Unclear and Present Danger

Afleveringen

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  Gattaca (feat. Nicole Hemmer) 14.08.2026

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle is joined by Nicole Hemmer, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University and co-host of the This Day in History podcast, to discuss the 1997 dystopian science-fiction film Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman.In Gattaca, Hawke plays Vincent Freeman, a natural-born human being in a world of people genetically-engineered for perfection. Freeman dreams of space travel but is barred from it because of a genetic defect — a heart condition. To circumvent the system, he assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a genetically superior but disabled man, using Jerome's blood and urine samples to pass as a “valid” for Gattaca, the elite space program. As Vincent gets closer to his mission launch, a murder investigation threatens to expose his deception, forcing him to navigate suspicion while proving that determination can triumph over genetic destiny.You can find Gattaca to rent on Apple TV and Amazon.Episodes come out every two weeks, so see us then when we discuss The X-Files Movie.Sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/unclearpod. We do two episodes every month on the political and military thrillers of the Cold War as well as a weekly show on politics.
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  Armageddon 17.07.2026

  On this week’s episode of the pod, Jamelle and John cover Michael Bay's 1998 asteroid movie Armageddon — the one where oil drillers, not astronauts, are sent to save the world. They discuss why it reads as the most right-wing film they've covered: a movie that valorizes blue-collar white masculinity and treats scientists and bureaucrats as obstacles, an opening sequence that prefigures 9/11, and a worldview that anticipates George W. Bush–era conservatism.
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  Godzilla (1998) 04.07.2026

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, we watched Roland Emmerich’s attempt to bring Godzilla to Hollywood in the appropriately titled Godzilla. Ostensibly a film about the dangers of nuclear testing, Godzilla is a total mess, a miserable failure that deserves its poor reputation.
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  Bulworth (feat. Vinson Cunningham) 27.05.2026

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Vinson Cunningham of the New Yorker to discuss Bulworth, the 1998 black comedy (no pun intended) written, directed by and starring Warren Beatty. After working through their initial shock at the sheer weirdness of the film, Jamelle, John and Vinson explore its politics, its vision of American society, its critique of American media and the fact that the character of Bulworth is, himself, highly prescient. They also explore the strange racial politics of the film, as well as the extent to which it stands as a kind of modern parable.This is a strange film folks! And we had a great time discussing it.On our next episode, we will discuss Roland Emmerich’s 1998 disaster thriller Godzilla, something of a misbegotten attempt to Americanize the storied franchise. But there is a lot to talk about and we are looking forward to doing so.
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  Oklahoma City: A Survivor's Story 17.04.2026

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watch the 1998 Lifetime film Oklahoma City: A Survivor’s Story, starring Kathy Baker as Priscilla Salyers, a real-life U.S. Customs employee who survived the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The film follows the attack, Salyers's rescue, and her subsequent struggle with PTSD, as well as the way the tragedy shapes her family life (it is a Lifetime film after all).
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  Mercury Rising 26.03.2026

  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.
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  U.S. Marshals 07.03.2026

  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.
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  GI Jane (feat. Hilary Matfess) 19.02.2026

  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.
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  Unclear and Present Politics Episode 15 [PATREON BONUS] 12.02.2026

  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.
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  Murder at 1600 17.01.2026

  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.
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  A Few Good Men 23.12.2025

  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.
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  Wag the Dog 15.11.2025

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched the 1997 comedy Wag the Dog, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Heche, Dennis Leary, Willie Nelson, Andrea Martin and Kirsten Dunst, with a screenplay by David Mamet and cinematography by Robert Richardson.
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  Unclear and Present Politics [PATREON PREVIEW] 24.10.2025

  Every week, we do a political discussion show over at the Patreon. We wanted to offer you a preview of that show in the form of a full episode, which happens to be our most recent episode, on the Graham Platner affair in Maine. If you like our discussion, sign up for the Patreon to get an episode very week at patreon.com/unclearpod.
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  Tomorrow Never Dies 24.10.2025

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Tomorrow Never Dies, the 1997 action thriller, the eighteenth film in the James Bond series and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, it follows Bond in his effort to stop the media mogul Elliot Carver, played by Jonathan Pryce, from starting World War III in order to expand his reach over the world’s information environment.
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  The Jackal 01.10.2025

