Woody Allen: A Documentary (2012), What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018), It's All True (1993), Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003), Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001), Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003), The Typewriter, the Rifle and the Movie Camera (1996), The Celluloid Closet (1996) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Film Criticism movies.
Storyline: Based upon Peter Biskind's book of the same name, this BBC-produced documentary traces the rise of a generation of Hollywood filmmakers who briefly changed the face of movies with a more personal approach that pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable on-screen. Influential directors who appear include Arthur Penn ("Bonnie and Clyde"), Dennis Hopper ("Easy Rider"), Francis Ford Coppola ("The Godfather"), John Schlesinger ("Midnight Cowboy"), Bob Rafelson ("Five Easy Pieces") Martin Scorsese ("Taxi Driver"), Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show"), and Jonathan Demme ("Crazy Mama"). Narrated by William H. Macy, the documentary features vintage clips of Coppola, Scorsese, Beatty, George Lucas, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, Robert Altman, and Pauline Kael. It also includes original interview material with Penn; Roger Corman; Bogdanovich; Hopper; David Picker; writer/directors John Milius and Paul Schrader; actresses Karen Black, Cybill Shepherd, Margot Kidder, and Jennifer Salt; actors Peter Fonda, Kris Kristofferson, and Richard Dreyfuss; producers Jerome Hellman, Michael Phillips, and Jonathan Taplin; editor Dede Allen; production designer Polly Platt; writers David Newman, Joan Tewksbury, Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck; cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond; agent Mike Medavoy; and former production executive Peter Bart. Among the films discussed are "Rosemary's Baby," "The Wild Bunch," "Mean Streets," "American Graffiti," "The Rain People," "Midnight Cowboy," "M*A*S*H," "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," "The Last Picture Show," "Shampoo," and "Taxi Driver."—alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords: documentary, film history, hollywood, 1970s cinema, directors, producers, cinematography ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: An awkward teenager hopelessly in love with her elder sister's boyfriend tries to make him notice her.
Plot Keywords: comedy, silent film, black and white film, american film, classic film, slapstick, 1920s ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Karate-kicking midgets! Paper-mache monsters! Busty babes with blades! Filipino genre films of the '70s and '80s had it all. Boasting cheap labour, exotic scenery and non-existent health and safety regulations, the Philippines was a dreamland for exploitation filmmakers whose renegade productions were soon engulfing drive-in screens around the globe like a tidal schlock-wave! At last, the all-too-often overlooked world of drive-in filler from Manilla gets the Mark Hartley (NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD) treatment in Machete Maidens Unleashed! This is the ultimate insiders' account of a faraway backlot where stunt men came cheap, plot was obsolete and the make-up guy was packing heat! Machete Maidens Unleashed! features interviews with cult movie icons Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Sid Haig, Eddie Romero and a large assembly of cast, crew and critics, each with a jaw-dropping story to tell about filmmaking with no budget, no scruples, no boundaries and - more often than not - no clothes. Strap yourselves in - and join us for a non-stop Filipino femme-fest, all the way from the jungles of the Pacific via the trash cans of the critics!—anonymous
Plot Keywords: documentary, b-movie, behind the scenes, film history, independent film, horror, action ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A documentary about Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus - two movie-obsessed cousins whose passion for cinema changed the way movies were made and marketed - and the tale of how this passion ultimately led to the demise of the company they built together.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: documentary, film history, behind the scenes, independent film, b-movie, film production, hollywood ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: This film is a documentary about the filming of one of Buster Keaton's movies: The Railrodder (1965).
Plot Keywords: comedy, documentary, filmmaking, silent film, classic cinema, hollywood, director ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In 1989, unwitting Utah actors starred in the undisputed Worst Movie in History: TROLL 2. Two decades later, the legendarily inept film's child star unravels the improbable, heartfelt story of an Alabama dentist-turned-cult movie icon and an Italian filmmaker who come to terms with this genuine, internationally revered cinematic failure.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: documentary, comedy, behind the scenes, cult film, fandom, independent film, film history ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: This historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, begins with "Halloween," "Friday the 13th," and "Prom Night." The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal wanes. Then, "Nightmare on Elm Street" revives the genre. Jump to the late 90s, when "Scream" brings humor and TV stars into the mix. Although some criticize the genre as misogynistic (Siskel and Ebert), most of the talking heads celebrate the films: as long as there are teenagers, there will be slasher films, says one.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: horror, documentary, film history, violence, gore, 1980s, film criticism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A feature-length documentary about the life and films of legendary actor Toshiro Mifune, weaving together film clips, archival stills, and interviews with such luminaries as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. Narrated by Keanu Reeves.
