It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.

You believe that someone out of the past can enter and take possession of a living being?

We may be true with the past, but the past is not through with us.

Welcome to The Next Picture Show, a movie of the week podcast, devoted to a classic film and how it shaped our thoughts on a recent release. I'm Keith Phipps here with... Genevieve Kosky, Tasha Robinson. Scott Tobias. Every week we get together to talk over a classic film and consider how it relates to a current movie. Hey, let's take a walk while we discuss this week's pairing. Okay, hold on a second. I just sat down. Tasha, we don't have a second. Walk with me. This week we're going to be stepping through the corridors of power with not one, but two movies that ask us to look at the American political system and consider if it couldn't be better with a little pragmatic idealism and maybe a little romance tasha brief us yes mr

podcast host tasha we've known each other for 20 years you can call me keith yes sir mr podcast host

first up we'll be talking about the american president a 1995 film scripted by aaron sorkin directed by

rob riner and starring michael douglas and Annette Benning as, respectively,

President Andrew Shepard and environmental lobbyist Sidney Ellen Wade.

A widower, Shepard shocks the nation and jeopardizes his 63% approval rating when he starts dating Sydney, making her a target of his right-wing foes.

Then we'll shift our focus to Longshot, a new romantic comedy starring Seth Rogen

as a disillusioned reporter who reconnects with his old babysitter, played by Charlize Theron, now as Secretary of State, making an uphill run for president. Thanks, Tasha. That was very efficient and informative. Have a seat. We could have stayed seated this whole time. What was the point of all that walking? I don't know. Dialogue is more compelling if there's camera movement going on?

This is a podcast.

Yes, it is.

And after a short break, I'm going to launch into a long, uninterrupted monologue that will

offer an argument so cohesive and persuasive, it will silence all opposition.

What would happen if I called Sidney Wade and asked her to be my date at the state dinner on Thursday evening?

The president can't just go out on a date.

I'm having dinner at the White House.

I'm having lunch at the Kremlin.

I don't know what happened.

One minute I was calling him a mockery of an environmental leader.

The next minute I had a date.

...