MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

7 All the President’s Men

     Warner Brothers

All the President’s Men is a 1976 dramatic thriller directed by Alan J. Pakula and stars Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. The film tells the story of the two Washington Post reporters who uncover the details of the Watergate scandal which later led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The Watergate scandal, famous to most Americans now, involved the infamous break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building and the attempted coverup by the Nixon Administration. The film was written by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the two journalists who originally reported on the scandal.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

6 V for Vendetta

     Warner Bros. 

V for Vendetta is a 2005 action drama directed by James McTeigue and based on the graphic novel series written by Alan Moore (Watchmen), and features an excellent Natalie Portman performance alongside Hugo Weaving and Rupert Graves. It tells the story of a freedom fighter and revolutionary named V, who dawns the Guy Fawkes mask and plans to overthrow the oppressive government regime and prompt a great revolution.

Unlike other films on this list, the story outlined in V for Vendetta is fictitious, but the cultural impact of the story has had very real repercussions. The Guy Fawkes mask has even been adopted by Anonymous, a hacktivist collective, which is known for its cyberattacks on government agencies, private corporations, and the Church of Scientology, further fueling the conspiratorial message of the film.

5 The Dissident

     Briarcliff Entertainment

The Dissident is a 2020 documentary detailing the disappearance of Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The film is directed by Bryan Fogel and follows Khashoggi up until his final days in which he was assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Dissident details possible motives for his death as well as the figures who may be responsible for it. The Saudi government first denied the death, but since then the government has stated that the assassination had been planned. This film serves to highlight the brave work done by Khashoggi and its production has successfully brought to light the suspicious activity within the Saudi government.

4 Citizenfour

     Radius TWC

Citizenfour is a 2014 film that follows whistleblower Edward Snowden during his first contact with the press when disclosing government secrets. The film is directed by Laura Poitras with journalist Glenn Greenwald shown working with Snowden to present his leaked information, which showed the extent to which the United States and other foreign countries practice mass surveillance. The amount of information Snowden had released was unprecedented, and the documentary explains the complex subject in understandable and exciting ways. The film not only serves as documentation of his whistleblower saga, but as a distribution of information. Being associated with Snowden in the days following the leaks were dangerous, but the information was thought to be necessarily disclosed.

3 American Made

     Universal Pictures

American Made is a 2017 Action movie starring Tom Cruise. It is directed by Doug Liman and tells the story of Barry Seal, a pilot, drug runner, and arms dealer who worked with the CIA. The film is a sensationalized account of Seal’s over-the-border smuggling flights, doing work for both the CIA and the Medellín Cartel. The real conspiracy in this story though is the larger operation that Seal was a part of. His part in arms delivery to Nicaragua would later be exposed as the Iran-Contra affair.

This incident, which many thought would bring down the Reagan presidency, involved arms being sold to Iran, a country with an arms embargo, in order to fund the Contras, an organization that the U.S. government hoped would rebel against the Socialist government of Nicaragua.

2 Dark Waters

     Focus Features

Dark Waters is a 2019 film directed by Todd Haynes. It stars Mark Ruffalo as a corporate defense attorney who turns against a chemical company to expose pollution-related health crisis. Ruffalo’s character, working for large companies in the past, is turned to direct critique and outcry against a large company after befriending a farmer who notices his livestock is being killed by the dumping of chemicals. The story is inspired by Robert Billott’s 20-year legal handlings with Dupont over their use of fluoropolymer products. Mark Ruffalo puts on an incredible performance, and has said on The View that he believes “It is probably one of the greatest cover-ups in American history.”

1 JFK

     Warner Bros.

JFK is a 1991 thriller directed by Oliver Stone and starring Kevin Costner and Gary Oldman, and looks at the events surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The film was released 28 years after the assassination; the American people, still with many unanswered questions, latched on to the film’s amazing details that were not highlighted in the state released Warren Commissions. The film won Oscars for best cinematography and best film editing, and Stone also won a Golden Globe for best director. Stone, upon receiving the golden globe said, “A terrible lie was told to us 28 years ago. I hope that this film can be the first step in righting that wrong.”