Media Politics

Author(s): Alex
Location: Washington State

“Media Politics”

Directed by Christopher Guest
Written by Christopher Guest and Christopher Buckley

Principal Cast:

Kelsey Grammar (Stew Pid)
Alec Baldwin (Jack O’Schitt)
James Woods (Justin Case)
Tim Robbins (Irving Michael “I.M.” Phoqued)
James Caan (Sheldon Boener)
Amy Poehler (Sharon Needles)
Tony Sirico (Chris P. Bacon)
Robert DeNiro (Dr. Willie Sumey)
John Cusack (Dwight Dix)
Bruce Willis (Clinton Cox)

Tagline: “Crazy or Sane...it doesn’t really matter in the world of Media Politics!"

Synopsis: 2008. Some experts, and those who think they are experts, are calling it the one of the biggest presidential races of all time. Meet those people:

Stew Pid (liberal): Over-exaggerating, exploitive former film director whose turned to making documentaries about how wrong and dumb our government is. His latest film, “Bowling for Stupid White Men”, has put him back in the arena to spout any kind of propaganda he wants.

Jack O’Schitt (conservative): The host of TV’s “The O’Schitt Factor”, he rants endlessly about how the liberal elite are always trying to steal the money out of the wallets of ordinary Americans. Although against the death penalty, he thinks that the U.S. government should send felons of the most serious offenses to Alaska to serve time in a prison camp, modeled after Soviet gulags, and should be subjected to food rationing and solitary confinement.

Justin Case (liberal): A former writer and performer on a late-night comedy show, he thinks that now that he is in real news everyone will take him seriously (this is not the case). Paranoid, he is convinced that everyone is lying to him. Though he once considered running for political office, polls in his home state showed that 0% would vote for him.

Irving Michael “I.M.” Phoqued (conservative): A lover of cigars, politics, and prescription drugs, he is usually high when on the air. This can be used as an excuse for why he is usually a little off during his radio program “The I.M. Phoqued Radio Hour”. Whenever he gets a caller that annoys him he performs what he calls a “caller abortion”, where he would suddenly end a call to the sounds of a vacuum cleaner and a scream, after which he would deny there was ever a caller, explaining that the call had been “aborted”.

Sheldon Boener (liberal): A former vice-president, who lost to the current and soon to be ex-president, he has become the most laughed at politician of his time. After a failed political career, he created a TV network and started a radical environmentalist movement to stop global warming. Like Pid, he has also signed on in the political documentary field with his new film, “A Convenient Truth: How YOU can Stop the Apocalypse”.

Sharon Needles (conservative): She could quite possibly be the craziest of the bunch. In her latest book, “How to Talk to a S***head: If You Must” (referring to liberals), has people calling her the most rude, insensitive person on the face of the planet. This has been her fourth and most insulting book she has ever written (and all of them have been insulting).

Chris P. Bacon (liberal): A fading communist author. He really has nothing left to do in his life, so he pushed out another book on imperialism, went on a few talk shows, and is quickly forgotten by the media when he dies of a stroke midway through the election.

Dr. Willie Sumey (conservative): Host of talk radio’s “The Sumey Nation”, he once said on his show, “Every American who is allowed by law to own a gun, should go out and by a gun!” If that’s not enough, he’s the biggest racist, homophobe, sexist, and imperialist in America. You may think that the title of “Dr.” that comes before his name is in political science. It’s not. It’s in nutrition.

Dwight Dix (conservative) and Clinton Cox (liberal): Together this team hosts TV’s “The Dix and Cox Show”. Any sane person would probably tune in to this show, because of it’s sense of balance, but it doesn’t work. Nothing ever happens except “I told you so”. Nevertheless, their show goes on.

What the press would say:

By far the best comedy of the year! Christopher Guest directs this laugh out loud hilarious comedy. Though Guest is without his regular troupe (Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, etc.), he tackles something in political satire never done before. Guest uses liberals to play conservatives and conservatives to play liberals. This works perfectly and makes the movie even more enjoyable. Sure to rack up big at the Golden Globes, this film’s leads are the ever delightful Kelsey Grammar and Alec Baldwin. Kelsey Grammar, of “Frasier” fame, stars as the rude and pompous film director. He’s absolutely hilarious in every scene he appears in and is definitely on his way to an Oscar nomination. Co-starring with Grammar is Alec Baldwin. Hilarious as Jack O’Schitt, the arrogant, fascist TV reporter, Baldwin gives what is most definitely the best performance of the year. A lock for an Oscar, or at least a nomination. In the supporting categories, Tim Robbins turns in the best supporting performance of this year as the drug addict who is also a conservative commentator. He works wonder with the role. James Caan is also hilarious as the former vice-president turned celebrity and could pick up a nod, but he’s not as good as Robbins. Joining Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, Amy Poehler is bound to be the third Saturday Night Live cast member to pick up an Academy Award nomination after her surprise win at the Film Festival. The best female performance of the year, she absolutely shines. The award-winning screenplay, co-written by Guest and Christopher Buckley, is also one of the best and will definitely be on the shortlist for Best Original Screenplay. Once again, my favorite film of the year, “Media Politics” has good chances of picking up Oscar nominations in the following categories:

Best Picture
Best Director (Christopher Guest)
Best Actor (Kelsey Grammar)
Best Actor (Alec Baldwin)
Best Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins)
Best Supporting Actor (James Caan)
Best Supporting Actress (Amy Poehler)
Best Original Screenplay (Christopher Guest and Christopher Buckley)