No Way Out
Dear Geographers:
The most popular DC movie, at least for this issue, is “No Way
Out,” because of its memorably confused geography. We have several other good
nominations, but we haven't begun to exhaust the subject. Remember Goldie Hawn falling
asleep with her face in her chicken salad in the restaurant on the lower level of
Georgetown Park (“Best Friends,” 1982)? And nobody mentioned “Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington”? And the one review of “All the President's Men”
doesn't mention the gorgeous long zoom shot from the ceiling of the main reading room of
the Library of Congress down to the evidence Dustin Hoffman is discovering on one reading
desk. So keep writing with your favorite Washington movie moments.
Meanwhile, here's the thing that raised my blood pressure most this week:
after explaining that he had neglected to make appointments to the board of the University
of the District of Columbia for months because he was searching for just the right people
to raise the University's standards and national reputation, Tony Williams nominated the
Reverend Willie Wilson. This is the same Reverend Willie Wilson who, just a few years ago,
was calling for the heads of Korean shopkeepers to roll down the streets of Ward Eight. It
is rhetoric like that which caused the Washington Post, in its article on the
nominations to the UDC board, to describe Wilson as “outspoken and influential.”
If Wilson had actually killed a Korean store owner, the Post may have been
outraged enough to describe him as “controversial,” rather than
“outspoken.”
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Favorite Washington Movie
Leslie Ruskin, shanti@thehelm.com
“No Way Out” because it puts a Metro stop right in the middle of
Georgetown. What a great idea! No?
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On the subject of DC in the movies, I'm reminded of the infamous scenes
from “No Way Out,” the car chase on the Whitehurst Freeway, Kevin Costner
somehow getting down to street level and ducking into the very convenient and very
non-existent Georgetown Metro, the allegedly Metro trains that certainly were not Metro,
the picturesque day trip to Annapolis, 30-some miles to the east, which began by heading
west on the GW Parkway (!), and the pay phone at Dulles airport which was labeled
“Pacific Bell.” Of course, far greater cinematic atrocities have been committed
in my other “hometown,” New Orleans, such as the obligatory and omnipresent jazz
funerals, non-existent “Southern” accents or, worse, bad Cajun accents on
allegedly native Orleanians, voodoo choked cemeteries within the French Quarter, and other
cliches too numerous to mention.
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My favorite by far is the Kevin Costner movie, “No Way Out,”
where he hops on the non-existent Metro station at Georgetown Park, goes down the stairs
to the Baltimore Metro, and gets off at the Old Post Office Pavilion. Ah, the magic of the
movies!
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In “No Way Out,” Kevin Costner leads Gene Hackman's henchpersons
on a car chase across the Key Bridge into Georgetown, gets out of his car, runs down the
escalator into the Georgetown Metro station (marked by a proper brown Metro station pylon
that says “Georgetown” on it), and emerges in the Old Post Office Pavilion. Neat
trick — even better than the restaurant in the same movie affording Costner a
physically impossible view of the Washington Monument.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still — 1951
Chris Shaheen, cshahe@co.arlington.va.us
Classic science fiction movie about the emergence of nuclear power and the
demise of the human race. Good street shots of Dupont Circle outside of windows of racing
cab. Also, house on 16th Street used as back drop for film still stands, and footage of
Walter Reed Hospital. Several street scenes are shot outside of a boarding house on
Harvard Street; can't remember address, but tried to find it once and couldn't. So many
other shots and dialogue about the city are accurate, I can't imagine why they would have
made this address up. I think it was close to 14th Street and blitzed in the post-1968
riot era.
Also, a good shot overlooking the city from Morris Road, SE, as
god-fearing city residents try to flee the city before it is annihilated by alien beings.
Other street scenes I could not identify, but if anyone else is obsessed by this film and
knows some more locations, please let me know.
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Klaatu Barada Nikto, from the best science fiction movie ever made,
“The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
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Favorite DC Movie
Gabe Goldberg, gabe@acm.org
“The Day the Earth Stood Still,” early 1950s sci-fi classic.
