Send Us Your Questions for the Next Presidential Debate

If you have a question you would like to ask President Barack Obama or Gov. Mitt Romney, submit it in the comments section below. It could be asked during the televised Oct. 16 Town Hall Presidential Debate.

by Patch Staff If Wednesday’s presidential debate left you with more questions than answers, here’s your chance for the presidential candidates to address the issues that most matter to you. The next presidential debate will be a town hall meeting format at Hofstra University in Long Island on Tuesday, Oct. 16, where voters will ask President Obama and Mitt Romney about domestic and foreign policy. Patch is asking you, our readers, to participate by submitting questions for the candidates. All you have to do is post your question in the comments section below and we’ll send it to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The Commission is partnering with Patch and AOL, along with Google and Yahoo, to solicit questions from the American …

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'Frankenweenie:' An Instant Stop Motion Classic

Panoramic vistas take your breath away.

PARIS — This week, Cinema Siren is writing from France, land of unpasteurized cheese, Jerry Lewis obsession, well-behaved dogs in restaurants and a great appreciation of auteur film directors. I'm here for the opening of a Star Wars toy exhibit at the Louvre that involves some film art friends of mine.   Nowhere would there be a better place to speak of the gorgeous piece of animated film-making that is Frankenweenie than where there is in fact no literal translation for "director's cut," because it wouldnt occur to the French that there would be any other version of a film. Tim Burton is really the very definition of auteur, in that he has a very clear vision for his film-making, a recognizable stylistic stamp that fans embrace and revere…

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Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

Movie Review: 'Finding Nemo 3D' — Fresh Fish

'Finding Nemo 3D' makes a classic new again and Pixar's short 'Partysaurus Rex' brings on the party.

If Cinema Siren had a dime for every time a perfectly down-to-earth average adult said Finding Nemo is one of their favorite movies, I might have a yacht as big as Steven Spielberg's. The Siren knows animation. Alter ego Leslie Combemale owns a gallery that has specialized in animation and film art for 19 years. When I say "I know Nemo," I mean I've seen it at least 20 times, and have met and spoken to Pixar animators and directors many times. I remember the way they spoke of Finding Nemo in hushed tones in 2003, just before it was released. The artists knew they had something spectacular. It is one of the only times I can ever remember when positive expectation and pride was universal. Many fans and critics believe this wonderful film to …

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Georgetown Patch Celebrates Two Years, Thank You

Georgetown Patch launched Sept. 9, 2010

Georgetown Patch first went live Sept. 9, 2010 and we've been doing our best to serve you every day by providing the news and information Georgetowners need to make life "ridiculously easy." Georgetown is and has been the only D.C. proper Patch site, though there are over 800 sites nationwide. Georgetown Patch editor Shaun Courtney decided to use the opportunity of her site's second anniversary to ask a few neighbors what they think about the site and whether they think there should be more Patches to keep Georgetown Patch company. Here's what they had to say: Ed Solomon, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Burleith, Burleith Civic Association board member, Executive Board member of the Georgetown Business Improvement District and a …

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Judith Bunnell

8:16 am on Monday, September 10, 2012

Congrats Shaun!   more ›

Fall TV Preview

Cinema Siren gives you the scoop on new and old TV. Watching a few new shows is a great way to take a break from politics!

As September wears on, we in this area get so weary of politics. It's as if during the elections, the rest of the country gets a small idea of what we experience all the time. It is all only amplified here.  We need the occasional (if not permanent) break from all the attack ads, closed-off streets and fights over Virginia, Maryland and D.C. voters. What better way then to settle in front of the TV for shows from the new fall schedule? But Cinema Siren, you ask, is there anything new and exciting to consider?  Well, I have your answer. Below is a list of when all your old favorites are having their fall premiere, as well as descriptions and links to previews of all the new shows on the horizon. Which ones look good to you?  Which ones will…

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Movie Review: 'Lawless' — Bloody Good Acting

Film has its roots in Virginia.

Coming to the big screen this week is the story of three brothers who made and ran moonshine in Franklin County, Va., based on a book by local novelist Matt Bondurant with a screenplay written by Nick Cave. This indie release, directed by Aussie John Hillcoat, brings together a stellar cast in what ultimately is a beautifully filmed ultra-violent action drama but a missed opportunity to go deeper.  What we get is a temporarily diverting two hours, but a film that doesn't really stay with you or scream "classic'" after the credits roll. One thing does stay with you long after the twitch-inducing violence recedes from your memory:  the acting. Tom Hardy as the laconic and mythically indestructible head of the family is compulsively magnetic …

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Movie Review: ‘ParaNorman’

Delightfully Not for the Norms

This movie is not for the normal, usual, run-of-the mill cartoon movie fan. No. If your kids who are less fans of Mickey Mouse and more fans of Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, or your tweens prefer Dr. Who to the Whos in Whoville, or if your family decorates more for Halloween than for Christmas, this is your kind of movie.  If this sounds like you, you will be able to relate to and feel sympathy for the hero of ParaNorman. He is not like everyone else. He has trouble fitting in. So many of us horror movie lovers, and fans of zombie, vampire and slasher movies, can relate. Until lately, those kinds of interests just weren't cool.   But Norman has another thing against him. He sees dead people.  Toward the beginning of the story, this…

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Last Chance: Voting for Readers' Choice End Tonight

Vote for your favorite businesses and places by 11:59 p.m. tonight.

Urban Parenting

I'm Pregnant...Can I have a Seat?

Having a baby is a great joy, but being pregnant isn't always fun!

I'm happy to make the announcement, in the urban parenting blogosphere, that I'm pregnant with my second child! Not only am I pregnant, but I'm having a baby boy! I'm due between Christmas and New Years which means that by the beginning of 2013, I'll have my perfect little pair...son and daughter. It's funny how your view of pregnancy changes once you actually become pregnant. Quite honestly, I didn't even think about being pregnant until I hit 35. I had this vision in my head that I would see the little "+" sign on the pregnancy stick and squeal for joy the way Liesl did in The Sound of Music when she receives her first kiss from Friedrich. It wasn't quite that romantic and exciting. While I was very happy, I was also a bit scared of the …

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Movie Review: Hope Springs

Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones elevate what should be called ‘Mope Springs’: Marriage Melancholia

In a world where teenagers are the stars and films are green-lit based on the number of explosions, it behooves us adults to put our cinematic money where our mouths are and support films with actors who stand for the older members of the audience, especially when these actors represent the very height of thespian prowess. Hope Springs is about a couple, played by Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, who have been married for 31 years. They venture (at the behest of Streep's character) to Maine to attend a  week of intensive marriage counseling to try to bring back the intimacy missing in their relationship.   Make no mistake. This is a movie that has the single worst marketing campaign of the year to date. Hope Springs is less Woody Allen …

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