The Los Angeles Times Critics' Pick Something’s Gonna Live is an intimate portrait of life, death, friendship and the movies, as recalled by some of Hollywood's greatest cinema artists. Academy Award®-nominated director Daniel Raim (The Man on Lincoln’s Nose), captures the late life coming together of renowned art directors Robert Boyle (North by Northwest, The Birds), Henry Bumstead (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Sting) and Albert Nozaki (The War of the Worlds, The Ten Commandments), storyboard illustrator Harold Michelson (The Graduate, Star Trek: The Motion Picture), and master cinematographers Haskell Wexler (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Medium Cool) and Conrad Hall (In Cold Blood, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). These prolific artists have worked on a total of 400 films, garnering 25 Academy Award® nominations and 8 wins.
A fascinating look at how American agricultural policy and food culture developed in the 20th century, and how the California food movement rebelled against big agribusiness to launch the local organic food movement.
Chronicles the Fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, hosted by The Van Cliburn Foundation. Players from all over the world, ranging from self-taught to classically-trained, aged thirty-five to almost eighty, convene in Fort Worth, Texas for a week of intense competition, music and camaraderie. The film the film provides an intimate look into the lives of these colorful, multi-faceted competitors as they strive to balance the demands of work and family with their love of music. Years of dedicated preparation culminate in critical performances before a professional jury and discerning audience during three nerve-wracking elimination rounds.
In his 51 BIRCH STREET, one of the most highly praised personal documentaries of recent years, Doug Block took a hard look at his parents marriage and his own relationship with his father. With his latest film, Block turns in the other direction, offering an exceptionally moving film about his relationship with his only child, Lucy. THE KIDS GROW UP is a chronicle of Lucy's emotionally-fraught last year at home before leaving for college. Moving fluidly between past, present and the fast-approaching future, Block uses a lifetime of footage to craft not only a loving portrait of a girl transitioning into womanhood, but also an incredibly candid look at modern-day parenting, marriage, and what it means to let go.
Severe Clear is a film based on the memoirs of First Lieutenant Mike Scotti in videos made by him and others from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines during the start of the 2003 Iraq invasion. The film explores the chaos and complexity of see the war.
Two lawyers and labor rights' activists, Daniel Kovalik of the United Steel Workers of America and Terry Collingsworth of the International Rights Advocates, and their partner Ray Rogers of Corporate Campaign firmly believe that US multinational corporations should be held accountable for the shabby practices of their business associates throughout the world. To lead their battle, they resort to a law dating back to the origin of the American Constitution - The Alien Tort Claims Act - which allows foreigners to file suit in the U.S. against Americans who violate international laws. The film tells the story of their fight against one of America's stellar icons: the Coca-Cola company.
Larry Pierce is a family man and factory worker who lives in Middletown, Indiana with his wife Sandy. Outside of his regular nine-to-five job, Pierce has also been writing and recording raunchy country albums since 1994. After being forced to retire from his job after thirty-one years, the 53-year-old Pierce hooks up with the rock group -itis and performs his first concert in front of a live audience.
This film is about the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. By focusing on classified secrets, the government's ability to put information out of sight if it would harm national security, Secrecy explores the tensions between our safety as a nation, and our ability to function as a democracy.
Based upon the Gold-Medallion award-winning best-seller, The Case for Christ documents Lee Strobel's journey from atheism to faith through his two-year investigation of the Bible and the life of Jesus Christ.
We call them, Divas. And some, remarkably stand out as women of sheer talent, star presence, and supreme success. Céline Dion is a name that needs no introduction. The little French Canadian singer gradually conquered hearts all around the world, including the one of her beloved one and only, René Angelil. She may very well be one of the most powerful and moving voices ever heard. But beyond the albums, hit songs and sold-out tours, her personal life has been marked with a painful amount of tragedy. Her story is one of strength, resilience and love."
This documentary examines the social and cultural underpinnings of the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, in an attempt to understand the work's phenomenal success and influence. The program looks for answers in the author's sources of inspiration, from the folk legends of Norway to the field of linguistics of which Tolkien was a lifelong student. It finds that the deep chord the story strikes owes its resonance to the author's use of archetypal imagery and language. Many examples of these recurrent themes and images are given, with readings from the work and other literature. Interviews with the book's illustrators, the brothers Hildebrandt, speak to the power of the imagery in the classic story. Scholars, Tolkien's children, and the author himself provide insight into the mythic themes and the spell they have cast over the vast readership of The Lord of the Rings.
This riveting Russian documentary takes you inside the trials of the notorious German war criminals, brought to trial to account for their actions. The footage includes excerpts from the trials of many of the senior Nazis including Goebels and Goring.
Three Candidates, Two blind Politicians, One Race. Anytown USA follows a tightly run race in the small town of Bogota, New Jersey and resonates as an all-too-familiar look at partisan politics in our increasingly polarized nation.
A documentary on the 1956 Olympic semifinal water polo match between Hungary and Russia. Held in Australia, the match occurred as Russian forces were in Budapest, stomping out a popular revolt.
While AIDS may be one of the most feared diseases of modern times, there is still a degree of scientific debate over the subject of just how the disease originated, and how the first cases spread. Two filmmakers explore a controversial theory about the beginnings of the disease. Using interviews, newsreel footage, and documented research experiments, The Origin of AIDS examines how a combination of benevolence, careless lab procedures, and the need of a desperate few to cover their tracks could have led to one of the most serious pandemics of the 20th century.