Flying saucer lands in DC, alien and robot disembark. Alien (Klaatu) has come to warn
Earth to knock off arms race before it becomes interplanetary threat, lest robot (Gort)
and his brethren, designated peace keepers, destroy it. Great cast/acting, great scenes of
lost Washington. It shows periodically on SciFi channel and elsewhere.
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“D.C. Cab.” I was an extra in the crowd as the parade passed the
District Building. “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” when one could live in the
1200 block of Harvard St, NW, without fear for one's life!
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“True Lies” and “DC Cab” are my favorite Washington
movies. These are classic pre-new convention center period pieces with demolished Mt.
Vernon East landmarks. Oh yeah, in “DC Cab,” Irene Cara sings that immortal
disco hit, “The Dream.”
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Random Hearts
Matt Borgia, mrb@duke.edu
It may not have received much critical acclaim, and I've never actually
seen it, but “Random Hearts” holds a particularly interesting memory. One
reason: a few scenes were shot at the Department of Commerce, where I work. In fact, a
rain scene with Harrison Ford was staged in the interior court yard right outside my
office window. I'm not much of a star-gazer, but that was quite an exciting day!
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Washington in the Background
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
One of the best movies for background scenes in Washington and local
environs was “Arlington Road.” There were several shots taken locally. One of
the better sequences was the one showing how to get from Reston to downtown D.C. in about
ten minutes. The best scene, incredibly realistic, was the demolition of the ugliest of
all the downtown buildings, the FBI Headquarters. That scene was so realistic I went
downtown to see if the FBI Building was still there.
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Washington Movie Moment Favorites
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
“Broadcast News” when Holly Hunter gives directions from BWI to
the City and earlier, around (or was it really?) Dupont Circle. Reminded me of me with cab
drivers! “Dave” in Adams Morgan; it really was, no fake scenes as they had when
they came out of the White House “underground”! All the movies that portray our
fair city seem to miss the mark. How sad they can't show more of it.
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I really liked “Dave.” It had great scenes of DC and the story
was nice.
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For Washington, D.C., movie moments, my favorite is from “A Few Good
Men.” In the movie, Tom Cruise stops his car in Adams Morgan to buy a newspaper from
a newsstand. He not only finds a space right away, right outside the newsstand, but there
is so much available parking that he can easily get into a parking space with no need to
parallel park.
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Washington Movie Favorites
T. Jr. Hardman, thardman@earthops.org
Wow. Washington movies ... hard to say. Probably my favorite is
“Enemy of the State.” It has some wonderful shots of places that aren't often
filmed, notably in Adams-Morgan. One of my HS alums, Bob Lau, was an extra in that, as
well as in “Contact,” which has some great shots as well. Plus there's
“Mars Attacks” as well (chortle). I'd seriously love to film a car chase scene
from Adams Morgan at roughly 18th and Columbia, downhill past the Harvard Street Zoo
entrance and up through the alleys around Park Road just east of Rock Creek Park and down
17th Street to Piney Branch Parkway. Now that would be fun.
Also lots of fun would be filming my own Washington novel (gothic SF of
course) which has a lot of great scene/angle potential, especially with respect to lovely
Dupont Circle, the nearby “Church Ruins Park” at 18th and Church Streets, NW,
etc. Also totally overlooked in film are some of the Potomac River vistas, and Georgetown
University. Plus, nobody has ever — so far as I know — filmed the really spooky
stairs under the Key Bridge which are inscribed “all hope abandon who enter here at
the aqueduct.” Also left unfilmed is the bedraggled but potentially spiffy court at
1476 Belmont Street NW, where I was living in 1992 with all of the Russian expatriates, as
the USSR imploded, greatly influencing my gothic SF novel. Also desperately needing to be
filmed is the “R Street Cemetery,” “P Street Beach,” the houses
perched precariously on the palisades of Adams Mill Road as seen from near the Bat House
at the Zoo, and the view of the city laid out before you at night as you head southwards
on 13th NW, and cross Clifton Street to roll down the great hill towards Florida Avenue.
