Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, takes place at 7:00 PM at Barnes and Noble, 555 12th St., NW in Washington, DC (near the Metro Center Metro stop). You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend.

Cinema Lounge is moderated by Daniel R. Vovak.

Movies against authority and/or corporations

On June 9, 2008, we talked about movies against authority and/or corporations. The person who originated the topic had a list of films that he believed captured the spirit of the discussion. Some of those films include: Working Girl (1988), In the Company of Men (1997), Easy Rider (1969), Taxi Driver (1976), Office Space (1999), Goodfellas (1990), The Graduate (1967), Dead Poet's Society (1989), and Hudsucker Proxy (1994).

Some in the group saw a change in Hollywood around the year 1992, creating an era from the mid-1960s through 1992. Someone added that some of the helpful starters on the topic include: Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Man with No Name trilogy, and Sidney Lumet's book "Making Movies."

Some actors who help define the character against authority include: Candice Bergen, Glen Close, Meryl Streep, Robert Duvall, and Aaron Eckhart.

Strong character-driven films were also mentioned: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Paths of Glory (1957), MASH (1970), The Player (1992), and Gosford Park (2001), making Robert Altman, Stanley Kubrick, and Frank Capra directors who set the stage for such anti-establishment films. Another group of films was then mentioned: Wag the Dog (1997), There Will Be Blood (2007), Supersize Me (2004), Fast Food Nation (2006), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Full Metal Jacket (1987), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Dr. Strangelove (1964), and Natural Born Killers (1994).

We ran into a problem trying to define anti-establishment, though a distinction was discovered. In some movies, the movie itself was anti-establishment, when someone has lost his soul. In others, a character himself was anti-establishment. The former would include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). The latter includes Rick in Casablanca (1942) and Hans Solo in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).

American Beauty (1999) is a perfect example of the topic, with Kevin Spacey defining the foe as himself. Another great example is Baby Boom (1987).

In Fight Club (1999), the rebellion against the Establishment was blatant. Other films also played into the topic: American Psycho (2000), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Animal House (1978), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Conspiracy Theory (1997), various movies with Gene Hackman in them, Cool Hand Luke (1967) with Paul Newman's role versus the warden, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Erin Brockovich (2000), State and Main (2000), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), and The Election (2007).