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What do you want to watch tonight?

Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.

Closest to Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream first

  1. A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

    The sides of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

    • The shoot of Apocalypse Now in the Philippines
    • Footage filmed by Eleanor Coppola
    • A typhoon, a heart attack and a director near breaking point

    Good for you if

    • you like seeing how a famous film almost never got made.
    • you like watching Francis Ford Coppola stake everything on one film.
    • you like the strange scenes of Brando improvising in the dark and Dennis Hopper rambling.

    Bad for you if

    • you want the battles of the film, not the chaos behind them.
    • you find grainy 1970s home footage dated.

    About: obsession · art · ego · madness

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  2. Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream, this film captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year.

    The sides of Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese

    • Bob Dylan's 1975 tour across America
    • Concert footage in white face paint
    • Interviews where truth and invention mix

    Good for you if

    • you want Dylan at full force on stage in 1975.
    • you like a documentary that plays tricks on you.
    • you like America in the mid seventies, after Vietnam and Watergate.

    Bad for you if

    • two hours and twenty minutes is too much for you.
    • you find grainy 1975 concert footage dated.

    About: myth · performance · america

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  3. A documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon Film Group, the legendary independent film company helmed by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.

    The sides of Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

    • Two Israeli cousins running a Hollywood studio
    • Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson action films
    • Actors and crew telling stories of the 1980s

    Good for you if

    • you like true stories about how movies really get made.
    • you laugh at wild anecdotes from cheap 1980s film sets.
    • you grew up on video store shelves and want the story behind them.

    Bad for you if

    • you'd rather avoid the many nude clips from the films.
    • you can't stand gory clips, even short ones.

    About: ambition · excess · show business

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  4. As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.

    The sides of They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

    • Orson Welles making his last film
    • The Other Side of the Wind
    • Years of chaotic shooting and money troubles

    Good for you if

    • you want the real story behind a film shot over years and left unfinished.
    • you like a portrait of a stubborn filmmaker late in life.
    • you love old Hollywood and the era of Welles.

    Bad for you if

    • you need a story told in order, without a flood of archive footage.
    • you want a warm, easy watch rather than a chaotic shoot.

    About: ambition · legacy · art

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  5. A hilarious introduction, using as examples some of the best films ever made, to some of Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek's most exciting ideas on personal subjectivity, fantasy and reality, desire and sexuality.

    The sides of The Pervert's Guide to Cinema

    • Slavoj Žižek talking through famous films
    • Rebuilt sets from Hitchcock and Lynch films
    • Psychoanalysis applied to desire and fantasy

    Good for you if

    • you like an excited philosopher talking nonstop about movies.
    • you like strange readings of Psycho, The Birds and Blue Velvet.
    • you love classic Hollywood and want to see it with new eyes.

    Bad for you if

    • two and a half hours of lecture is too much for you.
    • you need a story with people to follow, not one man talking over film clips.

    About: desire · fantasy · cinema

    Explore its sides
  6. Imagine: John Lennon 1988

    Documentary

    The biography of former Beatle, John Lennon—narrated by Lennon himself—with extensive material from Yoko Ono's personal collection, previously unseen footage from Lennon's private archives, and interviews with David Bowie, his first wife Cynthia, second wife Yoko Ono and sons Julian and Sean.

    The sides of Imagine: John Lennon

    • John Lennon telling his own life
    • Home footage from Yoko Ono's archives
    • Cynthia, Julian and Sean looking back

    Good for you if

    • you love the Beatles and Lennon's solo songs.
    • you want Lennon in his own voice, from Liverpool to New York.
    • you like a portrait of a man with all his contradictions.

    Bad for you if

    • you find old 1960s and 70s footage dated.
    • you can't revisit his murder in New York in 1980.

    About: fame · love · peace · loss

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  7. De Palma 2016

    Documentary

    An intimate conversation between filmmakers, chronicling De Palma’s 55-year career, his life, and his filmmaking process, with revealing anecdotes and, of course, a wealth of film clips.

    The sides of De Palma

    • Brian De Palma talking to the camera
    • Clips from Carrie to Mission: Impossible
    • Stories from Hollywood sets

    Good for you if

    • you like a director telling candid stories about his own films.
    • you like a portrait of Brian De Palma the man, his family, his friends and his battles with studios.
    • you like the thrillers of the 1970s and 1980s.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't stand the bloody clips from his films.
    • you can't sit through two hours of one man talking.

