Vote now: Oscar for all-time best political movie

Posted 3 months, 1 day ago.

As Hollywood ramps up for the Academy Awards, Constitution Daily wants to know your pick for the all-time best political movie.

Our criteria for the 10 nominees were twofold. First, we limited the movies to topics that include American political institutions–think Congress and the presidency–as a central plot device. (Sorry, Citizen Kane.) Second, we used the average scores on two popular Internet movie-review sites, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, to pick the 10 highest-rated movies from 24 selections.

The following well-known films didn’t make final cut: Frost/Nixon, Advise and Consent, The Candidate, and JFK.

And the nominees are, in alphabetical order:

All the King’s Men (1949)
Based on Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book about a Huey Long-like politician. Oscars: 3 wins, 8 nominations

All the President’s Men (1976)
Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman break the Watergate story. Oscars: 4 wins, 8 nominations

Argo (2012)
Ben Affleck leads a CIA-backed plan to smuggle hostages out of Iran. Oscars: 7 nominations

Being There (1979)
Peter Sellers becomes a presidential adviser by accident. Oscars: 1 win, 2 nominations

Bob Roberts (1992)
Tim Robbins stars as a right-wing folk singer seeking to fix an election. Oscars: none

Dr. Strangelove (1964)
An insane general tries to start World War III at a remote U.S. base. Oscars: 4 nominations

Lincoln (2012)
Daniel-Day Lewis dominates Steven Spielberg’s story about the 13th Amendment. Oscars: 12 nominations

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Jimmy Stewart gives a legendary filibuster performance. Oscars: 1 win, 11 nominations

Seven Days in May (1964)
Rod Serling’s tale of a military coup led by a general unhappy with the president. Oscars: 2 nominations

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
A political thriller about an American war hero brainwashed into becoming a political assassin. Oscars: 2 nominations

Vote below to pick the all-time best political movie. And the Oscar goes to …

Use this link if you can’t see the ballot below: http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/?p=23075

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