Dang. Someone hire me.
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I love “All the President's Men” for several reasons. One, it
was shot the first summer/fall that I lived in Washington (I think it was 1975), and I now
live in the condo (The Webster House) where Bob Woodward actually lived while he was doing
his investigation of the Watergate break-in, and they filmed the movie there and around
17th & P NW where the Webster House is. The flower pot on the balcony all happened in
my condo building (which was a rental property then; converted to condo in 1979). There's
an article from the Washington Post about all the little known facts about the
Watergate break-in investigation in celebration of the 20th anniversary (http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/travel/visitorsguide/tours/scandal/waterga2.htm
) and I'm quoted.
There are shots of the interior and exterior of the building, but also a
few of 17th Street as it looked before the Richmond was built (there was a gas station, a
liquor store, right near the pay phone Woodward/Redford uses in the movie). So that's my
input. Thanks for the question. I've been lurking for years!
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I've always wanted to have a DC movie film fest. Not for their plots, but
for their take on DC. There are lots. My award for most messed up local montage goes to
Hitchcock's “Topaz.” It opens with a tortured ride through town seen through the
rear window. Its drive-by jams in every landmark in bizarre order. I first saw it, I
think, at the old Town Theater (Woman's Museum of Art now). The audience was in hysterics.
Other memories, Charles Laughton in “Advice and Consent” boarding one of our
dear, doomed street cars. A true case of Washington meeting DC. I also once saw a WWII
cheapie called “Government Girl.” They must have pooled their gas coupons,
because it features a wonderful ten minute plus real ride through downtown. Then there's
the Alan Alda's “Seduction of Joe Tynan.” It opens with a great shot through the
front window of a school bus headed south on North Capitol Street. As it emerges from a
viaduct the Capitol building rises before it. Excellent. Tynan also has a small flaw that
caused a good chuckle. Alda goes home to Long Island. He must be really domesticated,
because on his patio table in the Hamptons is a one quart carton of Giant Milk. Not a DC
connection, but my favorite memory of Tynan is “Senator” Melvin Douglas
lamenting being convicted of old age. Alan Cranston was in the seat in front of us!
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Defender Cher
Kirsten Sherk, Dupont Circle, ksherk@mindspring.com
Oh my, so much to say in response to this one: 1. City movies: ACK! I
can't remember the name of this movie, but it starred Cher as a public defender, Dennis
Quaid as a prosecutor, and Liam Neeson as a deaf homeless man accused of murder. It came
out in the mid-80s, and had more scenes of non-panoramic Washington than any other
Washington movie I've seen. The opening shot follows Cher from on her way to work,
starting at 9th and Pennsylvania SE and going to the DC Superior Court building. The route
wasn't in the right order, but it was the right route, and it really was the court
building. To top it off, my mom is in the very first shot, pedaling to work on her bike.
Very, very cool. [“Suspect,” 1987, directed by Peter Yates -- Gary Imhoff]
2. City papers: I feel like I've spent a good portion of my life defending
the Washington Post, but now that I've lived in other cities, my convictions are
deeper. For my money, there is only one newspaper in the country that is more informative
on a wider variety of topics and that's the New York Times. The Wall Street Journal
really is a business newspaper that does a decent job of insightful reporting on national
and international issues, but with a ridiculously conservative editorial board. My parents
get the Wilmington paper, which is also like the Weekly Reader for adults, so
they must supplement with the Times. I often debate getting both the Post
and the Times for fuller international coverage. But I agree with whomever said
that for local coverage, the Washington Times is really very good. (Although the
newspaper's overall politics give me the willies!)
