Big Picture Big Sound

For most people, February is just the dreary back half of winter: it involves insultingly bad weather, fraying tempers, and hanging on to sanity by our fingernails as we search for early signs of spring to buoy us through those last bouts of cabin fever. For the film fanatics among us, February means movies: it's the culmination of awards season, and folks are eagerly discussing nominations, predicting winners, and waiting for the big finale - Oscar night. For me, February is certainly all about movies; specifically, it has come to mean that it's time to make my plans for AMC Theaters' Best Picture Showcase.

For those who may not know, the BPS is something that the AMC theater chain has been putting together for the past eight years, and it goes something like this: Academy Award nominations are announced in January, and AMC schedules a couple of weekends just prior to Oscar night when anyone with $30 or $40 in hand and 10 to 12 hours of time to spare can camp out (mostly figuratively, but in some cases literally) at the theater and watch a bunch of the best picture nominees in a row. For those who are particularly flush with free time and funds, select AMC theaters across the country also offer a mega-marathon option, where all of the nominees are screened in one 24-hour-ish period. (As with any marathon, you'd want to think twice about going into this without the proper training - perhaps consider a pre-BPS weekend at home trying to watch "Titanic", "Gone With the Wind", and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy back to back in order to test your staying power.) I have yet to make it to the BPS marathon, but in 2012 and 2013 I completed "half-marathons", and this year I'm upping the ante, trying to make it through BPS Day One and Day Two, and living to tell the tale.

This year my saga began on Saturday, February 22, as I bundled up, packed some provisions, and headed out to the suburbs to check out "Philomena", "Dallas Buyers Club", "The Wolf of Wall Street", and "12 Years a Slave". As in previous years, I live-tweeted my experience during breaks between the movies, thus providing either an interesting kaleidoscope of impressions for my Twitter followers and Facebook friends, or an annoying onslaught of posts for people who had no idea what the #amcbps hashtag was all about. One of my pithy observations was retweeted by AMC Theaters, so there are now an additional 200,000 or so people out there who know that I can occasionally be funny, and that I have a lot of time on my hands. OK, here we go:

Tweet, 11:37am: Awaiting start of #amcbps in Alexandria, VA - showing in two theaters, one already sold out. Way bigger crowd than #Boston 2012 & 2013!

I'll always be a New Englander. But this past fall, after almost a decade in Boston, I packed up my Red Sox hat, my aggressive driving habits, and my occasional dropped "r"s and relocated to Washington, DC. My new place in Woodley Park is within walking distance (well, my version of walking distance, which is admittedly ambitious) of two AMC theaters, but neither of them was hosting the BPS. So, to the suburbs: specifically, the Hoffman Center 22 in Alexandria, where the showcase was scheduled to start at noon.

For those who may be curious about how the day-long showcase works logistics-wise, it's like this: you buy a ticket like you would for any other movie, and when you head in to the theater you get an all-day pass to wear around your neck. This allows you to come and go freely and bypass lines, as the theater employees can tell at a glance that you're part of the BPS crowd and obviously slightly crazy, so they will give you wide berth. The pass also has the order and screening times of the movies helpfully printed on the back, so if there is one you want to skip you'll know when to return to the theater. But then, if you're hopscotching through the schedule it isn't really a marathon, is it?

Tweet, 11:42am: Wishing for psychic powers to know in advance if people behind me @ #amcbps will in fact be chatting throughout the whole event. #movenow?

Trips to the movie theater are something of a quandary for me. On one hand, I love seeing films in their intended format, love the towering images and the multilevel soundtrack, love the opportunity for total immersion. But cinemagoing is such a crapshoot these days: Will the guy in front of me answer his phone during a tense scene? Can the teenager next to me resist texting for a whole 90 minutes? Will the couple on the aisle who don't get how inappropriate it is to bring a two-year old to a horror movie also talk throughout like they're in their own living room? I often try to mitigate these frustrations by choosing a seat so close to the screen that I might as well be listed in the opening credits. The idea is that nobody else would possibly want to sit that close and thus I create my own "neutral zone" against bad theater behavior. But BPS Day One at the Hoffman was popular enough that there wasn't a lot of free space, so I ended up with more neighbors than I had bargained for. I'm happy to report that the folks behind me did not chat at all once the lights went down. In fact, their only real crime overall was using the word "decant" to talk about transferring popcorn from one bag to another - but I'm going to leave it up to the grammar police to sort that one out.

