Plot: A rich society woman uses a gangster to win a congressional election.
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Ya know, I want to like George Raft but he's so darn stiff in a lot of pictures, especially the ones where he's not playing a bad guy. He's just wooden in a romance and not the kind of wood you're looking for, amIright? (cue applause). Everybody else does a fine job. The story isn't too shabby if a little far fetched. In the course of a campaign season Congresswoman Margaret Chase (Sidney) wins the party bid for Governor, gets blackmailed by her husband for a divorce, announces she's no longer running, gets a divorce, then some unknown backers convince her to get back in the race as an independent to fight against the corruption that's rampant in her state's politics. See? But still, you go with it. There's a romance of sorts between her and Mr. Ace (Raft) that has its troubles but, like just about every movie from the 1940s, it ends well for the lovers. It's a little shorter than usual at 83 minutes which feels like the right amount of time for this picture. I think having a better actor as the titular role would've been an improvement. And what's with the title when this is a lot more about Chase than Ace?
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Justin Doescher, Derek Cecil, Nathan Darrow, Mark Falvo, Jayne Atkinson, Lamont Easter, Mahershala Ali, Paul Sparks, Gary Ayash, Neve Campball, Gerald McRaney, Campbell Scott, Patricia Clarkson
Plot: A Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.
My rating: 8/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
Seriously, watch the first five minutes and that's all you need to see if you're going to like this or not. Those few minutes define what you're in for with such ease that it's brilliant. This is great political drama. It crosses the line every once in a while and challenges my suspension of disbelief but it's mostly grounded in what feels like reality. Frank and Claire (Spacey and Wright) behave in ways that we suspect our elected politicians do but hope they don't. The writing, acting, score, etc. are superb and except for one big thing, and all of that is consistent throughout the series (I've seen the entire show). SPOILERS... The show is at its best until Frank becomes President. Then instead of his and Claire's hunger to do whatever it takes to get the top job, they now have to do whatever it takes to keep it. That changes the dynamic and things get stranger and more complicated and, as a casualty, less interesting. I guess you can attribute that to being "it's the journey, not the destination". It's still a very good show and worth staying through to the end.
I wrote this up (and scheduled ahead) a couple of months ago, days after Spacey's sexual assault allegations went public. Netflix suspended production of season six, the final season. Netflix severed ties with Spacey. It seems as if the show is dead but I'm optimistic they are simply taking a breather to regroup, re-write season six without Frank and continue for that final (or more) season. The way season five ended it wouldn't be that difficult to have Frank killed off. I can see a scenario where that could actually work to the show's benefit. Or it could all be over just like that and five seasons is all we get. Regardless, I still have the two seasons of the UK show this is based on plus three great seasons of this version and two very good seasons on top of that...and that's good. Fuck you, Kevin Spacey, for being so good at your job and so horrible of a human being!
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Perkins, Laurence Harvey, Pat Hingle, Don Gordon, Michael Anderson Jr., Leigh French, Bruce Cabot, Cloris Leachman, Moses Gunn, Wayne Rogers, Robert Quarry, Skip Young, Clifton James, Lucille Benson
Plot: A radio station in the Deep South becomes the focal point of a right-wing conspiracy.
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? No.
I didn't know anything about this except that it starred Newman, Woodward and Perkins. The cast does a fine job, especially Pat Hingle who plays the bastard that runs the radio station. He's almost too good at it. He's very menacing. You get to hang out in New Orleans quite a bit and that's always a good thing. It's such a wonderfully rich city in its people and architecture. I wish more movies were centered there. Perkins initially seems miscast but he owns it in a great confrontation with Wayne Rogers. Terrific. The story drags a little. That's not cool considering the talent. It takes a long time before we get to the meat of the plot or at least the dirty dealing that ultimately brings this thing to a head. The rally near the end was just a giant mess of sound. Nothing but cacophony. It might've been designed that way but the copy I watched had the sound messed up. The music or sound effects often overpowered the dialogue which had my finger constantly on the volume button. The ending is dreary. I was left thinking that the focus was misplaced that there should've been more of a buildup instead needle dropping into these people's lives and scratching the record trying to get to the next song if that makes any sense.
