The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson, a Administrative Assistant at the Packard Campus.
AT THE PACKARD CAMPUS THEATER, CULPEPER, VA:
Thursday, August 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Raise the Red Lantern (Orion Classics, 1991)
This spectacularly photographed, sumptuously colored drama set in Northern China in the 1920s tells the story of 19-year-old Songlian (Gong Li) who marries the much older Chen Zuoqian, becoming the latest concubine in Chen’s harem and finding herself at the bottom of a repressive hierarchy. Though the film was politically controversial in China upon its release, it received many international awards as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. The remarkable success and critical acclaim of “Raise the Red Lantern” assured director Zhang Yimou’s status as a leading figure in world cinema and made Gong Li China’s leading star. The film is in Chinese with English subtitles. 125 minutes.
AT THE PACKARD CAMPUS THEATER, CULPEPER, VA:
Friday, August 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Married to the Mob (Orion, 1988 – R-rated *)
Undercover FBI agent Mike Downey (Matthew Modine) falls in love with recently widowed mafia wife, tough-as-nails Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is trying to start a new life after her husband’s murder. Meanwhile, Angela is being pursued by a slippery mob boss (Dean Stockweel, in an Oscar-nominated performance) who wants to claim her for himself. This crime-comedy-romance directed by Jonathan Demme (“Silence of the Lambs”), also features Mercedes Ruehl and Joan Cusack in the cast. Janet Maslin in The New York Times wrote that “Married to the Mob works best as a wildly over decorated screwball farce… it also plays as a gentle romance, and as the story of a woman trying to re-invent her life.” 104 minutes. *No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COOLIDGE AUDITORIUM, WASHINGTON, DC:
Saturday, August 13 (2:00 p.m.) 
An Afternoon of Old-Time Radio with the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club
Club members will re-create three broadcasts complete with sound effects and live music from the Golden Age of Radio: a 1940 episode of the soap opera, John’s Other Wife, a 1936 episode of the children’s series Little Orphan Annie (two examples of daily, 15 minute radio serials), and a 1949 episode of the private-eye series Pat Novak for Hire, a self-contained thirty minute evening program. Founded in 1984, the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club honors, collects and preserves information on vintage radio, meeting each month in Northern Virginia. Members have hosted OTR panel discussions and made presentations at the Smithsonian Institute, NOVA College, The National Air and Space Museum, The Newseum, and for numerous senior citizens’ groups and retirement homes. Last August and in April, the club performed before a capacity crowd at the Packard Campus Theater in Culpeper, VA, so come early for the best seats!
AT THE PACKARD CAMPUS THEATER, CULPEPER, VA:
Saturday, August 13 (7:30 p.m.)
King of the Hill (Gramercy, 1993)
Steven Soderbergh wrote and directed this atmospheric and critically celebrated Depression-era drama in which 12-year-old Aaron (Jesse Bradford) suddenly finds himself alone at a run-down hotel after his father leaves the family and his mother is committed to a sanatorium. Aaron soon finds that his gift of gab and creative ability to lie makes it possible to support himself and even attend a prestigious local school. The supporting cast includes Jeroen Krabbé, Karen Allen, Spalding Gray, Elizabeth McGovern, Katherine Heigl, and Adrien Brody. Film critic Leonard Maltin called it, “One of the most vivid depictions of the Depression ever captured on film. Exceptional in every way.” The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. 103 minutes.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.