list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Bob Roberts on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Bob_Roberts/3911/default.aspx Title: Bob Roberts
Year: 1992
Director: Tim Robbins
Plot: In the tradition of This Is Spinal Tap, producer/ director/ star Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts is a satire disguised as a documentary. Robbins plays the titular Roberts, a wealthy, well-connected young man running for a senatorial seat in Pennsylvania. On the surface, Roberts is an ingratiating glad-hander, a sincere believer in the restoration of such intangibles as national pride, family values, etc. But the longer Roberts is followed about by documentary filmmaker Brian Murray, the more we become aware that the candidate is a textbook case of cynicism and contempt. Only Giancarlo Esposito, a reporter for an underground newspaper, is willing to dig beneath Roberts' veneer--a habit that leads to the film's ironic conclusion. Several well-known actors make cameo appearances as TV commentators, notably Tim Robbins' longtime partner Susan Sarandon. Bob Roberts started out as a Tim Robbins-directed short subject for the TV series Saturday Night Live, then was expanded into a $4 million feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 3
Number of Lists: 14
Number of blog posts: 2
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Fri, 15 May 2009 17:12:04 GMTBob Roberts1992Tim RobbinsIn the tradition of <a href=/films/34830/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>This Is Spinal Tap</a>, producer/ director/ star <a href="/players/P___108437/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tim Robbins</a>' Bob Roberts is a satire disguised as a documentary. Robbins plays the titular Roberts, a wealthy, well-connected young man running for a senatorial seat in Pennsylvania. On the surface, Roberts is an ingratiating glad-hander, a sincere believer in the restoration of such intangibles as national pride, family values, etc. But the longer Roberts is followed about by documentary filmmaker Brian Murray, the more we become aware that the candidate is a textbook case of cynicism and contempt. Only <a href="/players/P____22133/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Giancarlo Esposito</a>, a reporter for an underground newspaper, is willing to dig beneath Roberts' veneer--a habit that leads to the film's ironic conclusion. Several well-known actors make cameo appearances as TV commentators, notably <a href="/players/P___108437/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tim Robbins</a>' longtime partner <a href="/players/P____63158/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Susan Sarandon</a>. Bob Roberts started out as a <a href="/players/P___108437/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tim Robbins</a>-directed short subject for the TV series <a href=/films/220811/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Saturday Night Live</a>, then was expanded into a $4 million feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide3Slightly Tagged (1-5)1423http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t17460lm6jn.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Bob_Roberts/3911/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/11/4/36971.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 11/4/2008 6:01:24 PM
Body: 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. Citizen Kane Yes, it’s the grandaddy at the top of every “best of” list, but people don’t really think of it as an election film. However, there’s an election right in the heart of it. Charles Foster Kane runs for the governorship of New York, and has a good chance of winning until he’s at the heart of a scandal involving a woman and the incumbent governor, Boss Jim W. Gettys. His campaign speech in front of the enormous poster of himself is one of the most iconic images from the film, and also the turning point for his ultimate fall from grace in the film. The Candidate Robert Redford’s darkly comic film about a race for one of the California senate seats shows how volatile and tupsy-turvy politics can be. Peter Boyle is supposed to find someone to unseat a popular Republican Senator, but know that they are so far ahead it won’t matter who he gets. Eventually he goes after the extremely unlike candidate Bill McKay, played by Redford, and tells him it doesn’t matter what he does, he’s going to lose. So he’s free to do what he wants on the campaign trail. However, he finally decides he doesn’t want to go down by a landslide and fights back, eventually even winning the race. In the famous scene at the end, Redford finds Boyle and asks, “What do we do now?” America might very well be asking that question tomorrow. The Contender Joan Allen has had a couple of brushes with the White House. She played first lady Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, for which she received an Academy Award nomination, and inThe Contender she plays a Democratic senator from Ohio who becomes the new Vice-Presidential nominee when the President (Jeff Bridges) has his own VP die while in office. It’s a well-acted exploration of sexual politics, and revolves around an event that may or may not have happened to Allen’s character in college. Gary Oldman vamps it up as a