The Celluloid President

Send us Fan Mail Jim and Gary discuss Martin Scorcese's epic movie about one of the most disturbing incidents in U.S. history -- the systematic murder of Osage Indians during the 1920's to steal their oil rights.  And believe it or not, there is an appearance by a President in this movie: Calvin Coolidge.

Send us Fan Mail Jim and Gary don't agree about much when it comes to Barbie, except that people who criticize it for political reasons should get a life.  Gary thought the movie had surprising philosophical depth and Jim just didn't like the execution.  They do agree, though, that they'd rather be a Ken than an Allan. 

Send us Fan Mail Jim and Gary take a look at the 1975 action/adventure movie "The Wind and the Lion," which stars Brian Keith as an overly energetic Theodore Roosevelt, Sean Connery as the last of the Barbary Pirates, and Candice Bergen as a kidnapped American widow who becomes a feisty pawn in internal Moroccan politics.

Send us Fan Mail When President Harry S Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, thereby ending World War II, he was able to do so because J. Robert Oppenheimer had successfully led the effort to build it. In this episode Jim and Gary discuss Christopher Nolan's masterpiece "Oppenheimer," which depicts the top-secret effort to build the bomb and its messy political aftermaths.

Send us Fan Mail In advance of the 60th anniversary of the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Jim and Gary take a break from U.S. presidents to discuss movies by, for and about the Fab Four.  And in the process they even discover a few connections with American presidents.

Send us Fan Mail With "Amistad," Steve Spielberg gives us two presidents for the price of one -- John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren, who battle over the fate of a group of kidnapped Africans that has revolted against their captors on the Amistad slave ship. This inspiring movie has a lot to say about maritime law and even more to say about the evils of slavery.

Send us Fan Mail Gary and Jim discuss whether the producers of "All The President's Men" were justified in turning The Washington Post's  Watergate coverage into a political thriller before deep-diving into the making of the film and questioning whether it provides enough context.

Send us Fan Mail Jim and Gary don't see eye-to-eye on Oliver Stone's verdict on the Kennedy assassination, although they do agree that it is a masterpiece of movie making.  They also reminisce about the time they visited Dealey Plaza, give some half-baked opinions on how the assassination changed history, and provide a definition on what is a conspiracy theory.

Send us Fan Mail Gary and Jim discuss the movie "Selma," in which Martin Luther King manipulates President Lyndon Johnson into supporting the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The movie is a testament to the power of non-violent civil disobedience and the toll that it can take on a movement leader.

Send us Fan Mail Jim and Gary discuss Ron Howard's movie about the 1977 interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon.  Did Nixon finally get the trial that the American people were denied or is that a lot of media hype?

Send us Fan Mail Gary and Jim wonder what in the world Merchant and Ivory were thinking when they made this movie and speculate if it could get them cancelled retroactively.

Send us Fan Mail We take a look at Winston Churchill at the beginning of World War II. He's not an American president but he's half American and a great leader. In this movie he drinks a lot of brandy, takes a ride on the Tube, and saves Western Civilization. 

Send us Fan Mail Oliver Stone's "W" is a two for one opportunity, with two presidents in one movie: George W Bush and George H.W. Bush. Gary and Jim try to unpack their complicated feelings about the Bushes and discuss whether George W. Bush should have invaded Iraq to find those WMDs.

Send us Fan Mail Gary and Jim chew on Bill Clinton's character and talents when discussing "Primary Colors,' a highly fictionalized account of the 1992 Democratic primary race in which Clinton evades one trap after another of his own making. They wonder whether they were too hard on the guy 30 years ago.

Send us Fan Mail Jim and Gary discuss one of the greatest comedies ever made -- and that's not just their opinion.  "Dr. Strangelove" is on The American Film Institute's list of 100 best films of all time.  The film concerns the efforts of a fictional U.S. President to stop a nuclear war with the Soviet Union after an insane Air Force General launches an unauthorized nuclear at...

Send us Fan Mail Gary and Jim debate JFK's leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis and bemoan Kevin Costner's bad Boston accent.

Send us Fan Mail Jim and Gary talk about the most famous hot dog in U.S. history and ponder how many mistresses FDR really had in this 2012 movie about our 32nd president, his good friend Daisy Suckley and the king and queen of the United Kingdom.

Send us Fan Mail Whatever they think of him as a President, Gary and Jim agree that JFK is a remarkable figure and a genuine war hero. The question is, does "PT 109" do justice to President Kennedy's war-time experience?

Send us Fan Mail Years ago Gary and Jim saw "Dick," the teen comedy about Watergate.  Is it still as funny now as as it once seemed?  Yes!!! It's easily the most hilarious movie about any U.S. President.  And such a great soundtrack.

Send us Fan Mail Gary and Jim discuss the greatness of Abraham Lincoln and Spielberg's remarkable civics lesson in passing the Thirteen Amendment, which outlawed slavery.

Send us Fan Mail Gary and Jim reminisce about how they became friends defending Nixon in college and then dig into Oliver Stone's epic movie about the 37th President.  They no longer see eye-to-eye on Nixon himself and have differing tolerances for conspiracy theories.