Hollywood.TV is your source for celebrity gossip, news, and videos of your favorite stars! bit.ly – Click to Subscribe! Facebook.com – Become a Fan! Twitter.com – Follow Us! Spike Lee premiered in latest film ‘Red Hook Summer’ in New York. The film tells the story of Flik Royale, a young boy who spends the Summer with his religions grandfather in the housing projects of Red Hook. The film opens August 10th in new York and wider release on August 24th. Hollywood.TV is the global leader in capturing celebrity breaking news as it happens. Launched in 2008, we capture all the latest news, exclusive celebrity interviews, star videos and hot celebrity gossip from around the world every minute of everyday. HTV is on the streets 24/7, at all the industry events and invited by the stars to cover their every move in Hollywood, New York and Miami. Hollywood.TV is currently the third most viewed reporter channel on www.youtube.com YouTube with almost 400 million views, and our footage is seen worldwide! Tune in daily for all the latest Hollywood news on www.hollywood.tv and http like us on Facebook!
Sure, he adapted the Bourne series, Stephen King’s Dolores Claiborne , 2009’s State of Play , and earned Oscar nods for writing and directing his own politically-tinged thriller, Michael Clayton – but any chat with The Bourne Legacy co-writer/director Tony Gilroy would be remiss without discussing his very first screenplay, amirite ? So without further ado, take a triple lutz down memory lane with Movieline and Gilroy as he recalls the joy of seeing his first produced script come to life. That’s right, lovers of Olympian sports sagas and ‘90s-era romance: we’re taking Gilroy back to The Cutting Edge . Gilroy earned his first credit with the 1992 romantic dramedy, about a high maintenance figure skater (Moira Kelly) and an ex-hockey star (D.B. Sweeney) who reluctantly pair up to compete in the XVI Olympic Winter Games. Despite underperforming at the box office, The Cutting Edge was a ‘90s staple that went on to enjoy a popular home video/cable afterlife, like so many films of the decade; the opposites-attract Taming of the Shrew -on-ice set-up proved so rich that ABC Family resurrected the brand 14 years later, spawning three more sequels, and was memorably spoofed in the Will Ferrell vehicle Blades of Glory . For most fans, the phrase “toe pick” vividly conjures the feisty chemistry between Kelly’s Kate Moseley and Sweeney’s Doug Dorsey. And though he subsequently launched full-bore into more heady, decidedly Tony Gilroy-esque terrain (2009’s Duplicity , perhaps, comes closest), Gilroy lit up when we brought up arguably his most cherished early work. So, we’ve got to talk about The Cutting Edge , a movie I loved and watched more times over than I can recall. Tony Gilroy: [Laughing] Were you a skater? No, but I was a girl! Gilroy: And there’s only one kiss in there! Talk about a chaste movie. All they get is one kiss at the end, in public. From that to this…? I can still say “toe pick” and people know exactly what I’m talking about. Gilroy: [Laughs] You’re making my day. How did you go from an Olympics-themed skating romance to the politically-charged, character-driven complex dramas you went on to write and direct? Do you see any throughline there? Gilroy: So many scripts! I always like to do something different, but I don’t know – it’s always the same, it’s always what’s right for the idea of the movie. What possessed you to write a movie like this in the first place? I’d written some very serious scripts before that, and I was so desperate to get a movie made that when I sat down with [producer] Robert Cort and he said, “You wrote this other movie and it’s this Preston Sturgess-esque kind of movie and I like the relationship between the two people, they’re always bickering — and I want to do a skating movie. Because every seven years there has to be a skating movie, and we’re due.” I go, “A skating movie? Well, if I write this, will you get it made? Because I’m tired of writing movies that don’t get made.” He was in a really powerful position at Interscope and he’s a great guy. He said, “If you write this, I’m going to make this movie.” So I poured myself into it and did everything I could not to get fired and stay on, and it was tremendous fun. Do you remember it fondly? Oh my god, yes. Visiting the first production office where your movie’s going, and walking in realizing there are 60, 80 people going to work because you sat in a room… it’s just the coolest. Stay tuned for the full Movieline interview with Tony Gilroy. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
I assume Jennifer Lawrence has a serious nerd following thanks to her recent nerd movie she signed up for that I can only assume some nerds have masturbated to robots they have made in their basements that are in her image….making these pics of some pant jacked up her cunt some serious exciting progress in her sell-out, twilight approach to making money and establishing a career, despite being Oscar nominated and average looking at best, cuz blockbuster shit, mean hits and hits mean she’s got work the next few years without having to release a sex tape….too bad….but at least she’s giving us some pussy definition in her pants… To See The Rest of the Pics FOLLOW THIS LINK
