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I liked The Pentagon Wars.quote:but less likely to make you want to kill yourself than Threads[/b] (1984) More reason people should watch Threads instead(but also because it's the better film) I'd also agree with Frost/Nixon, The Fog of War, Game Change
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Mar 19, 2016 18:22
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I'm going to watch a bunch of the movies posted itt, starting with The Battle of Algiers (of which there is a subbed HD copy on youtube).
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Mar 19, 2016 20:58
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Seconding Network and Seven Days in May. I would also recommend The Distinguished Gentleman starring Eddie Murphy, based on the book of the same name. It's a funny take on how much money and lobbying have perverted Washington.
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Mar 19, 2016 23:34
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this is a good movie for learning about our incredibly hosed political system
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Mar 20, 2016 04:19
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Trumbo was not good unless you want to see Bryan Cranston and Louis CK chewing the scenery for 2 hours straight. C. S. A.: The Confederate States of America, an alternate-history documentary about the US had the South wan the Civil War, is very powerful and disturbing. Enemy of the State was extremely prescient about mass surveillance, and while very '90s, is also very '90s.
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Mar 20, 2016 05:12
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Not sure if they really fall into this category, but The Conversation and Blow Out are wonderful films in response to Watergate. I've been meaning to re-watch them lately. Definitely going to seek out Seven Days in May thanks to this thread's recommendations
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Mar 20, 2016 07:28
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Amused to Death posted:More reason people should watch Threads instead(but also because it's the better film) Threads is a good film but I'd almost put it up there with A Serbian Film in terms of watchability
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Mar 20, 2016 07:45
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threads is an insane viewing experience i kinda flipped through it on youtube and could still barely handle it. especially the end
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Mar 20, 2016 08:00
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Absurd Alhazred posted:Trumbo was not good unless you want to see Bryan Cranston and Louis CK chewing the scenery for 2 hours straight. I'd want to see that. The Pierce Brosnan Bond films are a really good look at what happens to Cold War ideology after the Cold War ends. Goldeneye is all about "Now we have to take a good hard look at ourselves." and then the next three movies are a madman's fall into irrelevance. Thankfully 9/11 came along to make spies cool again but the irony is that Daniel Craig's films are all Cold War nostalgia. Casino Royale is ostensibly about terrorism profiteering but it's mentioned only in passing at the beginning of the film to establish that it takes place in the here and now and then immediately drops that subplot because nobody has ever made The War on Terror sexy. There's a nice bookend with M telling Brosnan that he's a Cold War relic in Goldeneye and then saying "Christ I miss the Cold War" in Casino Royale when she has to go to some oversight hearing that is trying to reign in MI6's limitless spying charter. I have a theory that Bond tracks well the rise of the surveillance state but it isn't a very fleshed out theory because I just came up with it while writing this. Fidel Castronaut has issued a correction as of 09:57 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 09:51
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Watch the West Wing. It's poo poo, but it's a good window into the minds of a certain kind of deluded liberal idiot who thinks the best way to solve the social security "Crisis" would be locking a Republican and a Democrat in a room together. "Yes, Minister" is probably the definitive treatment of how elected officials and civil service bureaucracy interact (usually by opposing each other, but occasionally by joining forces to take on some mutual enemy). It has some Thatcherite overtones I wouldn't personally endorse but basically "Yes, Minister" is a great illustration of how personal ambition, party politics, bureaucratic empire building and petty squabbling are central to modern politics. "The Wire" can't always decide if it's trying to be a realistic and gritty presentation of life in Baltimore or a slightly more experimental and fanciful critique of the Drug War but much like "Yes, Minister" some of its best subplots are illustrations of how individual political actors are usually just unwitting puppets / victims of the institutions within which they are embedded. Similarly, "Homicide: Life on the Streets" is a sort of early forerunner to the Wire. Nowhere near as consistently good and really showing its age with some of its editorial decisions and music ques, but I can't think of another police procedural drama in which there's an entire episode subplot dedicated to a city official pressuring a forensic examiner to change their toxicology report on a car accident to save the city money from law suits. If that kind of unsexy and depressingly plausible subplot appeals to you then you'll enjoy (some of) Homicide, though as I said its a bit more hit and miss than the other recommendations here. Also, some twenty years later the Simpsons Halloween special "Citizen Kang" still holds up pretty well. The last scene is a pretty good summation of American foreign policy -- a bewildered and impoverished mid-west suburban family being asked to support an attack on a place they've never even heard of.