Starring: Robert Lindsay, Michael Palin, Dearbhla Molloy, Alan Igbon, Andrew Schofield, Philip Whitchurch, Julie Walters, Paul Oldham, Tom Georgeson, Peter-Hugo Daly, Jane Danson, Lindsay Duncan, Edward Mallon, Hayley Fairclough, Stephen Hall, Paul Butterworth, Peter Armitage
Plot: Michael Murray is an ambitious and charismatic politician, Jim Nelson is
a much loved headmaster of a local school for disturbed children. When
the paths of these two men cross, things are destined never to be the
same again.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? No.
I only wanted to see this because it starred Michael Palin. It's highly rated and all but JESUS FUCK! It's 9 and a half hours long!!!! Put that into your pipe and smoke it! Each episode of this series is about an hour and twenty minutes long and there are seven of them. Now, the first episode moves along OK until the final half hour where it very intense. Now I'm completely on board. Whatever feelings I had about giving up were gone. It was such a powerful half hour that there was no way I wasn't going to see this through. The next couple of episodes weren't nearly as captivating but they did hold my interest. The two leads, Lindsay and Palin, are magnificent. The series is mostly about political intrigue but there's more to it than that. It's mostly serious but as each episode played, it got surprisingly funny to the point that episode 4 is loaded with slapstick comedy. At first I thought it was too much but seeing Lindsay running around the hotel with his hand thrusting in the air along with his eye tick (these things happen to him when he gets too nervous) feels like something out of a FAWLTY TOWERS (1975) episode and not this. I ended up laughing a lot before that episode was over.
Then with episode 5 the silliness continued but scaled back a lot until at least episodes 6 and 7 things were back to political intrigue territory and became gravely serious and delivers a satisfying finale, tying up any loose ends the major players have. The tone is all over the place. The comedy only sometimes works but at times it feels unnecessary and awkward. More than a few scenes go on for too long, give too much information or flesh out characters that don't matter one bit to the main characters. Jim's (Palin) poet friend Martin, for example, is a character that I loved and I dug his storyline and arc. However, it didn't seem to have anything to do with the major threads of the overall story. His bits could've been taken out completely and would've had little to no effect on the series. There's enough of that kind of thing that you could probably lose an episode or two. I would've also preferred that the film, if we can call it that, didn't stray so much into silly territory and stayed closer to the more serious aspects that these two men are embroiled in. It's still a good watch and it's a good look at how politics is played but it could've been better. I'm also writing this right after finishing a two day binge from start to finish so I've barely allowed myself time to let it all sink in. Plus I'm nursing a cold but I won't hold that against the Labor Party.
Plot: An intelligent, articulate scholar, Harrison MacWhite, survives a
hostile Senate confirmation hearing at the hands of conservatives to
become ambassador to Sarkan, a southeast Asian country where civil war
threatens a tense peace. Despite his knowledge, once he's there,
MacWhite sees only a dichotomy between the U.S. and Communism. He can't
accept that anti-American sentiment might be a longing for
self-determination and nationalism. So, he breaks from his friend Deong,
a local opposition leader, ignores a foreman's advice about slowing the
building of a road, and tries to muscle ahead. What price must the
country and his friends pay for him to get some sense?
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
Compelling. Brando commands respect not only on the screen from the audience but from everyone he encounters in the film...and he gets it. Right from his entrance as he's being grilled by the Senate for his ambassadorship, MacWhite (Brando) holds his own against, what soon becomes clear, the opposition. He's a good man, a tough and thoughtful, educated man. His friend, Deong (played by Japanese actor Okada), has been seeing things differently. He's in a different position than MacWhite. Deong's fire comes from his heart, his passion; MacWhite's is cerebral and logical. Despite their differences, these two maintain their strong friendship and make tough decisions. There's a lot of trust, the levels of which you wouldn't get between two men such as these in their positions if they weren't good friends. This picture is heavy on dialogue and discussion and it's very well handled by first time director Englund. I really enjoyed it and it's nice seeing Brando still giving a shit (at least with this film).
