Vote for the Best of 2013

Grand Budapest Hotel Wins Big at Coming Attractions Trailer Night - Winter 2013

By Cheryl Dixon, DC Film Society Member

Here’s what we promised: Maybe you can’t sign up for healthcare, but it’s Open Season for fun with DC Film Society’s Coming Attractions Trailer Night - Winter 2013 program. Held on November 20, 2013 in the cozy comfort of DC’s Landmark E Street Cinema, the event drew diehard film fans gathered to cast their votes, both informal (applause) and formal (ballot), on over 30 trailers of upcoming releases, including likely Oscar contenders. Attendees found the cure for their stress and worries and voted for the hilarious trailer of Wes Anderson’s latest film, “Grand Budapest Hotel” in all its quirky glory as the best of the best trailers overall. Attendees received an intoxicating dose of fun and frivolity while watching and commenting on previews for the upcoming slate of winter and holiday films. The ever-spirited discussion on the trailers and the films behind them was led, once again, by our DC Film Critics extraordinaire Bill Henry and Tim Gordon.

They provided the full buzz on what’s hot and what’s not and provided insight into the effect that Social Media has had on what used to be the “event” trailers. Again, they add to our knowledge of how trailers are used to effectively market movies and the direct impact new technology has on them. Regardless, audience feedback on the trailers maintains its importance and anyone attending this event knows that his/her opinion counts! Attendees got to enjoy seeing these trailers first, including surprise bonus trailers that depict 2014 releases. But remember, attendees at this event get to see many of these trailers before everyone else does.

If you liked what you saw in the trailers, go see the movies! And if you missed the trailers, but like what you’re reading here, go see the movies!

Here’s a summary of the winning films in each of seven categories and general commentary:

You Know the Name, But Can’t Place the Face
Delivery Man
Inside Llewyn Davis
Jack Ryan
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom WINNER!
Oldboy
Robocop
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’s trailer depicts the early life and career of Nelson Mandela. One of two recent major biographical films, this version has Idris Elba as Mandela, with Naomie Harris as his wife, Winnie Mandela. We revisit the impact of apartheid in South Africa with lots of unflinching cuts to the appalling socioeconomic conditions of black South Africans, all factors leading to Mandela’s determination and, courage, and conviction to lead the fight against the injustice. Winnie, in solidarity, declares “the more they oppress us, the harder we fight.”

Commentary: This category included a lot of worthy competition. Filmfest DC patrons might well remember the French-Canadian film, Starbucks. Delivery Man, featuring Vince Vaughn finding his purpose as sperm donor and eventual father of 533 children, stars in the English language version, an almost literal translation, observed Bill. In Inside Llewyn Davis, the trailer makes sure you know that it’s a Grand Prix winner at the Cannes Film Festival. Writer/Directors Joel and Ethan Coen make their own kind of music, in this case, folk music as they revisit the 1960s Greenwich Village scene. Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, and staple John Goodman round out the cast in what looks like the quirky, but brilliant style of filmmaking we’ve come to know and love. Kenneth Branagh comes Jack Ryan with Kevin Costner, Chris Pine, and Keira Knightley, in an international, action-adventure, spy flick, with the latest incarnation of Tom Clancy’s hero, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine). Bill pondered whether the audience has the patience for the Dr. Who-like reincarnations/interpretations of the character portrayed in different movies now by several different actors. Spike Lee artfully remakes Oldboy, (from Korean Director Park Chan-wook) about a father imprisoned and missing for 20 years. RoboCop gets a reboot with Joel Kinnaman, Michael Keaton, and Gary Oldman starring in the movie about the half-man, half-robot cop set in a time when machines abound to make the country safe, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no robophobic sentiment. Then, there’s daydreamer Ben Stiller with the wild and vivid imagery of imagination colorfully shown in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

My Kind of Crooks
Dallas Buyers Club WINNER!
Labor Day
The Monuments Men
The Wolf of Wall Street

It’s Dallas 1985 and the trailer depicts real-life, rail-thin, cowboy hell-raiser Ron Woodroof (portrayed by Matthew McConaughey) as he is diagnosed HIV positive and hustles to gain access to life-prolonging, non-FDA-approved medicines to treat the scourge of AIDS in its early and often fatal years. Oscar-worthy performances glimpsed by McConaughey and his eventual friend and business partner Rayon, portrayed by Jared Leto. Woodroof finds purpose and meaning as he finds a way to relieve the suffering. Attendees gave this one two thumbs way up.

