The 10 Coolest Film Presidents! (Spout.com)

Image via WikipediaGrand Rapids, MI (October 2, 2008) – As election season reaches its peak and the debates take center stage, the film gurus at Spout.com have offered up another topic for debate: The 10 Coolest Film Presidents. Silver screen Presidents have come from almost every film movie category including comedy, drama and action-adventure. Spout.com took all of these into account in selecting their top 10.

“As Presidential campaigns have become big budget affairs, they’ve almost become cinematic in their own way,” said Christopher Campbell, Spout.com. “So if McCain and Obama really want to get ahead in the polls, they might consider taking some pointers from the following Presidents...well, maybe not Lloyd Bridges.”

The 10 Coolest Film Presidents

10. President Lindberg (Tony “Tiny” Lister), from The Fifth Element
I’m not saying that being cross-eyed or incessantly receiving calls from your mother is cool, though both could very well be thought so in the year 2263. That’s so far in the future that Lindberg isn’t just the President of the United States, he’s head of the “United Federation” (like in Star Trek). No, I’m saying that Lindberg is cool because he’s really big and badass and could probably do some sweet damage to some Mangalores all by his lonesome. Unfortunately, Lister never gets to display his old wrestling moves in any action scenes.

9. President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews), from Idiocracy
Another African-American wrestler-turned-president, also in a future setting. Only this time it’s the character who is a former pro wrestler (Crews is instead a former pro football player) and the setting is even further in time, 2505, when the people of the world are very, very stupid. But is it stupid to elect a man with an awesome chopper and a tendency to sing his speeches? If Teddy Roosevelt were alive, he’d probably also have a motorcycle and a machine gun, though maybe he wouldn’t shoot the latter while standing before Congress. Or maybe he would, and maybe we’d still re-elect him.

8. President Devlin (George Clooney), from Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
If George Clooney stopped simply talking politics and actually ran for president, a lot of people would vote for him simply because he’s a cool celebrity. Fans of the Spy Kids films got a taste of what President George Clooney would look like when his character, Devlin, became commander-in-chief by the third installment.

7. President James Dale (Jack Nicholson), from Mars Attacks!
Of course, if there’s one actor even cooler than Clooney, it’s Jack Nicholson. What if the presidential race consisted of these two actors up for the position? If you truly voted based on the coolness of the candidate, you’d have to go with Jack. But only if he wore sunglasses during every public appearance, including especially the State of the Union Address.

6. President Joseph Staton (Dennis Quaid), from American Dreamz
In a crazy instance of life imitating art, George W. Bush appeared on American Idol in 2007, just one year after President Joseph Staton appeared on American Dreamz (the fictionalized version of the popular show).

5. President George W. Bush (James Adomian), from Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
This list is basically limited to fictional presidents in film, but we can make an exception for Adomian’s portrayal of Bush, as it’s no more accurate a representation than is Neil Patrick Harris’ portrayal of himself in the same film. In this movie, Bush is a much cooler guy. He gets high, has an awesome rec room, and he’s like a rebellious yet spoiled teenager. Heck, if ‘Rold and Kumar like hanging with him, you’d probably like hanging with him, too.

4. President James Marshall (Harrison Ford), from Air Force One
People used to prefer a leader who’d proven himself in battle. Now, it’s not so important for a presidential candidate to have served in war or even been shown to have some sort of fight in him. But let’s face it, to kick a bad guy’s ass while also avoiding falling out of an airplane cargo door.

3. President Thomas “Tug” Benson (Lloyd Bridges), from Hot Shots! Part Deux
President Benson has been through enough to make McCain look like a lazy hippie. He caught a bazooka round in Okinawa, took a bullet in Corregidor that went straight through both ears, took a torpedo in the lower abdomen that resulted in the removal of his intestines, he has a shell the size of his fist in his head and he was shot down on more than 194 air missions. He’s not too bright these days, but he’ll still take it upon himself to go into Iraq and fight the enemy face to face. With a light saber.

2. President Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock), from Head of State
He’s not as cool as his running-mate (who is also his brother, played by Bernie Mac), and the movie isn’t as funny or insightful as Chris Rock’s political stand-up, but Mays Gilliam is like an even hipper exaggeration of Obama. Not only does he listen to rap, he plays Nelly at formal events and gets old ladies to dance and sing along. He takes mudslinging to a new level with “Yo Mama” jokes. And his “That Ain’t Right” slogan is like a cooler, possibly more genuine, inverse of Obama’s “Yes We Can.”

1. President Max Frost (Christopher Jones), from Wild in the Streets
As the hit song from the movie goes, “nothing can stop the shape of things to come,” and I take that to mean that inevitably a rock star will one day be elected to the presidency. After all, there has already been a movie star president, and eight years ago plenty of young music fans were ready to vote Jello Biafra into the White House, simply because he’s Jello Biafra. Despite the uncool things done by Max Frost and his band, The Troopers, such as putting LSD in the capital’s water supply and detaining citizens over the age of 35 for re-education, they do carry out some really hip ideas, such as lowering the voting age to 14, and gaving the world some classic garage rock tunes.

Spout.com is the premier online destination for film lovers and film discussion. Featuring up-to-date news, trailers, reviews, podcasts, festival info, and vibrant forums where users can discuss and debate the best in film, the worst in film, and everything in-between; the mission of Spout.com is to connect everyone with more films they are likely to love. Whether it’s big budget blockbusters, independent releases or foreign films, Spout.com has a recommendation for you.

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