Plot: An in-depth look at the rise and fall of New York Governor Eliot
Spitzer, including interviews with the scandalized, former politician.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I hate people sometimes and particularly hate assholes. Eliot Spitzer, by what I saw in this film, seems like a good man. He fucked up and paid for sex which is illegal. In this case it was a victimless crime. I think prostitution should be legal but that's for another discussion. Of all crimes for a man's career to be destroyed over, this is one of the silliest. Again, Spitzer was an idiot for engaging in illegal activity. I do admire him for at least being in this film and talking about this. On the other side you've got his political enemies who wanted nothing more than to ruin Spitzer. By all accounts, Spitzer was doing a lot of great things and that involved breaking some eggs. Well these eggs didn't like it. Roger Stone was hired to bring this man down and that's what he did. How can you dig a guy that's got a life size head of Richard Nixon tattooed on his back? That's all kinds of fucked up. Anyway, Stone is a douchebag. This film is well done, interesting and compelling. I knew nothing of this incident and now I'm ready to watch it again.
Starring: Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff, Allyn Joslyn, William Demarest, Louis Jean Heydt, Harry Rosenthal, Arthur Hoyt, Libby Taylor, Thurston Hall
Tagline: WHATTA GUY! He loved a fight or a frolic...and he usually found one!
Plot: Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political
machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings
rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a
new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His
in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the
end for dishonest Dan...
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Preston Sturges, in his directorial debut, has a lot to say about politics and humanity. It's often funny but the political horseshit is right on target. It would be funnier if it weren't so spot on true. The performances are very good. I think I like Donlevy before he slid past his prime. He's perfect for this role. And the same goes for Tamiroff, an actor that it seems every movie I've seen him in he plays so over the top that it's annoying as hell. Not here. He's A-OK. The first two thirds of the picture straddle the funny well but it's the last act where barely a joke is had and it's here where it gets serious and very real, a stark contrast to what came before. I really enjoyed that part the most because if felt sincere and it packs some punch. It's a great first time effort and it was only the next year when Sturges would make what many consider his masterpiece, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941), a picture I haven't seen in thirty years. I should correct that.
Starring: Dan Resin, Richard B. Shull, Dick O'Neill, Joseph Sirola, Pat Ripley, Gary Sandy, Willard Waterman, K Callan, Constance Forslund, Phil Foster
Tagline: He was only President of the United States. But he planned to work his way up.
Plot: A presidential advisor discovers that the President has assembled a
secret army of vigilantes to suppress dissent and is setting up
concentration camps in which to imprison protesters, hippies and other
"social undesirables."
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? Nope.
Don't you hate it when you watch a comedy and you don't laugh? This picture probably looked a lot better on paper. I get the satire and the attempt at humor but the jokes either don't land because there were only funny ideas or they weren't executed well enough. Hell, or maybe I'm just not digging it. I think there's some good social commentary going on here but it just didn't work as a comedy. The selection of the cabinet posts by numbered gumballs in a gumball machine was mildly amusing. And then there's this one sequence where the military/police kill a bunch of hippies camped out in the woods. That was a horrific moment which felt like it was there to hammer in the harsh reality of what the President was trying to achieve. I'll say this much, though, the ending was fantastic. This was made before the events of Watergate so that gives the film even more weight for what they were aiming for. The President in this film echoes Nixon. For that it gets points. I don't know at what point it was publicly known that Nixon had it in for the hippies and protesters like the President in this film but I'm sure Nixon entertained the idea of locking them up in camps or having them put down. Or maybe not. When I popped it in to watch I was hoping for some political humor. With the way things are going in this country right now I could sure use a laugh.
Starring: Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, Paul Sorvino, Jack Warden, Isaiah Washington, Christine Baranski, Amiri Baraka, Sean Astin, Nora Dunn, Laurie Metcalf, Sarah Silverman, William Baldwin, George Hamilton
Tagline: Brace yourself. This politician is about to tell the truth!
