Jamelle and John are back for the new year with an episode on the 1997 thriller Murder at 1600, directed by Dwight Little and starring Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Alan Alda and Dennis Miller. It is yet another entry into the mini-boomlet of films whose premise, essentially, is what if the president were horny…and murderous.

In their conversation, Jamelle and John discuss the relationship between the media and Americans’ conception of power, and how this even influences decision makers at the very top. They also discuss the difference between conspiracies in the public mind and conspiracies in reality.

A reminder that they also have a Patreon where they cover the films as of the Cold War as well as produce a weekly politics show. You can find that at patreon.com/unclearpod.

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John marked the unfortunate death of Rob Reiner by watching his 1992 military legal thriller A Few Good Men. In their conversation, they discuss Reiner’s career, the underlying liberalism of a film like A Few Good Men, and the continued relevance of Jack Nicholson’s performance as Colonel Nathan Jessup.

After this, we’ll be off for a few weeks, but then we’ll see you again in the new year with an episode on Murder at 1600. We’ll then finish out 1997 with an episode on G.I. Jane. It’s been a busy and chaotic 2025 for both Jamelle and John, but they both hope the schedule will return to some regularity for 2026.

And do not forget the Patreon, where in addition to a twice-monthly show on the political and military thrillers of the Cold War, we do a weekly politics show. Our next Patreon movie episode will be on the 1984 adaptation of John Le Carre’s The Little Drummer Girl, starring the late, great Diane Keaton.

Wag the Dog tells the story of a scandal-ridden president whose chief spin doctor, Conrad Brean (De Niro), decides to distract the public with a fictional war with Albania. To pull this off, he hires Stanley Motss (Hoffman), a prominent Hollywood producer who throws himself into orchestrating an imaginary war, complete with fake footage, fake war heroes and a popular theme song. The hoax is successful, but it soon comes with a host of complications which require Brean and Motss to take quick action to further deceive the public.

In their conversation, Jamelle and John discuss the cynicism, shallowness and laziness of Levinson and Mamet’s depiction of Washington politics, as well as a few real-life examples of manufactured wars, and why most Hollywood political satire just doesn’t work.

The tagline for Wag the Dog was “A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.”

You can find Wag the Dog to rent or buy on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

Episodes come out every two weeks so stay-tuned for our upcoming episode on Murder at 1600.

And don’t forget our Patreon, where we cover the political thrillers of the Cold War and we offer weekly political commentary. You can subscribe for just $5 at patreon.com/unclearpod.

Our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck.