Best of Documentaries
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- DirectorDavid HintonStarsChristopher PlummerL. Jeffrey SelznickDavid O. SelznickThis is a documentary that revisits the making of Gone with the Wind (1939) with archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.10/10
- DirectorAlastair FothergillMark LinfieldStarsJames Earl JonesPatrick StewartAnggunFeature-length version of the documentary TV series Planet Earth (2006), following the migration paths of four animal families.10/10
- DirectorLuc JacquetStarsMorgan FreemanRomane BohringerCharles BerlingIn the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family.10/10
- DirectorJohn RustStarsOlivia de Havilland10/10
- DirectorKevin BurnsBrent ZackyStarsRobert CulpRoddy McDowallDarryl F. ZanuckA trip through the idiosyncrasies and difficulties of making one of the most tormented movies ever filmed.10/10
- DirectorPaul HenryStarsAlain BoublilJohn CairdMarissa DunlopAn interview with the production team behind the hit Broadway musical as they discuss the conception and development of Les Miserables as a pop-culture phenomenon. Several scenes from the musical have been included.10/10
- DirectorGene KellyStarsFred AstaireGene KellyJudy GarlandThe second installment in the "That's Entertainment" trilogy features more classic scenes from MGM's vast musical library with the addition of comedy and drama films.10/10
- DirectorBud FriedgenMichael J. SheridanStarsDebbie ReynoldsGene KellyAnn MillerThird installment in the "That's Entertainment" series, featuring scenes from "The Hollywood Revue of 1929," "Brigadoon," "Singin' In The Rain," and many more MGM films.10/10
- DirectorKevin BrownlowStarsKenneth BranaghSteven SpielbergMartin ScorseseDocumentary about the legendary American film director from his introduction to the film industry in its early years to his death in 1959. After a falling out with Adolph Zukor, he left Paramount Pictures to found his own company but it too failed and moved on to MGM where his films were less successful than he had hoped. By 1931 DeMille, despite his huge successes in the silent era, was practically unemployable. Given a second chance at Paramount DeMille found his now classic formula of religious or epic tales with more than just a tinge of sex. Firmly re-established, he would stay with the studio for the rest of his career. He became a fervent anti-communist leading to a confrontation with his colleagues in the Directors Guild. He continued making films regardless and died as one of the most commercially successful in Hollywood history.10/10
- StarsValerie SpencerJohn LandisJonathan KuntzVarious film historians, film makers, and cultural commentators discuss the cultural, political, economic and religious reasons for what is known as the pre-code era of Hollywood movie making in the early 1930s, and those same factors which resulted in the drastic turn to working under the code for the twenty or so years starting in 1934. The "code" is the Hollywood Production Code of 1930 (also known as the Hays Code, so named for Will H. Hays, the first head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America), which was developed in order for movie making in Hollywood to run smoothly in the face of increased outside censors. The code was largely ignored until 1934, when its enforcement was overseen by Joseph Breen who took over from Hays and who had a different agenda of moral purity. During those four years, pre-code Hollywood movies are characterized by their rawness and pushing the envelope of sexuality and moral ambiguity (with the depraved side often winning), which were not allowed under the code. What happened to the distribution of pre-code movies during the years that the code was enforced, the reasons for the slow breakdown of the code in the early to mid 1950s, and the reasons for renewed interest in pre-code movies later in the century are also discussed.10/10
- DirectorCharles KiselyakStarsMary WilliamsHorton FooteRobert MulliganA documentary about the adaptation of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird into a film.10/10
- DirectorMichael WebberStarsTim HarrisonTerry BrumfieldRuss ClearTake a journey deep inside the fascinating world where wild exotic animals are kept as household pets.9/10
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.8/10
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsLily TomlinTony CurtisSusie BrightA documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.8/10
- DirectorKent JonesStarsWes AndersonPeter BogdanovichDavid FincherFilmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.8/10
- DirectorMalik BendjelloulStarsRodriguezStephen 'Sugar' SegermanDennis CoffeyTwo South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.8/10
- DirectorMorgan SpurlockStarsMorgan SpurlockDaryl IsaacsChemeeka WalkerWhile examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald's food for one month.7/10
- DirectorThom AndersenStarsEncke KingBen AlexanderJim BackusA documentary on how Los Angeles has been used and depicted in the movies.7/10
- DirectorBarry Alexander BrownGlenn SilberStarsKarleton ArmstrongBetty BoardmanAllen GinsbergInterviews with people involved with and leading the Madison, Wisconsin area resistance to the Vietnam war.7/10