Entertainment_Culture

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VARIANCE FILMS "Amigo" looks at the plight of fighters on both sides and civilians caught up in the Philippine-American War.

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Play: Imaging Madoff A better name for Deb Margolin's play about Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff would be "To Hell and Back." Originally slated to run last theater season, Margolin hit a roadblock when she sent her script to author and Holocaust survivor Eli Wiesel, who Margolin had made into a character opposite Madoff. Wiesel found the play so offensive that he pressured Theater J to drop the show. They did, and Margolin headed back to her workshop, where she replaced Wiesel with Solomon Galkin, a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor, just like Wiesel, except fictional. The amount of wrangling that went into getting Margolin's play from the page to the stage--not to mention a feature appearance by character actor Mike Nussbaum--will make this one worth it. To Sept. 25 at Theater J, 1529 16th St NW. Phone: 202-518-9400. Web: dcjcc.org.

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Concert: Black Cat's 18th Anniversary The Black Cat arrived in D.C. shortly after President Bill Clinton started his first term, and stuck around long after Slick Willy left the White House. As far as D.C. venues go, you could say it's unimpeachable--and tough. Founded with cash from Dave Grohl, who was then between Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, the club opens its door every night to a different U Street than the one of 1993, when the best parts of the corridor were but low-rent shadows of a jazz-age past. The Black Cat stuck it out though, moving only once, and only down the block. That persistence, as well as a carefully maintained punk aesthetic, has made the Black Cat something of a must-play for every kind of band touring up (or down) the East Coast, from Korn to Radiohead. This Friday, the acts--The Max Levine Ensemble, Garland of Hours, Oh So Peligroso, others--will be smaller. But then, Radiohead was small once upon a time as well. September 2 at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Phone: (202) 667-4527. Web: blackcatdc.com.

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Job-seekers wait to enter a job fair at the Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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For on-board entertainment, a North Korean man sings karaoke and a waitress dances in a room festooned with North Korean flags. (Associated Press)

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"The Ides of March" director, writer and actor George Clooney (second from left) arrives in Venice on Tuesday with co-writer Grant Heslov (left). The political drama, which also stars Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei, opened the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday. (Associated Press)

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In this image released by NBC, former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on the "Today" show to talk about his new book "In My Time," Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/NBC, Peter Kramer)

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Actress Daryl Hannah is arrested by U.S. Park Police in front of the White House on Aug. 30, 2011, during a protest against the Keystone oil pipeline. (Associated Press)

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An "Open House" sign is displayed Aug. 22, 2011, in front of a new home being readied for sale in Little Rock, Ark. (Associated Press)

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Tom Chase waves atop of his friend's beach home in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, in East Haven, Conn., Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

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PROVIDED BY LIONSGATE Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence plays the protagonist, Katniss, in "The Hunger Games." The first preview of the upcoming film, which takes place in a barbaric, dystopian future, debuted during Sunday's Video Music Awards ceremony.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS "Disengagement," a 2007 film starring Juliette Binoche, was filmed in southern Israel. The Middle Eastern country is hoping to cash in on the multibillion-dollar movie industry and wants the real Jerusalem - not Mediterranean stand-ins - on the silver screen, and is offering a variety of incentives to producers.

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A large tree lies across Beacon Street in Boston in the aftermath of hurricane Irene, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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NBC reporter Peter Alexander attempts to broadcast from the windswept Coney Island boardwalk in New York as Hurricane Irene became intensified Sunday, Aug. 28 2011 in Coney Island section of New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

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Sixth Avenue near Radio City Music Hall is empty as Tropical Storm Irene hits in New York, on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

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Neighbor Lisa Gelhaus (right) talks to D.C. resident Kevin Gibbons and his wife, Ashley Domm, on Sunday after a tree damaged the couple's apartment building in Glover Park. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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In this image released by the Sundance Channel, Ben Kaufman, founder and CEO id Quirky, left, and Jake Zien are shown working on Zien's product, an adjustable power strip called Pivot Power, in a scene from the original series, "Quirky." The series premieres Aug. 30, 2011 at 10 p.m. EST on Sundance Channel. (AP Photo/Sundance Channel, Christian Clothier)