Plot: A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on
himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters
by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I loves me some WB even though his acting is interchangeable with a lot of his roles, he's still great to watch. He juggles a lot of things in this picture and he does it well. It's got humor, something of a romance, drama, politics and it's a thriller. Bulworth's rapping gets way too much play in the film. And Bullworth is able to keep the rap going and going and going. Even though he isn't good at it, his words speak his truth and that's what counts. I really like the world WB creates around this character. It's got a 1970s political thriller vibe about it that's really neat. Besides the political fun he gets mixed up in, the film's got a fantastic cast. I just can't get enough of Jack Warden and Paul Sorvino. Those guys are awesome. Oh, and regardless of where you lean politically, Bullworth may or may not say how you think but he speaks what a lot of people perceive to be the truth, that politicians are pandering, shallow, money and power hungry people who are mostly in this game to serve their own self interests. Beatty's films have characters that feel genuine and the roles he plays also add a level of humanity that you don't see much. What he does is unique to him and that's the biggest reason I enjoy watching his films so much. The 20th Century Fox DVD presents the film in non-anamorphic widescreen. The only extra is the theatrical trailer in fullscreen. Weak.
Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Billy Ray, Paul Abbott
Composer: Alex Heffes
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Michael Berresse, Harry Lennix, Josh Mostel, Michael Weston, Barry Shabaka Henley, Viola Davis
Plot: When a congressional aide is killed, a Washington D.C. journalist starts
investigating the case involving the congressman, his old college
friend.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Here's the American film version of the BBC miniseries of the same name from 2003. This is a pretty good political thriller that hits the right beats and has good performances but it struck me as just being reasonably entertaining and not as exciting as perhaps it should've been. I'm keen to see the BBC miniseries now. That one had six hours to play with. I like the characters and the acting in this one but I didn't feel any tension. The Jason Bateman interview was great. That was probably my favorite scene. It was more loose and free flowing and the editing helped build interest. It's basically an above average political thriller that feels perfectly content being good but not great. That might sound like a slam but it's not my intention. The Universal DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print with the only extras being 4 minutes of deleted scenes and a 19 minute making of featurette.
Writers: Rod Amateau, Harold Nebenzal, Peter Driscoll
Composer: Stanley Myers
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Nicol Williamson, Prunella Gee, Saeed Jaffrey, Persis Khambatta, Rijk de Gooyer, Rutger Hauer, Patrick Allen, Joe De Graft, Archie Duncan, Abdulla Sunado, Helmut Dantine, Peter Pearce
Tagline: In the fight for freedom, you have to break all the rules.
Plot: Having spent 10 years in prison for nationalist activities, Shack Twala
is finally ordered released by the South African Supreme Court but he
finds himself almost immediately on the run after a run-in with the
police. Assisted by his lawyer Rina Van Niekirk and visiting British
engineer Jim Keogh, he heads for Capetown where he hopes to recover a
stash of diamonds, meant to finance revolutionary activities, that he
had entrusted to a dentist before his incarceration. Along the way, they
are followed by Major Horn of the South African State security bureau
and it becomes apparent that he has no intention of arresting them until
they reach their final destination.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Sure.
Good flick. The performances are solid, locations, tension, story, and on down the line. People die and it's not always the bad ones. It's a cynical film, and rightly so, that shed light on the current state of South Africa and the brutality of it all. There's a lot of deception going on and at every level, some of which you don't realize until the end. That's a major plus. The film spends most of the time with Poitier and Caine on the run until they have to retrieve a large stash of diamonds. Then the picture goes into heist mode and then back to being on the lam, all the while being pursued, and continuously intercepted, by Major Horn (nastily and brutally played by Nicol Williamson). Rutger Hauer shows up in one of his earliest roles, his first non-Dutch picture. There's an awful lot to like in this film. It's engaging from the start and it rarely lets up. The MGM DVD delivers it in non-anamorphic widescreen with the sole extra, the fullscreen trailer. You can pick it up on Amazon for $4 and free shipping. It's definitely worth it.
Plot: It's hard to run for office - even in high school. And the campaign for
student body president at Stuyvesant, perhaps the most prestigious
public high school in the country, is almost as sophisticated as any
presidential election.