    About: filmmaking · ambition · Hollywood

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  8. From the earliest versions of the script to the blockbuster debuts, explore the creation of the Star Wars Trilogy.

    The sides of Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy

    • George Lucas's early scripts
    • Auditions for Luke, Leia and Han
    • An effects team inventing as it went

    Good for you if

    • you like hearing George Lucas and his cast tell how Star Wars was made.
    • you like seeing 1970s Hollywood take a risk on a space movie.
    • you like George Lucas fighting to keep control of his sequels and toys while Fox doubted him.

    Bad for you if

    • you find two and a half hours of making-of too long.
    • you want space battles, not interviews.

    About: ambition · creativity · risk

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  9. A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.

    The sides of No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

    • Bob Dylan from 1961 to 1966
    • Greenwich Village folk clubs
    • Fans booing when he goes electric

    Good for you if

    • you want to hear Dylan's songs as they were first played.
    • you like the sixties, from the folk scene to the protest years.
    • you like a life story told by the people who were there.

    Bad for you if

    • three and a half hours is too much for you.
    • you find black and white footage from the sixties dated.

    About: reinvention · fame · the voice of a generation

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  10. The Velvet Underground 2021

    Documentary

    Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.

    The sides of The Velvet Underground

    • Lou Reed, John Cale and the birth of a band
    • Andy Warhol's Factory in 1960s New York
    • Split screens full of archive footage

    Good for you if

    • you love the drone and noise of the Velvet Underground.
    • you like Todd Haynes cutting archive footage into split screens.
    • you want to be dropped into the New York avant-garde of the sixties.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't stand experimental films and art-school strangeness.
    • you find two hours of interviews and archives too much.

    About: art · rebellion · New York

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  11. The Celluloid Closet 1996

    Documentary

    Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s.

    The sides of The Celluloid Closet

    • A hundred years of gay characters on screen
    • Clips from more than a hundred Hollywood films
    • Actors and writers looking back

    Good for you if

    • you like seeing a century of Hollywood through one lens.
    • you want actors and writers telling what was hidden in plain sight.
    • you love classic Hollywood clips and the subtext between the lines.

    Bad for you if

    • you lose track when clips from over a hundred films go by one after another.
    • you'd rather not revisit decades of gay characters mocked or killed off.

    About: representation · censorship · identity

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  12. The Last Waltz 1978

    Documentary

    Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and other rock legends.

    The sides of The Last Waltz

    • The Band's farewell concert in San Francisco
    • Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison on one stage
    • Backstage interviews filmed by Martin Scorsese

    Good for you if

    • you like a whole concert of 1970s rock filmed up close.
    • you like a concert shot on film by Martin Scorsese, every stage light composed.
    • you like the end of an era captured on a single night.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't get into music films from the 1970s.
    • you want the people behind the music more than the music itself.

    About: farewell · the road · rock history

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  13. With commentary from Hollywood stars, outtakes from his movies and footage from his youth, this documentary looks at Stanley Kubrick's life and films. Director Jan Harlan, Kubrick's brother-in-law and sometime collaborator, interviews heavyweights like Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen and Sydney Pollack, who explain the influence of Kubrick classics like "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001: A Space Odyssey," and how he absorbed visual clues from disposable culture such as television commercials.

    The sides of Stanley Kubrick - Ein Leben für den Film

    • Stanley Kubrick's life and films
    • Interviews with Jack Nicholson and others who worked with him
    • Home footage from his family

    Good for you if

    • you love Dr. Strangelove, 2001 and the films around them.
    • you want to know the man behind the legend from people who knew him.
    • you care about how every Kubrick frame was built.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't sit through almost two and a half hours of documentary.
    • you need a story, not a career told in interviews.

    About: obsession · creation · cinema

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  14. Tabloid 2011

    Documentary

    One of America's top documentary filmmakers turns his attention to the outrageous and nearly unbelievable story of Joyce McKinney, a former Miss Wyoming beauty queen who gained a great deal of notoriety after being accused of kidnapping a young Mormon missionary, restraining him in chains and raping him in 1977 England. The unbalanced McKinney is extensively interviewed, particularly about her ambition to write a memoir telling her side of the tale.

    The sides of Tabloid

    • A former beauty queen telling her side
    • A Mormon missionary who vanished in 1977 England
    • British tabloids racing for the scoop

    Good for you if

    • you like laughing at a true story so strange it sounds invented.
    • you like a real 1977 scandal and the British tabloids that fought over it.
    • you can't look away from Joyce McKinney telling her version with total conviction.

