Get in the Election Spirit with The Everything is Politics Film Series

With a presidential election just around the corner, October is a good time to get in the mood with some movies about politics.

The Everything is Politics film series offers a sampling of politically-themed cinema on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. throughout October, 2012, in the Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Admission is free. The schedule:

October 6:   Wag the Dog (1997)
When the president becomes embroiled in a sex scandal, a political manager (Robert DeNiro) and a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) stage a fake war with Albania to divert the public's attention. Barry Levinson directs a big cast: Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Willie Nelson, Kirsten Dunst, William H. Macy, Woody Harrelson. Rating: R. 97 minutes.

October 13:  The Candidate (1972)
A Californian (Robert Redford) runs for the U.S. Senate as a reform-minded liberal. But will the choices he makes on the campaign trail finally undermine his idealism? Michael Ritchie directs; with Peter Boyle and Melvyn Douglas. Rating: PG. 110 minutes.

October 20:  Election (1999)
A hotly contested student election at an Omaha high school becomes a metaphor for the whole electoral process. Sucked into the fray are the teenage candidates (Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein) and their teacher (Matthew Broderick). Directed by Alexander Payne. Rating: R. 103 minutes.

October 27:  Dave (1993)
When the president slips into a coma, his staffers hire a look-alike (Kevin Kline) to impersonate him. Except that the "new" president has his own ideas about running the country. Ivan Reitman directs; with Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella. Rating PG-13. 110 minutes.

Free parking is available in the Library District parking garage at 10th & Baltimore.