7. Wag The Dog Precedes The Clinton Sex Scandal By One Month
The Movie: Less than two weeks before election day, the President of the United States is caught up in a sex scandal, causing legendary spin doctor Conrad Brean (De Niro) to hire Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Hoffman) to help him fabricate a war with Albania in order to distract from the scandal. The Release: Wag the Dog is a film that, on the face of it, probably sounds too ridiculous to be true, but then roughly one month after the film's December 1997 release date, the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky sex scandal broke. As if that wasn't enough, the Clinton administration than attempted to divert public attention from this by bombing a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan. It really couldn't be a more delicious and darkly hilarious example of life imitating art, and no doubt helped Oscar voters nominate the film for Best Adapted Screenplay.