Top Rated Documentary Movies on Pantaflix - Page 320

No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos

2009

No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos

2009
5.9
The artistry, triumph and lifelong friendship of the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. With film school equipment, they shoot the Soviet crackdown of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. As refugees they struggle in Hollywood, finally breaking into the mainstream with their pivotal contribution to the "American New Wave."
Behind the Burly Q

2010

Behind the Burly Q

2010
4.9
Dive into more than a century of decadence with this tantalizing look at the evolution of burlesque. Cabaret star Leslie Zemeckis traces the art form from vaudeville-style variety show through its extinction and contemporary rebirth. Vintage photos, film clips and ads illustrate burlesque's resilient history and how the public's sexual appetite kept it alive amid moral and legal ado.
Linotype: The Film

2012

Linotype: The Film

2012
6.7
A feature-length documentary centered around the Linotype typecasting machine. Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society. The film tells the surprisingly emotional story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it impacted the world.
Pink Ribbons, Inc.

2011

Pink Ribbons, Inc.

2011
6.7
Breast cancer has become the poster child of corporate cause-related marketing campaigns. Countless women and men walk, bike, climb and shop for the cure. Each year, millions of dollars are raised in the name of breast cancer, but where does this money go and what does it actually achieve? Pink Ribbons, Inc. is a feature documentary that shows how the devastating reality of breast cancer, which marketing experts have labeled a "dream cause," becomes obfuscated by a shiny, pink story of success.
Sushi: The Global Catch

2012

Sushi: The Global Catch

2012
5.9
A look at the global sushi phenomenon and how the hunger for Blue Fin Tuna is impacting the ocean's stock.
Thoth

2002

Thoth

2002
5.4
Documentary of S.K. Thoth, a multi-ethnic street performer whose music marries cultures and blurs gender lines.
Louie Bluie

1985

Louie Bluie

1985
7.5
Crumb director Terry Zwigoff’s first film is a true treat: a documentary about the obscure country-blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America. As beguiling a raconteur as he is a performer, Louie makes for a wildly entertaining movie subject, and Zwigoff honors him with an unsentimental but endlessly affectionate tribute. Full of infectious music and comedy, Louie Bluie is a humane evocation of the kind of pop-cultural marginalia that Zwigoff would continue to excavate in the coming years.
Classic Albums: Phil Collins - Face Value

1999

Classic Albums: Phil Collins - Face Value

1999
6.9
A rare and welcome insight into Phil Collins' prodigious musical talent and the fascinating story of his first solo record. Collins first enjoyed international success as the drummer of Genesis and then as lead singer after Peter Gabriel left the band. In 1981, however, Face Value launched him as a solo artist and remains, in many ways, his most exciting and unusual music offering. Face Value was immediately a worldwide hit, entering the British charts at Number 1, spending almost six years in the Top 75, and selling in excess of 12 million copies. The album went on to make the U.S. Top 10, earning a gold record. This documentary includes several previously unseen performances, as well as rare home movies, unique photographs and documents from Phil's own private archives, and insights into the music from an eclectic range of musicians who worked on the album.
The Fighting Lady

1944

The Fighting Lady

1944
6.2
Oscar winner William Wyler directed this 1944 "newsdrama," narrated by Lieut. Robert Taylor, USNR (Bataan), and photographed in zones of combat by the U.S. Navy. The film follows one of the many new aircraft carriers built since Pearl Harbor, known as THE FIGHTING LADY in honor of all American carriers, as it goes into action against the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean in 1943. See the ship and its pilots undergo their baptism of fire, attacking the Japanese base on Marcus Island. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation.
Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard

2011

Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard

2011
7.5
From myth to legend Rowland Howard appeared on the early Melbourne punk scene like a phantom out of Kafkaesque Prague or Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A beautifully gaunt and gothic aristocrat, the unique distinctive fury of his guitar style shot him directly into the imagination of a generation. He was impeccable, the austerity of his artistry embodied in his finely wrought form, his obscure tastes and his intelligently wry wit. He radiated a searing personal integrity that never seemed to tarnish. Despite the trials and tribulations of his career, in an age of makeover and reinvention, Rowland Howard never ‘sold out’. With recent and moving interviews, archival interviews and other fascinating and original footage, AUTOLUMINESCENT traces the life of Rowland S Howard. Capturing moments with the man himself and intimate missives from those who knew him behind closed doors; words and images etch light into what has always been the mysterious dark.
A Fierce Green Fire