Joanna Krupa is the kind of girl who did Dancing with the Stars before being a star. You know a girl on a mission to milk her escaping communism by getting some implants, and doing some really low level marketing campaigns, that made her a household name to the very active Maxim subscriber….while the average guy didn’t give a fuck about her….other than appreciating the fact that she had a hot body…if faced with a picture of her…you know what I mean, hot pussy, not very memorable… Well I guess she is at a crossroad in her caree, where she has to figure out how to make noise, now that her one bottom feeding stunt, Dancing with the Stars is over….I am sure her fingers are crossed that they do a reunion special, or a greatest hits and she makes the cut, cuz after that kind of play, it is all downhill from there….Never was, never will be, just getting older and haggered….let’s show some tit and get talked about…works for me. To See The Rest of the Pics FOLLOW THIS LINK
Krisen Bell is old, overrated, boring, played out, not the girl I like to have as the hot main character of any movie I’ve seen her in….but the girl I’d like to replace with a hot younger girl with bigger tits to be the main character of movies I’ve seen her in….As far as I’m concerned, she’s just low level, but managed to get a few good hits, even though all her movie roles should be the straight to DVD kind, cuz she’s that kind of girl…even her bikini pics in Esquire are uneventful, even boring…I guess when you’re a teen dream, but pushing 35….shit becomes more of a nightmare….
Filmmaker and actress Julie Delpy won accolades at the Berlin International Film Festival back in 2007 with her hilarious 2 Days In Paris , in which she starred opposite Adam Goldberg as a couple who stop off in Paris for a short visit, staying with her parents en route back to the U.S. Delpy, who wrote and directed the feature that did solid numbers in release jiggered the formula for a sequel, 2 Days In New York , which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January. This time, she stars opposite Chris Rock , and similarly to Paris her family factors into the dialog-heavy plot that’s riddled with eccentricity, social commentary and crazy mishaps. In the film, Delpy’s character Marion is now living with her boyfriend Mingus (Chris Rock) in a New York apartment with their cat and two children from their previous relationships. Marion’s father (played by her real-life dad, Albert Delpy), her sister and her over the top boyfriend suddenly decide to pay a visit from France, unleashing another 48 hours of family drama. Similarly to 2 Days In Paris , Marion’s family is sometimes unnervingly open in their discussions about sexuality and other topics most would consider crosses social boundaries. The French-American cultural disconnect only amplifies the gulf and the result is laugh out loud funny. Julie Delpy and Chris Rock chatted with ML about the film at Sundance. Initially Rock was about to leave, but sat down for a few minutes before heading out of Park City. Delpy, who first acted in none other than French-Swiss maestro Jean-Luc Godard’s Détective in 1985 and has since gone on to do many roles including Before Sunset , has since taken on the director’s hat herself and is a steadfast filmmaking convert. She talks about making films outside the studio system, though she said she’d like to try it sometime and would consider it another welcome challenge. In fact, she would like to try almost everything – almost… Similarly to 2 Days In Paris , you pulled together financing through Europe, can a dialog-driven film exist within Hollywood or is this the only way to put together a film like your latest, 2 Days In New York ? Julie Delpy: I never even thought of going to a studio. It’s just the way I do things. I put the financing together through a European financing system and it’s not easy – it’s a struggle. It might be easier in a way to go to a studio Chris Rock: I think it depends on who you are as a filmmaker. JD: I’m sure if it was through a studio, I wouldn’t be able to do this film exactly the way it is. Though I’m not really sure because I’ve never really been approached by a studio. I’m not sure if they know who I am or know I’m a filmmaker. They don’t even know I’m an actress – trust me [laughs]. CR: I think it depends on who you are as a filmmaker determines how much control you will have and, you know, if you want more control, you’re better off not going through a studio, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. JD: Some things in this movie may not have been their whole thing. They may have wanted a different ending, though honestly, I don’t know what they would want because I haven’t worked with them. For me, I just do it in the way I know how. How did you both come together for this project? CR: I saw 2 Days in Paris and I Loo-oooved 2 Days in Paris . JD: I’d seen his work and have always loved his work. I met him briefly once and he stuck in my mind. The minute I thought of doing a sequel to 2 Days in Paris , I knew I was going to be in a relationship with Mingus who is going to be Chris Rock, so he just came to my mind How has this contrasted with your most recent work Chris? CR: It’s fun, but the French thing – you have to get used to the fact you don’t understand what people around you are saying, but other than that it wasn’t much different than any other movie. I found working with the star and director was easy because you’re always talking to the boss. It’s harder when you’re talking to different people about different things. Because normally when you’re doing a movie, the star is kind-of half-way the director anyway… If the star doesn’t like what’s happening, you’re going to do what the star wants 90% of the time anyway. I hope I get to work with more star-directors… I read that when you were writing this story, you said you wanted to build on “real ground,” what did you mean by that? JD: I spent a lot of time with [Krzysztof] Kieslowski after we did White (1994) talking about movies and writing and everything. He’d tell me that I’m such a movie buff and I was obsessed. He’d tell me, ‘I haven’t seen this, or I haven’t seen that,’ and I’d say, ‘what have you seen?’ and he’d tell me, ‘real life.’ And that stuck with me. What can be more true than take some truth and build something from that. Obsession with death for instance – so something like that – and build from there into a story. 2 Days in New York is grounded in reality. There’s a couple with kids re-constructed and brought together… [ Chris Rock is pulled out of the room at this point and they say their good byes ] [ Continuing ]: I like to base my stories on simple things. It could have been a drama, but I love comedy so that’s what I did. But for this, I like to incorporate things that I know. So in it, I talk about my mother’s death. She actually passed away three years ago. She was in 2 Days in Paris and she was a wonderful actress. So she couldn’t be in this film obviously, so I had to find a way to talk about it… Your father is in this film as he was, of course, in 2 Days in Paris. Are his antics in the film similar to how he is in real-life? Yeah he’s very crazy. He’s very funny and very light, but also a very profound person. He’s not a superficial person at all. He’s fun and he likes to laugh and loves life, but he also has profound problems. He’s not happy all the time, but if we’re at a festival and the film’s playing well then we’re all happy. For me it was great to write parts for my parents in the first film and in this film for my father. It’s wonderful to be able to do that. They gave me so much by exposing me to film. My father gave me directing education through his past direction of plays. They gave me so much, so I’m glad I could give back a little bit. He keys a Hummer in this film in one memorable NYC street scene, and I was thinking it’s his almost child-like rebellious way of perhaps lashing out about global warming… Yeah exactly, that is a stand on global warming. Is he like that in real life? No, but my dad hates cars. They’re all over the place in Paris and they park on sidewalks and have no respect. As he ever keyed a car? No, but he’s joked about it for years so I let him have his fantasy in the film. I mean, I hate cars too. I live in L.A. so of course I have a car, but it’s the only real way we have for transport. But we’re polluting every moment of the day and we’ll pay for it. We’ll be gone [some day]… But Earth will be ok, but it’ll shake us out. So what do you think about Sequels? What about a 2 Days in L.A. or 2 Days in Tokyo ? I think the franchise is going to stop there. I’m not a James Bond kind of girl. I think it stops here at 2 Days in New York . But I’d certainly like to direct more films and will if given the opportunity to do it…I have a lot of friends who are directors and they call me to ask if I’d like to be in them – people like Richard Linklater etc. or maybe not someone who’s my friend but just someone I really like, but I think my first desire is filmmaking. What other kinds of stories do you want to do? Everything. Just everything from sci-fi to dramas – but maybe not sports movies. It’s not that I don’t like sports movies, but it’s just that I don’t get it. I don’t really understand sports, but everything else I’d like to do. I’d like to do a thriller, though I don’t know if I’d be good at it, but I’d like to try it. Maybe it’s pretentious and I’m crazy and all that, but I think I will do a thriller one day. It’s such a struggle to make movies. With this movie, we stopped two weeks before we started shooting and the film fell apart and then we put it all back together and then four weeks into the shoot we stopped. It was really, really hard. Was it harder than 2 Days in Paris ? In a way it was. There was more money involved with shooting in New York. I thought Paris would be more expensive. No, Paris is much less expensive. New York is… I think $3 million went into trucks, so I mean it’s really expensive. I mean like basically it’s very very expensive. And it’s fine if you have the money, and we had the money, but when the money fell apart at the last minute, it was just drama. It was the most painful experience to think you’re about to shoot and then everything just stops. Would you consider going a different route when tackling some of the other stories and genres you’re interested in doing down the line – maybe even the studios? I think I would do it if given the opportunity. But I’m also interested in working within limitations. I have limitations with my films which is typically major financial limitations, but having a studio tell you what to do would be a limitation too, but it would be manageable. I think the only thing that’s not manageable is death. People dying or people who are sick is not manageable. Everything else is nothing. You know I consider in life, people in movies lose perspective because it becomes so important… I’m not like that. It’s life, there are people dying around you, there’s craziness – that’s serious. A studio telling me what to do, that’s manageable. That’s just a boss telling you what to do and that’s fine, I’ll do my best within my limitation… So if that opportunity came along, then you’d do it? Yes, it’s almost fun to me, it would be a fun thing to do.
