"The Movies Go to Washington"

On Friday, the Washington Post Weekend section had an article about movies about our Nation's Capital. The article discussed briefly the National Treasure movies, including the upcoming sequel, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." You can see the trailer here - and there will be an outing when the movie opens in late December. If you want a seat, you let me know. I arranged an outing for about 100 people for the first film, so I am certainly looking forward to doing it a second time.

This blog and others have been discussing movies a lot lately, although the focus has been on comedies. The article had a list of the "The DC Dozen: 12 Films to Catch." Here's the list and my take on them.

• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - I love this movie. But I am a sucker for Capra movies and Jimmy Stewart. The movie premiered at DAR Constitution Hall, with many members of Congress and the press in attendance. Some walked out in the middle of the movie. Interestingly enough, some Members of Congress took offense at the depiction of corrupt.
  

• All the President's Men (1976) - The movie that told the story of taking down a President is just really good, gritty drama. I love how Dustin Hoffman smokes throughout the movie, including walking into someone's house and helping himself to cigarettes on the coffee table, like they're mints.


• The American President (1995) - Precursor to "The West Wing," Aaron Sorkin puts Michael Douglas in the Oval Office and Annette Bening in his bed. Nothing wrong with that at all. Except it bugs Mrs. Brave Astronaut to no end when Annette Bening "gets stuck on DuPont Circle" coming from Capitol Hill to the White House. If you live here, it probably bugs you, too.


• The Exorcist (1973) - Never a fan of this movie, but I used to drive past the steps on my way home from work. I could see where that would hurt.


• Born Yesterday (1950) - Never saw this one.


• Advise & Consent (1962) - It's a great book (by Allen Drury) and a really good movie.


• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - Do you think if this were to happen today . . . and we were given a choice of "world peace or obliteration," what do you think a certain someone would choose?


• Dr. Strangelove (1964) - "There's no fighting in the War Room!" - it's a great quote, but not really a Washington movie (not filmed here).


• Broadcast News (1987) - Taking place in the Washington bureau of a major network - it's not really like that - is it?


• No Way Out (1987) - Before I moved to Washington, I had no problem with a Metro stop in Georgetown - hey, it made sense, why wouldn't there be? And hey, I might have a little thing for Sean Young.


• Being There (1979) - Hey, Peter Sellers gets two movies on the list? What's up with that?


• Slam (1998) - A very hard look at the African-American experience in Washington, DC - it also features Marion Barry as a judge, now there's a twist.

Missing from the list is one of my favorites (and a really great comedy!), Dave. Filmed in Washington and around the region, it's a great movie! There's also the Clint Eastwood movie "In the Line of Fire," where Eastwood's character plays the piano in the bar of the Old Ebbitt Grill. Then there is Wedding Crashers (again, funny) and another good drama, Enemy of the State.

Thoughts? Comments?