The presidency of Ronald Reagan was marked by such eighties movie events as First Blood, Conan the Barbarian, The King of Comedy, Gremlins, and The Terminator. These films, plus the birth of MTV, helped form the pop-cultural backdrop for the Cold War and the delirious 1984 presidential campaign that led to Reagan’s re-election. In his latest book, Make My Day: Movie Culture in the Age of Reagan—the culmination of a trilogy he began with The Dream Life and An Army of Phantoms—critic/historian J. Hoberman contextualizes and examines Reagan as historical figure and symbolic totem, placing the key American films released during his presidency within a narrative bookended by the bicentennial celebrations (coinciding with the beginning of Reagan’s national ascendency) and the Iran-Contra Affair. On the occasion of this essential new book’s publication, Film at Lincoln Center will present a series of special double features selected by Hoberman from the films he discusses.

Listen to our Spotify playlist for Make My Day, embedded below or here.