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Hollywood and Politics

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negotiations. Now it is time for Talking Movies.

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As Americans prepare to go to the polls, hello and welcome to this

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special edition of Talking Movies. In today's programmes, two different

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film portrait of the outgoing president Obama. The digitised to

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tell us what Jackie Kennedy was really like. A landmark political

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documentary for more than 50 years ago which embraced the techniques of

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direct cinema. Hollywood's politics is the industry of liberalism, or do

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conservative forces rule the day? And the favourite films of the

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presidential candidates. Is Citizen Kane the top toys of Hillary Clinton

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or Donald Trump? We will be telling you the answer in this edition of

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Talking Movies. In just over a week from now America's television

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networks, headquartered in New York, will bring the American people the

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results of the election. Nothing is certain but we do know that

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President Obama will be leaving the White House in January and cinema

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will know doubt be playing a role in defining his legacy. -- no doubt.

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Already we have had two Obama films and both look at him when he was a

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young band. -- younger man. As Americans head

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into the final days of the elections, Barack Obama is enduring

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a revival of popularity. Meanwhile the nostalgia for this politician

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who has not yet left office can also be seen in two films about the 44th

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president. President Obama is now 55, at the film Barry tells the

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story in the life of a younger man attending Columbia University in New

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York on in 1981. Barry avoids politics completely in favour of a

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universal coming-of-age story. In a way we divested from Barack Obama

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and we made it a story about Barry, a guy who would eventually become

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this guy we all know. A lot of the film is about being truthful to the

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experience of a young man of mixed race trying to figure out his way

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and truthful to Barry as this idea. And it wasn't about you know

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reconstructing how he got this political opinion or that political

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opinion, it was who was this person, who was leader of the free world?

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You know the guy I told you about? What is this boy's name? Barack

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Obama. Coincidentally Barry is the second film this year to tackle

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Barack Obama's early days. South Side With You chronicles the first

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date between Barack Obama and Michelle. It isn't a political film

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to me, it is truly a love story and you just sit two powerful minds walk

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and talk all day and I love it because it is before cellphones, so

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they had to talk to each other and there is no checking cellphones,

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looking at memes. I wonder if I can write books and hold a position of

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influence in civil rights. Politics? I just want to do more. So do I.

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These are not the first films to be made about a sitting president.

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Primary Colours was released in the middle of a second term and W came

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out in the final days of the Bush administration. But those films

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criticised their subjects, while the Obama films take a more holistic

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approach, perhaps because is about a president who was more open about

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his flaws. There is something about Obama. The reason we have seen two

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films about him in one year, his story sparks the sense of

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possibility in so many people's lives. People of colour, people of

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certain economic backgrounds. There is nothing partisan about Barry or

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South Side With You. In fact they barely feature any discussion of

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politics at all. But that doesn't mean the president embraces them. In

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our divisive political era it is unlikely the film will have appeal

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beyond those who already hold Obama in high esteem, but these films

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deserve credit for their personal approach to political filmmaking.

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Many would say this long and exhausting election season has

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questioned parts of humanity. Gregory and Southside With You with

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their focus on a personal may bring some of that back. Barry. It isn't

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just presidents who have been to be the film, it is also first ladies.

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For some 30 odd years one of America's most charismatic first

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ladies lived here in New York. She moved into the building in the wake

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of the assassination of her husband, president John F. Kennedy. Now

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Natalie Portman brings a striking betrayal of Jackie Kennedy in the

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forthcoming film, Jackie. Each evening from December to December...

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The focus of this elegantly crafted film is on the days following the

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assassination of Presidents John F. Kennedy in Dallas, in November,

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1963. A truly shocking event that traumatised the American people.

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I've changed my mind. I'm sorry? I said I've changed my mind. We will

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have a procession and I will walk to the cathedral with the casket. The

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picture shows a morning Jackie Kennedy in the wake of the

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assassination, planning among other things the funeral. All the time

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conscious of shaping his legacy. Natalie Portman was well aware of

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Jackie Kennedy's legacy in putting this picture together. I think I

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viewed her the way many people view her in sort of popular perception,

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this 2-dimensional icon, sort of an Andy Warhol silkscreen, the head,

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the clothes, the elegance, and I never really considered her

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humanity. Would you mind getting the message to the funeral guests when

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they arrive? In the film she does come over as being a strong woman

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dealing with a lot and pulling it off, but she had this little girl

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voice. How do you reconcile that apparent contradiction? I think

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there was a lot of pressure at the time to be a specific kind of woman,

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to be kind of coy and demure and defined by your husband. She was

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really tapping down herself in the public eye and of course privately

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she was much sharper and had this bitter humour that everyone remarks

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on in their recollections of her. The pig was directed way -- the

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picture was directed by a Chilean filmmaker. He was drawn in by what

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we don't know about Jackie Kennedy. There are a lot of things we don't

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know about her and there are things we will never know. That mystery

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captivated me and I think there's... In this movie what we do is show

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basically four days of her life and see how she was able to put a

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country together, how she was able to protect the legacy. Matt --

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Natalie Portman is emerging as a strong Oscar candidate. It is about

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a woman who managed to become the mother of the country when it lost

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its father. The country that found the first queen it ever had.

