Living Room Screenings: The Best of Political Film

HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008

BloomBars’ Living Room Screenings Presents: The Best of Political Film
Get motivated, get inspired, and get out the vote! Come join the BloomBars family and your neighbors for free screenings of some of the best in political documentary and narrative feature film. Especially, if you’re not canvassing or phone banking, but sitting glued to CNN and MSNBC, take a break and enjoy a great film and conversation in a cozy and warm environment in the spirit of this incredible moment! Please see schedule below.

No plans this weekend? Obama needs your support in PA. Please contact Deputy Field Organizer Shana Mosher: 267-298-8768

Please see the schedule below.

 

FILM DESCRIPTIONS

WAG THE DOG (1997, Run Time: 110 minutes)

After being caught in a scandalous situation days before the election, the president does not seem to have much of a chance of being re-elected. One of his advisers contacts a top Hollywood producer in order to manufacture a war in Albania that the president can heroically end, all through mass media. Robert DeNiro stars as a Washington spinmaster who needs a war to distract public’s attention from a sex scandal involving the President. Dustin Hoffman received an Academy Award nomination for his role in this biting political satire.

…SO GOES THE NATION (2006, Run Time: 90 minutes)

“…SO GOES THE NATION” examines America’s tumultuous electoral process through the eyes of diverse politicians, activists, and voters. The 2004 presidential election provides the stage, showing how the voting public is manipulated by both parties’ leaders and their political marketing machines. Features Hollywood A-List in grass roots campaign efforts (Matt Dillon, Steve Buscemi, Hillary Swank, Brendan Fraser, Joe Pantoliano, etc.)

PRIMARY COLORS (1998, Run Time: 144 minutes)

Loosely based on Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, a womanizing, charming, and unknown Southern governor runs for president, against all odds. Henry, the idealistic grandson of a civil rights leader, joins the campaign of presidential hopeful Jack Stanton, the progressive and libidenous governor of a southern state. Also on the team are Richard, a redneck campaign strategist, and Libby, a gay, gun-toting trouble shooter. Stanton’s roller coaster, scandal-ridden, campaign opens Henry’s eyes to the harsh realities that are all a part of being a politician seeking office in late 20th century America.

SENATOR OBAMA GOES TO AFRICA (2007, Run Time: 144 minutes)

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE PRESIDENT RETURNS TO HIS AFRICAN ROOTS

Barack Obama returns to his family’s roots on an emotional journey to Kisumu, Kenya – land of his father – in this new documentary.

Part personal odyssey and part chronicle of diplomacy in action, this timely documentary follows Senator Barack Obama as he travels to the land of his ancestry. From South Africa to Kenya to a Darfur refugee camp in Chad, Obama explores the vast continent that is gaining increasing importance in this age of globalization.

The heart of the film is Obama’s emotional homecoming to Kisumu, Kenya – his father’s former home – where thousands of people turn out to greet him. In South Africa, we follow Senator Obama on a trip to Robben Island – the infamous prison where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 21 years. At a Darfur refugee camp in Chad, we see, through Obama’s eyes, the devastating effects of genocide.

Throughout it all, Senator Obama narrates the film, giving his own perspective on the journey and the significance of Africa to U.S. interests.

Additional perspective is included through interviews with experts on African affairs as well as with U.S. political commentators.
Tegy Thomas
SuperNova 7 Productions
cell: 917-376-1132

BULWORTH (1998, Run Time: 108 minutes)

Warren Beatty stars and directs himself as a seriously depressed U.S. Senator who takes a contract out on his own life. With his death impending, he starts to shoot from the lip, saying all the politically suicidal things he’s always wanted to say but couldn’t until he’d decided to literally commit suicide. But then a young woman falls into his life — Halle Berry — and he finds a new urge to live. Only problem is the killer he’s hired is still bent on finishing the contract off and Beatty has to try and stay alive long enough to find the one man who can call the contract off.

AMERICAN BLACKOUT (2005, Run Time: 86 minutes)

Chronicles the recurring patterns of disenfranchisement witnessed from 2000 to 2004 while following the story of Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who not only took an active role in investigating these election debacles but also found herself in the middle of one after publicly questioning the Bush Administration about the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

MR.SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939, Run Time: 129 minutes)

Political heavyweights decide that Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), an obscure scoutmaster in a small town, would be the perfect dupe to fill a vacant U.S. Senate chair. Surely this naive bumpkin can be easily controlled by the senior senator (Claude Rains) from his state, a respectable and corrupted career politician. Director Frank Capra fills the movie with Smith’s wide-eyed wonder at the glories of Washington, all of which ring false for his cynical secretary, who doesn’t believe for a minute this rube could be for real. But he is. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is Capra’s ode to the power of innocence–an idea so potent that present-day audiences may find themselves wishing for a new Mr. Smith in Congress. The 1939 Congress was none too thrilled about the film’s depiction of their august body, denouncing it as a caricature; but even today, Capra’s jibes about vested interests and political machines look as accurate as ever.

HEAD OF STATE (2003, Run Time: 95 minutes)

Chris Rock writes, directs, and stars in the sassy political comedy Head of State, about Mays Gilliam, a black man who’s chosen by the leaders of an unspecificed party to run for president after their previous candidates die in a plan crash. Though he initially follows his handler’s instructions, Gilliam soon starts handling speeches in his own brazen, outspoken way, which starts to turn the tide–which upsets the party leaders who chose him, since they expected him to lose. While Head of State doesn’t quite have the razor wit that Rock wields in his stand-up routine, it has a sharper edge than just about any other political satire in recent memory.

UNPRECEDENTED (2002, Run Time: 90 minutes)

Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election is the riveting story about the battle for the presidency in Florida and the undermining of democracy in America. Filmmakers Richard Ray Perez and Joan Sekler examine modern America’s most controversial political contest: the 2000 election of George W. Bush. What emerges is a disturbing picture of an election marred by suspicious irregularities, electoral injustices, and sinister voter purges in a state governed by the winning candidate’s brother. This 2004 Campaign Edition features new commentary by Danny Glover and a new segment on the dangers of electronic voting machines.

OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism

(2004, Run Time: 137 minutes)

The genre-busting documentary hit that started the flood of issue-oriented documentaries, just in time for another crazed season of political news coverage in the build up to the 2008 presidential election. Outfoxed examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, have been running a race to the bottom in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public’s right to know.

The Candidate (1972, Run Time: 110 minutes)

Michael Ritchie’s 1972 drama about a political idealist (Robert Redford) recruited to make a run for the Senate is still engrossing and still a terribly accurate reflection of the contemporary campaign process. In one of his trademark roles as a man haunted by some shadow of inauthenticity, Redford is superb as a first-time candidate watching his values and control over his message disappear in the age of TV-friendly prefabrication.