Favorite political movies/shows?

ahalpert

ahalpert

Major Contributor
'Tis the season (in America).

What is everyone's favorite political movie/show (serious or comedic)?

I think I'll go with House of Cards Season 1 (American version, I haven't seen the British one). I remember thinking that the story dipped substantially after they completed the season 1 arc. But the pacing and plot/characters, and the depiction of the shenanigans of political dirty tricks was all riveting.
 
I'd have to go with "All the President's Men". The screenplay, the acting, the direction was all top notch.

And I've felt this way regardless.
 
For the non-English language films, there are a couple of Italians from the early 1970's - "The Confession" ("Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica") by Damiano Damiani and the The "Conformist" ("Il comformista") by Bernardo Bertolucci.
 
DLD said:
I'd have to go with "All the President's Men". The screenplay, the acting, the direction was all top notch.

And I've felt this way regardless.
Click to expand...

Regardless of what? It's been a while since I've seen it.

I haven't seen the confession. I remember the conformist being beautiful but I dont remember the story that well
 
The Simpson's have had some good ones over the years... ; )

BTW: Did anyone catch last nights election dig/easter egg? As Moleman goes flying off screen at the end from being kicked by a robot, "That's what I get for voting for Kanye...!".
 
Run&Gun said:
The Simpson's have had some good ones over the years... ; )

BTW: Did anyone catch last nights election dig/easter egg? As Moleman goes flying off screen at the end from being kicked by a robot, "That's what I get for voting for Kanye...!".
Click to expand...

That reminds me, Citizen Kang is one of my favorite pieces of political satire of all time:


I just checked out last night's election bit. The Simpsons can still land witty punchlines almost faster than you can grasp them
 
ahalpert said:
... I haven't seen the confession. I remember the conformist being beautiful but I dont remember the story that well
Click to expand...

The "Conformist" was the first pairing of Bernardo Bertolucci and Vittorio Storaro, a partnership that went on to make the "Last Tango in Paris", "1900" and the "Last Emperor". It's about a young aristocrat (Jean-Louis Trintingant of "The Man and the Woman" fame) being sucked into the corruption of Mussolini's Italy of the 1930's and 40's.

And, if you reread that other sentence, you may discover a Gerard Damiano related hint.
 
mcbob said:
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Avoid the execrable 2004 remake, though
Click to expand...

I actually liked the remake, though mostly for the vibe. The vibe of PTSD Denzel and the vibe of the sleeper assassin when he's triggered. But I haven't seen the original.

Possibly my favorite Key&Peele sketch includes a manchurian candidate moment in the middle of a blizzard of other thriller tropes:

 
mcbob said:
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) ...
Click to expand...

Back in 1994, I brushed with the directorial greatness that was John Frankenheimer. He was actually very pleasant ... until I asked him about the film. Apparently, he and Sinatra did not get along.

PS. The line about the "President's Men" is not about feelings but about Felt. But keep it under a hat.

PPS. The problem with that K&P skit is that it's the same joke throughout the sketch.
 
The Great Dictator (1940) & Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). I really liked Demolition Man (1993), which is more of an action movie, but it makes a lot of jabs at certain political theories.
 
I always thought that films like "Meet John Doe" and "Mr. Deeds goes to town" were more the fairy tale allegories about the epoch but not hardball political process dramas. Otherwise, "Duck Soup" should be counted too.
 
DLD said:
I always thought that films like "Meet John Doe" and "Mr. Deeds goes to town" were more the fairy tale allegories about the epoch but not hardball political process dramas. Otherwise, "Duck Soup" should be counted too.
Click to expand...

I think it's all fair game.

PS I totally disagree about K&P's Mexican Standoff -

First of all, the central idea is to take the idea of outflanking ad nauseum to make it more ridiculous. So many movies have the sniper trained on your position red dot appear. I lost it when he said "BS that marriage is rock-solid." Such a straight delivery in a familiar form of a ludicrous detail.

But then you have Manchurian Candidate sleeper agent voice command activation, you have Infernal Affairs-style corruption investigation, and you have Mission Impossible removing the face masks.

I do think that it fell apart after they took a break to figure out what was going on. I didn't think the ending was as strong as the beginning and middle.
 
DLD said:
I'd have to go with "All the President's Men". The screenplay, the acting, the direction was all top notch.
Click to expand...

+1. It's in my top 10, and normally I don't even like politics, but really it's a detective story.

It won best screenplay, but I read that William Goldman's version wasn't used (I read that in either Goldman's book, Adventures in the Screen Trade, or in a biography of the director, Alan J. Pakula). Goldman wrote something of a buddy comedy.

Goldman's acceptance speech is short and sweet, and he makes special mention of the cinematography by Gordon Willis.

My favorite actor in it is Jason Robards, who also won an Oscar for it.
 
I'll probably get some eye rolls but I've yet to watch anything that tops The West Wing. The first season is a little hyperbolic and introduces some unrealistic characters (i.e. Mandy) but it finds its groove by the second season. I love films and shows that act as a mirror for our own potential as a society, if only we could unite and focus on what's most important. In that regard, The West Wing is right up there with Star Trek for me. And it has the best, most hopeful series finale I have ever seen.
 
In his defense, he has written 8 movies and over 100 TV episodes. He once mentioned that he had seen this supercut, and he seemed to say that it was unconscious.
 
QuickHitRecord said:
I'll probably get some eye rolls but I've yet to watch anything that tops The West Wing. The first season is a little hyperbolic and introduces some unrealistic characters (i.e. Mandy) but it finds its groove by the second season. I love films and shows that act as a mirror for our own potential as a society, if only we could unite and focus on what's most important. In that regard, The West Wing is right up there with Star Trek for me. And it has the best, most hopeful series finale I have ever seen.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's why I love Star trek. I haven't seen the west wing much at all. I would be unhappy if all drama was a morality tale depicting life as it should be. But it definitely hits a spot and lifts me up
 
From what I recall from "The adventures in the screenwriting trade", Goldman was unhappy that Hoffman kept faxing back the rewrites with correction suggestions, making it a lot more work than it should have been. But it was a borrowed copy of the book some 25 years ago. Maybe Bill rewrote it since then.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top