the dead zone Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Tonight (we hope), the longest and hardest-fought Presidential campaign in recent memory finally comes to a close. To celebrate, we've assembled a list of the seven most memorable political campaign workers in the past 50 years of movies. We've got office staff members, campaign managers, and the candidates themselves, each one giving their all in the most important campaign of their lives.

1. Robert Redford, The Candidate

Redford plays activist and staunch idealist Bill McKay, son of the former governor of California, who reluctantly enters the race for Senator with little chance of winning, all so he can speak out honestly on "the issues." As his popularity and support grows, so do the temptations and pressures to compromise his beliefs. My favorite scene comes deep in the campaign when McKay goes a little nuts in the back seat of a car speeding to a TV station. Repeating his slogan over and over, he's so exhausted that all he can do is laugh hysterically. Peter Boyle and Allan Garfield play his equally memorable political operatives.

2. Warren Beatty, Bulworth

What is it about California that makes Senators go nuts? Up for re-election, California Senator Jay Bulworth (Beatty), no longer wishing to live, decides he can finally speak the truth instead of campaign rhetoric, making for a racous series of politically incorrect adventures. Beatty, of course, had previously made Shampoo, in which he spent Election Day in 1968 running around Los Angeles putting out romantic and business fires, but he outdid himself with Bulworth.

Remember when Anthony Michael Hall was the adorably dorky, scrawny little kid who wanted Samantha's panties? And the guy who wanted to kill himself with a flare gun because he failed shop? Well, the Anthony Michael Hall of the 21st century would kick that loser's ass! As we saw for the first time when he bullied poor Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands, Hall is now a freakishly large creature who also happens to star in USA's The Dead Zone, a show that's made him a star (at least among people who watch USA) once again.

The call of the silver screen remains strong, however, and Hall has started telling anyone who will listen about Life and Death in Las Vegas, a movie he wrote and is currently casting, with the goal of getting it in front of the camera by the end of the year. Apart from the fact that Hall is apparently trying to get Paris Hilton to play a role, the movie actually sounds sort of funny -- it's about "a bunch of people chasing an inheritance that they're all screwed out of by Wayne Newton." I mean, anything with Wayne Newton is comedy gold. Right?