Plot Keywords: biography, documentary, film history, hollywood, actor, director, film criticism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Oscar®-winning, Chicago-born director William Friedkin achieved fame with his 1973 horror blockbuster The Exorcist. But this illuminating documentary shows the director's unwavering commitment to rawness and realism across his career, from The French Connection (1972) to Killer Joe (2011). Featuring interviews with Ellen Burstyn, Willem Dafoe, and Quentin Tarantino, among others, Friedkin Uncut reveals a savvy craftsman who is unapologetic about his no-nonsense approach to moviemaking.—AMBI Distribution
Plot Keywords: documentary, director, filmmaking, hollywood, film history, interviews, behind the scenes ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: IT CAME FROM KUCHAR is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, the Kuchar brothers. George and Mike Kuchar have inspired two generations of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and artists with their zany, "no budget" films and with their uniquely enchanting spirits. George and Mike Kuchar grew up in the Bronx in the 1950's making "no-budget" films, compulsively copying Hollywood melodramas with their aunt's 8mm, home-movie camera. In the 1960's the New York underground film scene embraced them as the "8mm Mozarts". Their early films deeply inspired many filmmakers, including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Todd Haynes, Cory McAbee and Wayne Wang. IT CAME FROM KUCHAR includes numerous clips from the Kuchar brother's early films including HOLD ME WHILE I'M NAKED, SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS, and many others. IT CAME FROM KUCHAR features interviews of many of the filmmakers, artists and writers who've been inspired by the Kuchars. The film also features interviews of key "actors" from the Kuchar's films, ranging from the earliest days in the Bronx through today. For close to forty years George has taught film production at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). His class is unbelievable in a circus-like, Fellini-esque style that generates tremendous enthusiasm from his students. IT CAME FROM KUCHAR follows his latest class production as they make an over-the-top "monster picture".—Jennifer Kroot
Plot Keywords: documentary, independent film, underground film, art film, experimental film, biography, film history ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The life of Robert Altman over the course of his career as a filmmaker is told in roughly chronological order. It is presented largely through archival footage, including of his interviews and of his and his longtime wife Kathryn Reed's home movies. It includes his rocky start in Hollywood as an aspiring screenwriter, which instead led to him working as a general filmmaker for an industrial film company. This work led to directing assignments for a number of television series back in Hollywood, where he butted heads with a number of studio executives and producers who did not appreciate his style of filmmaking in his desire to insert a sense a realism in whatever the project, that realism which includes hanging story-lines and overlapping dialogue, often in multiple equally important conversations in a single setting which forces the viewer to decide which conversation he/she wants to focus. This situation often led to him trying to achieve what he wanted either in not telling or flying beneath the radar of the studio executive and producers. Altman's cachet in Hollywood took a meteoric turn upward with the film M*A*S*H (1970) which all other directors approached had turned down, it which ended up being a box-office smash and critically acclaimed, including winning that year's coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Over the remaining course of his filmmaking life which included some highs and lows (including a string of box office and critical failures in the late 1970s and early 1980s), he tried to instill a sense of of family among the cast and crew of his sets. Beyond his marriage to Kathryn, the personal side to the story includes his being father to a number of children and step-children who would enter into the business, and some health issues, one which ended up in him having a heart transplant of which he did not tell the public until ten years after the fact. Interspersed with the archive footage is a number of celebrities - actors who have worked in his films and contemporaries influenced by his work - who give their definition of the adjective "Altmanesque".—Huggo
Plot Keywords: documentary, director, hollywood, film history, biography, filmmaking, independent film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: REGARDING SUSAN SONTAG is an intimate and nuanced investigation into the life of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century. Passionate and gracefully outspoken throughout her career, Susan Sontag became one of the most important literary, political and feminist icons of her generation. The documentary explores Sontag's life through archival materials, accounts from friends, family, colleagues, and lovers, as well as her own words, as read by Patricia Clarkson. From her early infatuation with books to her first experience in a gay bar; from her early marriage to her last lover, REGARDING SUSAN SONTAG is a fascinating look at a towering cultural critic and writer whose works on photography, war, illness, and terrorism still resonate today.—Question Why Films
Plot Keywords: documentary, biography, writer, intellectual, feminism, america, 20th century ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A portrait of Denmark's most acclaimed and controversial director, Lars von Trier. A meeting with von Trier on a private level as well as with his film universe. Filmmaker Stig Björkman follow von Trier during a period of more than two years, meet him at work, at home and at leisure.—Fredrik Klasson <fredrik.klasson@telia.com>
Plot Keywords: documentary, director, biography, filmmaking, art, creativity, film history ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Mark Cousins dives deep into the visual world of legendary director and actor Orson Welles to reveal a portrait of the artist as he's never been seen before.
Plot Keywords: documentary, biography, film history, art, director, visual art, archival footage ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Internationally renowned director Margarethe von Trotta takes a closer look at Bergman's life and work and explores his film legacy with Bergman's closest collaborators, both in front and behind the camera, as well as a new generation of filmmakers. The documentary presents key scenes, recurring themes in his films and his life, and journeys to the places at the center of Bergman's creative achievement and the focal points of his life such as the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, locations and landscapes from his masterpieces, and the stations from his career in Sweden, France and Germany. Explore the many layers of Bergman's work and life with INGMAR BERGMAN - LEGACY OF A DEFINING GENIUS.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: documentary, film history, biography, filmmaking, art film, classic cinema, film criticism ...
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