days or weeks into hourslong treks, allowing one to take in several states within one day -- even some of the larger states like those here at the edge of the upper Midwest where the Great Plains give way mountainous countryside.
Published
October 16, 2017
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