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In 1960, John F. Kennedy was the subject of a film called Primary

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which is widely regarded as the first such documentary in its Thelma

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-- of its kind. It followed the campaign trail in Wisconsin. One man

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intimately involved in that film was a legend in documentary circles. We

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went to meet him. In 1960, two presidential hopefuls were

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desperately trying to win a US primary election. The glamorous John

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F. Kennedy, from an Irish, American political dynastic, and Hubert

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Humphrey, a pharmacist from South Dakota. Filmmaker Robert Drew

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decided to take it unique approach to tell the story. At the time, one

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of his crew makers on the film said the goal was to be a fly on the

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wall. We wanted to see what Kennedy was like. We were interested in it

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because we thought he was a different kind of person becoming

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president, a different kind of president than what we usually have.

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We never interviewed him, we just watched what he said and did. The

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filmmakers hoped to craft the story that mirrored reality, one that

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didn't tell the audience what to think or feel. A technique known as

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direct cinema, are cinema verite. The idea was news was filmed as it

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happened, you didn't change it or edit it to make it different. This

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had that sense, that this material hasn't been changed or we --

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reworked in order to have a different effect. Primary was not

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only revolutionary because it was known as the first American cinema

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verite documentary but also because of the cutting edge tools used to

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achieve the images. The team modified a camera to be able to

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simultaneously record sound and picture, enabling the crew to easily

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follow the candidates and record real-time conversations. The

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technique was known as sync sound and was unprecedented in film.

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Usually what you did was play music for what you shot or you recorded

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the voice and used it as voice over. Either way, it was not the way you

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usually engaged with reality. But when it was used and shot in

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synchronised time you felt that what you watched really happened

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somewhere. Primary was a rough attempt at cinema verite, but by

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1992, with a much more advanced camera, this time there was another

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attempt, this time with his wife. He would tell the story of a young

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governor from Arkansas, Bill Clinton, hoping to become president.

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But this time he did in differently from Primary. The Democrat comes

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along, the Republicans are going to ambush them. He was more interested

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in the campaign strategy of others, that he was in Bill Clinton, the

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candidate himself. I guarantee you that if you do this you will never

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work in government or politics again. That was somebody you could

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watch. George was his buddies and he had a kind of bloody thing. Stay

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focused. Talk about things that matter. We love the new patriotism

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thing. Speak from your heart. That's all that matters. According to

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Pennebaker, people across the country were inspired. Afterwards

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they created the scenery of it and that somehow really helped them. I

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don't know what they thought it would do. I like the way this thing

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feels. The prints from the film were sent all over the world is the

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politicians who wanted to look at it and figure out what was there that

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they could use. And I'm not sure many of them did. How can we believe

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anything he is saying about the future? Well, he has a good career

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in fiction writing when this is over. Although it is about politics,

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in true cinema verite style Pennebaker said he had no agenda and

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reality was compelling enough. A few days ago big names from

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Hollywood participated in what was called a Stronger Together

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fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. That was here in the heart of Broadway at

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St James theatre. Among those to appear were Hugh Jackman, Julia

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Roberts and Emily Blunt. Glitzy event such as this reinforced notion

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that Hollywood is a democratic town, at how liberal is Tinseltown? We've

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been finding out. Democrats are well supported by

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Hollywood stars and they turned up in force at the St James theatre to

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display their talents and help raise money for Hillary Clinton. Why are

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so many stars joined Thelma jaunt to the Democrats? -- so many stars

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drawn to the Democrats? I think to be an artist you have to be

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open-minded, open to all things. So if I am asked to play someone who

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was a terrorist I have to try to believe in this cause, otherwise I

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am just some guy making a comment on the person I am playing. So we're

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people who I think, as a lot of artists are, I do have empathy for

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people not like Gus and that's considered liberal. Compared to the

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Democrats, Republicans have the backing of only a few stars. Adam

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Sandler, John Voigt and Clint Eastwood are among those links the

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republican causes. Some religious conservatives who dislike Hollywood

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star laden liberalism think they know why there are so few Republican

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stars. One argument is that people have a more conservative Republican

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-- who have a more Republican mine are less likely to go and make

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movies and go into acting, or to go into the social sciences and the

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anatomies. Another argument is that they are wanted. -- are not wanted.