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? No.
What happens when you have an election where no one cares? I get bored. There were four pairs of candidates (pres and vice pres) running for the primary at which point only two pair will vie for the prize. One pair (I've forgotten everyone's names) were aloof and kind of didn't give a shit. They're the ones I would've voted for. Hannah made the runoff against George, a boring-ass candidate who struggled with speaking in public with a vocabulary that would choke a horse. His word choices were awkward and he came across as one who uses irregular words to impress people. He's also full of himself. I didn't like Hannah either but at least she had a personality. She was advocating starting a school newsletter so the students know what's going on. Why bother when you have a school newspaper? It's a dumb race and maybe that's part of the point of the film. Of course the over-priced piece of cardboard wins the race by a large margin. I'm about three times the age of the subjects of this film and that might be part of my problem with the picture in that these kids are at that awkward age where they're trying to behave like adults but they sound and behave like little kids or something to that effect. The Oscilloscope DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print and extras including 6 trailers for Oscilloscope films (including this one), a commentary track with the director, producer, the candidates and a teacher, and a few little clips that look like deleted and extended scenes.
Starring: Josh Brolin, Jeffrey Wright, Toby Jones, Colin Hanks, Dennis Boutsikaris, Thandie Newton, Scott Glenn, Richard Dreyfuss, Bruce McGill, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Ritter, Noah Wyle, Elizabeth Banks, Rob Corddry, Stacy Keach
Plot: Oliver Stone's biographical take on the life of George W. Bush, one of
the most controversial presidents in USA history, chronicling from his
wild and carefree days in college, to his military service, to his
governorship of Texas and role in the oil business, his 2000 candidacy
for president, his first turbulent four years, and his 2004 re-election
campaign.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? No.
W fans will love only the first half of film while W detractors will love only the second half. While I could've done without the few, and very brief, moments with W standing in an empty baseball stadium, I loved how the film gets off to a smart and fascinating opening scene with him in the Oval Office discussing what to do after 9/11. I was hooked. There is a lot of flashbacks and flashforwards and they work well. You get to see the evolution of not only the man but of his post-9/11 presidency and the WMD debacle. The performances are largely pretty damn solid. Thandie Newton's (as Condolezza Rice and Richard Dreyfuss' (as Dick Chaney, who has some uncanny moments of looking and sounding just like the guy) accents aren't consistent which is a shame since they're both talented actors. The supporting cast is great and I'm most impressed with Brolin as W. He's fantastic. If you close your eyes and just listen to the first ten minutes you'll be amazed at how easy it is to think of the people instead of the actors. Stone does a fine job directing the picture and it's nice to see him not be showy like most of his films are with different scopes of film and flashy techniques. It's a good picture. I have no idea how much of it is factual and how much artistic license was used but they way it's put together here, it makes sense and it follows a logical path. The Lionsgate DVD comes with two extras that are worth a spit. One is a commentary with Stone and the other is a 16-minute piece on George W. Bush and his handling of post-9/11 events and the war. Then there's the theatrical trailer and 5 minutes of Lionsgate films (all anamorphic widescreen).
Starring: Gore Vidal, William F. Buckley Jr., Dick Cavett, Christopher Hitchens, Noam Chomsky, Matt Tyrnauer, Ginia Bellafante, Brooke Gladstone, Sam Tanenhaus, Kelsey Grammer, John Lithgow
Tagline: Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be The Same.
Plot: A documentary on the series of televised debates in 1968 between the
liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr.
My rating: 8.5/10
Will I watch it again? YES!!!
