Trailer Trashing with The Vern: Ten Presidential Trailers.

by The Vern · November 6, 2012 · Trailer Trash · No Comments

Yes Folks it’s election time and I thought it would be important to post some really good presidential trailers here. Throughout the years there have been many good movies about our political system and even though I don’t plan on showing you every single one. I did want to share with you, a few that do stick out.

Don’t worry, next week we’ll be back to our old format again. I know you’ve been missing the taste of some new trailers, but these leftovers are still good. Just add some pepper and it will be fine.

 

Nixon.


Oliver Stone’s biography about the 37th president of the United States. Anthony Hopkins may not look exactly like Nixon, but he does a good job at sounding like him. This is a very biased movie that tries to show why he did the things that eventually caused him to resign. I’m not defending the guy, but I wanted to learn more from this flick, and I ended up not learning much.

 

 

Wag The Dog.

 

When the President is accused of having an affair.  His top spin doctors( Robert De Niro, Anne Heche) hire a film producer (Dustin Hoffman) to create a fake war so that they can move the public’s interest away.   This one  has a great premise and the cast all do a fine job.  I just need to revisit it again to decide if I really like it or not.

 

 

The American President.

 

If you take the President on just a face value alone.  You are left with a man who wants the same thing that everyone else wants and that is to be happy and find love.  I do remember watching this flick and somewhat enjoying it.  Aaron Sorkin(“The Social Network“) does a good job at making all the characters in this believable, and I really like Michael Douglas as the commander in chief.  He would get my vote.

 

 

Dave.

 

Kevin Kline is perfectly cast as the good hearted Dave Kovic who steps in to replace the presidentl( Also Kevin Kline) after he gets into a coma.   Frank Langella and Sigourney Weaver are perfectly cast in this tale of an ordinary guy trying his best to to do the right thing.  It’s a sweet movie that is not super memorable, but it is a lot of fun.

 

 

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

 

I will fully agree that this movie is a classic and one that needs to be watched.  Not only by film buffs, but also by anyone who still fights for our basic human rights.  The speech that James Stewart delivers at the end is very inspirational and makes me wish we had those citizens still fighting on our side.  This trailer however features nothing of the sort and it  seems to be very much in love with stroking it’s own dick.  Don’t get me wrong  I’m glad the movie did well and it remains a classic, but it could have easily gone limp.

 

 

The Contender.


(The Audio is kind of bad. I apologize)

Joan Allen’s character is picked to be Vice President by The Dude himself (Jeff Bridges).  But her rival played by Gary Oldman finds out about her college past and uses that to destroy her so the seat will be his.  This was completely forgotten about when it first came out which is a shame because it actually is a nice political thriller.  It’s not award worthy, but it is worth checking out.

 

 

Air Force One.

 

This one is extremely cheesy, but I can’t help in  putting it here.   The basic plot is that a bunch of bad guys headed by Gary Oldman hijack Airforce One, and only the president(Harrison Ford) has the skills to take those muther fuckers down.    A lot of things don’t make sense and it does run a bit too long, but I still have fun watching it.

 

 

Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

 

Usually I would just post the trailer, but this scene is just too perfect for me not to include it in it’s entirety.  Peter Sellers is just so damn good in all the three roles he plays and this phone call is among one of the best comedic moments of all time.

 

 

Bulworth.

 

Feeling very depressed about the way the Government has been run while he was in office.  U.S. Senator J.G. Bullworth(Warren Beatty)  decides to put a contract out on his life.  Doing this allows him to be free and speak the truth to everyone during his campaign.  This movie is not politically correct, and I’m so thankful for that.  It makes me wish we had more people ready to tell the truth like this person does.  Infact this would be a great double feature with “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington“.   The romantic  subplot with Halle Berry is the only weak part of the whole  movie and I wish it was removed.

 

 

Dick.

 

Two teenage girls (Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst) stumble upon the whole Watergate Scandal and are hired by Nixon(Dan Hedeya) himself to be official dog walkers so that they can be kept quiet.  This doesn’t look all that bad and I’m sort of upset I never got a chance to watch this one.   Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst have both matured into fine dramatic actors, and it’s fun watching their earlier works.

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