Unclear and Present Danger

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watch the 1998 action thriller Mercury Rising, directed by Harold Becker and starring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, and Miko Hughes.
The film follows FBI agent Art Jeffries, who goes on the run to protect a nine-year-old autistic boy after the child accidentally cracks a classified NSA encryption cipher — drawing the attention of a rogue intelligence official willing to use lethal force to keep the program secret.
In their conversation, Jamelle and John discuss the film’s offensive depiction of autism, its vision of “the deep state,” and the various ways it reflects mounting paranoia around government surveillance.
You can find Mercury Rising available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. Episodes come out roughly every two weeks, and so we will see you then with an episode on a 1998 TV movie about the Oklahoma City bombing. And don’t forget to check out our Patreon, where we cover the films of the Cold War and do 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 watch U.S. Marshals, the extremely lackluster sequel to The Fugitive which dispenses with a straightforward cat and mouse story in favor of a byzantine conspiracy involving government moles, foreign espionage and the Taiwanese government. Directed by Stuart Baird, U.S. Marshals stars Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr., Joe Pantoliano, Kate Nelligan and Irène Jacob.
The tagline for U.S. Marshalls was "The cop who won't stop is back. But this time he's chasing down a lot more than a fugitive."
You can find the film to rent or buy on Amazon and Apple TV.
Episodes of the podcast are released roughly every other week, so join us again later this month for a look at Mercury Rising, Harold Becker's conspiracy thriller starring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Miko Hughes, Chi McBride and Kim Dickens.
And don't forget our Patreon, where we cover the films of the Cold War and produce a weekly politics commentary show. Sign up at patreon.com/unclearpod.

On this week's episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John were joined by Hilary Matfess of the University of Denver to discuss G.I. Jane, the 1997 military drama directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore and Viggo Mortenson. The discussion for this film revolves around the evolving role of women in the military, post-Cold War anxieties about American military readiness, the gender politics of the film, and what the movie might signify today, in the present.
Matfess is the author of a new book, "Putting Women in their Place: Gender Power and World Politics," which is available wherever books are sold.
For our next episode we are heading into 1998 with U.S. Marshals, the somewhat forgotten sequel to The Fugitive, starring Wesley Snipes and Tommy Lee Jones.
And don't forget our Patreon, where we cover the films of the Cold War and do a regular politics show. You can find that at patreon.com/unclearpod.
Our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck.

The next episode of the podcast will be here soon, but while you wait, here is the most recent episode of our politics show on the Patreon. In it, we talk the most recent developments in the Trump administration's attack on Minnesota and what they might portend for both the White House and its opposition going forward. We also say a few words about Epstein because, you know, how could we not.
You can get access to this weekly show, as well as a few years of episodes on the political thrillers of the Cold War era, on our Patreon, which you find at patreon.com/unclearpod.

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.