Commentary: Another story based on true events includes the trailer of The Monuments Men with George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, and Bill Murray starring in a World War II era movie about priceless art works stolen by the Nazis and the efforts to retrieve them. Bill said he expected this one on the Oscars shortlist, but the Studios have decided which films must wait for their release. Martin Scorsese directs Leonardo DiCaprio, Kyle Chandler, Matthew McConaughey, and Jonah Hill, in The Wolf of Wall Street in what looks like another version of Wall Street, as young, renegade brokers go after the top-tier wealthy clients.

Tales from Flyover America
Homefront
Nebraska WINNER!
Out of the Furnace

Again, the trailer trots out the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor credentials for Bruce Dern in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, about a small-town elderly man who is convinced he’s won a million dollars by lottery. Saturday Night Live’s Will Forte plays his son and June Squibb gives a very wry, nuanced performance as Dern’s wife.

Commentary: The other two movies in this category displayed a lot of guns, action, car crashes, fighting. Most of the ingredients for guy flicks. Homefront tells the story of a father and his daughter in Smalltown, USA, with Jason Statham, James Franco, Kate Bosworth, and Winona Ryder. Out of the Furnace with Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, and Zoe Saldana is gritty and looks a lot like Fight Club.

And the Oscar for Best Actress Goes To ...
August: Osage County
American Hustle
Grand Budapest Hotel WINNER! BEST TRAILER OVERALL!
Her
The Invisible Woman
Philomena

Director Wes Anderson’s quirky Grand Budapest Hotel has a stunning ensemble cast including Ralph Fiennes, Saoirse Ronan, F. Murray Abraham, Ed Norton and Tom Wilkinson mingling on the magnificent bright red carpet, of a grand era hotel complete with costumed bellboys. Bill quoted the New York Times reviewer who said, “You had us at Wes Anderson.” You can also expect the same kind of quirkiness and staple performers who have worked with this director many times before, like Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray. The trailer was very funny and attendees laughed out loud!

Commentary: Attendees got a sneak peek of John Wells’ August: Osage County, featuring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Juliette Lewis as dysfunctional family members in a big house at “Coming Attractions Trailer Night – Summer 2013. David O. Russell’s “American Hustle ensemble cast with Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner, also features several repeat actors who are the director’s favorites as they “hustle for love.” The trailer wasn’t very effective at indicating what the movie is about. Love’s gone digital, on the other hand in Spike Jonze’s Her with Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, and Scarlett Johansson as Phoenix seeks love via the futuristic artificial intelligence operating system. The greatest love story never told features Ralph Fiennes as author Charles Dickens and Felicity Jones as his secret love in The Invisible Woman period piece. There’s another kind of secret love in Philomena, a touching story with Judi Dench as an unwed single mother in 1950s Ireland forced to give up her son for eventual adoption in the U.S. and her search for him 50 years later with the help of a reporter (Steve Coogan). Judi Dench brings the delicate balance of seriousness, courage, and great sense of humor.

The Story You Thought You Already Knew
Black Nativity
47 Ronin
Saving Mr. Banks WINNER!
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas

In Saving Mr. Banks, Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks star in the true life drama of what Walt Disney and company had to do to get the movie Mary Poppins to the screen. Who knew what it took to create the beloved family classic?

Commentary: Jennifer Hudson gets to showcase her acting and singing talent in the Langston Hughes inspired Black Nativity. A modern retelling of Hughes’ stage work by writer/director Kasi Lemmons, it’s a heartwarming holiday tale of a mother and son forced to move in with the grandparents (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett) following an eviction. Keanu Reeves stars in 47 Ronin, a samurai revenge tale. Dazzling special effects include otherworldy demons and sword fighting scenes bear witness to the rise of the Ronins. An exasperated Martin lamented “Why?” in response to the trailer for Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas. Because it’s that time of the year, Madea gets to have her say! Tim stated, though not a huge fan of Perry’s movies, they do make money! There is an audience for this film! Another attendee queried whether Reeves ever shifts from his “Neo” character in the Matrix film series.

Second Time Around the Park
Anchorman: The Legend Continues
The Best Man Holiday
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Hunger Games: Catching Fire WINNER!

Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland return and are joined by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the second installment of the Hunger Games trilogy. These games, of course, continue, but this time they involve more experienced killers! The visual effects, as before, are stunning! Expect the story to be spectacular!

