Best movies like Clean Lines, Open Spaces: A View of Mid-Century Modern Architecture

A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.

An "unknown force" declares war against planet Earth when the United Nations disobeys warnings to cease and desist in its attempts at assembling the first satellite in the atmosphere.

Two years after the Martian invasion, George Herbert's worst fears are realized: The Aliens have returned. As a second wave of Martian walkers lay waste to what's left of Earth, an alliance of military forces prepares a daring attack on the Red Planet itself. Once again, the future of mankind hangs in the balance.

This Oscar-nominated documentary short tracks the shift in the relationship of an individual to his work between the 19th century and today. Focusing on how nails are made, we first see a blacksmith laboring at his forge, shaping nails from single strands of steel rods. The scene then shifts from this peaceful setting to the roar of a 20th century nail mill, where banks of machines draw, cut, and pound the steel rods faster than the eye can follow.

In the futuristic city of Vanille, with properly tuned ImmerSyst Eyes & Ears the world can look and sound like a paradise. But the life of a father and his young son threatens to disintegrate when the father's device begins to fail. Desperate to avoid facing his own traumatic reality, the man must venture outside to find a replacement, into a city where violence and danger lurk beneath a skim of beautiful illusion.

Documentary short detailing the American soldier's part in preserving the fundamental ideals of this nation.

The reinvigorated elderly group that left Earth comes back to visit their relatives. Will they all decide to go back to the planet where no one grows old, or will they be tempted to remain on Earth?

When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.

An other-worldly story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962, where a mute janitor working at a lab falls in love with an amphibious man being held captive there and devises a plan to help him escape.

Global panic ensues when it is revealed that a mysterious UFO is actually a giant turkey-like bird that flies at supersonic speed and has no regard for life or architecture.

Planet Earth is a devastated wasteland, and what's left of humanity has colonized the Moon in domed cities. Humanity's continued survival depends on an anti-radiation drug only available on planet Delta Three, which has been taken over by Omus, a brilliant but mad mechanic who places no value on human life. Omus wants to come to the Moon to rule and intends to attack it by ramming robot-controlled spaceships into the domes. Dr. John Caball, his son Jason, Jason's friend, Kim, and a robot named Sparks embark on Caball's space battlecruiser on an unauthorized mission to Delta Three to stop Omus.

Following World War III, four survivors at an desert military installation attempt to drive across the desolate wasteland of America to Albany, where they hope more survivors are living, using a specially built vehicles to protect themselves against the freakish weather, mutated plant and animal life, and other dangers encountered along the way.

After years of war, the Federation and the Klingon empire find themselves on the brink of a peace summit when a Klingon ship is nearly destroyed by an apparent attack from the Enterprise. Both worlds brace for what may be their deadliest encounter.

Postulates the first manned trip to the moon, happening in the (then) near future, and being funded by a consortium of private backers. Assorted difficulties occur and must be overcome in-flight. Attempted to be realistic, with Robert A. Heinlein providing advice.

In a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics, humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. Young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet is determined to infiltrate the GATTACA space program.

Bruce, the owner of a aerospace company, is infatuated with Jennifer and hires her to be his biographer so that he can be near her and win her affections. Is she actually a Russian spy trying to obtain aerospace secrets?

Gray Matters explores the long, fascinating life and complicated career of architect and designer Eileen Gray, whose uncompromising vision defined and defied the practice of modernism in decoration, design and architecture. Making a reputation with her traditional lacquer work in the first decade of the 20th century, she became a critically acclaimed and sought after designer and decorator in the next before reinventing herself as an architect, a field in which she laboured largely in obscurity. Apart from the accolades that greeted her first building –persistently and perversely credited to her mentor–her pioneering work was done quietly, privately and to her own specifications. But she lived long enough (98) to be re-discovered and acclaimed. Today, with her work commanding extraordinary prices and attention, her legacy, like its creator, remains elusive, contested and compelling.

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

Mike Catton was once a world-renowned construction foreman (at least in the construction world), but an accident left him with a serious fear of heights. Unable to climb the big skyscrapers while under construction, he retired and became a truck driver. But when an old friend needs him to help put up a building, and when the old friend gets harassed and threatened by an Evil Corporate Type, he comes out of retirement and assembles the creme de la creme of the construction world. Together, they race against time to finish the building while the Evil Corporate Type tries to stop them.

A Marine stationed in the Philippines loses a hand in an accident and is discharged from the Corps. When the Japanese invade the Philippines, he is called back into service to rescue a general held by Filipino guerrillas behind Japanese lines. Attaching a steel prosthetic in place of his missing hand, he and his men set out on the mission, which turns out to be not quite what he was told it was.

