ReelPolitik

The Top 11 Political Movies of 2011

A blog about film and politics, and the politics of filmmaking.

Anthony Kaufman is a film journalist and critic, who has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Village Voice and Slate, and contributes regularly to Variety, indieWIRE, the Wall Street Journal Online and the Utne Reader.
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Articles

The Politics of "The Avengers"; Or, Can Clean Energy and Old-Fashioned Jingoism Mix?

By Anthony Kaufman
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May 7, 2012 10:10 AM
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2 Comments

News

I couldn't help myself. Not because I'm a fan of comic books, blockbusters or Josh Whedon, but because I'm always curious about a cultural phenonemon, and often feel the need to interrogate what is at play in our most popular movies, and especially since this may be the most popular one of all time. "The Avengers" embodies what I've always felt about Hollywood juggernauts: they're a hodgepodge of political views and ideological undercurrents, colliding with each other to create a mainstream entertainment that, if you look close enough, manages to uphold old-fashioned reactionary American values. Here, it's such myths as militaristic might, individual sacrifice and the renegade American hero--allthough, it also seems to throw a bone to contemporary liberal views on energy policy at the same time.

By Anthony Kaufman
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March 25, 2012 9:23 PM
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1 Comment

News

Not far behind Warner Bros's "Project X" and Paramount's "A Thousand Words" at the weekend box-office, a little indie film called "October Baby" has broken out, in limited release, making over $1.7 million in ticket sales. But this is one non-Hollywood film I won't be championing. As the right-wing propaganda machine continues its war on women, "October Baby" is being used as a rallying tool for social conservatives, trying to generate further animosity for the dangerous evils of female healthcare--and oh, yeah, that operation known as an abortion.

By Anthony Kaufman
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January 10, 2012 9:36 AM
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1 Comment

News

Ever since Fox News arrived on our cultural scene, the rightwing media has cultivated an aesthetics of clumsy propaganda and broad cliched imagery that has spread like a virus among conservative content creators. You can see it in Stephen Bannon's Sarah Palin hagiography "The Undefeated," you can see it in the dozens of docs that Newt Gingrich has produced, directed by DGA member Kevin Knoblock ("Rediscovering God in America," "America at Risk"), and, of course, you can see it in the latest new G.O.P. doc "When Mitt Romney Came to Town," currently making headlines (see the trailer below).

By Anthony Kaufman
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December 12, 2011 12:35 PM
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0 Comments

News

Conservative critics and pundits are taking aim at Tomas Alfredson's brilliant new adaptation of John Le Carre's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," calling the film anti-western and criticizing its moral equivalence and suggesting the very thing that makes its worldview engaging and real -- its complexity -- is somehow incorrect.

By Anthony Kaufman
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November 28, 2011 12:08 PM
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1 Comment

News

I don't think Newt Gingrich will become the next president of the United States, but could he be the first great right-wing film mogul and G.O.P. propagandist? Gingrich's brushes with indie documentary filmmaking have always interested me, as have most conservative's ill-fated attempts to make quality movies. So with today's publication of an article in the National Review titled "Hollywood Gingrich," it seemed high time to examine the Gingrich movie machine.

By Anthony Kaufman
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November 21, 2011 10:11 AM
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2 Comments

News

Is there any better example of the need for Planned Parenthood than "Twilight: Breaking Dawn"? That's a joke, of course. For those looking for examples of the conservative and reactionary nature of Hollywood, there's no stronger proof than Stephanie Meyer's no-sex-before-marriage "Twilight" franchise.

By Anthony Kaufman
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November 15, 2011 9:31 AM
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0 Comments

News

Will Republicans drool over the new Margaret Thatcher film "The Iron Lady," which stars Meryl Streep as the famous British ring-winger, or will they cringe at the film's depiction of her dementia? An early review in the Daily Telegraph suggests the Weinstein Company release isn't the hatchet job that conservatives had first claimed.

By Anthony Kaufman
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November 14, 2011 9:21 PM
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2 Comments

News

Right-wing doc-maker Steven Bannon is apparently at it again. After his Sarah Palin doc "The Undefeated" stirred up talk everywhere about the former Alaska governor's popularity (or not) as a viable political contender, Real Clear Politics reports that Bannon is planning on making a new film based on Palin adviser Peter Schweizer's forthcoming book, "Throw Them All Out," which details allegations of ethically dubious insider trading and conflicts of interest among members of Congress.

By Anthony Kaufman
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September 3, 2011 12:38 PM
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14 Comments

By Anthony Kaufman
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August 10, 2011 8:29 AM
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0 Comments

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