Top Rated Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 152

The Last Patrol

2014

The Last Patrol

2014
5
Four veterans of the Afghani war ride the American rails.
Master of the Rings: The Unauthorized Story Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"

2001

Master of the Rings: The Unauthorized Story Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"

2001
8
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.
Carb-Loaded: A Culture Dying to Eat

2014

Carb-Loaded: A Culture Dying to Eat

2014
6.9
One in three Americans is pre-diabetic. A huge percentage of them do not know that they are sick. Adult onset diabetes is no longer an illness for the obese and elderly. Millions of Americans who regularly exercise and eat a diet recommended by the USDA are classified as "skinny-fat". The connection between the standard American diet and numerous metabolic disorders is now an unspoken fact in most medical circles
Forbidden Films

2014

Forbidden Films

2014
6.5
Between 1933 and 1945 roughly 1200 films were made in Germany, of which 300 were banned by the Allied forces. Today, around 40 films, called "Vorbehaltsfilme", are locked away from the public with an uncertain future. Should they be re-released, destroyed, or continue to be neglected? Verbotene Filme takes a closer look at some of these forbidden films.
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué

1996

La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué

1996
5.5
La Comédie-Française is the oldest continuous repertory company in the world, founded in Paris in the late 17th century. This is the first time a documentary film-maker has been allowed to look at all the aspects of the work of this great theatrical company. Sequences in the film include sections of plays, casting, set and costume design, administrative meetings and rehearsals and performances of four classic French plays, Don Juan by Molière, La Thebaide by Racine, La Double Inconstance by Marivaux and Occupe-toi d'Amelie by Feydeau. (Zipporah Films)
Last Call at Maud's

1993

Last Call at Maud's

1993
3.3
A history of Maud's, a San Francisco lesbian bar that stayed open from 1966 to 1989.
Limited Partnership

2014

Limited Partnership

2014
5
LIMITED PARTNERSHIP is the love story between Filipino-American Richard Adams and Australian Tony Sullivan, who, in 1975, became one of the first same-sex couples in the world to be legally married. After applying for a green card for Tony based on their marriage, the couple received a denial letter from the Immigration and Naturalization Service stating, 'You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots.' Outraged at this letter, and to prevent Tony's impending deportation, the couple sued the U.S. government, filing the first federal lawsuit seeking equal treatment for a same-sex marriage in U.S. history. This tenacious story of love, marriage and immigration equality is as precedent setting as it is little known... until now.
Promised Lands

1974

Promised Lands

1974
5.3
Susan Sontag scrutinizes the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict and the growing divisions within Jewish thought over the question of Palestinian sovereignty. Shot in Israel during the final days of the Yom Kippur War. Promised Lands is less straight documentary than visual collage. There are images of combat zones and soldiers, but also everyday street life, desert landscapes, funerals, supermarkets, the Wailing Wall. The soundtrack is snatches of radio, bursts of church bells and gunfire, and an extended voiceover from two politically opposed Israeli thinkers.
Spanish Lake

2014

Spanish Lake

2014
5.7
A bold and unflinching documentary on 'white flight' in the area of Spanish Lake, Missouri, a post WW2 suburb. The town experiences rapid economic decline and population turnover due to racism and governmental policies which support the white exodus. The themes of the film parallel America's growing political divide, racial tension, and rise of anti-government sentiment.
The Hunters

1957

The Hunters

1957
6.1
An ethnographic film that documents the efforts of four !Kung men (also known as Ju/'hoansi or Bushmen) to hunt a giraffe in the Kalahari Desert of Namibia. The footage was shot by John Marshall during a Smithsonian-Harvard Peabody sponsored expedition in 1952–53. In addition to the giraffe hunt, the film shows other aspects of !Kung life at that time, including family relationships, socializing and storytelling, and the hard work of gathering plant foods and hunting for small game.
Domestic Violence 2

2002

Domestic Violence 2

2002
5.2
The opening scene in this film is of an arrest in Hillsborough County Florida where a woman has scratched her husband while he was trying to restrain her from getting back in her car and leaving after an argument. The officers explain that she has committed a battery and thereby earned herself an inescapable arrest and overnight stay in jail because by law they have no discretion. This sets the stage for two hours of court proceedings before three different judges, each trying to apply the Florida domestic violence laws.
Uncle Bob

2010

Uncle Bob

2010
4.3
Robert Oppel's documentary about the life and murder of his uncle and namesake, Robert Opel, the man who streaked the Academy Awards in 1974.
Out of Mind, Out of Sight

2014

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

2014
5.7
Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.
Garnet’s Gold

2014

Garnet’s Gold

2014
5.2
Twenty years ago, Garnet Frost nearly lost his life hiking near Scotland’s Loch Arkaig. The near-death experience still haunts him to this day, and, in particular, a peculiar wooden stick he discovered serendipitously right before he was rescued. Believing the staff (as he calls it) is actually a marker for a fortune hidden nearly 300 years ago, Garnet embarks on a treasure hunt to search for the lost riches. But beneath the search for gold lies a poignant pursuit for life’s meaning and inspiration.
Paper Dolls

2006

Paper Dolls

2006
6.2
Paper Dolls follows the lives of transgender migrant workers from the Philippines who work as health care providers for elderly Orthodox Jewish men and perform as drag queens during their spare time. It also delves into the lives of societal outcasts who search for freedom and acceptance.
The Case of the Three Sided Dream

2014

The Case of the Three Sided Dream

2014
6.8
The documentary film on the life and legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk – a one of a kind musician, personality, activist and windmill slayer who despite being blind, becoming paralyzed, and facing America’s racial injustices - did not relent.
Evolution of a Criminal

2014

Evolution of a Criminal

2014
7.8
In 1997, 17-year old Darius Clark Monroe robbed a bank and went to prison for it; then he went to NYU film school and made this movie about his life. The movie presents itself as an act of atonement, and an attempt by Monroe to understand himself and the social forces that drove him to a life of crime. Executive produced by Spike Lee, who was one of Monroe's professors at NYU.
We Are the Giant

2014

We Are the Giant

2014
5.8
We Are the Giant tells the stories of ordinary individuals who are transformed by the moral and personal challenges they encounter when standing up for what they believe is right. Powerful and tragic, yet inspirational, their struggles for freedom echo across history and offer hope against seemingly impossible odds.
Freedom Summer

2014

Freedom Summer

2014
7.2
In the summer of 1964, more than 700 students descended on violent, segregated Mississippi. Defying authorities, they registered voters, created freedom schools, and established the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Fifty years later, eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen archival material tell their story. Not all of them would make it through.
American Courtesans

2013

American Courtesans

2013
4.2
American Courtesans is a feature documentary that takes you into the lives of American Sex Workers. These women candidly discuss what brought them to the doors of the sex trade, what they found when they got there and why they stayed. Follow eleven Sex Workers through the streets, massage parlors, brothels and strip clubs to New York high rises and the bell captains in Vegas. This is a story, a different kind of American Story, that will leave you speechless.