Other key points about the Post: $0.25. I love that. So few city
papers have managed to keep their newsstand price down. I'm happy to put up with the
ridiculous number of adds in the front section if I can pay $.25 for my newspaper. Also, I
love that the Post has a sense of humor, and a sophisticated one. Not just the
funnies either. It really goes beyond it. The NY Times just takes itself WAY too
seriously. 3. City groceries: yeah, it's great that Trader Joes is on the East Coast, but
if you don't have a car and you live in the city, it might as well never have arrived. I'd
love to have access to Trader Joes, which is smaller but much cheaper than Fresh Fields,
but living in the city without a car, I only have access to the Soviet Safeway on 17th
Street, and my sweet dreams of the ever-promised Fresh Fields on 14th
and P.
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Movies About Washington
Marguerite Arnold, dama@primenet.com
Actually there are quite a few movies featuring Washington in new and
different ways, but don't look for them at the local cineplex, because those all have very
stereotypical “post card” views of the city. For those of you who don't know,
Washington is home to the third largest production community in the country. And a lot of
independent filmmakers. These filmmakers, who focus their lenses on quite a few of DC's
alternative views, bring new and interesting (and more real) visions of the city to the
screen. One of the films that we screened in March of 1999, for example, is a documentary
called Rats, which, besides drawing over 1,000 people to the screening, helped move new
Mayor Anthony Williams to respond to the rat infestation of the city. That film, by the
way, will be playing at the Lincoln Theater in January 2000. For more information, go to http://www.rats-thefilm.com.
And for those of you who want to see more of Washington on film from
unique and different perspectives, check out Studio 650, the largest venue for independent
films produced in this region. We screen monthly at Atlantic Video. We also have the
distinction of being the first digital screening venue in the country (a year ahead of
Sundance). For more information about the venue itself and screening times, dates and
films, go to http://www.studio650.com. The venue is
a professional forum (in that it's primarily targeted to working filmmakers) but it's open
to the public and free — a $5 donation is suggested to help us cover costs. We screen
feature films, documentaries and shorts. We also hold a reception before the films and
Q&A sessions afterwards where audience participation is encouraged. See you there.
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Today, 12-15-99, the Washington Post had an article on page 3 of
the Metro section telling us that the city's union employee bonus checks will be
distributed tomorrow. Pretty quick effort to get those checks out after the nod of
approval was given. On page 3 of the 12-15-99 NW Current there was an article about the
Eaton teachers limiting their hours to protest the city's mismanagement of their
paychecks. Many teachers have not received their checks and others have received checks
for less than the correct amount. We're about four months into the current school year.
This city sure knows where its priorities lie and how to take care of its own, no?
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I hope that folks will not let up on their campaign to get a Trader Joes
on H St NE just because they are moving to Bethesda. For those of us on Capitol Hill, it
is easier to get to the Tyson's Corner or Bailey's Crossroads store than getting
cross-town to Bethesda. And while they currently may say they have no interested in DC,
that could rapidly change. Fresh Fields is rumored to be seriously considering a Capitol
Hill site — and Fresh Fields claims that Trade Joes follows them rather closely.
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Fred Davidson should know that he already HAD a Trader Joe's within
minutes of Bethesda in Rockville for the last couple years. There's a new one coming to
Alexandria too, I understand. My point is that we DC residents should not have to schlepp
all the way out to the wealthiest burbs to shop for decent food at reasonable prices like
TJ's carries. We need one in DC and their best bet would be to move into an area that is
in upwards transition and help with that transition. I suggested 4th and H St., NE,
because there are thousands of office workers just across the bridge and more to come, who
would be potential customers — and there's the growing Capitol Hill community. I want
to suggest that we ask them to play a role in DC's economic development.
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A Potential Lose-Lose Situation for the Mayor
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
There are those who live in the District, thankfully few in percentage
terms, who will not get off the Mayor's case on non-critical issues. The latest jab at the
Mayor is that he has not yet fulfilled a commitment he made, during the Mayoral Campaign,
to be a home owner in the District. Those who are in this minority group who are
continually on the Mayor's case (I call them bushwhackers) are just waiting for the mayor
to buy his house. Should that home be located anywhere other than in Ward 8, we will once
again hear the cry “not black enough” by these detractors in their criticism of
the Mayor.
