It’s past the 4th of July, yes. But from the news, it seems like we’ve begun to feel the heat of the 2008 election season. For those of you needing a dose of American political satire as you watch endless clips of candidates kissing babies, donning red, white, and blue ties, and giving pithy speeches, check out Tanner ’88 (DVD 2848) from the MSEL AV Center.
In 1988, filmmaker Robert Altman teamed up with Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau to create a presidential candidate, Congressman Jack Tanner, and ran him alongside the other real-life presidential hopefuls during the primary season.
Presented as an HBO television series, Tanner ’88 was groundbreaking television. Half soap opera and half news, the show was a piercing satire of American politics and mass media.
Robert Altman always claimed that Tanner was his most creative work. Certainly it laid the groundwork for satirical depictions of campaigns, like Wag the Dog (Video A3475), one of my personal favorites. You can bet I’ll be watching a few more of those as we inch closer to election day. Happy viewing!
There’s a list of more new arrivals after the jump …
DVD 2821, Borderless
DVD 2822, Lemming
DVD 2823, The Perfect Crime (El crimen ferpecto)
DVD 2824, À Tout de Suite
DVD 2825, Labor Stories
DVD 2826, A History of Ancient Egypt
DVD 2827, Tongues Untied
DVD 2828, Speaking of Abstraction, a Universal Language
DVD 2829, What is Minimalism? the American Perspective 1958-1968
DVD 2830, Period, the End of Menstruation?
DVD 2831, Match Point
DVD 2832, F.W. Murnau’s Phantom
DVD 2833, The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed)
DVD 2834, For Your Consideration
DVD 2835, Colonial House
DVD 2836, Army of Shadows (L’armée des Ombres)
DVD 2837, The Queen
DVD 2838, Hindle Wakes
DVD 2839, Water
DVD 2840, Star Wars
DVD 2841, John Cassavetes
DVD 2842, The Jerk
DVD 2843, Children of Men
DVD 2844, Happy Feet
DVD 2845, Ushpizin Guests
DVD 2846, A Collection of 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films
DVD 2847, Overlord
DVD 2848, Tanner ’88
DVD 2849, Brute Force
DVD 2850, Apocalypto
DVD 2851, Old Joy
DVD 2852, Three Times (Zui hao de shi guang)
DVD 2853, Bolshe Vita
DVD 2854, Green for Danger
DVD 2855, My Brother’s Wife (La Mujer de mi Hermano)
DVD 2856, Deliver us from Evil
DVD 2857, Antz
DVD 2858, Bear Cub
DVD 2859, A Brooklyn Family Tale
DVD 2860, Peep “TV” Show
DVD 2861, Don’t Tell
DVD 2862, Dreamgirls
DVD 2863, Pandora’s Box
DVD 2864, Last to Know
DVD 2865, War of the Worlds
DVD 2866, Hail Mary (Je vous Salue Marie)
DVD 2867, Temporada de Patos
DVD 2868, Livingstone
DVD 2869, The Woman he Scorned
DVD 2870, Ulysses
DVD 2871, Sensational Knowledge : Embodying Culture through Japanese Dance
DVD 2872, The Future of Food
DVD 2873, Howl’s Moving Castle (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro)
DVD 2874, Transamerica
DVD 2875, King Kong
DVD 2876, Songcatcher
DVD 2877, D.A. Levy & the Mimeograph Revolution
DVD 2878, Eclectic Shorts
DVD 2879, In the Realms of the Unreal: the Mystery of Henry Darger
DVD 2880, Inner Sanctum Mysteries
Could anyone inform me if the library is available for exchange students from abroad like me?