The Bourne Legacy is a passable movie that has the peculiar misfortune of being part of a very successful, influential and distinctive franchise. Box office-wise, this is probably not going to be much of a hardship, but in terms of content and style it definitely suffers in comparison. The Bourne predecessors, particularly the two directed by Paul Greengrass, are by my count some of the most exhilarating action movies in recent cinematic history. The Bourne Legacy is not. Still, it has two very good leads in Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz and a few tense, rangy sequences in a half-restored house in the Maryland woods and in the sterile confines of a high-security lab. Tony Gilroy , who worked on the screenplays for the past three films in the series, gets a bump up to director in this installment (he also shares a writing credit), but, that jowly opening fight in Duplicity aside, he’s no great facilitator of action scenes. Gilroy also has to reverse engineer this ungainly “sidequel” to fit around the existing mythology of the previous trilogy without overlapping it too much — Jason Bourne ( Matt Damon ) himself is mentioned many times while never appearing, but his actions are what spur the events in this film, which takes place in approximately the same time frame as The Bourne Ultimatum . The result is a convoluted back-end story that’s grouted around what’s happened before, but is essentially the tale of a brutal clean- and cover-up. Bourne looked for clues to his identity and his reason for being; Cross (Renner), the hero of The Bourne Legacy , is just trying to stay whole. It’s a process that’s more complicated than straightforward survival for him. Cross is an agent of Outcome, which, like Blackbriar, is a successor program to Bourne’s black ops Treadstone operation. The twist for Outcome participants is that they’ve had their physical and mental abilities enhanced by a carefully managed regimen of space age pills adjusted for their specific chemistry — “chems” are what Cross calls them, and the frequency of his insistent demands for them could be the basis a decent drinking game (it turns out he’s got a good reason for not wanting to degrade back to his standard self). Out of fear it’ll be discovered in the Blackbriar/Jason Bourne fallout, Outcome is shut down and everyone involved, agents and scientists alike, are killed. Cross happens to escape the burn down, and goes in search of the sole surviving doctor from the lab, Marta Shearing (Weisz). She’s been made a target herself, and before you know it the two are off and running to a facility in the Philippines where they hope to stabilize Cross’ condition while the National Research Assay Group, led by Eric Byer (Edward Norton), use all the technology and operatives at their disposal to track them down. Renner’s Aaron Cross is no Jason Bourne, in welcome ways. Where Bourne was half traumatized boy scout, half instinctual killing machine, Cross’ eyes are wide open — he’s had no mental break, no soul-deep shock from which to recover, no dark past to rediscover. He’s also matter-of-fact and funny, with traces of the worldly swagger Renner showed as his disturbingly fearless bomb disposal expert in The Hurt Locker ; in the midst of the on-the-go running that makes up most of the film, he manages to get a laugh out of the outrage he displays when Marta reveals she doesn’t know his name. Weisz plays her character as a dorkily committed, slightly scattered professional who’s always focused on the results of rather than the reasons behind her work, and who’s only slowly realizing the seriousness of what she’s been involved in. There’s not much time for nookie in The Bourne Legacy ‘s multinational pursuit, but the pair have the crackle of legitimate chemistry, enough to make you want more scenes of them together and less of them in visually garbled clashes and chases. The Bourne Legacy mimics the nigh revelatory look of the second and third Bourne movies without sharing their stomach-dropping sense of space and awareness of the physicality of their characters (the cinematographer is Oliver Wood, who also shot The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy ). The brief fight scenes seem edited together punch by punch, while a race across Manila rooftops recalls the Tangier sequence in Ultimatum without its clammy-palmed tautness — it looks more like your now-standard blockbuster parkour display. The aspects of The Bourne Legacy that work, chief among them Renner and Weisz, feel like they should somehow be salvaged and put into their own potentially more standard action movie. As is, the film feels hampered by its own franchise, by the shoehorned-in scenes in which David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Albert Finney and others continue their covert agency cold wars that are now once removed from what’s happened to our current protagonist, and by the awkward extended intro in which Cross has been sent on a kind of probationary exercise into the wilds of Alaska during which he literally wrestles a wolf. And as the latest bureaucrat-cum-villain, Norton has distressingly little to do but bark orders at techs operating computers, the lone flashback to a past interaction with Cross giving no great sense of tie between the two, or weight to the high-tech cat-and-mouse game. Like much of the movie, Norton’s presence has a patient, diligent quality to it, as if what’s on screen is just a slog to get through before some promised fun in the next installment. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The Monkees will go on tour together for the first time since singer Davy Jones died of a heart attack in February, the group announced today. The 12-date fall U.S. tour will kick off in November and will include all three surviving Monkees: Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork. The trek marks the first time in 15 years that Nesmith will join the group on tour; the last time he joined The Monkees was back in 1997. According to Rolling Stone , the set list will span The Monkees’ career, from their TV series to their movie “Head” to more obscure album tracks. “I never really left,” says Nesmith of his time with the group. “It is a part of my youth that is always active in my thought and part of my overall work.” “It stays in a special place, but like things in the past it fades in and out in relevance to activities that are current. Getting together with old friends and acquaintances can be stimulating and very fun and even inspiring to me.” “We all did some good work together and I am always interested in the right time and the right place to reconnect and play.” The Monkees plan to salute the late Davy Jones in a multimedia show with some rare photographs and videos throughout the tour.
By now, we all know what transpired between Kristen Stewart and Rupert Sanders , the actress’ director on Snow White and the Huntsman . But we weren’t sure how Bill Condon, the man behind the camera for Breaking Dawn Part 2 , felt about the scandal that has enveloped his upcoming blockbuster… until now. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about its upcoming Fall Movie Preview – which features an unfortunately ironic photo on the cover – Condon says Stewart and Robert Pattinson were nothing but professional, respectful and hard-working on set. They are also just regular people, despite the pedestal on which many fans have placed them. “The fact is, these are actors playing parts, and maybe it’s not such a bad thing that people be reminded of that,” Condon tells EW . “Both of these actors gave heart and soul to the Twilight movies, not only during shooting, but also by navigating so graciously the whole life-in-a-fishbowl aspect of the phenomenon. “Above all they have always shown great respect for the fans who made these movies such a success. Now it’s time that some of that respect be returned to them.” That’s certainly a fair request. Twihards will get their first look at Pattinson since the drama broke when he makes an appearance this Monday on The Daily Show .
“Obamacare.” “Romney Hood.” The political name-calling sounds like campaign season is well under-way (though does it ever end or begin?). The art of the possible will get a comical twist this weekend with the release of The Campaign , starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. The pic follows two rivals who clash in an election that will decide who will head to the U.S. Congress from their North Carolina district (Ferrell appears to even flash a not-so-subtle coif similar to former V.P. candidate John Edwards). The film, which opens this weekend, prompted ABC’s Political Punch reporter Jake Tapper to offer up his Top 10 political films of all-time (documentaries were excluded) and “political film” was kept to a narrow definition. See if you agree with this list and let the campaign begin. 10. In The Loop , directed by Armando Iannucci (2009) Starring Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi and James Gandolfini, the 2009 Sundance premiere is a satirical play on the build up to the war in Iraq and the relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. In the film both countries are on the verge of launching a Middle Eastern war and the story follows a behind-the-scenes drama in which there are officials trying to promote armed action and those trying to stop it. A British government minister tells a radio interviewer that war may be inevitable, but is then shot down by the Prime Minister’s aide, played by Peter Capaldi. But then, the aide himself makes a further mistake saying there may be a need to “climb the mountain of conflict,” further muddying a delicate situation. 9. The Parallax View , directed by Alan J. Pakula (1974) Based on the 1970 novel by Loren Singer, Warren Beatty plays a newspaper reporter who takes on a dangerous investigation into a corporation that engages in political assassination. Presidential candidate Senator Charles Carroll (Bill Joyce) is assassinated atop the Space Needle in Seattle and one witness, journalist Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss) tells her former boyfriend, reporter Joe Frady (Beatty) that she believes there is more to the killing since six of the witnesses have died and she fears she may be next. The Parallax View is the third in director Alan J. Pakula’s political paranoia trilogy including Klute (1971) and All the President’s Men (1976) (and also the only one not to receive an Oscar nomination or win). 8. Z , directed by Costa Gavras (1969) Also based on a novel, this time the 1966 book of the same title by Vassilis Vassilikos, the French political thriller is a vaguely fictionalized take on the events around the assassination of democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant as an investigator, the film combines dark humor and a satirical view of politics though it managed to be the 10th highest-grossing film of the year in the U.S. in 1969. It also received both an Oscar-nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Picture. 