Wag the Dog (1997)
A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.
Genre : Comedy, Drama
Runtime : 1H 37M
Director : Barry Levinson
Writer : Hilary Henkin, David Mamet
Synopsis
During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.
Alberto Robles, a young doctor, is faced with the decision to surrender to a life full of comforts and luxuries or to continue dedicating himself body and soul to serving those who need it most.
Men, women, and war. Jelena Panic is a young woman in Belgrade in the early 1990s, during Serbia's war with Croatia; she's making a book of her grandmother's diaries from the end of World War II. She takes up with Bogdan, a young soldier recovering from war wounds. He helps her with her grandmother's story, a tragic triangle involving her effete and well-educated husband and an uneducated major, a Chekist who has, perhaps, the power to save a political prisoner who is the grandmother's friend. As Jelena wonders which man was her grandfather (the Chekist or the husband), Bogdan recovers from his wounds and must decide whether to return to the front. Jelena pleads; duty calls.
When two enemy sides ex-change the captives in the middle of a minefield, a nameless man without identity and memory, subsequently named Jakov, leaves the column unnoticed and wanders around in order to minimize other people's sufferings. On his dangerous journey, he meets a female first-fighter who runs an orphanage, a commander who got back from Foreign legion and runs a defense line from a disco club, and goes through many other adventures only to end up in the endless backwaters of the Neretva river where war threats to arrive.
Eva's confrontation with the corrupt winemakers' elite, which controls the whole town in conspiracy with mysterious winepires.
An in-depth look at the 1996 election campaign for the pivotal seat of Wellington Central, and life for the candidates on the campaign trail.
A transvestite couple from 1990s Belgrade beholds their profession as a pacifistic mission, curbing the urges of rapists, gamblers and horny young men during turbulent periods in war-torn country.
Paper Parachutes is a children's fantasy short film about obsessively ordered nine year old Miles, who receives his birthday presents via parachute from his high flying Uncle Ed. From his 9th birthday onward, Miles is on a year long mission to complete the 10 perfect paper airplanes in order to have his hero Uncle return by parachute on his 10th birthday. Miles creates such a strong imagined world about his Uncle that he almost entirely fails to see the efforts his hopeless disorganized parents make to keep his dreams alive.
Daily, Rika Umezawa battles a nagging sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction. She works a tiring job, comes home to an unappreciative husband and has little opportunity to enjoy life. But things change when office gossip about affairs and embezzlement inspire Rika to do the unthinkable. Soon, Rika finds herself filling the void with a university student named Kota and the millions entrusted to her by clients. Is her newfound lifestyle the key to happiness? And if so, how long can it last?
A documentary looking at the life and films of Francesco Rosi.
Two Filipina victims of sexual abuse search the truth behind the finding of a renowned anthropologist: that merely a few generations ago, the Bontok Igorot lived in what seems an unthinkable utopia—a rape-less society.
Tito del Amo, a passionate 72-year-old researcher, takes the final step to unravel the enigma about the alleged Spanish origin of the American cartoonist Walt Disney, making the same journey that his supposed mother made to give him up for adoption in Chicago. A journey that begins in Mojácar, Almería, Spain, and ends in New York. An exciting adventure, like Alicia's through the looking glass, to discover what is truth and what is not, with an unexpected result.
Unknown short stories from the past, the present and the future of fascism and its relation to the economic interests of each era. We will travel from Mussolini’s Italy to Greece under the Nazi occupation, the civil war and the dictatorship; and from Hitler’s Germany to the modern European and Greek fascism.
Documentary tracing the filmmaker’s work in Poland, from his days as a student through The Double Life of Véronique.
This short-form documentary focuses on the true story of Alfons Heck, who as an impressionable 10-year-old boy became a high-ranking member of the Hitler youth movement during World War II. The story is told in his own words. This film originally aired as part of the "America Undercover" series on HBO.
A group of young people become involved with the kidnap of a local politician with the aim of halting construction work on a nearby nuclear power plant.
First time filmmaker follows his girlfriend and boss chase their dream as musicians. His insecurities flair while struggling to find a story, and begins challenging their flaws, on camera, jeopardizing the film, relationships and careers.
