Top Rated Documentary Movies on Hoopla - Page 126

Ana and I

2013

Ana and I

2013
5
Ana and I is the story of a daughter's search for answers. As she confronts the mystery that surrounds the deaths of her sister and father, and the reasons for the sudden adoption of her two sisters, Primavera presents her enigmatic mother, Ana, a single parent who does whatever it takes to provide for her large family; the family that became the first Spanish equestrian champion vaulting team.
American Commune

2013

American Commune

2013
6.5
In 1970, hundreds of hippies followed Stephen Gaskin on a journey from San Francisco to Tennessee, where they founded a legendary commune known as the Farm. Within this self-sustaining society based on non-violence, vegetarianism and respect for the earth, members willingly took a vow of poverty, lived in converted buses, grew their own food and home-delivered babies. Born and raised in this alternative community, filmmakers and sisters Rena and Nadine return for the first time since leaving in 1985. Finally ready to face the past after years of hiding their upbringing, they chart the rise and fall of America’s largest utopian socialist experiment and their own family tree. The nascent idealism of a community destroyed, in part, by its own success is reflected in the personal story of a family unit split apart by differences. American Commune finds inspiration in failure, humour in deprivation and, most surprisingly, that communal values are alive and well in the next generation.
The End

2004

The End

2004
9.5
A documentary examining the end of live for five hospice patients and their families.
Encierro 3D: Bull Running in Pamplona

2013

Encierro 3D: Bull Running in Pamplona

2013
7
Madness and violence, fellowship, panic and tragedy palpable in three-dimensional frames this documentary epic tone that transforms these meters race in a thrilling action movie.
All My Loving

1968

All My Loving

1968
6.5
Originally a BBC documentary, this film by Tony Palmer about the 1960's music scene was later released as a standalone DVD by the BFI
One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das

2013

One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das

2013
7.5
Krishna Das is on a journey to India to discover legendary spiritual teacher Neem Karoli Baba, through drug addiction and depression, to his eventual emergence as a world-famous Kirtan singer.
American Winter

2013

American Winter

2013
7
Documentary feature film that follows the personal stories of families struggling in the aftermath of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Filmed over the course of one winter in one American city, the film presents an intimate snapshot of the state of the nation's economy as it is playing out in millions of American families, and highlights the human consequences of the decline of the middle class and the fracturing of the American Dream
Lost Rivers

2013

Lost Rivers

2013
8.5
Once upon a time, in almost every industrial city, countless rivers flowed. We built houses along their banks. Our roads hugged their curves. And their currents fed our mills and factories. But as cities grew, we polluted rivers so much that they became conduits for deadly waterborne diseases like cholera, which was 19th century's version of the Black Plague. Our solution two centuries ago was to bury rivers underground and merge them with sewer networks. Today, under the city, they still flow, out of sight and out of mind... until now. That's because urban dwellers are on a quest to reconnect with this denigrated natural world. LOST RIVERS takes us on an adventure down below and across the globe, retracing the history of these lost urban rivers by plunging into archival maps and going underground with clandestine urban explorers.
Klunkerz

2006

Klunkerz

2006
8
Long before the mountain bike entered our global consciousness, the cycling enthusiasts of Northern California's Marin County rode modified pre-WWII bicycles down the slopes of Mount Tamalpais. They developed their bikes through rigorous field-testing, often risking life and limb to do so. Some of these cyclists were Category-1 road racers looking for a new way to train during the off-season. Others were simply fun-loving hippies looking for a new way to commune with nature. Their early bikes were scavenged from dumpsters and junkyards. It was from these humble beginnings that a multi-billion dollar industry, a form of recreation for the masses, and an Olympic event, were born. These hefty steeds were affectionately known as Klunkerz.
Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills Sanatorium