Commentary: 70s Anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and the crew including Steve Carell, Christina Applegate, and Paul Rudd are back in Anchorman: The Legend Continues. This time they’re expanding the local news format to a CNN-like 24-hour network and hilarity follows. This trailer earned several audience chuckles, definitely a crowd-pleaser. Malcolm Lee’s The Best Man Holiday got the nostalgic vote, with its warm and fuzzy nostalgic reunion of memorable characters, including Nia Long, Monica Calhoun, Melissa DeSousa, Terrence Howard, Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, and Sanaa Lathan from the first movie, The Best Man. And in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, expect more of the sweeping scenery and roster of familiar faces, such as Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, and Cate Blanchett joining “Bilbo Baggins” (Martin Freeman) as he finds courage on his perilous journey.

Wait and See It in Theaters or Watch it Now at Your House
The Last Days on Mars
Frozen WINNER!
The Raid 2

Rumor has it that Frozen is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, “The Snow Queen.” Disney’s latest animation feature version is the story about two sisters, one who, unlike the White Witch of Narnia, can’t help causing wintery conditions wherever she goes. The sisters’ voices are courtesy of Kristin Bell and Idina Menzel. This was the most family-friendly trailer.

Commentary: An isolated crew, a secret space mission, and an unexpected discovery form the spine of the story in The Last Days on Mars. The trailer effectively showed that this is a suspense, sci-fi thriller. The Raid 2 features lots of tough-guy action as Jason Statham seeks redemption.

BONUS TRAILERS
And a bow to our surprise trailers that are not included in the voting. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is set to debut on the memorable 4/4/14 date. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Evans as Captain America, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury join forces in the latest super hero, “Avengers” flick. Surprise! Robert Redford joins in the adventure! And for X-Men fans, there’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart/James McAvoy) Magneto (Ian McKellen/Michael Fassbender), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) are amongst the mutants in a time-travel story. The final surprise trailer of the evening was The Lego Movie. Note the original title! What could serve as a better promotional vehicle for Lego toys than an entire movie featuring Legoland characters? There’s Batman, Superman, even Lincoln. Voices were provided by, among others, Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, and Liam Neeson.

Bill said that in case you didn’t notice, our program featured a few actors over and over who are getting a lot of work these days! And we thought it was just Samuel L. Jackson who was the hardest working (man) in show business!

After enjoying a full evening of trailer film surprises and promotional giveaways and prizes just for showing up, attendees also received free DVDs, and movie tickets as raffle prizes. See you at our next trailer program, and at the movies!

Thanks to all of the DC Film Society Directors, Coordinating Committee Members, and Volunteers for putting together this twice-annual educational program. And thanks to our uber hosts, Bill Henry and Tim Gordon for sharing their opinions and tolerating ours, Allied Integrated marketing, Landmark Theaters, and Filmfest DC.

The Cinema Lounge

Adam's Rib Celebrates the Legendary Peter O'Toole

Her: Q&A with Director Spike Jonze

By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member

The following Q&A took place December 5, 2013 at the AMC Georgetown Theatre after a preview screening of Her with director Spike Jonze and was moderated by writer/producer George Stevens Jr. In the near future Los Angeles, Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely, reclusive writer living in a high rise sees an ad and decides to buy an operating system for both his computer and phone called Samantha. Samantha’s husky sexy voice is provided by Scarlett Johansson. Amy Adams is a concerned friend and neighbor. There are also flash backs to his failed marriage to Rooney Mara and the happier moments of their relationship. Theodore slowly connects to Samantha and falls in love with her. Most of the time Phoenix is on the screen by himself interacting with the voice.

George Stevens Jr.: Spike, what was the genesis for this very imaginative story and film?
Spike Jonze: A couple years ago, I saw an ad for an OS system that had a voice and went to the site was intrigued by what it could mean for someone wanting a relationship or longing for a relationship and emotional involvement. It’s an interesting intertwined story of reality and fantasy.

George Stevens Jr.: When did the ambition begin to make the film?
Spike Jonze: I think the very near future in L.A. is an exciting concept and there are different clothes and devices that affect the entire world. We wanted to shoot in L.A. since it can have that alienating effect and we did shooting locations there. Also to get some more futuristic looks we shot some scenes in Shanghai, China and in Norway and spliced them all together.

