In possibly his greatest movie role, Peter Sellers plays Chance, a simple-minded gardener whose mundane observations are taken as oracular epigrams and metaphors that take the political establishment by storm. "Being There" has a lot to say about our gullibility and our habit of hearing what we want to hear. Once widely lauded as a hilarious and biting commentary about politics, the movie is now rarely in the conversation about great political films but it is as timely today as it was in 1979. 

Jim and Gary discuss whether a military coup was possible in the early 1960s, as Hollywood seemed to think. "Seven Days in May" is a political thriller that JFK wanted to see made because he was worried about the power of the military. The result is a tense drama in which Burt Lancaster plays a rebellious Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with Kirk Douglas as his skeptical senior aide. Will the Constitution be upheld or trammeled? 

Gary and Jim discuss the 2000 Mel Gibson film "The Patriot," which depicts the brutal war between the patriots and the British during the War of Independence. They agree that George Washington is a great but remote hero and that the movie itself is rough to watch. War is Hell indeed. 

In 1988, Senator Gary Hart was the front runner to be the next President of the United States until he went for a three-hour cruise on the pleasure craft "Monkey Business."  Hugh Jackman plays Hart in "The Front Runner," which asks an always relevant question: how much of a politician's personal life is relevant to his performance as a public servant?

In addition to being a massive hit, "Hamilton" also provides insight into three U.S. Presidents. But more important as we approach July 4, what does the musical say about America and is it still relevant today? 

Jim and Gary discuss the 1962 adaptation of "Advise and Consent," possibly the most popular American political novel of all time, which was turned into movie by the director Otto Preminger. They muse on the meaning of so many conspiracy and paranoid movies from the early 1960s and debate theU.S. Senate's power to advise and consent on a Presidential nomination.  

In 1944, Daryl F. Zanuck, the head of Twentieth Century Fox, produced a movie about his political hero Woodrow Wilson. Despite being nominated for ten Academy Awards and the winner of five, the film is now largely forgotten. Jim and Gary discuss its historical and artistic merits, while chewing over what they think about Wilson the president.

"The Apprentice" purports to tell Donald Trump's origin story, back when the notorious Roy Cohn took him under his wing and showed him how to win at any cost.  Jim and Gary take the movie on its own terms -- as a piece of history in the 1970s and 80's -- and refrain from discussing contemporary events. 

Jim and Gary discuss "A Complete Unknown," the Oscar-nominated biopic of Bob Dylan, which explores the cultural and social politics of the early 1960s. And, yes, there is a reference or two to the US President who exemplifies those years -- JFK. 

As they look forward to Lincoln's Birthday, Gary and Jim discuss John Ford's "Young Mr. Lincoln," the 1939 classic tale of Abe Lincoln as a young aspiring lawyer in Springfield, Illinois. Henry Fonda seems to embody Lincoln's very essence in a strong performance that challenges Daniel Day-Lewis for the best impersonation of Lincoln in cinematic history.