Browse Movies : 2004 : Rating Not Available : Documentary

A best-selling author for 30 years, Carlos Castaneda inspired millions to break free from social dogma, fueling controversy over his work's authenticity and assertions of perceiving non-ordinary reality, during an apprenticeship with Yaqui sorcerer, don Juan Matus. Genius, guru, cult leader or fraud? No one really knows. Over three years in the making, this documentary explores Castaneda's mythic impact, controversial teachings and cult following. Candid interviews backed with animation and experimental footage offer an intense visual and intellectual experience.

A look at the resurgence of Jewish Culture in Poland, particularly Krakow, an ironic location, as this part of Europe is also one of the epicenters of the Holocaust.

Three years in the making, this new film from acclaimed documentary filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky provides a fascinating, in-depth portrait of the most successful heavy metal band of all time, as they faced monumental personal and professional challenges while recording their first studio album of original songs in five years. In the tradition of such seminal music documentaries as "Don't Look Back" and "Gimme Shelter", "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" seeks to transcend the conventions of the "rock 'n' roll movie" genre, trading rock-star posing for truthful introspection, and revealing an intimate portrait of the individuals behind a legendary band and their unique creative journey.

In 1992, Nick Broomfield made his first documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, and this follow-up comes a year after Wuornos' execution for killing six men during her years as a Florida prostitute. Wuornos gave Broomfield the last interview of her life, and this film includes scenes of Broomfield testifying about his experiences with her.

A chronicle of presidential candidate John Kerry's career, from his Navy duty in Vietnam followed by the years of peace advocacy that shaped his political life.

The story of the life of artist Ray Johnson is cloaked in mystery not only at the moment of his death, but also throughout a career that was difficult to know and understand. As one of the seminal figures of the Pop Art era, he is known as "the founding father of mail art" and as a "collagist extraordinaire." But, overshadowed by those like Warhol who manipulated the world in a very dissimilar manner, he was also a reclusive and sometimes enigmatic figure who has been called "New York's most famous unknown artist" that challenged the commercial and critical establishment.

An innovative masterpiece that literally gives wings to one man's singular vision of an imaginary world. Henry Darger lived a reclusive life and died alone in a Catholic mission in 1973. For more than 60 years, he created a massive literary and graphic body of work, including The Realms of the Unreal, an epic, fifteen-thousand-page novel with hundreds of paintings that recounts the wars between nations on an enormous unnamed planet. Darger's keen sense of composition and vivid colors allowed him to create incredibly intense and beautiful illustrations which are often disturbingly violent. Consciously excluding art experts and psychologists, Yu presents impressions of Darger's work only from the people who knew him, letting the audience make up their own minds about the man. The film cleverly parallels his real life with his fantasies, making the oddness of his fantasy world more accessible.

In 1974, the New York City music scene was shocked into consciousness by the violently new and raw sound of a band of misfits from Queens, called The Ramones. Playing in a seedy Bowery bar to a small group of fellow struggling musicians, the band struck a chord of disharmony that rocked the foundation of the mid-'70s music scene. This quartet of unlikely rock stars traveled across the country and around the world connecting with the disenfranchised everywhere, while sparking a movement that would resonate with two generations of outcasts across the globe. Although the band never reached the top of the Billboard charts, it managed to endure by maintaining a rigorous touring schedule for 22 years.

An exploration of a sustained and well-funded effort to discredit and defeat Bill Clinton, dating from his gubernatorial days in Arkansas and eventually leading to his impeachment trial.

Tracks the tumultuous rise of two talented musicians, Anton Newcombe, leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Courtney Taylor, leader of the Dandy Warhols, and dissects their star-crossed friendship and bitter rivalry. Both are hell-bent on staging a self-proclaimed revolution of the music industry. Through their loves and obsessions, gigs and recordings, arrests and death threats, uppers and downers, and ultimately to their chance at a piece of the profit-driven music business. How each handles his stab at "success" is where the relationship frays and burns.

In the summer of 1970, a chartered train crossed Canada carrying some of the world's greatest rock bands. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, and others lived together for five days, stopping in major cities along the way to play live concerts. Their journey was filmed.

A chronicle that depicts the human cost of the U.S. Justice Department's campaign against Arab or Muslim immigrants during the post-9/11 frenzy to combat terrorism. While few question the need to undertake measures to protect national security, the sweeping detention, arbitrary arrests and confinement (often without any family communication or legal representation), and subsequent deportation and/or ongoing imprisonment make a mockery of fundamental American principles like the presumption of innocence. Using a bare room and mostly static camera, the filmmakers record a series of encounters with a diverse range of detainees and family members and present them seemingly without much need for skill. But in fact, the subtle and creative direction of these individual and ultimately cumulative portraits belies the effortless appearance of the presentation and produces a simultaneous poignancy and disbelieving outrage. You may feel that you already know all about the issues and experiences communicated in Persons of Interest. Think again. The specific details of these disrupted lives speak volumes. Not since the massive internment of another ethnic group during World War II has the United States experienced such a massive assault on basic civil liberties.

Why are Americans so fat? Find out in "Super Size Me", a tongue in-cheek—and burger in hand—look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America's hunger for fast food. Ominously, 37% of American children and adolescents are carrying too much fat and 2 out of every three adults are overweight or obese. Is it our fault for lacking self-control, or are the fast-food corporations to blame? Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the road and interviewed experts in 20 U.S. cities, including Houston, the "Fattest City" in America. From Surgeon Generals to gym teachers, cooks to kids, lawmakers to legislators, these authorities shared their research, opinions and "gut feelings" on our ever-expanding girth. During the journey, Spurlock also put his own body on the line, living on nothing but McDonald's for an entire month with three simple rules: 1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!); 2) No supersizing unless offered; 3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once. It all adds up to a fat food bill, harrowing visits to the doctor, and compelling viewing for anyone who's ever wondered if man could live on fast food alone. The film explores the horror of school lunch programs, declining health and physical education classes, food addictions and the extreme measures people take to lose weight and regain their health. "Super Size Me" is a satirical jab in the stomach, overstuffed with fat and facts about the billion-dollar industry besieged by doctors, lawyers and nutritionists alike. "Would you like fries with that?" will never sound the same!

The story of Haitian national hero Jean Dominique, "The Agronomist" represents a labor of love for the director Jonathan Demme, who first met and filmed the late journalist and freedom fighter in 1987. As owner and operator of his nation's only free radio station, Radio Haiti Inter, Dominique was frequently at odds with his country's various repressive governments and spent much of the 90's in exile in New York, where Demme continued to film him over the years. Following the successful reinstatement of Haiti's democratically elected government, Demee also filmed Dominique's triumphant return to Port Au Prince. But, it was Dominique's still-unsolved assassination in April of 2000, that gave the director the impetus to assemble more than a decade's worth of original and archival material into a celebration of the man and his legacy.

If you picked some of the all-time great albums in American rock, soul, and jazz, chances are one name might be found on the back of almost every one: Tom Dowd—the secret behind five decades of brilliant music, an unsung hero, producer and recording pioneer. From the perfection of live mixing to the introduction of eight-track recording, the mythology of exactly how much impact Dowd has had is still up for grabs. His diverse and genuine love of work is remembered in part through intimate interviews with several musical icons and personal friends.