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Yellow Light Special
Phil Greene, pgreene@doc.gov
If you were having a lunchtime espresso at Brother's Coffee, or a martini
at Cafe Deluxe, on December 15, and witnessed an accident at Wisconsin and Macomb, that
was me, accompanied by "the other guy," an 18 year old Albanian who had the
audacity to tell the cop that the roads in Albania were better than ours. That being said,
I have a question. I would maintain that I was not at fault, since I was heading
northbound through the intersection, and the other driver turned left onto eastbound
Macomb into my path, all of this occurring while the light was yellow. I would think that
I had the right of way, he turned into me. It appears as if his insurance company, GEICO,
might decide that since I entered the intersection after it had turned yellow (I was 20
feet away from the line when it turned yellow, I had no choice but to proceed through, I
cannot stop on a dime), and he allegedly was in the intersection already, that I was at
fault, because DC law says that it is illegal to enter an intersection with a yellow
light. It seems to be an arbitrary enforcement of an arbitrary law, I mean, how could a
person possibly stop if the light turned yellow an instant before he entered the
intersection? It is not physically possible. Nevertheless, I suspect that this will be
GEICO's hide-behind-the-law decision. Question, does anyone know a good traffic lawyer
(I'm a trademark lawyer, not much help here) or have any thoughts on this issue? Thanks.
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End of DCPL Photocopier Vendcards!
Matthew Gilmore, mgilmore@clark.net
As of December 22, 1999 the use of vendcards will be discontinued. All
copies will be made with coins and cash (nickles, dimes, quarters, dollar bills and
fives). I don't believe they are refunding money from vendcards either, so come make those
copies right now! If you have any questions, call me at 727-1213 and I'll try to get you
an answer.
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Why No Metro Stop in Georgetown?
Mark Nadel, dctennis17@aol.com
I've often heard that when the Metro system was being planned, the
Georgetown community did not want a stop (on the Blue/Orange line) there, because it did
not want to be more easily accessible to the poor. Larry Lessig's new book on code as law
in cyberspace refers to another use of architecture to achieve a similar discriminatory
effect. I was wondering whether anyone knows of any reputable confirmation of this
Georgetown Metro “myth” (In his Pulitizer Prize winning biography of NYC's
Robert Moses, Robert Caro charged that Moses intentionally built bridges over new Long
Island parkways so as not to permit standard buses to fit under them.)
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Renew Your Spirit in 2000 at Longview
Connie Ridgway, kaniru@aol.com
We invite you to renew your spirit at Longview. The following are upcoming
workshops for winter/spring, 2000: Women's Winter Retreat, January 8; Singing for Fun and
Healing, February 12; Quiltmaking, February 26; Creative Wellness Morning and Open House
Afternoon, March 11; Anger and Forgiveness, March 25; Gentle and Wild Self-Expression with
Art, April 8 and 22. Most workshops are all day, ranging in cost from $25 to $85. Call
Connie Ridgway at 202-966-1485 or E-mail at kaniru@aol.com.
Longview is located on 130 beautiful acres in Accokeek, Maryland, across
from Mt. Vernon on the Potomac River. From the back yard, you can see the Washington
Monument and Mt. Vernon. Many a day we've seen eagles lazily gliding nearby. Longview
Retreats is dedicated to creating a space where people can explore and live out of their
values, while surrounded by beauty and a sense of being home.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Babysitter Companions
Sarah Eilers, sarah@dchome.com
My part-time sitter, a young Czech woman, would like to meet other sitters
and kids in NW DC with whom she and my 11-month old daughter could visit, go to the
playground, etc. If you can put us in touch with anyone, please E-mail me at the address
above.
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An excellent plumber, who grew up, lives in, and bases his business and
community involvement in the District is Frankey Grayton: 544-4366.
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