More, please. I loved it. Vidal and Buckley were so eloquent that they could serve you an insult and you'd think it was a compliment. I certainly wouldn't want to get in a sparring match with either of these cats. They'd verbally eviscerate me. I'd probably like it, too. This documentary covers an event in 1968 that brought these two together for an unprecedented event that would reverberate for decades and I'd never heard of it until a few days ago. I HAD to see this picture. Buckley and Vidal are utterly deliciously vicious on screen together. They politely despised one another. One one hand it would be nice to see these fellas actually debate an issue without resorting to insults but then their insults are beautifully crafted and poetic. I didn't want it to end. Both men are polar opposites in most everything and I like them both. I love hearing them speak. I can appreciate what they say to a degree but it's how they say it. The film gives us plenty of that as well as the framing of the 'debates' with everything that's going on around them concerning the Republican and Democratic conventions and the national and world scene. The filmmakers give us all the context we need to add dimension to the picture and they go beyond 1968 for decades to show how far reaching these 10 brief moments in time affected each other and news television as a whole. There were moments where I was literally on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next round of insults. The suspense was thick (and with the help of Kirkscey's Philip Glass-ian score). Then, moments later, I'm laughing my ass off. This is one of the most delightful and informative films I've seen in a while. It wasn't but a few weeks ago that I watched GORE VIDAL: THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA (2013) on Netflix. I'm sure the debate was mentioned but I've completely forgotten about it. I need to give it another spin. That was a great film on its own. ENEMIES is currently in the theater and who knows how long it will be before a physical media release will be but I anxiously await it. Consider it bought.
Starring: Gore Vidal, William F. Buckley, Thomas Gore, Christopher Hitchens, Bill Maher, David Mamet, Jay Parini, Tim Robbins, Robert Scheer, Nina Straight, Eugene L. Vidal, Joanne Woodward
Tagline: "The United States Was Founded By The Brightest People In The Country - And We Haven't Seen Them Since."
Plot: This is an unashamedly opinionated film. In Gore Vidal's America, the
political coup has already happened. The right have triumphed and the
human values of the liberals have been consigned to history. But how did
this happen and who organized it? In this film Gore Vidal's acerbic,
opinionated and informed approach rips away at the facade of the new
America. The film dramatizes Gore's political views and his concern at
the present state of American democracy using interviews and historical
footage of his famous appearances on television and talk shows over the
last fifty years. In the recently filmed interviews Gore examines the
course of American history and policy making and draws dramatic
conclusions on the fate of the nation in the modern age.
My rating: 8.5/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I love this guy. He's one of those brilliant types that you'd want to hang out with all the time just to hear what he has to say about anything and everything. He's clever, witty, so very eloquent and funny as shit. His words could be scathing yet sound like poetry and he could insult you in a way that gets to the core and probably in such a way that you wouldn't suspect it. This film captured him shortly before his death. There are also loads of vintage clips and interviews. The film paints a positive picture on the man and his legacy. I don't know if there was every any major controversy surrounding the man but it doesn't matter. I was so taken in by him that I'm very keen on reading his work which is saying something as I read very little but watch an incredible amount of film. I highly recommend this. It's currently streaming on Netflix. Hopefully the eventual DVD/Blu-ray release will have loads of extras. If so then it will find a permanent home in my collection.
Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Matthew Macfadyen, Oliver Playy, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones, Andy Milder, Kate Jennings Grant, Clint Howard, Rance Howard
Tagline: 400 million people were waiting for the truth.
Plot: A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between
British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.
My rating: 8/10
Will I watch it again? Probably not.
What an interesting film. Having been a kid when the actual events were going on, I was oblivious to them, I never saw the Frost broadcasts and I never knew how they ended so this film had some surprises in store for me. If you don't know how it ends then refrain from learning about it until after you see the film. It goes a long way into helping build the suspense. I don't know how accurate this picture is but everyone involved did a fine job in crafting a very suspenseful and entertaining flick. The two titular leads reprised their stage roles and they both do a magnificent job. The final broadcast, as depicted in the movie, is interesting as hell and I was hooked. I watched the making of featurette (23 minutes) after I was done with the film which made it that much more intriguing. The other extras on the Universal DVD include a commentary with Howard, some deleted scenes (23 minutes worth), 7 minutes of excerpts from the real interview and a 6 minute piece on the Nixon Presidential Library Museum. The extras are good and they certainly whetted my appetite to watch the original interview in its entirety. It's just one more facet of an incredibly dark time in American presidential history.
