Best movies like A Night at the Movies: George Lucas & The World of Fantasy Cinema

An exploration of the appeal of horror films, with interviews of many legendary directors in the genre.

An interview with film director Roman Polanski conducted during his period of house arrest, discussing his life and work.

A blending of documentary and experimental narrative strategies, combining stunning 16mm landscape cinematography with a bold, lyrical voice-over to share two San Francisco stories: the history of the Golden Gate Bridge as “suicide landmark,” and the story of a butch dyke in San Francisco searching for love and self-discovery. The Joy of Life is a film about landscapes, both physical and emotional.

In 1922 the first documentary in the genre sense came on the big screen, "Nanook of the North" (1922). Kabloonak is the story of the making of this movie for which the story was partially staged by his director 'Robert Flaherty'.

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.

This historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal wanes. Then, Nightmare on Elm Street revives the genre. Jump to the late 90s, when Scream brings humor and TV stars into the mix.

Actor Ned Beatty hosts a look at the genre known as "exploitation" films. Interviews with some of the producers and directors of these films are shown, along with scenes from and trailers for some of these films.

Daniel Anker’s 90-minute documentary takes on over 60 years of a very complex subject: Hollywood’s complicated, often contradictory relationship with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The questions it raises go right the very nature of how film functions in our culture, and while hardly exhaustive, Anker’s film makes for a good, thought provoking starting point.

Fulton and Pepe's 2000 documentary captures Terry Gilliam's attempt to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground. Back injuries, freakish storms, and more zoom in to sabotage the project.

This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.

An hour-long making-of featurette which features interviews and anecdotes from the likes of Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars, Lee "Ulla" Meredith, assistant director Michael Hertzberg, composer John Morris, choreographer Alan Johnson, production designer Charles Rosen, casting director Alfa-Betty Olsen, among others.

Charles Lattimore, an author of a book about a famous murder trial, arranges to meet with one of his students one night. When the student is found murdered and Lattimore has no alibi, he suspects he is being framed by the subject of his book.

A documentary about the production of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and the people who made it.

Gertrude Bell, the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day, shaped the destiny of Iraq after WWI in ways that still reverberate today.

A behind-the-scenes look at the putting on of the successful West End stage musical, including footage of the cast rehearsing and the triumphant first night.

Writers of crime fiction and nonfiction discuss influential movies about police officers and the criminal element.

Traveling back to the places where he grew up, Dustin Lance Black explores his childhood roots, gay identity and close relationship with his mother, who overcame childhood polio, abusive marriages and Mormon dogma, while becoming Black’s emotional rock and, ultimately, the inspiration for his activism. With a wealth of personal photographs and candid memories from Black’s family, colleagues, and friends, this documentary embraces the personal to tell a universally hopeful tale of resilience and reconciliation through the power of love and shared stories.

A celebration of slasher cinema - from PSYCHO to the present day, with a focus on highlighting many of the genre's forgotten cult classics, deconstructing how to survive a slice and dice movie and meditating upon why it is almost always a final girl and rarely a final guy... this is a documentary which is designed for both the biggest fan of "mad maniac" movies and the person who may only have seen HALLOWEEN and SCREAM. Either way, this is a documentary that proves the SLASHER FILM is truly FOREVER!

Lon Chaney, the silent movie star and makeup artist, renowned for his various characterizations and celebrated for his horror films, becomes the subject of this documentary.

Writer, producer, puppeteer, songwriter--America's Favorite Neighbor takes a thorough look at the career of legendary children's television host Fred Rogers. Produced for Pittsburgh's WQED, this informative documentary tracks his rise as floor manager for various NBC programs, such as Your Hit Parade, to the major awards he received later in life, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Along the way, he's seen launching public TV programs The Children's Corner, which featured a soon-to-be-famous puppet named King Friday, and Canada's MisteRogers. The latter, naturally, was followed by Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which made its national debut in 1968, and would eventually became the longest running program in PBS history. Hosted by fellow Pennsylvania native Michael Keaton (Batman), who worked on his show in the early days, America's Favorite Neighbor is suitable for all ages, but is geared more towards adults, particularly parents and educators.

A tribute to producer Irving Thalberg.

Viewers will get a look at Parker and Stone's thought process as they approach a new episode and the 24/7 grind they subject themselves to each time the show is in production. The documentary also includes in-depth interviews with Parker and Stone about their working partnership and reflections on highlights from their careers.

A behind-the-scenes look at Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film, 'Labyrinth', featuring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.

The candid, and naked, Katie Morgan takes us through a history of porn. From ancient paintings and sculpture, to early pornographic silent films, to modern day adult films.

From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga is a 1983 television documentary special that originally aired on PBS. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the original Star Wars trilogy, with particular emphasis on the final film, Return of the Jedi. Narrated by actor Mark Hamill, the documentary was written by Richard Schickel who had written the previous television documentaries The Making of Star Wars (1977) and SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

A look at thrillers from all sides, including different types of thrillers and the stylistic tools filmmakers use to give their audiences a shot of adrenaline.

Hell on Earth is an hour-long documentary presented by Mark Kermode. It's about Ken Russell's 1971 film, The Devils which is one of the most controversial films ever made. Kermode chats to Russell as well as two of the films stars Georgina Hale and Murray Melvin. Also included are scenes that were cut from the released film for being too controversial.

Author Stephen King discusses the various types of horror films and why they are so popular with moviegoers.