7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb , directed by Stanley Kubrick (1964) Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden this black comedy takes on the nuclear scare and the Cold War. Based on Peter George’s novel Red Alert , the story revolves around a rogue U.S. Air Force general who orders a nuclear assault on the Soviet Union. The President of the United States and his staff as well as a Royal Air Force officer attempt to return the planes as they head to deliver their apocalyptic payload, while separately the film follows the crew on one of the planes as it heads to its target. The U.S. Library of Congress called Dr. Strangelove “Culturally Significant” in 1989 and is preserved in the National Film Registry. 6. Bananas , directed by Woody Allen (1971) South American politics take the focus in this comedy in which Allen stars with Louise Lasser and Carlos Montalban. Allen plays Fielding Mellish, a bumbling blue collar guy who wants to impress his activist love interest Nancy (Lasser) by getting involved in a revolution in a fictional South American country. He shows concern for the locals, but after he’s nearly killed by a military chief, he is saved by the revolutionaries and he finds himself in their debt. Soon, he learns to be a revolutionary himself, but when the revolt succeeds and their Castro-esque leader goes mad, he inadvertently finds himself as their new top figure. Back in the U.S., he faces trial and he reunites with his love… 5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , directed by Frank Capra (1939) This classic has shown up on lists throughout the decades. Starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart and based on an unpublished story by Lewis R. Foster, the film proved a controversy when it was released back in ’39, but received 11 Academy Award nominations and a win for Best Original Story. The story revolves around an unnamed Western governor who by chance chooses Jefferson Smith (Stewart) to serve out a term in the U.S. Senate following the death of the sitting incumbent. The governor believes he’ll be able to manipulate the naive Smith. His good intentions soon collide with an apparatus of political corruption and then all hell breaks loose. 4. Charlie Wilson’s War , directed by Mike Nichols (2007) Aaron Sorkin adapted for the screenplay based on a true story by George Crile III’s 2003 book Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History . The drama recounts how U.S. congressman Charlie Wilson, a Texas Democrat, played by Tom Hanks, teamed up with the C.I.A. to support the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Also starring Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman along with Amy Adams, Ned Beatty and Emily Blunt, Wilson’s political maneuvering and his allies in the spy agency’s Afghanistan task force results in the mujahideen being armed to the teeth complete with stinger missiles which can shoot down Soviet choppers. The result is a Soviet quagmire and ultimately a triumph for the mujahideen, but the unintended consequences imply an unwieldy Afghanistan that was left to fend for itself after the Soviet withdrawal. 3. Wag the Dog , directed by Barry Levinson (1997) This film came out before the Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, though the film is often identified with it. The black comedy stars Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro about a Washington spin-master who hires a Hollywood producer to create a fake war with Albania (of all places) in order to distract the electorate with a sex scandal just days before a presidential election. The caption at the beginning of the film says it all: “Why does the dog wag its tail? Because the dog is smarter than the tail. If the tail were smarter, it would wag the dog.” 2. All the President’s Men (1976) Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein The 1976 Oscar-winning political thriller is based on the non-fiction work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, better known as the The Washington Post journalists who blew the lid off the Watergate scandal. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman play Woodward and Bernstein respectively. The crisis that ensued ended in the resignation of President Nixon, the first U.S. head of state to resign and the subsequent inauguration of Vice President Ford in 1974. 1. The Candidate , directed by Michael Ritchie (1972) Robert Redford also stars in this film about an unlikely and idealistic Democratic candidate from California. Bill McKay (Redford) is initially more interested in espousing his liberal views publicly than winning and decides to take to the campaign trail to vocalize his opinion since his challenger, the incumbent Republican is a given as the victor. McKay wins the party nomination, but then finds out he’s likely to be overwhelmingly trounced in the election. He figured he’d lose, but not by such a humiliating margin. So, in order to avoid embarrassment, he broadens his appeal by dousing his ardently liberal message resulting in a rise in the polls. He also appeals for his father’s help (a former governor) to endorse him since the media is speculating that his silence is a tacit thumbs up to the opposition. As the debate looms, more compromises are made and the result entrenches McKay in the political establishment. [ Sources: ABC News , Wikipedia ]
