Today is November 8TH and that can only mean one thing in the United States Of American and that it’s Election Day 2016. So to help celebrate the fact that it’s Election Day, I decided to watch a film that had to do with campaigns and such and that film is 1997’s Wag The Dog. It’s election time and the President of the United States has landed himself in hot water when a scandal breaks out. To try and help keep away the backlash of the scandal, the presidents trusted aides decide to hire famous spin doctor Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro). Brean will come up with a brilliant scheme to take away the attention with eccentric producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman), but the question is can they pull it off? The film also stars Anne Heche (Volcano) as Winifred Ames, Denis Leary (Suicide Kings) as Fad King, Willie Nelson as Johnnie Dean, Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2) as Liz Butsky, Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia) as Stacey Lime, William H. Macy (Fargo) as CIA Agent Young, John Michael Higgins (Bad Teacher) as John Levy, Woody Harrelson (Rampart) as SGT. Schumann, Suzanne Cryer (Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place) as Amy Cain, David Koechner (Paul) as Director, and the film was directed by Barry Levinson (Rock The Kasbah).
I have to say that putting Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman on the same screen was a brilliant idea. They played off of each other so well and you could definitely see the chemistry between them. I had to look it up for myself, but these two have only been in four films together (Sleepers, Meet The Fockers, and Little Fockers). The idea of the film is actually an interesting look at what happens behind the scenes of an election campaign. I mean think about it, how much information that gets passed on to the media that you see is 100% true? Don’t you think something like that could be happening now with this election and we don’t even know about it? I think politics is a dirty game anyways and this film shows you just that. I just didn’t really like the ending because I loved Dustin Hoffman’s character, but I won’t give that away to you. The acting in the film is great and a lot of today’s stars are featured in this film and Woody Harrelson was perfect in the film as a crazed nut that they use to their advantage. The cinematography in the film was great, the editing was amazing as well. I wish I had seen this movie way back when I decided to watch Bulworth because this was a great film. I am going to give Wag The Dog an A for a final grade.
For today’s film, I am a huge fan of Bill Murray (Stripes, Ghostbusters) to the point that if I started a hall of fame, I would induct him in right away. So, when I found out that Netflix had his latest film Rock The Kasbah available to watch, I chose it for today. Bill stars as music manager Richie Lanz who is really down on his luck lately. While bringing one of his acts Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel) to a club, he gets an idea of doing a USO show in Afghanistan that could benefit him. The only problem is that as soon as he gets there, Ronnie steals his money and leaves. Stuck in a country during time of war, he discovers a voice unlike any other because it’s forbidden for a woman to sing. That doesn’t stop him from trying to get her on a local TV competition despite the danger. The film also stars Bruce Willis (Die Hard) as Bombay Brian, Kate Hudson (Almost Famous) as Merci, Leem Lubany (Omar) as Salima, Scott Caan (Varsity Blues) as Jake, Danny McBride (Pineapple Express) as Nick, Arian Moayed (Rosewater) as Riza, Taylor Kinney (The Forest) as Private Barnes, and the film was directed by Barry Levinson (Toys).
As far as Bill Murray films are concerned, it’s not the best one ever, but it was enjoyable to watch. There’s nothing revolutionary in a film like this, just a cool story featuring a very cool actor. Some things in the film do not make sense to me, but then again I have never been to Afghanistan. One of the things is an American woman (Kate Hudson) working as a prostitute in a county that is against women doing anything. One thing is definitely for sure and that is Kate Hudson looks incredibly sexy in this film especially the scene where she’s in the pool. I thought Danny McBride and Scott Caan making appearances in this film was pretty cool and a nice touch. One thing is definitely for sure and that is I could totally buy Bill Murray as a music manager because he has the right kind of personality that makes you believe so. Even though the film was filmed in Morocco, the cinematography and sets made you believe that you were there with the cast. One of my favorite scenes int he film comes when Bill Murray plays and sings Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water on what I believe is an Oud (an Arabic guitar). While he may not be the greatest singer, that was still a very cool Murray like moment. Like I said, this isn’t the greatest Bill Murray film ever, but it was still fun to watch in my opinion. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 