Oct 16, 2015
Out of Frame: Bridge of Spies
A rhyming companion piece to the Nazi-hunting film Labyrinth of Lies, Bridge of Spies is an old-fashioned tale of justice, served cold.
Saving Mr. Banks—the real-life story about the struggle between Walt Disney and Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers to adapt the book to the big screen—reveals the creative and personal bitterness that lies behind even the most commercial confections.
Oct 26, 2012
Out of Frame: Cloud Atlas
“Cloud Atlas” plays not so much like a layered work of art, but a cleverly stitched collage of typical multiplex fare. It’s the most crowd-pleasing unfilmable novel ever made.
Nov 09, 2007
Out of Frame: No Country for Old Men
I was beginning to wonder if the Coen Brothers had lost it. About halfway through their ill-advised remake of the Ealing classic The Ladykillers, I was gripped by the same sort of sadness that comes with the childhood realization that your parents aren’t infallible, nor do they have all the answers. For the first time in their filmmaking career, they seemed not just human, but deeply flawed. Redemption is a world away from directing Tom…
Nov 29, 2006
She Loves Me Is More Stodgy Than Sweet
There’s something strangely Disney-like about Arena Stage’s production of She Loves Me. Is it the candy-colored sets? The cartoonish dancing? The opening song, “Good Morning, Good Day,” which calls to mind Beauty and the Beast’s “Bonjour” number? Or maybe it’s just that leading lady Brynn O’Malley seems to have taken her recent performance as Belle in Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast and transplanted it in D.C.? She Loves Me, a classic, romantic musical adored by…
Oct 11, 2006
Queer Cinema Comes Out of the Closet
Written by DCist Contributor Christopher Durocher In commemoration of National Coming Out Day it’s time to set the record, er, straight. It’s time to admit what every gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered person already knows – mainstream, gay-themed cinema is, at best, a mixed bag. But don’t despair. Beginning October 12, the Reel Affirmations International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, is going to show D.C. that there is more to queer cinema than gay…
Jul 06, 2005
Remembering D.C.’s WWI Vets
One of our favorite monuments in this city is the District of Columbia’s World War I Memorial, honoring those from the capital who fought and died in the Great War. This DCist’s late great uncle, who grew up in Foggy Bottom before George Washington University gobbled it all up, was a World War I vet. So we stop by when ever we stroll through West Potomac Park. On our Fourth of July tour of the…