Tweet, 11:50am: Looking forward to seeing #Philomena, #DallasBuyersClub, #WolfofWallStreet at #amcbps; admit some trepidation re: #12YearsASlave...

In 2011 it was "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", last year it was "Amour" - every year there's at least one nominee that I kind of have to discipline myself to watch. I had heard a lot about how emotionally difficult "12 Years..." was - but loving movies means being open to all kinds of viewing experiences, so I was ready to take it on.

Tweet, 11:57am: At #amcbps near people w bags of groceries & full picnic lunches, so feeling less guilty about sneaking in protein bars & bottled water.

As this was my third time at the BPS and I knew what to expect, I found myself going in without the siege mentality of previous years: no gallon of water, no variety pack of granola bars, no runner's protein gels. But there was a group at the far end of my row who settled in with actual bags of groceries at their feet, and a woman a couple of rows back busted out a burger and fries as the lights went down. I'm not telling you, the general public, that AMC suspends their "no outside food" policy during the showcase, but there did seem to be a tacit agreement in place about looking the other way on packed provisions. This was a relief, as even the most dedicated crowd of film fans could become unruly if forced to survive for twelve hours solely on what is available at the average theater snack bar.

Tweet, 1:47pm: Really enjoyed #Philomena; lovely mix of wit & emotional depth, beautiful work by #JudiDench, #SteveCoogan. Very moving. #amcbps

Judging by the sounds around me in the theater I'm not the only one who wept right through "Philomena". If "12 Years..." is this year's movie I might have avoided if it hadn't been nominated, "Philomena" is the one that I would probably not have gotten around to seeing without the nom. I am so glad I did see it, in the theater, with other people. It touched on so many questions about life and faith and human connections and paths and choices, and managed to completely belie my expectations. Deftly scripted, the film is never heavy-handed despite its very weighty subject matter of a woman searching for the child who was taken from her as an unwed mother in an Irish convent in the 1950s. We should all trust Judi Dench by now; her name in the credits is a virtual guarantee of a quality film, and her performance in "Philomena" is up to her usual standard of excellence. The surprise here, however, is Steve Coogan, who has wonderful chemistry with Dame Judi and balances her nicely in his ability to effectively underplay comic moments and put the right spin on lines of dialogue that cast whole conversations in a different light and wittily play with audience expectations. This wit never makes light of the film's deep, almost agonizing emotionality; rather, it serves as a buffer, keeps the film from straying toward the maudlin, and leads to a refreshingly cathartic conclusion. "Philomena" is both earthy and delicate, and all the more fascinating for being based on a true story; definitely recommended.

Tweet, 2:00pm: At #amcbps now getting ready for #TheWolfOfWallStreet -- 90s excess, ahoy!

You know that thing I wrote above about the handy pre-printed movie schedule, complete with lanyard? Well, it was around my neck all day and I still managed to misread it, thus meaning that it took me a minute to catch up to the fact that I was settling in for "Dallas Buyers Club" rather than "The Wolf of Wall Street" for movie #2.

I'm certain that some people will avoid "Dallas Buyers Club" because they don't want to deal with what seems like a downbeat storyline, about the AIDS epidemic and the search for pharmaceutical solutions in the 1980s. But missing this film would mean missing two performances that really have to be seen to be believed: Matthew McConaughey as a straight man who contracts AIDS, and Jared Leto as his transsexual business partner in a cross-border drug smuggling operation. Mr. McConaughey famously lost a great deal of weight for the role and in the opening scenes he's a virtual ghost of himself; the transformation is incredible. But there's so much more to his performance than appearance - I can't think of another film where McConaughey's natural ebullience is so fiercely and effectively channeled in a genuinely life-affirming way. It's the last thing one expects from this actor, in this role, in this film. Mr. Leto's work here is equally admirable, as he gives a deeply empathetic performance by letting us see gradually behind the theatricality of his character to the dignity and hurt underneath. Performances aside, "Dallas Buyers Club" is a harrowing look at misinformation and corruption in the medical and pharmaceutical industries during the early stages of the AIDS epidemic, and its devastating toll on the patients - and victims - of the disease. Still, there is a current of joy running through this film that makes it an unexpected standout among this year's nominees.