Starring: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney, Larry Hagman, Diane Ladd, Paul Guilfoyle, Rob Reiner, Robert Klein
Plot: A man joins the political campaign of a smooth-operator candidate for president of the USA.
My rating: 8/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I have no idea why this is listed on IMDb (and elsewhere) as a comedy. It's a political drama with some humor sprinkled into the first and second acts. The final act is pure drama. I saw this shortly after it was released and I didn't pick it up again until just now. It's a fantastic picture with a great cast and a superb story and screenplay. It's tight and Kathy Bates is in top form. Travolta does a great job, too, as Jack Stanton (clearly modeled after Bill Clinton). His own voice has a similar feel to Clinton's and it's kind of odd that he'd play the role with the Clinton voice. We all know who he's supposed to be. Still, he does a fine job with the role and it's one of my favorite performances he's made. The Universal DVD has an anamorphic widescreen print and the only extra (besides silly text bios and such) is a non-anamorphic theatrical trailer.
Plot: A look back at some of the funniest presidential moments in history.
My rating: 4/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Bloopers are fun. Seeing political leaders screw up is even better because most of them are full of shit most of the time. If you like that obnoxious show AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS then you're going to love this. I didn't and it's not because of the content. It's the horrendous cartoon-y sound effects, silly music and stupid commentary by the host. I'd rather watch the funny bits on their own merit. This video also repeats clips which isn't necessary when you've only got 42 minutes to fill. And there's more than a few clips that aren't even bloopers but instead are well-known politicians (mostly presidents and vice-presidents) cracking wise. That's all fine and good but with all of the other obnoxious things this
video presents it just adds up to either a desperation to fill 42 minutes or a lack of talent in the production team. Ronald Reagan comes off best overall. He's hilarious. Seeing Nixon play the piano for Pearl Bailey and hang out with Sammy Davis Jr. was a hoot and the bit with Chris Farley and Newt Gingrich was a riot. Fortunately you don't have to pony-up the dough for the Time Life DVD to watch it, just check it out on YouTube above. And I'm sure you can find every single clip from this video online and without the bullshit noises added for this release.
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert, Judy Davis, E.G. Marshall, Melora Hardin, Kenneth Welsh, Penny Johnson, Richard Jenkins
Plot: Based on the novel by David Baldacci, Absolute Power is about the
ruthlessness of people in power. The President believes that everything
he does is beyond reproach, including an affair or two. That leads to
murder and everyone around him is involved. There is only one witness, a
thief named Luther Whitney. They are sure he'll talk, but when? The
Secret Service is determined to keep him quiet, but catching a thief
isn't always easy.
My rating: 6.5/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Up until re-watching it last night I wouldn't have been able to tell you much about this except some basic plot lines. I guess that's because it isn't all that great. It's pretty good up until the third act when it gets a little ridiculous and falls flat by the end. The performances are fine. Hackman is always fun to watch and it's great having a cast as good as this one. Ed Harris' character, Seth, seems like he's been neutered a bit because he really doesn't further the story along much. Maybe there was more to him in the novel. While we're at it, maybe the ending was better handled in the novel, too. The film finale was pretty weak in its credibility. It's not a bad picture but then it's disappointing considering the talent in front of and behind the camera. So-so thriller.
Starring: James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Heather Beckel, Paul Begala, Bob Boorstin, Michael Donnilon, Jeff Eller, Stanley Greenberg, Bill Clinton
Plot: A documentary of the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign and the organization who ran it.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? No.
If you're looking for a detailed "how did they pull off electing Bill Clinton into the presidency" documentary then this isn't it. Sort of. It's more of a fly on the wall focusing on Carville and Stephanopoulos, getting to see these two guys at work. These two, plus Clinton, were the men the press and the world saw most during their campaign. Carville is amazing to watch. He's a damn fine spin doctor and it's fun seeing him at work. Yeah, some of what he says is horseshit but a lot of it is in the selling, not the product. It's a fun film and while you do get a sense of how they did it, it's got me wanting to see a dry, detailed film about the strategies and obstacles they had to overcome to get what they wanted. Like the analysis of a war after it's been fought.
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