On a lonely mission to Alpha Centauri, Milutin is teamed up with Nimani 1345, a female cyborg designed to fulfill his every need. At first thrilled to be able to control her, Sebastian grows tired of having his desires fulfilled so easily. Longing for human intimacy, Sebastian alters Nimani's programmed responses, but in doing so he risks the mission's security — and his own life.

'Communion Los Angeles' traces California’s oldest freeway, the 110, as it courses from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, defining and dividing the communities it is designed to serve. Viewing the 35 miles of blacktop as both infrastructure and public architecture, this equinoctial journey highlights dichotomies of mobility, technology and urban space.

David Nash has lost his son and his will to live. But the boy appears in his dreams, as well as his Robosaurus toy ! A mythical figure will help Nash to turn the Robosaurus into a real creature in order to avenge his son's death.

A fictional documentary about the creation of the world's first time machine, the men who created it, and the unintended ramifications it has on world events.

World-famous architect Louis Kahn (Exeter Library, Salk Institute, Bangladeshi Capitol Building) had two illegitimate children with two different women outside of his marriage. Son Nathaniel always hoped that someday his father would come and live with him and his mother, but Kahn never left his wife. Instead, Kahn was found dead in a men's room in Penn Station when Nathaniel was only 11.

Today it's a symbol of strength and vitality. 135 years ago, it was a source of controversy. This documentary examines the great problems and ingenious solutions that marked the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. From conception to construction, it traces the bridge's transformation from a spectacular feat of heroic engineering to an honored symbol in American culture.

Daniel Grudge, a wealthy industrialist and fierce isolationist long embittered by the loss of his son in World War II, is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who lead him to reconsider his attitude toward his fellow man.

Set in the "not-so-distant future", the crew of an international space station are set to return triumphantly to Earth, until someone starts killing the other crew members.

Peter Kuban, a Hungarian refugee, is about to be deported after jumping ship in New York harbor. He needs to find an ex-G.I. named Tom whom he helped during the war, as Tom can prove Peter's right to legal entry into the United States. If he can't find Tom within 24 hours and prove his case, he will be branded a fugitive and will be permanently disqualified for U.S. citizenship.

In the not too distant future a new team of specially trained government soldiers called an Interception Team contend with the latest hostile alien encounter. When an alien scout ship crashes in eastern Russia, Sean Lambert and his elite force are dispatched to investigate. They come face-to-face with a seemingly invincible seven-foot tall, shape shifting foe hell-bent on blowing up a Russian nuclear power plant in an effort to destroy mankind through a nuclear winter. The stakes become personal when the alien discovers it was Lambert who killed its mate four years ago (Interceptor Force). A major battle ensues as the Interceptor Team look to save the Earth from alien annihilation.

The story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.

The crew of the first manned mission to Mars crash land on the surface in search of a clean everlasting power source they believe to be hidden somewhere beneath the ground. However, the crew find themselves in the middle of a civil war between the High Priest of Mars' royal guards and the High Priestess' warriors. The crew is divided with one half deciding to help the High Priest make peace with Earth and the other side with the High Priestess who is secretly plotting to kill her husband and invade Earth.

A rare astronomical event causes a permanent worldwide black out, forcing residents of a middle-class suburb to get by with no modern conveniences. The community pulls together and adapts to a simpler way of life, but their success draws the attention of the less resourceful residents in the area and soon results in a war between subdivisions. This is their story. Written by Anonymous A catastrophic solar flare plunges Earth into global darkness. As society teeters on the edge of total anarchy the President and top government officials are swept away to a Cold War bunker in search of a solution. While the politicians fight insanity and each other, a group of middle-class suburbanites take survival into their own hands. With bullets and seeds, this neighborhood of schoolteachers and businessmen transform themselves into a village of self-sustaining warriors. Can they hold on until power is restored, or will they fall to the starving masses?

Steel-worker brothers compete for the same woman.

Over time, the people residing on Swampland began to take on new forms, their modified DNA altering their physiology to better suit their new environment. Generations passed and their original forms were forgotten; these humans had evolved into a new race: the Frogmen.If history (and genetics for that matter) shows us anything, it is that there is always variety.The genetic "success" of the Frogmen was also mirrored by the "achievements" of another group of human descent: the Cockroaches, otherwise known as the T-zhu Alliance. The brutal T-Hy poured out into the galaxy seeking new territories, resources, and the data crystals left by the original human explorers. The T-Hy's material driven hunger broke the peaceful lives of the Frogmen forcing them to take up arms in order to stop the T-Hy's insatiable ambitions. So began the MALO war.