congressman who blocks Allen’s appointment, Jeff Bridges make a terrific president and Sam Elliot is a wonderfully hardassed Chief of Staff, but it’s really Joan Allen who amazes in this film. Bob Roberts Tim Robbins’ film about a folksy Pennsylvania senate candidate who learns how to manipulate the system was actually based on a Saturday Night Live sketch from 1986 featuring Robbins as the same character. It’s full of twangy music, borrows heavily from Bob Dylan, and turns sinister towards the end with a possibly faked assassination attempt that puts Roberts in office. The songs are the most memorable part of the film, although the soundtrack was never released because Tim Robbins didn’t want the songs to be played out of context. Like… as a John McCain rally song, which would have sent Robbins into fits of apoplexy. Election It might take place in the halls of high school, but it’s a snapshot not just of the formative years of teenager, but of the entire political process as well. Easily Reese Witherspoon’s best film, her evil and vindictive Tracy Flick isn’t someone you want to cross, or even run against. Although if your opponent is the sickly sweet Chris Klein (who even votes for Tracy), then you don’t really have to worry about competition. Matthew Broderick desperately tries to stop her rise to power, which provides some of the funniest moments in the film, including a recount scandal that rivals the Bush/Gore election. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington They don’t make films like this anymore, and Washington would certainly never give us an ending this neat and clean, but it’s one of Jimmy Stewart’s most endearing roles and it’s still inspirational some 50 years later. It has the best filibuster ever on film, although the confessional moment at the end would never happen in today’s political climate. Stewart’s Smith is still the kind of character you can get behind and root for today, and should probably be required viewing upon assuming any office in D.C. Primary Colors Based on the book that was inspired by Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992, John Travolta actually does a decent job as a southern governor running for office in this Mike Nichols film. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since this movie came out, although it was a bit too late to ride on the coattails of the book two years earlier. When the novel came out by “Anonymous” (later revealed to be journalist Joe Klein) it was on everyone’s lips. Besides Travolta’s Clinton impersonation, the movie didn’t generate nearly as many waves. Still, it’s worth watcing on this Election Tuesday, if nothing other than to tweak your nostalgia circuit. Wag the Dog This movie is mostly terrific for Dustin Hoffman’s excellent Robert Evans impersonation throughout the movie. He plays a Hollywood producer brought in by De Niro’s political spin doctor character to create a fake war in order to distract from the President’s ongoing sex scandal. It proves to be ridiculously successful, and is loosely based on Larry Beinhart’s novel American Hero. Although in the book the president is George H.W. Bush, and the war Opeation Desert Storm. Still, it works a bit better as a dark comedy rather than being based on actual events, although Beinhart’s book is well worth reading. Nixon I wasn’t originally a fan of this Oliver Stone movie, but it’s been playing on cable a lot the past month, and I usually end up watching it whenever I flip channels. Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Nixon is incredibly intricate, showing both his paranoid side, and his detached loneliness. As Paul Sorvino’s Henry Kissinger in the film says, “Can you imagine what this man would be like had anyone ever loved him?” It’s also a slap the the face to W, which doesn’t even feel like an Oliver Stone movie. Nixon has teeth, W is a softball. Probably one of Hopkins’ meatiest roles as an actor, and the DVD version with 28 minutes of extra footage will get you through the entire night. Recount When HBO announced this film, I remember cringing and thinking “Won’t the controversy ever go away? It’s like pouring salt in an open wound!” Then I saw the movie, and I loved it. However, I can’t watch it all the way through because I get incredibly angry whenever I see it. Forget about what would have happened if Nixon was loved. What about what our country would be like now if Gore had been elected. How different would things be now? Would we be at war? Would the economy be in the toilet? We’ll never know, but this film really gives you a hard look at the process that put Bush in office, and how full of holes (and dangling chads) it really is. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:01:24 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com11/4/2008 6:01:24 PMAre 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. Citizen Kane Yes, it’s the grandaddy at the top of every “best of” list, but people don’t really think of it as an election film. However, there’s an election right in the heart of it. Charles Foster Kane runs for the governorship of New York, and has a good chance of winning until he’s at the heart of a scandal involving a woman and the incumbent governor, Boss Jim W. Gettys. His campaign speech in front of the enormous poster of himself is one of the most iconic images from the film, and also the turning point for his ultimate fall from grace in the film. The Candidate Robert Redford’s darkly comic film about a race for one of the California senate seats shows how volatile and tupsy-turvy politics can be. Peter Boyle is supposed to find someone to unseat a popular Republican Senator, but know that they are so far ahead it won’t matter who he gets. Eventually he goes after the extremely unlike candidate Bill McKay, played by Redford, and tells him it doesn’t matter what he does, he’s going to lose. So he’s free to do what he wants on the campaign trail. However, he finally decides he doesn’t want to go down by a landslide and fights back, eventually even winning the race. In the famous scene at the end, Redford finds Boyle and asks, “What do we do now?” America might very well be asking that question tomorrow. The Contender Joan Allen has had a couple of brushes with the White House. She played first lady Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, for which she received an Academy Award nomination, and inThe Contender she plays a Democratic senator from Ohio who becomes the new Vice-Presidential nominee when the President (Jeff Bridges) has his own VP die while in office. It’s a well-acted exploration of sexual politics, and revolves around an event that may or may not have happened to Allen’s character in college. Gary Oldman vamps it up as a congressman who blocks Allen’s appointment, Jeff Bridges make a terrific president and Sam Elliot is a wonderfully hardassed Chief of Staff, but it’s really Joan Allen who amazes in this film. Bob Roberts Tim Robbins’ film about a folksy Pennsylvania senate candidate who learns how to manipulate the system was actually based on a Saturday Night Live sketch from 1986 featuring Robbins as the same character. It’s full of twangy music, borrows heavily from Bob Dylan, and turns sinister towards the end with a possibly faked assassination attempt that puts Roberts in office. The songs are the most memorable part of the film, although the soundtrack was never released because Tim Robbins didn’t want the songs to be played out of context. Like… as a John McCain rally song, which would have sent Robbins into fits of apoplexy. Election It might take place in the halls of high school, but it’s a snapshot not just of the formative years of teenager, but of the entire political process as well. Easily Reese Witherspoon’s best film, her evil and vindictive Tracy Flick isn’t someone you want to cross, or even run against. Although if your opponent is the sickly sweet Chris Klein (who even votes for Tracy), then you don’t really have to worry about competition. Matthew Broderick desperately tries to stop her rise to power, which provides some of the funniest moments in the film, including a recount scandal that rivals the Bush/Gore election. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington They don’t make films like this anymore, and Washington would certainly never give us an ending this neat and clean, but it’s one of Jimmy Stewart’s most endearing roles and it’s still inspirational some 50 years later. It has the best filibuster ever on film, although the confessional moment at the end would never happen in today’s political climate. Stewart’s Smith is still the kind of character you can get behind and root for today, and should probably be required viewing upon assuming any office in D.C. Primary Colors Based on the book that was inspired by Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992, John Travolta actually does a decent job as a southern governor running for office in this Mike Nichols film. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since this movie came out, although it was a bit too late to ride on the coattails of the book two years earlier. When the novel came out by “Anonymous” (later revealed to be journalist Joe Klein) it was on everyone’s lips. Besides Travolta’s Clinton impersonation, the movie didn’t generate nearly as many waves. Still, it’s worth watcing on this Election Tuesday, if nothing other than to tweak your nostalgia circuit. Wag the Dog This movie is mostly terrific for Dustin Hoffman’s excellent Robert Evans impersonation throughout the movie. He plays a Hollywood producer brought in by De Niro’s political spin doctor character to create a fake war in order to distract from the President’s ongoing sex scandal. It proves to be ridiculously successful, and is loosely based on Larry Beinhart’s novel American Hero. Although in the book the president is George H.W. Bush, and the war Opeation Desert Storm. Still, it works a bit better as a dark comedy rather than being based on actual events, although Beinhart’s book is well worth reading. Nixon I wasn’t originally a fan of this Oliver Stone movie, but it’s been playing on cable a lot the past month, and I usually end up watching it whenever I flip channels. Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Nixon is incredibly intricate, showing both his paranoid side, and his detached loneliness. As Paul Sorvino’s Henry Kissinger in the film says, “Can you imagine what this man would be like had anyone ever loved him?” It’s also a slap the the face to W, which doesn’t even feel like an Oliver Stone movie. Nixon has teeth, W is a softball. Probably one of Hopkins’ meatiest roles as an actor, and the DVD version with 28 minutes of extra footage will get you through the entire night. Recount When HBO announced this film, I remember cringing and thinking “Won’t the controversy ever go away? It’s like pouring salt in an open wound!” Then I saw the movie, and I loved it. However, I can’t watch it all the way through because I get incredibly angry whenever I see it. Forget about what would have happened if Nixon was loved. What about what our country would be like now if Gore had been elected. How different would things be now? Would we be at war? Would the economy be in the toilet? We’ll never know, but this film really gives you a hard look at the process that put Bush in office, and how full of holes (and dangling chads) it really is. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/14/36308.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/14/2008 5:01:12 PM
Body: Oliver Stone has long been synonymous with political passion projects, but his latest film, W., may be his most ambitious effort yet, if only because of how quickly the thing came together and got made. Now the serio-comic biopic about our sitting president is about to hit theaters, less than ten months after anyone had heard of its inception, and it’s getting a number of favorable reviews, will possibly rule the box office this weekend, and could even garner an Oscar nomination for Josh Brolin, who portrays the man with the titular initial, George W. Bush. But not all political passion projects are quite as successful as W. is expected to be. Some such films have been banned, while some have simply failed to acquire an audience on more democratic grounds, whether in terms of box office, critical or awards recognition. Yet regardless of the reception of a political passion project, either at the time of release (or intended release) or decades later, it may be regarded as an achievement merely for being made, because it can be a difficult task for a filmmaker, no matter how famous or powerful, to completely, without compromise, express his or her politics using such a collaborative and populist form of art as cinema. We’ve put together a list of 10 political passion projects that were (and are) successful on both levels. They’ve been embraced by a wide audience, a majority of critics and/or the Academy, and they also manage to be as uncompromising in their political passion as is possible in Hollywood. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin, 1940) For his first “talkie”, Chaplin took on Hitler and the Nazis when it was still taboo for American media to do so. And it became his biggest hit ever in spite of its controversial subject matter. Considering one of the major problems with W. is reportedly Oliver Stone’s inability to mix the serious scenes with the comic, he might have benefitted from looking again at this film, one of the greatest political satires of all time. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941) Capra had already made a number of greater films with political subject matter, but this was pretty much his ultimate passion project, a culmination of themes he’d worked with on similar films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But as successful as those films were in terms of Capra’s political expression, and as free as the filmmaker seemed to be throughout his illustrious career at Columbia Pictures, he always felt at least a little stifled by studio head Harry Cohn, and so with this, his first semi-independent project (co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros.), he had the most creative control yet. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t nearly as popular as his past films and the film is also not nearly as tight a work. However, more than 65 years later, it’s still one of the best displays of a filmmaker attempting to work out and express his political ideals in a mainstream film. Wilson (Henry King, 1944) Long before Oliver Stone and political documentarians made it more common and acceptable to make a movie about disliked politicians, producer and 20th Century Fox founder Darryl F. Zanuck developed this passion project about his favorite president, Woodrow Wilson. And the result would seem to have been a great success based on its reception by critics and the Academy Awards (nominated for 10, it won 5 Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay), yet it was a terrible, terrible flop at the box office, apparently because the public didn’t like or care about Wilson as much as Zanuck did. And legend has it that Zanuck was so embarrassed by the failure that he forbade his staff to ever mention its title again. Despite it’s Oscar success, it is unfortunately unavailable on DVD. The Green Berets (Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, John Gaddis and Mervyn LeRoy, 1968) Regardless of whether or not you agree with John Wayne’s politics, you have to give the guy some respect for making a stand with this film, which displays his support for the Vietnam War. It was a bold move for anybody, even one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, to dare go up against the zeitgeist of the times. And of course it was and is very much hated because of its heavy handed pro-war message. Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981) Beatty had already shown himself to be something of a politically minded celebrity, and he would go on to a greater reputation for being a liberal actor/filmmaker, but here with his first solo directing effort, he made an ambitious epic about the American communist John Reed and released it in a year that ushered in the most conservatively materialistic decade of the 20th century. Despite the political climate of the country, though, it was relatively successful at the box office, and it went on to recieve 12 Oscar nominations, of which it won 3, including a Best Director trophy for Beatty. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) Whether or not you believe it should have been nominated for more Oscars or if it was politically and racially ignored, the success of Malcolm X, both financially and culturally, was a terrific achievement for Spike Lee, who had made and has made less ambitious political passion projects before and since, some even arguably better than this one. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995) Robbins had already begun making political statement films a few years earlier with Bob Roberts, but this film, which he also produced, is the greater passion project. It may occasionally put off supporters of the death penalty, but those performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon (who won an Oscar) simply can not be ignored. The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) You can’t think about passion projects without this film immediately coming to mind –– and not just because it has the word passion right there in the title. As for the political part, as much as some of us would prefer not to think of religion as being a part of politics, it certainly is, and both the marketing and reception of Gibson’s film were very much from political perspectives, possibly even more so than from straight religious perspectives. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) Perhaps the best cinematic celebration of journalism since All the President’s Men, Clooney’s film is also possibly the classiest political passion project since guys like Beatty, Robbins and Clooney decided to go behind the camera and express their ideals. Darfur Now (Ted Braun, 2007) At a time when famous people like George Clooney and the double duty of “Brangelina” get equal respect and flak for being so political, it’s refreshing to see this documentary defend celebrity action while also examining the film’s specific cause. Produced by and featuring Don Cheadle (and also featuring Clooney), the doc is not technically the actor’s project as much as it is Braun’s, yet due to Cheadle’s passionate interest in the Darfur issue and his involvement with and in the film, and because he’s the biggest name on the production, it can certainly be accepted as equally his political effort. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:01:12 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/14/2008 5:01:12 PMOliver Stone has long been synonymous with political passion projects, but his latest film, W., may be his most ambitious effort yet, if only because of how quickly the thing came together and got made. Now the serio-comic biopic about our sitting president is about to hit theaters, less than ten months after anyone had heard of its inception, and it’s getting a number of favorable reviews, will possibly rule the box office this weekend, and could even garner an Oscar nomination for Josh Brolin, who portrays the man with the titular initial, George W. Bush. But not all political passion projects are quite as successful as W. is expected to be. Some such films have been banned, while some have simply failed to acquire an audience on more democratic grounds, whether in terms of box office, critical or awards recognition. Yet regardless of the reception of a political passion project, either at the time of release (or intended release) or decades later, it may be regarded as an achievement merely for being made, because it can be a difficult task for a filmmaker, no matter how famous or powerful, to completely, without compromise, express his or her politics using such a collaborative and populist form of art as cinema. We’ve put together a list of 10 political passion projects that were (and are) successful on both levels. They’ve been embraced by a wide audience, a majority of critics and/or the Academy, and they also manage to be as uncompromising in their political passion as is possible in Hollywood. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin, 1940) For his first “talkie”, Chaplin took on Hitler and the Nazis when it was still taboo for American media to do so. And it became his biggest hit ever in spite of its controversial subject matter. Considering one of the major problems with W. is reportedly Oliver Stone’s inability to mix the serious scenes with the comic, he might have benefitted from looking again at this film, one of the greatest political satires of all time. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941) Capra had already made a number of greater films with political subject matter, but this was pretty much his ultimate passion project, a culmination of themes he’d worked with on similar films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But as successful as those films were in terms of Capra’s political expression, and as free as the filmmaker seemed to be throughout his illustrious career at Columbia Pictures, he always felt at least a little stifled by studio head Harry Cohn, and so with this, his first semi-independent project (co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros.), he had the most creative control yet. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t nearly as popular as his past films and the film is also not nearly as tight a work. However, more than 65 years later, it’s still one of the best displays of a filmmaker attempting to work out and express his political ideals in a mainstream film. Wilson (Henry King, 1944) Long before Oliver Stone and political documentarians made it more common and acceptable to make a movie about disliked politicians, producer and 20th Century Fox founder Darryl F. Zanuck developed this passion project about his favorite president, Woodrow Wilson. And the result would seem to have been a great success based on its reception by critics and the Academy Awards (nominated for 10, it won 5 Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay), yet it was a terrible, terrible flop at the box office, apparently because the public didn’t like or care about Wilson as much as Zanuck did. And legend has it that Zanuck was so embarrassed by the failure that he forbade his staff to ever mention its title again. Despite it’s Oscar success, it is unfortunately unavailable on DVD. The Green Berets (Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, John Gaddis and Mervyn LeRoy, 1968) Regardless of whether or not you agree with John Wayne’s politics, you have to give the guy some respect for making a stand with this film, which displays his support for the Vietnam War. It was a bold move for anybody, even one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, to dare go up against the zeitgeist of the times. And of course it was and is very much hated because of its heavy handed pro-war message. Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981) Beatty had already shown himself to be something of a politically minded celebrity, and he would go on to a greater reputation for being a liberal actor/filmmaker, but here with his first solo directing effort, he made an ambitious epic about the American communist John Reed and released it in a year that ushered in the most conservatively materialistic decade of the 20th century. Despite the political climate of the country, though, it was relatively successful at the box office, and it went on to recieve 12 Oscar nominations, of which it won 3, including a Best Director trophy for Beatty. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) Whether or not you believe it should have been nominated for more Oscars or if it was politically and racially ignored, the success of Malcolm X, both financially and culturally, was a terrific achievement for Spike Lee, who had made and has made less ambitious political passion projects before and since, some even arguably better than this one. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995) Robbins had already begun making political statement films a few years earlier with Bob Roberts, but this film, which he also produced, is the greater passion project. It may occasionally put off supporters of the death penalty, but those performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon (who won an Oscar) simply can not be ignored. The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) You can’t think about passion projects without this film immediately coming to mind –– and not just because it has the word passion right there in the title. As for the political part, as much as some of us would prefer not to think of religion as being a part of politics, it certainly is, and both the marketing and reception of Gibson’s film were very much from political perspectives, possibly even more so than from straight religious perspectives. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) Perhaps the best cinematic celebration of journalism since All the President’s Men, Clooney’s film is also possibly the classiest political passion project since guys like Beatty, Robbins and Clooney decided to go behind the camera and express their ideals. Darfur Now (Ted Braun, 2007) At a time when famous people like George Clooney and the double duty of “Brangelina” get equal respect and flak for being so political, it’s refreshing to see this documentary defend celebrity action while also examining the film’s specific cause. Produced by and featuring Don Cheadle (and also featuring Clooney), the doc is not technically the actor’s project as much as it is Braun’s, yet due to Cheadle’s passionate interest in the Darfur issue and his involvement with and in the film, and because he’s the biggest name on the production, it can certainly be accepted as equally his political effort. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/assassination/MemberTagFilms.aspxassassination
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]]>Mon, 28 May 2007 00:26:40 GMT212Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/rightwing/MemberTagFilms.aspxrightwing
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