The Gus Van Sant-directed, Sean Penn starring Harvey Milk biopic Milk opens next week, and it’s already generating controversy, especially in California in the wake of the Prop 8 debacle. Penn is certainly no stranger to playing politicians in the limelight; his Willie Stark character in All The King’s Men was loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana. While we’ve had a slew of movies about fictional presidents and politicians, we’d like to see more biopics based on some of the larger than life characters who have dominated the political world. From Rahm Emanuel to Pat Buchanan, here’s a look at a handful of political firecrackers who deserve their own Oscar-baiting biopic.
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My mom has the hots for President Clinton as badly as I swoon for Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of us turning into goofy schoolgirls at the mere mention of our respective crushes. While the Governator’s arrogant, aggressive virility drives me wild, personally I’ve never fantasized about Arkansas charmer Slick Willy.
And yet I’d be thrilled to bed John Travolta, who embodied Bill Clinton via the character of Jack Stanton in Mike Nichols’ 1998 Primary Colors, a thinly veiled account of the would-be president’s rise to stardom during the 1992 primaries, with a swift-moving screenplay by Elaine May based on political reporter Joe Klein’s originally “Anonymous” novel. Travolta as Stanton perfectly captured the sexy essence of Clinton then topped it with his well-honed movie star touch.
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Are you walking around with your “I Voted!” sticker proudly adhered to your chest? If not, get out there and do some lever pulling, chad punching, and ballot dropping. Then take the rest ofthe day off and watch one of these movies that’ll get you through the rest of election day and away from the nail-biting edge of election return coverage. There are a few minor spoilers inside, but don’t view that as me messing with the ballot box. You’ll still love the movies more than CNN’s infographics.
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Oliver Stone’s W. opens tonight. For a little perspective, we decided to watch a different movie made in an era of political transition and economic collapse. Gabriel Over the White House (1933) tells the tale of a slacker president who undergoes a religious conversion, after which he consolidates executive power and sponsors an enormous financial bailout. Sound familiar? It should, FDR personally approved the script, then went on to enact half of the film during his presidency, but the parallels echo through many administrations.
Quint from Ain’t it Cool News tells us what he’s been watching, including a tender love story involving vampires, Let the Right One In, and a rediscovered classic, The Matchmaker.
Karina Longworth and Kevin Kelly give us the scoop on early footage from Watchmen. Will it live up to the hype?
(Subscribe to FilmCouch–Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the iTunes store or to our RSS feed and an episode will download each Friday)
0:00 - Intro, listener e-mail
6:01 - Quint’s take on W.
8:41 - W.’s 1933 counterpart, Gabriel Over the White House
26:35 - Quint’s media diet
32:57 - Thoughts on the Watchmen teaser footage
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