Audience: Why was there so much orange coloring?
Spike Jonze: We wanted to use really warm colors for this futuristic love story. It wasn’t fully dogmatic, but the cinematographer also tried to use the natural light and even looked at the clothing for warm colors.

Audience: Shanghai has such an organic cultural presence, what did you use there?
Spike Jonze: Yes it is crowded like Manhattan, but most of the people take the trains there which add to the loneliness factor. We used the apartment buildings for their clean, futuristic look and interns looked for many other shooting locations there. It also is huge and you can easily get lost in the crowds and become alienated like Theodore does in the film.

Audience: What can you tell us about the of music in the film?
Spike Jonze: I think music is an important part of the process in making and watching the film. I listen to music and music videos a lot. The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s frontwoman Karen O. wrote in pre-production the song, The Moon Song and also the score. And she wrote other little musical pieces when we were on the beach and decided to use them later in the film. Also I have to thank K.K. Barrett's production design, Austin Gorg's art direction, and Gene Serdena's set decoration for creating the mood for the film.

Audience: The future looked very hand held or device laden.
Spike Jonze: We wanted to show a really tactile future. Even though more and more things now become digital, I still have this need to touch or hold a book or a vinyl record. Also we wanted to show this kind of hot world that is also somewhat melancholy.

Audience: Joaquin really carried the burden of the film. When he was rehearsing or being shot was he really interacting or playing with another actor?
Spike Jonze: We first shot Samantha with the incredible actress Samantha Morton. In post-production we didn’t think it quite worked, although she did provide a lot of input in rehearsal and work with Joaquin. We put out a casting call and decided to redo the voice scenes with Scarlett Johansson over a month of weekends, since she had other commitments. We also did some rewrites and recorded scenes over again.

George Stevens Jr.: We spoke earlier about the importance of providence and good luck sometimes in making a movie. Can you tell us about the experience of shooting in Shanghai?
Spike Jonze: I still don’t know what is good fortune or luck but we shot in Shanghai in July which is traditionally very overcast and hot. We blocked shots near the movie theater scene and also it was raining when we wanted to do the rooftop scenes, but it miraculously stopped and really cleared up for the shoot.

George Stevens Jr.: You can imagine writing a beautiful ending with the sunset in the distance coming up at the end and you really captured it. Also I see this as a film that really fills the director, writers, cinematographers and actors attention as a fully realized film. Was there ever a moment when you thought, I wish I could get out of this picture?
Spike Jonze: It’s now about two months after shooting, and it really is like childbirth, but after a time you forget it and want to do it again. There were times early in the shooting, I thought this seems like a mess that will never work. I had times I just had to get away from everyone for some private time and space.

George Stevens Jr.: I think we have all felt that to some degree. But don’t you agree that a great deal of the work takes place in the editing room, where you have control over the material, the music and the sound? Something wonderful many times come out of the editing room that seemed hopeless.
Spike Jonze: Yes. I think there are some writers/directors like the Coen Brothers that write and edit their scripts at the same time and have that ability to see the end product, but most films are not made that way.

Audience: How do you see Samantha’s character in the film?
Spike Jonze: Well, I see that she fulfills this emotional and maybe sexual need, but I think the relationship is much more complex than that. Audiences may have different experiences about Samantha and the movie. Some find it romantic, others creepy, and other hopeful. I don’t have a definitive answer on how you should react to the film or to Samantha.

Audience: The scene where they are making love doesn’t show a great deal, is that something you decided upon very early in the writing or shooting?
Spike Jonze: Not showing a lot when they consummated their relationship is something we really decided in the editing. It seemed more powerful and intimate this way. The story is associated with a special feeling. Meeting the Operating System is like meeting someone on the Internet.

George Stevens Jr.: Did you think about using a hologram or verbot of some kind to depict Samantha?
Spike Jonze: We discussed that early on but didn’t really like that idea. I think it’s better to have a visual or vocal collage to pique your own imagination. Also I think Joaquin is so compelling in his acting that you don’t need that something else.

Audience: Did you think of using other additional images?
Spike Jonze: No, I wanted her to be something brand new. She has no fears or baggage like real people. She is learning also as an Operating System.

Audience: How long did you edit the film?
Spike Jonze: We spent about 9 months editing to find just the right look and feel for the film. I think Scarlett knew we needed that intensity that she committed to and she would come back and really give her all for the scenes.

Her opened on December 25 in the DC metro area.

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