Fueled by archival film clips and captivating anecdotes from friends and family, this unauthorized biography of John Lennon captures a lesser-known side of the Beatle who caused as much a stir with his personal causes as he did with his music. Highlights include rarely told stories about Lennon's upbringing from his half sister, Julia Baird, and tales from former members of Lennon's first band, the Quarrymen.
Dozens of stars--including Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Bob Hope, and more--demonstrate how the yuletide season is celebrated in the perpetually warm and sunny world of Hollywood, California.
Made in 1939 by Seabiscuit's owner Charles Howard. This inspirational film chronicles Seabiscuit's life from birth, through training, and the legendary match race with War Admiral.
Lars von Trier challenges his mentor, filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake Leth’s 1967 short film The Perfect Human five times, each with a different set of bizarre and challenging rules.
Arguably second only to Muddy Waters among the Mississippi Delta singers who traveled north and pioneered urban electric blues (their supposed rivalry is the subject of one of this DVD's bonus features), Wolf was a big, imposing man with an inimitable, booming voice and a lasting influence on generations of rock & rollers--all of which comes across in the 90-minute film.
Art historians and critics talk with Philip Guston about his ideas and new work of the 1970's. Filmed during the making of "Philip Guston: A Life Lived."
An unprecedented and unflinching look at how the citizens of South Africa are living with the AIDS epidemic, given the climate of governmental confusion and neglect.
Ed Asner narrates this documentary about U.S. involvement in Colombia's drug trafficking and civil unrest. The film examines the impact of chemical spraying and military funding and reveals alternate U.S. interests. Features interviews with Noam Chomsky, the late Senator Paul Wellstone, Colombian Presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, Congressmen John Conyers and Jim McGovern, U.S. State Department officials, guerilla leaders and others.
In 1977, when she was four years old, Albertina Carri's parents vanished without a trace, victims of Argentina's brutal military junta. In this fresh and politically daring film, the young Argentinian filmmaker attempts to unravel the mystery, piecing together her memories and fantasies in a quest to understand her parents' untimely fate.
This extraordinary film interweaves the stories of three close lesbian friends: Joyce Fulton, who died over the course of two years from a brain tumor; Mary Bell Wilson, who, with indefatigable courage, faces up to her own losing battle with lymphoma; and Nan Golub, a black-leather-jacketed, platinum-dyed New York city artist, very much alive. Liberty demystifies death, dispels misinformation about age and sexual orientation and reminds us that life is worth living, even worth celebrating.
A stark portrait of a town in decline. Brilliant juxstaposition between the scoff faced English day trippers searching for cheap booze, and the cold, snivelling asylum seekers existing on the streets. Thrown into the mix are two English ex pats, trying to make money against the odds.
More of a film essay - of the type pioneered by Orson Welles and Chris Marker - than a standard documentary, German filmmaker Lutz Dammbeck's The Net: The Unabomber, the LSD and the Internet begins with the typical format and structure of a nonfiction film, and a single subject (the life and times of mail bomber Ted Kaczynski). From that thematic springboard, Dammbeck branches out omnidirectionally, segueing into a series of thematic riffs and variants on such marginally-related subjects as: the history of cyberspace, terrorism, utopian ideals, LSD, the Central Intelligence Agency, and Cuckoo's Nest author Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters.
The film Morning Sun attempts in the space of a two-hour documentary film to create an inner history of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (c.1964-1976). It provides a multi-perspective view of a tumultuous period as seen through the eyes—and reflected in the hearts and minds—of members of the high-school generation that was born around the time of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and that came of age in the 1960s. Others join them in creating in the film’s conversation about the period and the psycho-emotional topography of high-Maoist China, as well as the enduring legacy of that period.
Between 1939 and 2002, Black actors and Actresses received a combined total of 30 Academy Award nominations - only a handful made the odyssey to the podium to possess the Golden Man. This special program is filled with rare footage, photographs and long lost trailers of performances in Oscar-recognized films from GONE WITH THE WIND to MONSTER'S BALL.
The filmed account of a large Canadian rock festival train tour boasting major acts. In the summer of 1970, a chartered train crossed Canada carrying some of the world's greatest rock bands. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, and others lived (and partied) together for five days, stopping in major cities along the way to play live concerts. Their journey was filmed.
John Cadigan, an artist with schizophrenia, presents a documentary about "the world inside my head. It's a chaotic world filled with paranoia, creativity, fear and desire. A world in which I'm struggling every day, trying to know what is real and what is not."