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Mar 20, 2016 18:00
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Advise and Consent
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Mar 20, 2016 18:05
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Of course, though, the best film on politics is the greatest anti-war film of the 20th century. No, it's not that boring Deer Hunter. It's not that overly long and indulgent Apocalypse Now. It's not a Black and White snorefest All Quiet on the Western Front or some joylessly accurate foreign film like Das Boot. No, there's only one movie that truly captures the absurdity of warfare. Would you like to know more?
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Mar 20, 2016 18:07
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screw movies, Veep is the most gently caress'n accurate documentary I know of
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Mar 20, 2016 18:11
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Helsing posted:Of course, though, the best film on politics is the greatest anti-war film of the 20th century. No, it's not that boring Deer Hunter. It's not that overly long and indulgent Apocalypse Now. It's not a Black and White snorefest All Quiet on the Western Front or some joylessly accurate foreign film like Das Boot. No, there's only one movie that truly captures the absurdity of warfare. I absolutely endorse this.
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Mar 20, 2016 19:37
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I 100% support revisionism on The West Wing. It's a forerunner to Sorkin's two more notoriously awful TV shows, but pretty much has much of the same problems. It still lives it a world where ordinary people are told to shut up as Smart People Who Know What They're Doing solve all of our problems. The moral of the grand story is that the system, despite its flaws, works and that Josh "Totally Not Rahm Emanuel" Lyman is an rear end in a top hat, but our rear end in a top hat.
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Mar 20, 2016 22:54
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I appreciate that West Wing has an emphasis on rhetoric. The press secretary and director of communications are bigger characters than cabinet-members and there is so much time spent crafting good speeches. It deserves all the criticism of the show's politics and it's not shocking that writers would write about writers, but it's nice for a show to acknowledge the necessity of rhetoric without making it synonymous to "lying."
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Mar 20, 2016 22:58
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The original Robocop
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Mar 20, 2016 23:13
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Children of Men and District 9 would make a great double feature on immigration.
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Mar 20, 2016 23:28
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Some deep and not-so-deep cuts: Night and Fog (1955): the holocaust by resnais The War Game (1966): british fake doc about the aftermath of nuclear war Weekend (1967): godard and mayhem at the end of civilization In the Year of the Pig (1968): vietnam war doc Eros + Massacre (1969): free love, baby The World at War (TV series, 1973): amazing, just amazing Jeanne Dielman (1975): long-rear end feminist masterpiece The Battle of Chile (1975-1979): the insurrection of the bourgeoisie, the coup d'etat, popular power Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976): doc about miner's strike A Grin Without A Cat (1977): chris marker, baby La Ceremonie (1995): masterpiece. not "political," but its director did jokingly refer to it as "the last Marxist film" La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000): ok it's long and boring but great concept The Dreamers (2004): sexy times during paris 1968 Marie Antoinette (2006): beautiful take on late 18th century french politics Spartacus (TV series, 2010-2013): exhilarating, best tv show ever imo. politics of both insurrection and those who would crush it The Act of Killing (2013): politics = genocide Edit: <3 to all the Battles of Algiers <3 here Bolton Hairy-Bore has issued a correction as of 00:49 on Mar 21, 2016 |
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Mar 21, 2016 00:46
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Punishment Park is insanely good
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Mar 21, 2016 01:47
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Duck Soup
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Mar 21, 2016 01:58
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Matewan (1987) and The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) are both a bit more concerned with history than character or plot but are pretty neat looks at two roughly contemporaneous revolts.
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Mar 21, 2016 02:11
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Bip Roberts posted:It's Network.
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Mar 21, 2016 02:16
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Recommending The Brink It was an HBO comedy and probably the funniest new show of the year. There was going to be a second season but it was cancelled for some reason. The show focuses on a religious fundamentalist pulling off a coup in Pakistan and the fallout from that. It stars Tim Robbins as the Secretary of State, Jack Black as a CIA analyst in Pakistan and another guy as a US Navy pilot on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.
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Mar 21, 2016 03:23
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Oh yeah, there's Alpha House for Amazon Prime users. Are they still planning a third season? The show is dead, isn't it? 
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Mar 21, 2016 03:31
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Alpha House owned. The Brink was funny but made really stupid plot choices and I think I gave up halfway through.