A film about the historical uprising of the seamen in Kiel: During the Russian October Revolution of 1917, German and Russian soldiers start to solidarize with each other. By disarming the officers, machinist Henne Lonke and stoker Jens Kasten prevent the attack on a Russian freighter. When German admiralty gives out orders for operation "Nibelungen", which would lead the German fleet into a suicidal attack against England and quell the revolutionary spirit, seamen and soldiers from different political backgrounds unite in protest.
A film crew wants to make a serious drama, but the investors agree to fund the movie only if they make something funny. Hence the drama becomes a comedy with famous singer Đorđe Marjanović in star role.
In the early 1920's of China, seven former soldiers band together to defend a helpless village against a group of vicious bandits in this Hong Kong remake of Seven Samurai.
A couple on vacation in the woods is stalked by a pair of rapists.
Joe Moore has a job he loves. He's a thief. His job goes sour when he gets caught on security camera tape. His fence, Bergman, reneges on the money he's owed, and his wife may be betraying him with the fence's young lieutenant. Moore and his partner, Bobby Blane, and their utility man, Pinky Pincus, find themselves broke, betrayed, and blackmailed. Moore is forced to commit his crew to do one last big job.
An inventor of a secret process suddenly finds himself alone as both his friends and the corporation he works for turn against him.
Two criminal drifters without sympathy get more than they bargained for after kidnapping and holding for ransom the surrogate mother of a powerful and shady man.
U.S. government agent Scott is assigned to rescue the daughter of a high-ranking government official. As willing as he is to bend the rules to get things done, though, Scott is shocked to find that others are willing to go even further to protect a political career.
When the San Francisco Giants pay center-fielder, Bobby Rayburn $40 million to lead their team to the World Series, no one is happier or more supportive than #1 fan, Gil Renard. When Rayburn becomes mired in the worst slump of his career, the obsessed Renard decides to stop at nothing to help his idol regain his former glory—not even murder.
A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent by his boss, the psychopathic "Bones" Barboni, to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror films. When Chili meets Harry's leading lady, the romantic sparks fly. After pitching his own life story as a movie idea, Chili learns that being a mobster and being a Hollywood producer really aren't all that different.
An aging thief hopes to retire and live off his ill-gotten wealth when a young kid convinces him into doing one last heist.
The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job – showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.
An accountant embezzles $15 million of mob money, jumps bail and is chased by bounty hunters, the FBI, and the Mafia.
When an office full of Chicago real estate salesmen is given the news that all but the top two will be fired at the end of the week, the atmosphere begins to heat up. Shelley Levene, who has a sick daughter, does everything in his power to get better leads from his boss, John Williamson, but to no avail. When his coworker Dave Moss comes up with a plan to steal the leads, things get complicated for the tough-talking salesmen.
The mafia's Paul Vitti is back in prison and will need some serious counseling when he gets out. Naturally, he returns to his analyst Dr. Ben Sobel for help and finds that Sobel needs some serious help himself as he has inherited the family practice, as well as an excess stock of stress.
Countless wiseguy films are spoofed in this film that centers on the neuroses and angst of a powerful Mafia racketeer who suffers from panic attacks. When Paul Vitti needs help dealing with his role in the "family," unlucky shrink Dr. Ben Sobel is given just days to resolve Vitti's emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster.
Widowed U.S. president Andrew Shepherd, one of the world's most powerful men, can have anything he wants -- and what he covets most is Sydney Ellen Wade, a Washington lobbyist. But Shepherd's attempts at courting her spark wild rumors and decimate his approval ratings.
Threats from sinister foreign nationals aren't the only thing to fear. Bedraggled college professor Michael Faraday has been vexed (and increasingly paranoid) since his wife's accidental death in a botched FBI operation. But all that takes a backseat when a seemingly all-American couple set up house next door.
Down-and-out private detective Harry Angel is ordered by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to go on a mission to find a missing person. His routine failure soon leads to a bloody spar with himself, as he goes on a supernatural journey into his own soul.
A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
Former pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson decides he wants to return to the game by taking a pupil. He meets talented but green Vincent Lauria and proposes a partnership. As they tour pool halls, Eddie teaches Vincent the tricks of scamming, but he eventually grows frustrated with Vincent's showboat antics, leading to an argument and a falling-out. Eddie takes up playing again and soon crosses paths with Vincent as an opponent.