Van Vlahakis left Greece five decades ago with 22 dollars in his pocket. He arrived in the US hoping for a better future for him and his family. Eftichios as is his Greek name not only managed to live the American dream for himself, but also created Earth Friendly Products, a US giant for environmentally friendly cleaning products. His story is not only about transforming his life but also the lives of the ones around him as the owner and CEO of Earth Friendly Products. The story centers on the modern day Vlahakis, who is diagnosed with cancer and given only few months to live. During this time, he reflects on his early life as an immigrant during the 1950's and ultimately decides to push himself to the limit by closing one final business deal that will concretize his company's success, even if it means taking on a large corporation that is trying to take over his company.

In this war drama, set during the Korean War, an Air Force nurse gets involved in a love triangle on the front lines.

A man with a perspective like no other on the planet. The leading structural engineer of the World Trade Center oversees its construction, haunted by its fall ever since. A guru in high-rise design. Driven by his values as a pacifist and activist and the woman engineer who emboldened, expanded and ultimately saved the man she loved. About fulfillment, fragility, and a fighting spirit.

When their employer tries to cheat them out of a job, a rugged crew of workmen turn first on him then each other, leading to a bloody confrontation.

This documentary explores the creation of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as designed by architect Peter Eisenman. Reaction of the German public to the completed memorial is also shown.

The glories of Ancient Rome are explored in ROMAN CITY, based on David Macaulay's acclaimed book. This animated and live-action video recounts life in Verbonia, a fictional city in Gaul. A well-planned town with all modern conveniences, it is threatened by conflict between conquerors and conquered. Macaulay also visits Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ostia, Nimes, Orange, and Rome, to view actual Roman architecture and engineering greatness.

In southern Peru lies one of mankind's greatest mysteries - 1000's of giant shapes etched into the desert sands. We reveal who made them and why. Etched, as if by giants, onto the arid moonscape of Peru's southern desert lies one of man's greatest mysteries; the Nasca Lines. More than 15,000 geometric and animal-like patterns have been discovered criss-crossing the pampas like a vast puzzle. Who built them and what was their purpose? Ancient racetracks, landing strips for aliens, or perhaps a giant astronomical calendar? And are the Lines connected to the gruesome discovery of large cache's of severed human heads. Now, after decades of misunderstanding, modern archaeology may finally have the answer. Excavations in the surrounding mountains are uncovering extraordinary clues about the people who made them and why. A long since vanished people, called the Nasca, flourished here between 200BC and 700AD. But the harsh environment led them to extreme measures in order to survive.

For decades, world leaders, governments and the military have dreamed of weapons placed in space. Now, modern technology makes it possible to implement these plans. The film tells the story of pioneering scientists and engineers using the latest inventions to create weapons that allow war in space. We will discover the devastating impact that such a space weapon may have in the future. We will get to know nations and companies fighting to establish a base on the moon.

This award-winning documentary film chronicles the accomplishments and relationship of John and Nathanael Herreshoff. These determined brothers overcame all obstacles, including blindness, to earn a worldwide reputation in yacht design and construction.

The Richardson Olmsted Campus, a former psychiatric center and National Historic Landmark, is seeing new life as it undergoes restoration and adaptation to a modern use.

The Submarine Hidden Hunter DVD takes you under the sea as you are introduced to the U.S. Navy's new high-tech marvel. A Virginia class submarine, she is equipped with nuclear deterrence devices and advanced weaponry designed to protect the United States. In the Submarine DVD Hidden Hunters, you watch as recruits experience lifelike drills while preparing to become the newest defenders of America.

Jonathan Meades explores the architecture of Nazi Germany, from its holiday camps to its concentration camps.

Do you look back on the optimism of the 1997-2001 era as a lost golden age, or do you see it as a period of naïvety, delusion and folly? There’s a lot of nostalgia for the nineties at the moment, especially from people too young to remember it who see the decade as a simpler, pre-internet time. Modern nostalgia often draws on corporate American-90s mall culture, but what about British culture? With I’ve Been Trying To Tell You – made to accompany the Saint Etienne album of the same name – director Alasdair McLellan evokes the era through the fog of memory. The resulting film, shot in locations from Grangemouth to Portmeirion to Southampton, is both beautiful and enveloping.

In the future (1970) the US sends a mission to the moon to investigate the building of a moon base.

Izi's close to escaping The Kitchen, one of London's last remaining housing estates. But when young Benji enters his life, he faces some hard decisions.