    Bad for you if

    • you need to know at the end who was telling the truth.
    • you can't hear a kidnapping and rape accusation told as a strange, funny story.

    About: obsession · the press · truth

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  15. Grey Gardens 1976

    Documentary

    Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.

    The sides of Grey Gardens

    • A mother and daughter in a decaying mansion
    • Little Edie's improvised outfits and songs
    • Cats and raccoons in the house

    Good for you if

    • you like spending time with Big Edie and Little Edie as they are.
    • you like a mother and daughter who bicker and can't leave each other.
    • you like a strange, closed world on a Long Island estate.

    Bad for you if

    • you need a story that goes somewhere.
    • you find 1970s handheld footage dated.

    About: mother and daughter · solitude · the past

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  16. Titicut Follies 1967

    Documentary

    Employing methods of direct cinema–observation, limited stylization, and non-intervention–this stark look into the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts shows its denizens, who were often kept in barren cells and infrequently bathed, forced to strip naked publicly, force feeding, and the indifference and bullying by many of the hospital's staff.

    The sides of Titicut Follies

    • Bridgewater State Hospital in 1967
    • Patients and guards with no narration
    • A variety show put on by staff and inmates

    Good for you if

    • you want to see a real prison hospital with no narrator telling you what to think.
    • you like raw black and white footage from the 1960s.
    • you want to see what total power over patients looks like.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't watch patients stripped, mocked and force fed.
    • you need some hope by the end.

    About: confinement · dignity · cruelty

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  17. Long-lost footage from Elvis Presley's legendary Las Vegas residency in the 1970s woven together with rare 16mm footage from Elvis on Tour, and 8mm from the Graceland archive, plus recordings of Elvis telling "his side of the story" rediscovered during Baz Luhrmann's research for his 2022 film, Elvis.

    The sides of EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

    • Elvis on stage in Las Vegas in the 1970s
    • Lost concert footage found again
    • Elvis telling his own story

    Good for you if

    • you like hearing Elvis sing live at full power.
    • you can't look away from a man owning a stage.
    • you like hearing a legend in his own words.

    Bad for you if

    • you find 1970s footage dated.
    • you need a story with stakes, not a concert.

    About: fame · music · legacy

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  18. In Search of Darkness 2019

    Documentary

    An exploration of '80s horror movies through the perspective of the actors, directors, producers and SFX craftspeople who made them, and their impact on contemporary cinema.

    The sides of In Search of Darkness

    • Horror filmmakers looking back on the 1980s
    • Makeup and gore effects explained
    • A year by year tour of the decade

    Good for you if

    • you grew up on 80s horror tapes.
    • you like hearing how the gore effects were made.
    • you like stories from the actors and crews themselves.

    Bad for you if

    • you find over four hours too much for one sitting.
    • you want to be scared, not hear people talk about it.

    About: horror · nostalgia · craft

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  19. Documentary on the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, with a focus on the production of his unfinished film Game of Death. Using interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, Lee aficionado John Little paints a portrait of the world's most famous action hero, concluding with a new cut of Game of Death's action finale, reconstructed from Lee's notes and recently-recovered footage.

    The sides of Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey

    • Bruce Lee's own notes for Game of Death
    • Footage recovered from the unfinished film
    • The final fights recut by John Little

    Good for you if

    • you want to see Bruce Lee's last fight scenes put back together.
    • you like hearing how Bruce Lee thought about fighting and philosophy.
    • you like seventies martial arts footage.

    Bad for you if

    • you want Bruce Lee's family and private life. This one stays with his work on Game of Death.
    • you want polished images. Much of this is grainy outtakes and raw footage.

    About: martial arts · philosophy · legacy

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  20. Side by Side 2012

    Documentary

    Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.

    The sides of Side by Side

    • Keanu Reeves interviewing directors
    • Film stock against digital cameras
    • Nolan, Lynch and Cameron on how they shoot

    Good for you if

    • you care about how every frame is shot.
    • you like hearing Nolan, Lynch and Scorsese argue film versus digital.
    • you want to know how cinema changed when the cameras did.

    Bad for you if

    • you need things to happen, not an hour and a half of camera talk.
    • you want people and their story, not a debate about sensors.

    About: craft · change · cinema

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