  In The Jackal, Willis plays the titular assassin, a feared hitman who has been hired by Russian mobsters to assassinate the director of the FBI, in retaliation for American activity in Russia. As the Jackal makes his arrangements, FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Poitier) and Russian Police Major Valentina Koslova (Venora) scour their sources for leads in a search that leads to imprisoned IRA sniper Declan Mulqueen (Gere). Mulqueen knows the Jackal and will help the FBI find him — if he gets his freedom in return. What follows is a chase across the world, as Carter, Koslova and Mulqueen race to stop the Jackal, whose ultimate target is the First Lady of the United States.
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  Starship Troopers 15.09.2025

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 science-fiction action thriller Starship Troopers, starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyers, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown. An adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s 1959 novel of the same title, Verhoeven’s film takes a satirical pass on the material, turning a fascistic coming-of-age tale into an unusual piece of meta-propaganda. Starship Troopers takes place in a future, fascist society, where democracy and universal suffrage have been overthrown, and a military government leads humanity, with full citizenship reserved for those who serve in the armed services. Casper Van Dien plays Johnny Rico, an eager young recruit in the Mobile Infantry, who is sent to the frontlines of a war against the Arachnids, a supposedly hostile race of alien insectoids. The film tells the story of Rico’s training, his experience in battle, and his eventual rise to command.
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  Red Corner 20.08.2025

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Red Corner, a 1997 legal thriller directed by Jon Avnet and starring Richard Gere, Bai Ling, Bradley Whitford and Peter Donat. In Red Corner, Richard Gere plays Jack Moore,, an American businessman who becomes entangled in nightmarish legal ordeal after he spends the evening with a Chinese fashion model and wakes up the next morning to find that she has been brutally murdered. Jack insists that he’s innocent, but learns that the Chinese legal system is very different than what he’s used to in the United States. He is denied access to an American lawyer, interrogated without counsel, and pressured to sign a confession rather than defend himself.  His state-assigned advocate, Shen Yuelin, assumes that Jack is guilty. But as she investigates the case, and grows closer to her client, she starts to doubt her conclusions. Gradually convinced of Jack’s innocence, she uncovers signs of a larger conspiracy involving high-ranking officials and powerful business interests. As political and legal pressures mount, Jack and Shen race against time to try to expose the truth, navigating a perilous maze of corruption and authoritarian control.
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  Hostile Waters 19.07.2025

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Hostile Waters, a 1997 made-for-TV movie directed by David Drury and starring Rutger Hauer, Martin Sheen and Max von Sydow.  Hostile Waters — based on a real-life incident, the loss of the Soviet Navy’s K-219 — was a joint production of HBO and the BBC, released first in the United Kingdom and then the United States. It received good reviews from critics on both sides of the Atlantic.  Hostile Waters takes place on October 1986, off the east coast of the United States. A Soviet ballistic missile submarine, the K‑219, collides with the American hunter-killer submarine USS Aurora. The impact ruptures a missile tube aboard the Soviet boat, triggering seawater to seep in—causing a violent chemical reaction, toxic gas buildup, and a fire that threatens the entire submarine and its nuclear warheads.
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  The Assignment 27.06.2025

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched The Assignment, a 1997 political thriller directed by Christian Duguay and starring Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley. In The Assignment, Aidan Quinn plays Annibal Ramirez, a U.S. naval officer recruited by CIA agent Jack Shaw — played by Sutherland — for a special operation to capture the elusive terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Shaw, with the help of Mossad agent Amos, played by Kingsley, trains Ramirez to impersonate the terrorist so convincingly that he can infiltrate Carlos’s network and destroy it from within. As Ramirez dives deeper into his double life, the lines between his identity and that of Carlos begin to blur, testing his sanity, loyalty, and sense of self. The tension escalates as the mission nears its climax, forcing Ramirez to confront not only Carlos but the cost of becoming the enemy in order to defeat him.
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  Executive Power 03.06.2025

  On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Executive Power, an obscure made-for-TV movie directed by David Corley and starring Craig Sheffer as Nick Seger, a Secret Service agent who gets entangled in a web of political intrigue and moral compromise after he assists the president in a deadly cover-up. There is not much more to the movie, but Jamelle and John try very hard to extract something like political insight from the proceedings! You can watch Executive Power for free on YouTube (although I would not recommend it).