The Celluloid President

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When President Harry S Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, thereby ending World War II, he was able to do so because J. Robert Oppenheimer had successfully led the effort to build it. In this episode Jim and Gary discuss Christopher Nolan's masterpiece "Oppenheimer," which depicts the top-secret effort to build the bomb and its messy political aftermaths.

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In advance of the 60th anniversary of the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Jim and Gary take a break from U.S. presidents to discuss movies by, for and about the Fab Four.  And in the process they even discover a few connections with American presidents.

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With "Amistad," Steve Spielberg gives us two presidents for the price of one -- John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren, who battle over the fate of a group of kidnapped Africans that has revolted against their captors on the Amistad slave ship. This inspiring movie has a lot to say about maritime law and even more to say about the evils of slavery.

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Gary and Jim discuss whether the producers of "All The President's Men" were justified in turning The Washington Post's  Watergate coverage into a political thriller before deep-diving into the making of the film and questioning whether it provides enough context.

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Jim and Gary don't see eye-to-eye on Oliver Stone's verdict on the Kennedy assassination, although they do agree that it is a masterpiece of movie making.  They also reminisce about the time they visited Dealey Plaza, give some half-baked opinions on how the assassination changed history, and provide a definition on what is a conspiracy theory.

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Gary and Jim discuss the movie "Selma," in which Martin Luther King manipulates President Lyndon Johnson into supporting the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The movie is a testament to the power of non-violent civil disobedience and the toll that it can take on a movement leader.

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Jim and Gary discuss Ron Howard's movie about the 1977 interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon.  Did Nixon finally get the trial that the American people were denied or is that a lot of media hype?

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Gary and Jim wonder what in the world Merchant and Ivory were thinking when they made this movie and speculate if it could get them cancelled retroactively.

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We take a look at Winston Churchill at the beginning of World War II. He's not an American president but he's half American and a great leader. In this movie he drinks a lot of brandy, takes a ride on the Tube, and saves Western Civilization. 

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Oliver Stone's "W" is a two for one opportunity, with two presidents in one movie: George W Bush and George H.W. Bush. Gary and Jim try to unpack their complicated feelings about the Bushes and discuss whether George W. Bush should have invaded Iraq to find those WMDs.