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Political Journalists on Campaign Films

Favorite Political Films

Political Journalists on Campaign Films

Five political writers vote on their favorite campaign movies.

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Jane Hamsher's Top 5 Political Films
1

A Face in the Crowd

Elia Kazan's masterpiece from a crackling Budd Schulberg script with a tour de force performance by Andy Griffith. One of the best films ever made about the difficulty the media (and the public) have in distinguishing between person and persona.

2

Wag the Dog

Maybe my favorite movie line ever: "If Kissinger can win the Peace Prize, I wouldn't be surprised to wake up and find out I'd won the Preakness. "

3

Three Kings

Surreal and gloriously undisciplined film about the first Gulf War. Notable for Tom Sigel's decision to shoot on Ektachrome slide photography stock and develop using a bleach bypass process — it just feels like you're in the middle of a hallucinogenic desert war. Anyone who thinks more military intervention in the region is a good idea should be forced to watch the scene where Mark Wahlberg is tortured by the Iraqi soldier whose family was killed in a bombing raid, because that's going to be the reality of what we'll be living down for the rest of our natural lives.

4
Being There

Being There

An indispensable guidebook to the Bush years.

5

Judgment at Nuremberg

We can dream, can't we?

Dan Rather
Dan Rather's Top 5 Political Films

Jane Hamsher is the founder of the progressive political blog Firedoglake.com. Her work has also appeared on the Huffington Post, Alternet and The American Prospect. She's the author of the bestselling book Killer Instinct and has produced such films as Natural Born Killers and Permanent Midnight. She lives in Northern Virginia.

FilmInFocus asked Hamsher to pick her five favorite films about politics and politicians.

 

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