2013

A Fierce Green Fire

2013
5.8
It is the largest movement the world has ever seen, it may also be the most important - in terms of what's at stake. Yet it's not east being green. Environmentalists have been reviled as much as revered, for being killjoys and Cassandras. Every battle begins as a lost cause and even the victories have to be fought for again and again. Still, environmentalism is one of the great social innovations of the twentieth century, and one of the keys to the twenty-first. It has arisen at a key juncture in history, when humans have come to rival nature as a power determining the fate of the earth.
66 Scenes from America

1982

66 Scenes from America

1982
5.6
As a visual narrative it is reminiscent of a pile of postcards from a journey, which indeed is what the film is. It consists of a series of lengthy shots of a tableau nature, each appearing to be a more or less random cross section of American reality, but which in total invoke a highly emblematic picture of the USA.
Windfall

2012

Windfall

2012
4.5
Wind power... It's green... It's good... It reduces our dependency on foreign oil... That's what the people of Meredith, in upstate New York first thought when a wind developer looked to supplement this farm town's failing economy with a farm of their own — that of 40 industrial wind turbines. Attracted at first to the financial incentives, residents grow increasingly alarmed as they discover side effects they never dreamed of, as well as the potential for disturbing financial scams. With wind development growing rapidly at 39% annually in the US, WINDFALL is an eye-opener for anyone concerned about the future of renewable energy.
Rent Boys

2011

Rent Boys

2011
5.3
Documentary about the current hustler scene in Berlin. Based on interviews with former and active prostitutes, the realities of male prostitutes in Berlin are treated. The film is objective, and records the hustler scene as a social Submilieu, which is characterized by both tragic fates, as well as everyday things and routines. Not only the direct sale of sexual services is discussed, but also other aspects associated with male prostitution: poverty, drug addiction, AIDS, crime, migration, love and partnership.
The Net

2003

The Net

2003
6
Explores the incredibly complex backstory of Ted Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber. This exquisitely crafted inquiry into the rationale of this mythic figure situates him within a late 20th century web of technology—a system that he grew to oppose. A marvelously subversive approach to the history of the Internet, this insightful documentary combines speculative travelogue and investigative journalism to trace contrasting countercultural responses to the cybernetic revolution.
Enemies of the People

2009

Enemies of the People

2009
7.2
The Khmer Rouge slaughtered nearly two million people in the late 1970s. Yet the Killing Fields of Cambodia remain unexplained. Until now. Enter Thet Sambath, an unassuming, yet cunning, investigative journalist who spends a decade of his life gaining the trust of the men and women who perpetrated the massacres. From the foot soldiers who slit throats to Pol Pot's right-hand man, the notorious Brother Number Two, Sambath records shocking testimony never before seen or heard. Having neglected his own family for years, Sambath's work comes at a price. But his is a personal mission. He lost his parents and his siblings in the Killing Fields. Amidst his journey to discover why his family died, we come to understand for the first time the real story of Cambodia's tragedy.
Derren Brown: Enigma

2011

Derren Brown: Enigma

2011
8.3
Derren Brown's 2009/10 stage tour, ending in London with a month at the Adelphi Theatre starting 15 June 2009.
Sarah Palin: You Betcha!

2011

Sarah Palin: You Betcha!

2011
5.4
A journey that takes the viewers across the icy mid-winter snows of Alaska to meet her school friends, family, and Republican colleagues, to try and discover the real Sarah Palin.
Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia

2010

Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia

2010
6.7
Although Wikipedia is the 8th most popular website on the Internet today, and it is already the 3rd most widely read 'publication' in human history, attracting 100 million unique visitors a month, this great social and academic experiment of our age is riddled with vandals and challenged by skeptics, posing compelling questions about whether Wikipedia's model can truly achieve its goal. The film intersperses founder Jimmy Wales' unusual rise to Internet super-stardom among the global implications of Wikipedia. Are entries factually accurate? Biased? Accountable? Does 'Jimbo' Wales posses the wisdom to ensure that Wikipedians aggregate knowledge correctly?
Message to Love - The Isle of Wight Festival

1996

Message to Love - The Isle of Wight Festival

1996
6.6
In August 1970, 600,000 fans flocked to the Isle of Wight to witness the third and final festival to be held on the island. Besides the music, they also got a look at the greed, cynicism and corruption that would plague the music industry for years to come. They also witnessed the final, drugged out performance of Jimi Hendrix in England just two weeks before he would meet a tragic death. When it all was over, the fans view of rock and roll was never the same.