2006

Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills Sanatorium

2006
6.5
Follows Hollywood filmmakers, The Booth Brothers as they uncover the shocking truth within the haunted halls of The Scariest Place On Earth, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, a monster of a building where it is said over 63,000 people died.
Inside John Lennon - Unauthorized

2003

Inside John Lennon - Unauthorized

2003
5
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.
My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story

2009

My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story

2009
8.5
Famous New Yorkers and the pooches they love are the focus of this refreshingly honest and endearing series of interviews that celebrates the meaningful connections people share with their pups. Gossip columnist Cindy Adams, playwright Edward Albee, designer Isaac Mizrahi, and actors Glenn Close, Edie Falco and Richard Gere are among the many celebs who pay tribute to their beloved canine companions.
Death Metal Angola

2014

Death Metal Angola

2014
8.5
Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war, peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving to Angola. Huambo, Angola’s second largest city, finds 55 children in the Okutiuka orphanage under the care of Sonia Ferreira. Her boyfriend, Wilker Flores, is a death metal guitarist who uses sounds and rhythms of this hardcore music as a path to healing. Or, as Sonia says, “to clear out the debris from all these years of war.” The feature documentary follows Wilker and Sonia’s attempts to stage Angola’s first-ever national rock concert, bringing together members from different strands of the Angolan hardcore scene from different provinces, as it all unfolds in fits and starts, against the bombed out and mined backdrop of the formerly stately Huambo.
Money and Medicine

2012

Money and Medicine

2012
5.5
Examines the reasons behind the rising costs of health care in the United States. Looks at the dangers of over-diagnosis and over-treatment and investigates how waste pervades our medical system. Also looks at how some hospitals are working to create less expensive and high quality alternatives to the present system.
Art Pepper: Notes from a Jazz Survivor

1982

Art Pepper: Notes from a Jazz Survivor

1982
6
Saxophonist Art Pepper (1925-1982) lived the kind of jazz life only found in Hollywood movies. His prodigious talent led him to top gigs as a teenager, but drugs and attendant criminal activity knocked him out of commission for virtually all of the 1960s and early 1970s. This documentary, shot shortly after his searing memoir, {-Straight Life}, was published in 1979, shows Pepper in the full flower of a remarkable comeback. His third wife, Laurie, is featured prominently; they met in the drug treatment facility Synanon in 1969 and were married in 1974. She took over his business affairs and helped him write {-Straight Life}. Pepper tells his own story here, but the emphasis is on an evening's performance at a club in Malibu, with the musician in fine form, backed by a terrific trio. (Tom Wiener, Rovi)
The Last White Knight

2012

The Last White Knight

2012
6
Filmmaker Paul Saltzman (Prom Night in Mississippi) presents the world premiere of his latest work. A former Civil Rights worker and 1960s activist, Saltzman returns to Mississippi to encounter the man who once assaulted him — Byron "Delay" De La Beckwith, a KKK member and the son of the man convicted of murdering Medgar Evers — in this affecting documentary about racism, the South and the possibility of reconciliation. (TIFF)
BookWars

2000

BookWars

2000
4.5
An insider's look at the gritty streets of New York City, seen through the eyes of street booksellers.
Hellbound?

2012

Hellbound?

2012
6.5
Does hell exist? If so, who ends up there, and why? Featuring an eclectic group of authors, theologians, pastors, social commentators and musicians, HELLBOUND? is a provocative, feature-length documentary that looks at why we are so bound to the idea of hell and how our beliefs about hell affect the world we are creating today.
Always Whitney Houston

2012

Always Whitney Houston

2012
9
The iconic powerhouse Whitney Houston is remembered beyond her death at age 48 by her peers for her legendary success in both music and film.
Ancient Alien Question: From UFOs to Extraterrestrial Visitations

2012

Ancient Alien Question: From UFOs to Extraterrestrial Visitations

2012
2.5
Have we been visited by extraterrestrial beings? Did these "ancient aliens" contribute to the birth of human civilization? Do our ancient monuments contain evidence of their presence?