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Mar 21, 2016 03:38
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Echo Chamber posted:I 100% support revisionism on The West Wing. It's a forerunner to Sorkin's two more notoriously awful TV shows, but pretty much has much of the same problems. Yes that is a very good moral to take away from a political drama.
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Mar 21, 2016 04:02
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Salt of the Earth (1954) - the only film ever to be blacklisted in the US, drama about Chicano mine workers striking in New Mexico. Not shown in American theaters until 1965, in 1960 became the only American film shown in China from 1950 - 1979.
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Mar 21, 2016 07:40
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The book this is based on is unironically first class literature masterpiece of human characterization via inner monologue perfection. The movie's shlock.
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Mar 21, 2016 14:08
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Xenophon posted:A few non-controversial choices: The 2004 Manchurian Candidate is sort of poo poo (boring and overdramatic) in a lot of places. I blame lovely editing and eyerolling choice of "feel this emotion now" music. Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber's performances strike me as unbelievable/overdone at times. The story still holds up though. My entries Wag the Dog (expect goofy poo poo) The Lives of Others (really more about surveillance but hey) Election (how did MTV of all companies make THIS  )If you want office politics watch Swimming with Sharks with Kevin Spacey A really good political/intrigue but historical thriller is Elizabeth (1998) starring Kate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush (kills in this movie), Daniel Craig as a no poo poo Vatican Assassin 
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Mar 21, 2016 16:25
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The Lives of Others is really good. Had to watch it for a German class in college and it might have been the best film I saw in any of my coursework. Or at least, it's the only one I remember which says something on its own.
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Mar 21, 2016 21:24
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Charlie Wilson's War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ_4m2ocxhI
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Mar 22, 2016 07:25
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I remember The Ides of March being good and also super hosed
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Mar 22, 2016 07:33
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Oshima's oeuvre is basically a giant middle finger to establishment life in Japan. Death by Hanging (1968) is particularly good though.
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Mar 22, 2016 09:06
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Rocks posted:West Wing is the GOAT i've watched the entire series many many times
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Mar 22, 2016 09:10
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Helsing posted:Of course, though, the best film on politics is the greatest anti-war film of the 20th century. No, it's not that boring Deer Hunter. It's not that overly long and indulgent Apocalypse Now. It's not a Black and White snorefest All Quiet on the Western Front or some joylessly accurate foreign film like Das Boot. No, there's only one movie that truly captures the absurdity of warfare. One of the finest movies ever made, with an incredible score by Basil Poledouris. I sincerely hope Verhoeven makes even a single movie as good as this or Robocop again before he dies.
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Mar 22, 2016 10:13
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Between Good Night and Good Luck and the Ides of March, I find George Clooney's political films to be simplistic and shallow. "The media should call out the politicians when they're bad." "Politics will erode whatever ideals you have." Meh. It's stuff we've seen before with more depth.
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Mar 22, 2016 15:46
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I haven't seen Good Night and Good Luck but The Ides of March struck me as very bland and simplistic. The central theme of public image versus private personality could be interesting, but the only insight that Clooney provides is that pragmaticism trumps idealism. That might have been a revelation at some time in the far-off past, but showing politicians making skeevy deals isn't new or interesting anymore. It's a forgettable political thriller that seems to have only a vague teenage understanding of the political process. I saw the movie during a red eye flight and remember being annoyed by Ryan Gosling's character, who was allegedly some sort of wiz kid spokesperson but was repeatedly surprised when the media focused on tabloid gossip instead of ~~the issues~~. EDIT: I recently was dragged to Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, which stars Tina Fey and is currently in theatres, and got the same sense. Both movies seem to believe they are really clever and insightful despite having very little to actually say. QuoProQuid has issued a correction as of 16:02 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Mar 22, 2016 16:00
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The Campaign may be a dumb slapstick comedy, but it has exactly one phenomenal joke that justifies the whole movie's existence. The passive aggressive skirmishes between Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis's congressional campaigns get progressively more personal and keep escalating. Then Zach Galifianakis shoots Will Ferrell with gun. Zach Galifianakis then surges in the polls. It was a phenomenal moment even before Trump bragged he could pretty much do the same thing.
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Mar 22, 2016 16:14
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Good Night and Good Luck is worth watching if only for the guy who plays Murrow, though.
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Mar 22, 2016 16:56
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