Tweet, 4:11pm: Still at #amcbps. For once, I'm totally justified in buying large popcorn just for myself -- as I'll be eating it for the next six hours.

Investing in the large popcorn reinforced my standing impression that eating movie popcorn is generally a better experience in theory than in practice. However, it is worth noting that the Hoffman had a separate "free refill" line set up just for showcase attendees. I appreciated the convenience and courtesy of the option even if I didn't need it: one large popcorn for myself was indulgent; a repeat trip would have been decadent.

Tweet, 7:35pm: #amcbps update: finished #The WolfofWallStreet. Well-crafted, solid performances all around, but not sure it breaks any new ground.

I enjoyed "The Wolf of Wall Street". It was an eye-opening, often infuriating look at the inflated egos and morals-free culture of reckless indulgence behind the finance industry in the mid-90s. There's a ton of eye candy in the film, and this may serve to distract from the fact that sometimes feels like a straight-up retelling of "Goodfellas" set in a different industry. Maybe that's the overarching intent - to ultimately draw a parallel between Wall Street and organized crime. That may be so, but the end result of the similarity in story structure and use of some of the same film techniques in both works is that "Wolf" doesn't feel particularly fresh.

There are, however, several performances that breathe life into the film. Jonah Hill leads that pack, and though he may not win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, it's clear why he was nominated: he fearlessly plays up the most abominable facets of his boorish, self-indulgent character and manages to go over the top without tipping into parody. At the same time, he believably maintains threads of loyalty and go-for-broke enthusiasm; it's not enough to make his character likeable but it makes him relatable, and he's always interesting to watch. It's also a treat to see Rob Reiner in a smaller supporting role where he has fun being the voice of reason who's given to hilarious outbursts of exasperated temper. Overall, "Wolf" provides insight into a fascinating chapter of our recent history, but if Mr. Scorsese's name weren't on the marquis I'm not sure it would have gotten a nomination.

Tweet, 7:52pm: Headed into 8th hour of #amcbps. Losing ability to focus on any object that isn't 30 feet away. And the size of a movie screen.

I think this one speaks for itself. My eyes? They're still not right.

Tweet, 8:13 pm: At #amcbps, headed cautiously into #12yearsASlave. Since when am I a wimp about emotionally challenging movies?? I can do this.

Tweet, 10:39 pm: Finished #12yearsASlave; difficult to watch, but necessary. #amcbps

I think I was steeling myself for some major moments of upset in "12 Years..." but its effect was something else altogether: the matter-of-fact presentation of the daily realities of slavery in the pre-Civil War south created an overall feeling of philosophical and moral wrongness that was disturbing on a much deeper level. There are moments in the story that are unbelievable enough that they would be completely out of place in a work of fiction; but of course, the film is based on a memoir, and so, is true. One interesting aspect of the film is the very formal, almost stilted way that the characters speak. Of course this is in keeping with the adaptation of a contemporary account of the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the mid-nineteenth century. The terrible things he witnesses and experiences are made slightly easier for the film viewer to tolerate as the formality of the language creates some distance from the material. Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance absolutely carries this film. He creates a compelling portrait of a man who must adapt to horrible circumstances in order to survive, who retains his dignity and sense of identity in the midst of a system specifically designed to strip him of both. "12 Years..." made me think about things I'd rather not think about and made me feel things I'd rather not feel; that was the point, and in that way it was effective. There were also moments of beauty - some of the wide shots were like landscape paintings - but this is a film I don't think I will be seeing a second time.

Tweet, 10:46 pm: Day One of #amcbps, done! I'll be returning next week, when I'm rested and ready for more popcorn. Kidding; never need popcorn again, ever.

Did I return for the second half of the marathon? Did I make it through all of the movies? Did I have more popcorn? Check out Day Two to find out!