Top Rated Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 248

Why We Laugh: Funny Women

2013

Why We Laugh: Funny Women

2013
7.2
An uncensored look into the lives of the female stand-up comedian. Featuring interviews and live performance footage from some of today's most prominent female voices in stand-up comedy and entertainment, this revealing documentary sheds light on the legacy of the female comedian and the dedication, courage and passion that is required to be successful in the male dominated stand-up comedy business.
Man in Van

2009

Man in Van

2009
6
Jimmy Tarangelo doesn't like to pay rent, but he does like to live in Manhattan. For the past 8 years Jimmy has lived in a van in the West Village of Manhattan with his four dogs. He spends what little money he has on parking tickets and dog food. He doesn't have much, but he is happy. This short is a little glimpse into Jimmy's world. What at first may seem like a chaotic existence somehow comes off as quite normal and almost enviable when Jimmy describes it. Here is a man who answers to no one and longs for nothing. A true working class hero.
Cinerama Holiday

1955

Cinerama Holiday

1955
7.7
Two couples, one from St. Louis and one from Switzerland, each go to the other's country and travel around.
The Road A Story of Life and Death

2012

The Road A Story of Life and Death

2012
5.3
On the oldest Roman road in the capital, filmmaker Marc Isaacs weaves together numerous poignant stories of loss and the search for belonging into a tapestry of the human experience. Keelta a young Irish woman leaves home to build a new life for herself on the road where Billy, the old Irish labourer is struggling to find a meaning to his life. Peggy, a 95 year old Jewish refugee from Vienna and Brigitte, a German born former air hostess, have both suffered bad husbands, whilst Iqbal, an unassuming Indian hotel concierge, awaits the arrival of his wife from Kashmir. A film that forces you to recognise the struggles and preoccupations of its characters as our own.
Giuliani Time

2006

Giuliani Time

2006
6.3
A documentary that investigates the 'new' New York City that then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani claimed he helped create.
Brothers Hypnotic

2014

Brothers Hypnotic

2014
5
For the eight young men in the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, “brotherhood” is literal: they’re all sons of anti-establishment jazz legend, Phil Cohran. Cohran and their mothers raised them together on Chicago’s South side on a strict diet of jazz, funk and Black Consciousness.
Twist

1992

Twist

1992
6.3
Combining rare and often hilarious archival footage with engaging interviews, this groovy documentary chronicles the evolution of the titular postwar rock ’n' roll dance craze that took America by storm. Featuring singers and musicians who helped define the phenomenon like Hank Ballard, Chubby Checker, and Joey Dee, as well as clips from TV shows like “American Bandstand,” TWIST tells the overlooked story of how shaking your hips went from being a sign of social degeneracy to the dance form that rocked the world.
Inside Out: The People’s Art Project

2013

Inside Out: The People’s Art Project

2013
5.7
A wall can be a barrier. It can be a structure of limitation or a source of repression. For the Inside Out Project, a wall is a canvas, and so are sides of trains, the arches of bridges and the steps leading to Brooklyn brownstones. This fascinating documentary tracks the evolution of the world’s largest participatory art project, the wildly popular Inside Out. From Haiti to Tunisia, South Dakota to the streets of Paris, French artist JR motivates communities to define their most important causes by pasting giant portraits in the street, testing the limits of what they thought possible. The power of paper turns people who feel without voice into unlikely activists by empowering them with their own images.
Nazi Temple of Doom

2012

Nazi Temple of Doom

2012
7.7
What links Adolf Hitler, Heindrich Himmler and a priceless Celtic cauldron recently discovered at the bottom of a lake in Bavaria? In this film an investigation uncovers allegations of mafia involvement, an international fraud trial where millions of dollars are at stake and a forensic discovery that stuns the archaeological world and steers the mystery towards Himmler’s SS shrine at Wewelsburg and Hitler’s obsessive quest for the Holy Grail. This seemingly priceless and beautiful object has brought death and disaster to everyone who has attempted to own it but who did make it and why?
Holes in My Shoes

2006

Holes in My Shoes

2006
6.3
94-year-old New Yorker, Jack Beers, has broken the age barrier full force. He can do what most young men can, and his diverse lifetime achievements would take many to accomplish. The film begins with Mayor Bloomberg acknowledging Jack, we see Jack's name on the marquee of Radio City Music Hall, and at 94 he rips a telephone book into 4 pieces with his hands. Jack was raised in poverty in Manhattan, was a strongman, built Radio City Music Hall, at The Manhattan Project he invented something that shortened WW2, erected the Empire State Building spire, was a professional dog trainer, was a film actor in 200+ films, beat terminal illnesses, and today rides 5 miles on a stationary bike. He's "goin' for 100!"
Us and the Game Industry

2013

Us and the Game Industry

2013
6
This film follows several independent game developers (Jason Rohrer, thatgamecompany, Douglas Wilson, Zach Gage, Aledander Bruce) examining why they make digital games. The film delves into their creativity and explores some of their thinking and design strategies. Game developers operate in terrain that demands both programming logic and aesthetic quality. The work is hard, however that's what they want to do. The film explores how the developers go deeper into the notion of entertainment and discovery.
Rats in the Ranks

1996

Rats in the Ranks

1996
7
Every September Sydney's inner-suburban Leichhardt Council re-elects it mayor. Incumbent Larry Hand was popular with the citizenry but they don't vote for mayor - the 12 councillors do - and after three years of Larry, at least four councillors were after his job. When film-makers Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson settled in at Leichhardt Council in early 1994 the knives were already being sharpened. A battle royal was in the making, and so it came to pass. By the end of September Larry had fought the fight of his life, with Connolly and Anderson documenting every bit of it on film. Ambition, courage, envy, hatred, loyalty, betrayal, disaster, triumph... in other words, a classic study in politics.
Fatherhood Dreams

2007

Fatherhood Dreams

2007
2.7
This documentary gives the viewer full access to three families headed by gay fathers.
Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder

2009

Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder

2009
5
The poet and painter, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, is among the world's living monuments to arts and letters. For well over a half century, Ferlinghetti helped shape the currents of poetry and literature with his forceful engagement with society and an ideological position that often found him at odds with the political currents of his day. Ferlinghetti's quiet, behind the scenes demeanor and disarming mien may have assuaged, or even fooled, certain opponents, while in reality he was a literary mercenary, a rebel at the forefront of our own cultural revolution.
Running Wild: One Man's Quest to Save the Wild Mustang

2013

Running Wild: One Man's Quest to Save the Wild Mustang

2013
6.3
Dayton Hyde’s destiny leads him on a dramatic journey through the West, from rodeos, conservation battles, and wild horse rescues to award-winning books, personal heartbreak and new-found love.
No Substitute for Victory

1970

No Substitute for Victory

1970
4.3
John Wayne hosts this film which was produced during the Vietnam War when the Communist threat was at its height.
Meth

2006

Meth

2006
6.3
But it is a devastating expose of party-n-play culture. It's hard to depict methamphetamine use with any sensitivity, but this movie's dry and frank style bring this plague into startling focus. It's very compassionate and gives a lot of context and insight into how Gay culture and drug culture meet. It is heartbreaking to know that the majority of the men interviewed for this movie are HIV-positive. This movie includes graphic sexual content and vivid depictions of drug use, but it serves a very valuable purpose. it is an eloquent call for social responsibility.
Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery

2005

Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery

2005
7.3
This special program, hosted by renowned magician Lance Burton, explores the life and magic of the great escape artist through his most prized possessions--the Chinese Water Torture Cell, the Milkcan, his straitjackets and handcuffs, and lockpicks that were "key" to his handcuff escapes--all revealed to the public for the first time. HOUDINI also unlocks secrets of the man--brash showman, fierce competitor, loyal son and husband. Interviews include his great-nephew and the last surviving member of his magic troop.
The Listening Project

2008

The Listening Project

2008
5.7
Dominic Howes and Joel Weber's intellectual trek through 14 countries attempts to uncover answers to the question, "What does the world think of the United States of America?" Individuals from all walks of life and myriad cultures freely express their stark opinions -- both complimentary and condemning -- of a nation that may not be loved by all, but leaves few lives untouched.
Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World

2010

Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World

2010
5.3
Ed Hardy is emblazoned on clothing worn by Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger, on wine and dozens of other products. Now you'll meet the real Ed Hardy, the godfather of modern tattooing and artist extraordinaire who gave up a promising career in the fine arts to pursue his childhood obsession: tattoos.