AMC Theatres in Gaithersburg and Wheaton to Reopen

AMC Theatres in Montgomery County have been closed for a year. On their website, they’ve announced that theatres in MoCo will be reopening on Friday, March 26th.

They will be reopening with AMC safe & clean policies, but further restrictions remain in effect that do not allow food and drink in MoCo theatres.

We expect other theatres in the county to follow suit, but with the shift many theatres took prior to the pandemic, focusing on offering more food and drink during movies, some may choose to wait until the further restrictions are lifted.

Celebrities with MoCo Ties: Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel) is an Oscar-winning film director, screenwriter, photographer, and actor.

He was at the helm for films such as Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are, and Her. In addition, Jonze also is a co-creator of the well-known Jackass TV and movie franchise. More recently, Jonze directed Aziz Ansari’s recent Netflix comedy special Aziz Ansari: Right Now.

Jonze was raised in Bethesda, MD and went to Walt Whitman High School. He got his start in creative work through his photography work with Rockville BMX, a cult-favorite bike store that was located in between Rockville and Bethesda in the 1980s.

Jonze currently lives in Los Angeles, CA.

By Daniel Garay

Part of the movie “All The President’s Men” was filmed in Chevy Chase.

In 1975, two scenes from the movie “All The President’s Men”, were filmed at 7009 East Avenue in the Town of Chevy Chase.

“All The President’s Men” premiered in 1976 and depicted the duo of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and their uncovering of the connection between the 1972 burglary of the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate Complex in Washington, DC, and a White House Staffer.

Actors Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, and Jane Alexander filmed two scenes for the movie at the home at 7009 East Avenue. Sound trucks and other equipment trucks stretched from East Avenue to Bradley Boulevard for eight days during 1975.

It is even said that between takes, Dustin Hoffman would play touch football with the neighborhood children.

Image Courtesy of Time Magazine

By Tom Merritt

The Blair Witch Project was Filmed in Montgomery County

October is finally here, and it’s the perfect time to watch some scary movies. Did you know that the first installment of the Blair Witch franchise, The Blair Witch Project (1999) was filmed right here in Montgomery County?

In the indie supernatural horror, three film students camp in the fictional Black Hills Forest of Burkittsville, Maryland in October of 1994 to film a documentary on the local legend of the Blair Witch. Mysteriously, the trio vanishes, leaving behind hours of footage to be discovered a year later by University of Maryland anthropology students. What the viewer witnesses is this purportedly real home video style footage.

The movie was filmed on location in only eight days, concluding on Halloween of 1997. Though the story is set in the village of Burkittsville in Frederick County, the majority of the film was shot in the woods of Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg. Some scenes were also filmed in Wheaton.

Behind its MoCo roots is Takoma Park native and Montgomery College graduate Eduardo Sánchez, who co-wrote, directed, and edited the movie with Daniel Myrick. Sánchez credits (https://patch.com/maryland/takomapark/blair-witch-filmed-20-years-ago-maryland) the eeriness and adventure of the Long Branch Creek behind his childhood home as inspiration for the made up Blair Witch legend.

The film is one of the most successful independent movies of all time, drawing in over $250 million worldwide and launching a popular franchise of films, television specials, books, and video games. It is widely credited for reviving the found-footage style of film, later used in hit horrors like Paranormal Activity.

A source of local pride for Gaithersburg residents, “Blair Witch Heritage Hikes” have been held in past years at Seneca Creek State Park to celebrate the history of the film. Now would be a great time to explore the park yourself and observe famous movie landmarks like “Coffin Rock” to get in the spirit of the season.

Featured photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

By Alicia Clanton