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Hollywood may have had more of the teat influence public policy then

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Democrats, as the movie industry has been successful in spawning

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significant Republican leaders. A number of Republicans, especially

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Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, have all sort of

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political office, and have succeeded, and have also moved the

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political matter by getting a large number of Americans with them to the

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right. Check political barometer. While Republicans have focused on

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electoral politics, Democrats in general, historically, have focused

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on what I call issue oriented politics. That is, rather than

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getting deeply involved with a political party, they get involved

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with political causes. Not only may Republicans in Tinseltown have had a

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larger political impact on American life then Democrats, what there is

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also the view they may control movie content as well. It is argued that

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the largely conservative white men of corporate Hollywood may narrow

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the spectrum of films that get made to fit their worldview. The action

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drama American Sniper, and going back in time, the war drama Rules of

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Engagement, are perceived as examples of conservative films. But

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many commentators argue that ideology only plays a minimal role

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in determining what movies individual Hollywood corporate

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executives will back. If you sync at the box office, your career will

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sink. If you do well, your career will rise. So you can have

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conservative studio people who are going to greenlight what they see as

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kind of left or liberal movies if they believe it is going to have an

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appeal with the larger audience. But away from the movies themselves and

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the realm of making a noise and raising money, this election season,

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it is Democrats in Hollywood who are out on top. Hillary Clinton has

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netted an estimated $20 million from the show business community,

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compared to the $275,000 raised by Donald Trump. Hilary!

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E. 60th St in Manhattan was once home to the legend Eric Copacabana

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nightclub, the site of an unforgettable tracking shop in

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Martin Scorsese's mobster drama Goodfellas. It so happens that

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Goodfellas is one of Donald Trump's favourite films. What are the movie

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preferences of the presidential candidates? Tristan Daley has been

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finding out. In the US, each presidential

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candidate has one or more movies that they favour. We are off to see

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the Wizard! Hillary Clinton isn't off to see the wizard, just more

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voters in the last days of her campaign. But it is widely reported

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that the Wizard of Oz is one of her favourite movies. So I Out of

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Africa, and Casablanca. You must remember this... Donald Trump ranked

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his top five movies five years ago. His first choice was Citizen Kane.

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Rosebud... The movie preferences of presidential candidates are not

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always casual, spur of the moment comments. I think everything is

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calculated to make the candidates look as relate a ball as possible,

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especially movies, they are such a popular medium that it is very easy,

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especially if it is a movie that people have heard of, classic film,

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even if people haven't seen the film they might say, that is a good

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movie, so they must have taste, they must know what quality is, and I

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trust them and find them a bit more electable. It is also believed that

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a candidate's movie preferences can reveal significant information.

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Donald Trump seems drawn to films that have strong male protagonists,

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and that are violent, like the west and a good, the bad and the ugly, or

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the Godfather. When it comes to Trump's number one film, it is

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Citizen Kane. But some critics don't think Trump as much in common with

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that movie's media tycoon. Trump and Kane are two different men. Citizen

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Kane, at a certain level, is brilliant and has built an empire.

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Trump, in my opinion, stumbled his way to great wealth, because he

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inherited a great amount of wealth and happen to be in real estate in

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New York as real estate was entering a boom period in the late 1970s. For

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the candidate who is perhaps the most avid movie lover in a

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presidential race, we have to go a long way back to earlier this year,

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when Ted Cruz had his sights on the Republican nomination. Look who

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knows so much! It's just so happens... PC and to adore the 1987

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fantasy adventure the Princess Bride. Ted Cruz even memorise lines

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from the film, and he was eager to show off his talents, as he did in

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this broadcast from New Hampshire. There is nothing better than true

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love. There is nothing better, except for a nice mutton, letters

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and to make a salad. In fact, it has been alleged that Ted Cruz has taken

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loans from Hollywood movies to emphasise his rhetoric. After Donald

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Trump threatened to spill the beans on Ted Cruz's life Heidi, the

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candidate responded with lines from the 1995 movie the American

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President. He is better off sticking with me, because Heidi is way out of

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his league. You'd better stick with me, because Sydney Allen Wade is way

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out of your league. It was actually quite moving and the language he

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used was quite poetic. Then people just realised he was quoting the

:20:54.:20:57.

movie Of the American President, when Michael Douglas is defending

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his partner's character. Is that a valiant way to act? I don't know. I

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would read it that it makes it look like him, look like a thief, because

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he is stealing somebody else's language. It makes him seem even

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more programmed and robotic Ben Edwards, an actual full-blooded man

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defending his wife. Political candidates clearly have an affinity

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for movies. Perhaps because both politics and cinema have so much in

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common. Movies peddle fantasy. They often deflect from reality, create

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illusion, and evokes strong emotions. And that is just what

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politicians often want to do too. Well, that brings this edition of

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Talking Movies to a close. We hope you have enjoyed the show. You can

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always reach us online. And you can find us on Facebook as well. So from

:21:53.:21:57.

me, Tom Brook, and the rest of the Talking Movies production team here

:21:58.:22:02.

in New York, it is goodbye, as we leave you with a moment from the

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past when Hollywood and politics really came together. It was Marilyn

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Monroe singing happy birthday to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

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# Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Mr

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President, happy birthday to you. #

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Thank you, Mr President, for all the things you've done, the battles that

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you've won. We thank you so much. Everybody, happy birthday!

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It's going to be a quiet weekend of weather.

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We saw some sunshine yesterday, this was Deal.

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Don't expect to see many blue skies this weekend.

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Many of us it could be rather grey and cloudy,

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just as it was earlier on in the Wirral yesterday.

:23:30.:23:32.

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