Taken for a Ride begins with interviews on the inefficiencies and congestion on Los Angeles' highways. Next, the film displays a variety of archival footage on streetcar systems around the United States, demonstrating that streetcars were a widespread and efficient means of transportation. The film continues into a description of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy, starting with a history of National City Lines and Pacific City Lines and General Motors' investment in both companies. The film builds the argument that streetcar systems purchased by these companies were deliberately sabotaged through service reductions and fare increases, then replaced with profitable, less convenient, bus systems. Next, the film makes a connection between this conspiracy and the construction of the Interstate Highway System and the suburbanization of America in the face of the Highway revolts in the 1960s and 1970s. The film ends with footage of the reduction of Philadelphia's trolleybus system at the time of filming.
In 1996, Mark Borchardt, a blue-collar suburbanite, dreams of being a filmmaker. However, he is also an unemployed, deeply indebted, borderline alcoholic who still lives with his parents and is estranged from his ex-girlfriend, who is threatening to revoke custody of their three children. He acknowledges his various failures but aspires to one day make more of his life.
Le film s’inspire de l’essai Fast Food Nation d’Eric Schlosser. Il traite de la production de nourriture à grande échelle aux États-Unis et conclut que la viande et les légumes produits par ce type d’industrie sont mauvais pour la santé et pour l’environnement malgré les messages et l'imagerie présents sur les emballages des aliments. Pour cela l'enquête s'attache sur l'élevage industriel de bovins et d'ovins en interrogeant des éleveurs enchaînés à leurs emprunts dans le but de suivre le cahier des charges des grandes firmes agroalimentaires comme Cargill ou Smithfield Foods ainsi que sur le rôle prépondérant du maïs la plupart du temps maïs génétiquement modifié dans la composition de la quasi-totalité des produits vendus en supermarché aux Etats-Unis et ailleurs dans le monde. Le témoignage d'une mère devenue défenseuse des droits des consommateurs à la suite du décès accidentel de son fils, Kevin Kowalcyk, empoisonné par la bactérie Escherichia coli après avoir mangé un hamburger apporte un argument supplémentaire. Cette famille a obtenu gain de cause avec l'adoption de la Kevin's Law.
Un documentaire inspiré des mémoires éponymes du critique de cinéma américain et chroniqueur social mondialement connu : Roger Ebert. Lauréat du Prix Pulitzer pour ses critiques publiées dans le Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert est devenu l’une des personnalités les plus influentes du monde de la culture aux États-Unis.
The film opens with shots of Klaus Kinski performing – after his own interpretation – the role of Jesus. Kinski harangues the audience for not paying attention to him, curses wildly, has the microphone taken away from him, and, screaming, steals it back. Kinski left one of his Jesus tours to star in Herzog's film, Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). This was the first of five films that the two would make together, the others being Nosferatu the Vampyre (1978); Woyzeck (1978); Fitzcarraldo (1982); and Cobra Verde (1987).
Sound City Studios was located in the San Fernando Valley, amidst rows of dilapidated warehouses. The little-known recording studio housed a unique analog Neve recording console and a reputation for recording drums. Artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Kyuss, Slipknot and Nirvana recorded groundbreaking music at the studio. The film tells the story of the studio from its early days in 1969 until its closing in 2011. It then follows Dave Grohl's purchase of the studio's custom analog Neve console, which he moved to his personal studio, Studio 606. Rupert Neve is an English engineer who founded Neve Electronics in 1961, designed and manufactured the Neve 8028, "one of four in the world", and is interviewed by Grohl in the film. Famous musicians who recorded at Sound City reunite at Studio 606 for a jam session and to make an album of "all-new all-original songs, each one composed and recorded exclusively for the film within its own 24-hour session on that console." It also shows album covers by some bands: Red Hot Chili Peppers's One Hot Minute, Nirvana's Incesticide and Nevermind, Rage Against The Machine's self-titled album and many others.
Cette nostalgique leçon d'histoire recèle les trésors cachés des plus grandes comédies musicales de la MGM ainsi que de nombreux autres extraits merveilleux mais moins célèbres, avec Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante, Eleanor Powell et même Clark Gable chantant et dansant. « Il était une fois Hollywood » est une véritable gourmandise pour cinéphiles et amateurs de comédies musicales.
Le film montre comment le cinéma hollywoodien a évoqué le thème de l’homosexualité, comment cette représentation a évolué au fil des ans et comment, en retour, elle a influencé la perception de l’homosexualité par le grand public.
A travers ce documentaire en trois parties, le philosophe et psychanalyste Slavoj Zizek aborde les thèmes de la sexualité, de la mort, de l'éthique, et du fantasme à travers des films classiques.
Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the "Singing River," as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals has helped create some of the most important and resonant songs of all time. At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, Hall brought black and white together in Alabama's cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations. He is responsible for creating the "Muscle Shoals sound" and The Swampers, the house band at FAME that eventually left to start their own successful studio, known as Muscle Shoals Sound. Greg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals' magnetism, mystery and why it remains influential today.