CRAIG'S TOP 10 GENRE SERIES - POLITICAL

“Political cinema in the narrow sense of the term is a cinema which portrays current or historical events or social conditions in a partisan way in order to inform or to agitate the spectator.”

#1. IN THE LOOP - 2009

Director: Armando Iannucci

Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, James Gandolfini

#2. MILK - 2008

 Director: Gus Van Sant

Starring: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco

#3. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN - 1976

 Director: Alan J. Pakula

Starring: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards

#4. FROST/NIXON - 2008

 Director: Ron Howard

Starring: Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Kevin Bacon

#5. DAVE - 1993

 Director: Ivan Reitman

Starring: Kevin Kline, Signourney Weaver, Frank Langella

#6. GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK - 2005

 Director: George Clooney

Starring: David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr

#7. JFK - 1991

Director: Oliver Stone

Starring: Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek

#8. W. - 2008

Director: Oliver Stone

Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Richard Dreyfuss

#9. REDS - 1981

 Director: Warren Beatty

Starring: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson

#10. MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON - 1939

 Director: Frank Capra

Starring: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains

One of the specialist groups with plenty of films focusing on politics though this being mostly American-based though In The Loop is a British film. That was an easy choice to win this list with its focus on Anglo-American affairs done in the most humourous fashion with Milk not too far behind. Incidentally Frank Langella figures in 3 films on this list showing his vast experience including his role as President Nixon.