The Politics Behind The Popcorn

By Rebecca Winters

What with political films like Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Manchurian Candidate, in which Denzel Washington tries to unravel a plot by a Halliburton-esque military conglomerate, even fluffy summer entertainment is starting to look a lot like a political statement

I, ROBOT Robots try to restrict freedom to protect humanity in this futuristic thriller based on Isaac Asimov's stories. Audiences can watch it as an escapist Will Smith summer flick--or an allegory about the USA Patriot Act

THE VILLAGE In filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan's spooky tale of a 19th century agrarian community with Bryce Dallas Howard, the elders (read: Bush?) use a color-coded warning system to keep the populace in a state of fear

THE FROGS In this update of Greek theater via Stephen Sondheim in New York City, Nathan Lane battles a "Bully Bush Frog"--a creature that "makes pre-emptive strikes and forgets why it attacked in the first place"