Highest-Rated Movies about 'Media Manipulation'

Ace in the Hole (1951), Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Gone Girl (2014), Network (1976), The Corporation (2003), District 9 (2009), Arrival (2016) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Media Manipulation movies.

#1. Ace in the Hole (1951)

Storyline: Charles Tatum, a down-on-his-luck reporter, takes a job with a small New Mexico newspaper. The job is pretty boring until he finds a man trapped in an old Indian dwelling. He jumps at the chance to make a name for himself by taking over and prolonging the rescue effort, and feeding stories to major newspapers. He creates a national media sensation and milks it for all it is worth - until things go terribly wrong.

Plot Keywords: media manipulation, journalism, dysfunctional marriage, media circus, new mexico, cave, newspaper ...

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#2. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)

Storyline: This film showcases Noam Chomsky, one of America's leading linguists and political dissidents. It also illustrates his message of how government and big media businesses cooperate to produce an effective propaganda machine in order to manipulate the opinions of their populations. The key examples featured for this analysis are the simultaneous events of the massive coverage of the communist atrocities of Khmer Rouge regime of Cambodia and the suppression of news of the US supported Indonesian invasion and subjugation of East Timor.—Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

Plot Keywords: media, media coverage, media manipulation, vietnam war, intellectual, theory, speech ...

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#3. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Storyline: Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal.

Plot Keywords: u.s. senator, monument, office, photograph, pigeon, respect, sleep deprivation ...

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#4. Gone Girl (2014)

Storyline: On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

Plot Keywords: disappearance, missing person, murder suspect, husband wife relationship, based on novel, infidelity, missing wife ...

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#5. Network (1976)

Storyline: In the 1970s, terrorist violence is the stuff of networks' nightly news programming and the corporate structure of the UBS Television Network is changing. Meanwhile, Howard Beale, the aging UBS news anchor, has lost his once strong ratings share and so the network fires him. Beale reacts in an unexpected way. We then see how this affects the fortunes of Beale, his coworkers (Max Schumacher and Diana Christensen), and the network.

Plot Keywords: media, television, satire, tv news, journalism, adultery, media manipulation ...

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#6. The Corporation (2003)

Storyline: Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Plot Keywords: globalization, advertising, corporate corruption, political activism, political protest, reference to gandhi, reference to mahatma gandhi ...

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#7. District 9 (2009)

Storyline: In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed "The Prawns," appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new 'Prawn' friends.

Plot Keywords: alien, mockumentary, based on short film, witchcraft, whistleblower, weapon, title appears in writing ...

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#8. Arrival (2016)

Storyline: Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touchdown in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.

Plot Keywords: alien contact, nonlinear timeline, female scientist, mother daughter relationship, based on short story, spacecraft, extraterrestrial ...

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#9. Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996)

Storyline: The profile of controversial journalist George Seldes and a piercing examination of America's news media. Narrated by Susan Sarandon, with readings of writings by Ed Asner, this Academy Award-nominated film includes stunning archival materials.—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: infiltration, fascism, brutality, assassination, scandal, expulsion, political repression ...

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#10. Control Room (2004)

Storyline: A chronicle which provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.—Sujit R. Varma

Plot Keywords: title directed by female, propaganda, news reporter, middle east, media, media manipulation, journalism ...

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#11. Quiz Show (1994)

Storyline: An idealistic young lawyer working for a Congressional subcommittee in the late 1950s discovers that TV quiz shows are being fixed. His investigation focuses on two contestants on the show "Twenty-One": Herbert Stempel, a brash working-class Jew from Queens, and Charles Van Doren, the patrician scion of one of America's leading literary families. Based on a true story.

Plot Keywords: based on true story, investigation, fraud, television, 1950s, based on book, professor ...

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#12. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Storyline: Our friendly neighborhood Super Hero decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ, and the rest of the gang on a European vacation. However, Peter's plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks, creating havoc across the continent.—Sony Pictures Entertainment

Plot Keywords: vacation, marvel cinematic universe, school trip, superhero, sequel, character name in title, based on comic ...

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#13. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)

Storyline: Documentary on reported Conservative bias of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel (FNC), which promotes itself as "Fair and Balanced". Material includes interviews with former FNC employees and the inter-office memos they provided.

Plot Keywords: activist, activism, television news, conservatism, media, expose, american president ...

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#14. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Storyline: Following up on 'Bowling for Columbine', film-maker Michael Moore provides deep and though-provoking insights on the American security system, the level of paranoia, fear, uncertainty, false values and patriotism, which all combined together to set a stage for George W. Bush to launch a war on Iraq instead of focusing on getting the real culprit(s) behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This documentary also focuses on how some Saudis were safely and secretly flown out of America while planes were ostensibly grounded after the attacks. Archived film footage, candid interviews with politicians, and an overall waste of public funds for a war that was initiated on false pretension to wit: a weapon of mass distraction - to take the focus away from the real enemy and get Americans glued to their TV sets to watch innocent Iraqis and Afghans getting killed. And a war that would eventually alienate the U.S.A. and it's citizens from almost every country on Earth.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Plot Keywords: imperialism, cover up, human rights, cult film, anti war, expose, political leader ...

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#15. Blow Out (1981)

Storyline: This stylish Brian De Palma thriller plays off the theme of the unsuspecting witness who discovers a crime and is thereby put in grave danger, but with a novel twist. Jack Terry is a master audio technician who makes his living by recording unique sounds for grade-B horror movies. Late one evening, he is recording sounds for use in his movies when he hears something unexpected through his sound equipment and records it. Curiosity gets the better of him when the media become involved, and he begins to unravel the pieces of a nefarious conspiracy. As he struggles to survive against his shadowy enemies and expose the truth, he does not know whom he can trust.

Plot Keywords: psychotronic film, independent film, film within a film, split screen, 360 degree pan, giallo esque, political conspiracy ...

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