Robert Downey Sr.
To pay tribute to one of his filmmaking heroes, Sean Price Willams adopts a style that’s just as out there as his subject, mixing new material and never-before-seen archival footage in this portrait of the underground film titan Robert Downey (A Prince).
The feature documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff is the story of Donald Rugoff, who was the crazy genius behind Cinema 5, the mid-century theater chain and film distribution company. Rugoff was a difficult (some would say impossible) person but was also the man who kicked art films into the mainstream with outrageous marketing schemes and pure bluster. Rugoff's impact on cinema culture in the United States is inestimable, and his influence on the art film business-from the studio classics divisions to the independent film movement to the rise of the Weinsteins-is undeniable. Yet, mysteriously, Rugoff has become a virtually forgotten figure. The story is told through the eyes of former employee Ira Deutchman, who sets out to find the truth about the man who had such a major impact on his life, and to understand how such an important figure could have disappeared so completely.
The life and work of Robert Frank—as a photographer and a filmmaker—are so intertwined that they're one in the same, and the vast amount of territory he's covered, from The Americans in 1958 up to the present, is intimately registered in his now-formidable body of artistic gestures. From the early '90s on, Frank has been making his films and videos with the brilliant editor Laura Israel, who has helped him to keep things homemade and preserve the illuminating spark of first contact between camera and people/places. Don't Blink is Israel's like-minded portrait of her friend and collaborator, a lively rummage sale of images and sounds and recollected passages and unfathomable losses and friendships that leaves us a fast and fleeting imprint of the life of the Swiss-born man who reinvented himself the American way, and is still standing on ground of his own making at the age of 90.
The story of legendary New York City disc jockey Bob Fass who pioneered free expression on the airwaves with his long running FM program 'Radio Unnameable'.
A luxury condo manager leads a staff of workers to seek payback on the Wall Street swindler who defrauded them. With only days until the billionaire gets away with the perfect crime, the unlikely crew of amateur thieves enlists the help of petty crook Slide to steal the $20 million they’re sure is hidden in the penthouse.
In an era when Dick, Jane, and discipline ruled America's schools, Albert Cullum allowed Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Shaw to reign in his fifth grade public school classroom. Through the use of poetry, drama and imaginative play, Cullum championed an unorthodox educational philosophy that spoke directly to his students' needs. Many of Cullum's projects were recorded on film by then novice filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr. Weaving stunning black and white footage and rare archival television broadcasts together with interviews of Cullum and his former students, this is a portrait of a maverick teacher who transformed a generation of young people by enabling them to discover their own inner greatness.
Rittenhouse Square is an impressionistic, music-filled documentary about a small Philadelphia park - "the spot" - where people go to meet friends, find romance, muse about life and enjoy the beauty of nature and the opposite sex.
In an era when Dick, Jane, and discipline ruled America's schools, Albert Cullum allowed Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Shaw to reign in his fifth grade public school classroom. Through the use of poetry, drama and imaginative play, Cullum championed an unorthodox educational philosophy that spoke directly to his students' needs. Many of Cullum's projects were recorded on film by then novice filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr. Weaving stunning black and white footage and rare archival television broadcasts together with interviews of Cullum and his former students, this is a portrait of a maverick teacher who transformed a generation of young people by enabling them to discover their own inner greatness.
STRUT! spotlights the world of the Philadelphia Mummers and their annual parade. Each New Year's Day, electricians, longshoremen, plumbers, cops and other working class wizards transform the City of Brotherly Love into the world capital of Surrealism. Their boundless celebration of life, liberty, and the pursuit of joy capture the heart and soul of America. The parade is a delicious melting pot of pre-colonial history, Vaudeville slapstick, cultural diversity, and 4-minute Broadway shows. But the real flavor comes from the Mummers thrmselves, who personify what we hold most dear: The mandate of freedom and self-expression... the power of family and fraternity... the lessons of the immigrant experience... and the extraordinary inclusiveness and tolerance of everyone except the competition. Shot with no script and an easy-shifting point of view, the Mummers' colorful tale is told through revealing interviews, new and vintage footage, dazzling still photos, and irresistible music.
Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams, a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams' rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, "Dirk Diggler". Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams' dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.
A young half-Navajo convict dying of cancer forces a yuppie doctor to drive him to a magic healing lake.
Caesar is having a hard time dividing his time between his band and his rich girlfriend, Buffer. Buffer's dad doesn't like Ceasar for her. He called in Caesar to make a bet. If Caesar gets to make a hundred thousand dollars within six months, he can have Buffer but if he does not, he won't see her forever. How can Ceasar win the bet if what he only knows is jam with his band mates?
A youthful perspective on the 1992 presidential campaign with a witty, cautionary message to young Americans to start participating in democracy or get the kind of government they deserve.
A multimillionaire, whose son is gay and daughter a lesbian, leaves a will with one clause: His children will inherit his money only if at least one of them produces him a grandchild within a year of his death.
A teenage musician goes on the run from killers and the police when he returns home to find his home empty and his family gone.
A documentary filmmaker, who has spent the last 15 years making films like "Aluminum: Our Shiny Friend," is finally given the chance to make the documentary on Indian farming he has always wanted to. The catch? He must simultaneously direct a porn film. But as he tries to make the porn film, which he turns into a musical called "Halloween in the Barracks," he must deal with a temperamental actor, a fundamentalist preacher, and other obstacles.
It's recruiting time and despite being short and scrawny, Johnny Walker is America's hottest young football prospect. His dilemma: should he take one of the many offers from college talent scouts or should he attend the local state college with his girlfriend and give up his football career?
A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
Filmed in Wendover, Nevada, in early 1981, Energy and How to Get It combines documentary and fictional ideas. What began as a documentary film about Robert Golka, an engineer who was experimenting with ball lightening and the development of fusion as an energy force, was turned into a spoof on the documentary form, inserting fictional characters into the story such as the Energy Czar (William Burroughs), and a Hollywood agent (filmmaker Robert Downey). (mfah.org)
This puber-comedy is a kind of mixture between 'Animal House' and 'Police Academy'. Four boys are sent, for different reasons, to a the Sheldon R. Wienberg military academy. The life of dicipline asks a lot of the four geeks. Of course these boys know how to make a party out of the hard times. Will they be 'real men' after one year? Written by Evert Poppen
A film without a beginning or an end, Moment to Moment is a rush of curious sketches, scenes, and shots that takes on a rhythmic life of its own.
A young man returns home from Vietnam blind. He is very bitter about the war and alienates his family and friends. This movie deals with the aftermath of war and how people react to it both veterans and their families. (IMDb)
A parable based on the life of Christ. This ain't your father's Bible story, full of references about the destruction of the world through massive constipation and a New Mexican setting.
Driving through New York City in his Sexmobile, Dr. Harrison Rogers of the Bureau of Sexological Investigation, searches out luminary figures in the world of sex.
This oddball counterculture comedy/drama follows Zalman King through a series of kooky misadventures while he searches for his life's purpose in New York City.
A doctor and nurse sneak away for a kinky encounter, only to be interrupted by a cop...with a secret of his own.
Swope—the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm—is accidentally put in charge after the death of the chairman of the board.
A day in the life of a young Manhattanite who is in love with his mother, gives birth to $1890 from his hip, and kills indiscriminately.
An experimental film featuring students of Westchester County, NY performing and interpreting various pieces of Shakespeare's plays, as well as engaging in other Cullum-led activities. Depicts examples of Cullum's mixing of poetry, drama, and play to foster educational motivation.
A visual montage accompanied by an audio recording of Cullum teaching a class of first grade students geography. Provides an example of Cullum's method for fostering student participation through creative activities.
A young woman arrives in New York to visit a friend and lands in one hot spot after another as she fends off the perverted advances from every man she meets.
During a Civil War battle, a soldier is transported through time, landing in New York City's Central Park in the year 1961. He then explores Manhattan and goes to Yankee Stadium in an attempt to locate other Civil War soldiers. (IMDb)
