Fake Presidents Buchman and Oren

It's a house divided in this episode as our hosts have very differing takes on just how successfully this new film from writer/director Alex Garland (ANNILHILATION, EX MACHINA) infuses its narrative with grounded politics... and whether it needs to at all?
Nick Offerman gets an upgrade from municpal parks and rec employee to POTUS.  Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson are journalists caught in various crossfires. And Jesse Plemons gets to recreate the moment he and Kirsten Dunst first fell in love in real life.
Join us on Threads and Instagram at Fake_Presidents or email us at fakpresidents [at] gmail.com to join the convo! 

In the spring of 2022, a new play opened on Broadway called "POTUS," with the lengthy subtitle: "OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE." 
From the director of "THE PRODUCERS" (the Broadway musical), this comedy starred Vanessa Williams, Julianne Hough, Rachel Dratch, Suzy Nakamura, Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, and Julie White.
Neither of us were able to catch it. 
But this past winter, the show came to Los Angeles...
And one of us was there!
Now you can be there too. Via us!
Or, rather, via Ben.
Find us on Instagram and Threads at Fake_Presidents to join the conversation...
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - Some MANHUNT and Garfield assassination talk
04:38 - Background on POTUS, the play
10:33 - Portrait Corner!
16:49 - The Plot
26:20 - Party and Politics
32:58 - Legacy and Approval Ratings
34:48 - Closing
36:07 - Post-Credits Bit

Eric couldn't sleep and happened upon a late night rerun of a classic TV show from the 80s that suprisingly had a fake president. Which got us wondering... what other TV classics have one-off, nearly disposable fake presidents?!
Oh, and we talk about Gareth Edwards' THE CREATOR. Well, we talk about whether or not we should talk about it.
00:00 - INTRO
03:01 - THE CREATOR
07:48 - HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN
23:06 - SEAQUEST DSV
41:02 - LOST IN SPACE
49:19 - SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH
57:28 - CLOSING
58:56 - Post-Credits Bit
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We finally get to do something we don't usually get to do...speculate about the future! Ben and Eric take a look at two new trailers with heaps of potential for (prestige) fake POTUSes to see what 2024 may have in store for fictional politics. 
Nick Offerman is a fake president while America is torn asunder in Alex Garland's CIVIL WAR? Kate Winslet is the head-of-state of a fascistic European nation in HBO's THE REGIME? SAY NO MORE. (Actually, do say more, because these trailers are scant on details...)
Oh, and we also follow-up on a couple projects with some interesting new developments.  Which presidential loser gets to finally be POTUS in FOR ALL MANKIND season 4? (hint: they got the popular vote!) And which "incendiary" holiday movie we covered is now getting a sequel!?! (Seriously, of all the movies we've covered, it's truly the LAST one we'd ever thought would get a sequel.)
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A "Hallmark-style" holiday rom-com featuring a fake president? Of course we had to watch it! (So you don't have to!)
CHRISTMAS AT THE HOLLY HOTEL is a fictional movie about a real hotel that once played a role in George H.W. Bush's ill-fated reelection campaign. It stars no one you'll recognize, directed by no one you've heard of, but it's made lovingly by people who seem to care very much about getting every detail of this hotel right. 
But what about the details of the phony potus?  Did they get those right?
Let's find out...
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Uma Thurman is the faux potus in Amazon's romantic comedy RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE. Taylor Zakhar Perez is the young, handsome First Son whose public feud with a young, handsome British Prince (played by Nicholas Galitzine) threatens his mom's reelection campaign.  But things get even messier when the hate gives way to VERY different feelings for each other...
Can a congresswoman from Texas win the presidency if she can't even win a statewide election in own state?  Can a college-aged first kid throw a rager on the White House lawn? Do political rom-coms even need a grand gesture?  This is a movie where the romance might be the queer, but the politics are oddly straight.
Find us on Threads and Instagram at Fake_Presidents. Or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com to join the convo!