By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA
Although summer is officially over, who says you can’t bring on the new season in style? Here is a very early fall playlist on books, film, and records — all with a NOVA connection.
Part II: Films (and Television)
- Doctor Strangelove – Columbia Pictures (1964)
As far as Northern Virginia landmarks go, the Pentagon ranks at the top. For many, it’s the MOST recognizable fixture of the region — a veritable symbol of the military-industrial-government complex we all tap into. If Northern Virginians are Romulus and Remus, the Pentagon is the wolf mother we suckle from.
…Anyways.
Most films that include the Pentagon feature it the same way. There’s a large, nondescript room with government seals and television screens on the wall. There’s usually a mix of military and civilian workers with one guy in a suit yelling at everyone. When I think of the stereotypical “Pentagon” in film, I look no further than 2007’s action blockbuster, Transformers.
Equally fake (but way more interesting), my first NOVA-inspired film or television show you should watch this fall is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The film’s cinematography surrounding the massive ring pendant table inside the “Pentagon” is worth it alone. The insane conversations around that table throughout the movie are a joy (and a terror) to watch. Cue…any year in recent memory. WIRED Magazine called the film “Basically a Documentary.“
The war room, with its giant screens that any sports bar would die for, is another prominent feature throughout the film. The suits and the smoke swirling through the room’s dead air are marvelous. Looking at the table and the people who portrayed fictional (yet not so fictional) characters during Cold War hysteria is like seeing a bizarro version of the Knights of the Round Table — like Spectre from the James Bond movies or other nebulous evil syndicates surrounded by a cocoon of giant screens with world targets (why always Prague…what did they do?)
Just watch it. The Air Force general’s name is “Jack D. Ripper,” for gods sake.
2. National Treasure: Book of Secrets – Walt Disney (2007)
There are two levels of imbibing alcoholic spirits when you are approaching forty and have been a parent for a few years. The first has the adult drinking one or two alcoholic beverages in a relaxed atmosphere. In the end, these drinks make you sleepy (which you gladly oblige in fear of getting a four-day hangover). The second is what I like to call “Greater Than Two,” or the “I’m Going to Steal the Declaration of Independence.” Thank you, Nicolas Cage…you are truly a national treasure.
Although there are bits and pieces that seemingly feature Northern Virginia locales in the first National Treasure film, National Treasure: Book of Secrets features a set piece filmed on location at George Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon.
In the scene early in the film, Ben (Cage) uses a no-so-clever ruse with his father (who fishes at night that close to Mount Vernon on the Potomac River?) to break into the President’s birthday party at Mount Vernon in order to corner him for crucial information about the supposed “book of secrets” hidden at the Library of Congress. There are secret doors and pithy dialogue throughout the 10-minute scene. According to the Mount Vernon website, the scene took a week to film. Playing off the success of the film, you can still book a “National Treasure Tour” at Mount Vernon where guests “hear stories about the filming, and learn how the locations were used during Washington’s time.” The cost is only $10 additional to the regular cost of admission.
Is the scene a bit hokey and hackneyed? Yes. Do I still find it entertaining? Absolutely. Say what you want, the National Treasure films are like downing Krispy Kreme doughnuts — completely empty yet utterly fulfilling.
3. Jack Ryan – Amazon (2018-2023)
After four seasons, Amazon’s hit show with Jim Halpert — I mean John Krasinksi — finally wrapped to moderate fanfare. To be honest, the last season was not phenomenal. As a lifetime fan of the Clancy series since The Hunt for Red October, I was a bit disappointed.
Why does a show that spent the majority of time internationally make the list? The first two minutes of the premiere episode. In the shot, Jack bicycles to work from his home in Georgetown to CIA headquarters in Langley in McClean.
Put simply, Jack Ryan’s bicycle route from Georgetown to Langley is insane. At one point he is biking from Georgetown to the Tidal Basin and back to Georgetown from the opposite direction before making his way to CIA Headquarters. It may be a 7-mile trek from Georgetown to Langley, but Jack’s route would add at least 5 more.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSure Jack Ryan may have claimed Annandale is in Maryland and had him bike an asinine route from Georgetown to Langley, but the biggest flaw of the show was definitely that all of the escalators were working at a Metro station
— Tilde Swiñton (@itsfleric) September 3, 2018
Although the opening shot was actually filmed at the CIA, the end of the episode included this disclaimer (via Spy Culture):
If you want the full breakdown of his route, go HERE.
4. Mission Impossible – Paramount (1996)
Speaking of Langley, does it get any better than the nail-biting espionage scene at the CIA headquarters when Ethan Hunt rappelled from the ceiling to grab the NOC list? I especially love it because it truly dates the film – the NOC list was stolen on a floppy disk. It seems both dated and nostalgic at the same time when you watch it with 21st-century eyes.
I will die on the hill that action films peaked in 1996: The Rock, Independence Day, Mission Impossible, Twister, etc. It was the golden age and we didn’t even know it (But not Goldeneye…that was the previous year).
I always felt bad for Agent Donloe. The man just wanted some coffee to wash down the top-secret work. He didn’t need to be poisoned by a secret agent hooked up to a suspension system that looks like it belongs in a BDSM dungeon.
Although the exterior shots of the CIA Building are the real deal in Langley, the interior was filmed in the old London County Hall near the Westminster Bridge. It’s not quite as authentic as the Jack Ryan series because nothing was ACTUALLY filmed there, yet I choose to believe this is actually what the CIA headquarters up the road looks like from the inside. I have to tell you, I have been to many of the government buildings and Washington, D.C., and I am holding out hope that there are a few that have moderately interesting interiors.
5. Wonder Woman 1984 – Warner Bros. (2020)
Let me just go on the record before I even talk about it — this movie was very, very bad. I don’t even want to go into the specifics of it. I think we can all say that the high hopes were dashed almost from the very start. At least the mall scene filmed in Alexandria’s former Landmark Mall was neat. It was the perfect location. The scene filmed in the atrium and food court took advantage of the huge bank of windows and open concept.
The producers of the film decided to take the then-recently closed mall (Jan. 2017) and turn its largely vacant state into an 80s-themed mall that gave Starcourt a run for its money. I’m not sure how much money Warner Bros. poured into fixing that mall, but it must have been significant. The last time I was in the mall, it was almost completely empty save for the Chick-Fil-A at the top and the eyewear store at the bottom near the parking garage.
Landmark Mall is completely gone now. I think we should think of it as burying the memory of watching this film. Great memories and cool locations, but not much else. Keep it as a historical document.
Can we just talk about how she and Steve stole a jet from the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum to make a nearly 6,000-mile trip to Cairo, Egypt? Ooof. Big oof.
Honorable Mentions:
- The Americans – One of the best shows in television history has the Jennings’ living in the fictional “Falls Church Commons.”
- American Dad – Set in Langley Falls, which I can only think is a facsimile of McLean.
- Breach – Kind of stating the obvious, but I want to do a deep dive of this for a future post.
- Mercy Street – Set in Union-occupied Alexandria during the American Civil War. Ted Mosby stars in a role where he isn’t simping on women. Refreshing.
Stay tuned for music!
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