Comedian Rich Hall goes west to find out what killed off that most quintessentially American of all film genres, the western. Through films such as The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, Little Big Man, The Wild Bunch and Unforgiven, Rich charts the rise and fall of America's obsession with its own creation myth - the Wild West. He explores how the image of the cowboy as a moral, straight-talking heroic figure was created by Hollywood but appropriated by Washington, as one president after another sought to associate themselves with this potent symbol of strength and valour.

A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the film Willow (1988). Included are interviews with cast and crew and scenes of the actual filming of the production itself.

The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were shorts, through the 1950s when short subjects virtually disappeared from theaters.

This documentary treats movie fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Superman III, a more comical take on the superhero story in which the Man of Steel takes on a supercomputer and its bumbling programmer. Included are interviews with the cast and crew who share their experiences from making the film, as well as disscuss the efforts that went into it.

Hosted by John Rhys-Davies, a made-for-TV documentary details the work that went into the production of Aladdin, Disney's musical rendition of the classic Arabian Nights' tale. Animation fans are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this family favorite, as well as to interviews with the director and cast members, who give their insights into the inspirations for the various characterizations and effects of the film, and also the efforts that were needed to bring this project to completion.

A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics looks at Hollywood’s biggest screen spectaculars from all sides, including the genre’s beginnings, literary adaptations, great epic directors and actors, the challenges of making big-budget movies, classic set-pieces and epic music scores. The special also looks at how the genre fell out of favor with audiences and filmmakers in the ‘70s and ‘80s, only to be reborn with more recent films like Gladiator, and Dances with Wolves trilogy. Throughout, the special is packed with classic scenes and behind-the-scenes images from such films as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Gone With the Wind (1939), Samson & Delilah (1949), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), El Cid (1961), King of Kings (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).

A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! is a tinsel-filled journey through the most iconic holiday films of all time, including perennial favorites It's A Wonderful Life (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). The special looks at variations within the genre, such as holiday romances, family movies, and even thrillers. A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! features behind the scenes stories and personal Hollywood Christmas memories from the likes of Chevy Chase, Margaret O'Brien, Chazz Palminteri, Deborah Raffin, Karolyn Grimes, Zack Ward, Brian Henson, Joe Dante, Trine Mitchum, authors Julie Salamon and Alonso Duralde, A Christmas Carol expert Michael Patrick Hearn, and many more.

Jack Lemmon made over sixty films and received numerous awards, including eight Academy Award Nominations and two Oscars. Later in life, his achievement was enriched by new challenges in which he exposed the vulnerability and emotion of the later years as few had dared. He reveled in his ongoing screen partnerships with directors like Billy Wilder and stars like Walter Matthau. Narrated on-camera by Jack Lemmon, this documentary includes interviews with Lemmon's son, the actor Chris Lemmon. Also appearing are such legends as Jack's life-long friend, the writer and director Billy Wilder, writer-director Garson Kanin, drama teacher Uta Hagen, and actor Gregory Peck. Actors Charles Durning, Maureen Stapleton, Betty Garrett, and Kevin Spacey, writer Neil Simon, director Delbert Mann, and other Hollywood luminaries help complete the profile. Clips from some of Lemmon's major films as well as archival footage add to this portrait of one of our most illustrious and productive stars

Along with his legendary cartoons, Walt Disney produced a marvelous array of live action classics that came about through the use of his singular style, hard work and an unwavering belief in this vision.

A survey of movies about politics, with clips from several films and interviews with filmmakers and actors.

This documentary was broadcast on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable channel to kick off the presentation of films related to TCM's theme of the month for September 2001. Actors Lee Grant and Paul Mazursky, producer Roger Corman, director John Carpenter, film critic Molly Haskell, and journalist Peter Biskind discuss the issues involved in six films of the 1950s. Topics include teenage loneliness, youth rebellion, changing gender roles, and the beginning of the sexual revolution.

Capturing Avatar is a feature length behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Avatar. It uses footage from the film's development, as well as stock footage from as far back as the production of Titanic in 1995. Also included are numerous interviews with cast, artists, and other crew members. The documentary was released as a bonus feature on the extended collector's edition of Avatar.

Pixar director Peter Sohn takes viewers on a humorous personal journey through the inspiration behind Disney and Pixar’s feature film “Elemental.” “Good Chemistry: The Story of Elemental” traces his parents’ voyage from Korea to New York, explores his dad’s former grocery shop in the heart of the Bronx, and delves into his choice of a career in animation, rather than the family business.

An in-depth look at an incredible moment in film history when Steven Spielberg and George Lucas assembled an amazing creative team to collaborate on another cinematic benchmark featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with Spielberg, Lucas, Harrison Ford, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, James Mangold, and many others as well.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg share the struggles and the passion that went into making the "Indiana Jones" trilogy.

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.

Retrospective documentary on the making of the cult classic "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."

A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.

A multi-part documentary about the making of the Jurassic Park trilogy. Each part walks through the making of part of one of the films, including the hurricane during the shooting of the first film, and how advances in CGI for Jurassic Park helped change the world of special effects forever. All interviews for these retrospective documentaries come with comments from Spielberg, Johnston, Neill, Dern, Goldblum, the effects crews, the child actors, and Peter Stormare. This documentary is broken into six parts: Dawn of a New Era (25 min), Making Prehistory (20 min), The Next Step in Evolution (15 min), Finding the Lost World (28 min), Something Survived (16 min), and The Third Adventure (25 min).

The film goes behind the scenes of the 1999 sci-fi movie The Matrix.

A nice exploration of the samurai-ninja aspect of the story, including its roots in the actual Marvel comic books. There are the requisite interviews with the principal cast and crew along with copious clips from the film as well as some behind the scenes footage (including a look at that supercool metallic bed that the elderly Yashida lies on in the lab in his fortress).