Best movies like Half Nelson

In 1920s New York City, W. C. Fields is a successful headlining entertainer, but when his girlfriend leaves him and his broker loses his money, Fields begins anew in California. Working at a wax museum, Fields eventually lands a film role that ascends him to stardom. Back in the limelight and palling around with John Barrymore and the like, Fields meets an aspiring actress Carlotta Monti at a party, with whom he forms a rocky relationship.

Released two years after James Dean's death, this documentary chronicles his short life and career via black-and-white still photographs, interviews with the aunt and uncle who raised him, his paternal grandparents, a New York City cabdriver friend, the owner of his favorite Los Angeles restaurant, outtakes from East of Eden, footage of the opening night of Giant, and Dean's ironic PSA for safe driving.

When John Baxter inherits a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains, he quits his job in New York and moves the family west to run it. Only to find that the place is a wreck. But together they decide to try to fix it up and run it. But Martin Ridgeway, who wants the property, does everything he can to ensure it will fail.

While working on a documentary on his old neighborhood, a young film school graduate shifts the focus of his production onto the disappearance of a local resident and the strange characters who are conducting the search to find him.

The last movie with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin together, is a satire of the life in Hollywood. Steve Wiley is a deceiver who cheats Malcolm Smith when he wins a car, claiming that he won it too. Trying to steal the car, Steve tells Malcolm that he lives in Hollywood, next to Anita Ekberg's. When Malcom hears that, they both set out for Hollywood and the adventure begins...

A former US Operative, who lived in Russia in his earlier years and had been married there with a child, comes out of retirement to face down a former enemy, now running as a candidate for President in modern Russia. Working with a Russian policewoman, they work to uncover a plot to use biological weapons against certain factions of the Russian people to commit genocide. The virus would also be released in other populations, but would be treated making the candidate a hero. A side plot has the agent being reunited with his long lost daughter.

The daughter of a wealthy businessman has disappeared in Mexico, and all the efforts to find her have been unsuccessful. A psychologist, knowing that the girl has an ultra bad luck, persuades her father to send to Mexico one of his employees, an accountant with super bad luck, to find her. Perhaps he will be lucky, and his bad luck could help to find the unlucky girl.

An aspiring screenwriter in Los Angeles befriends a washed up, former teen idol and develops an unhealthy relationship with him.

Most people know the lasting legacy of Harry Belafonte, the entertainer. This film unearths his significant contribution to and his leadership in the civil rights movement in America and to social justice globally.

Head of company security, Harry Webb, fears that a diamond theft is about to take place at their major mining complex deep in the desert. He quickly manages to become very unpopular, particularly with Claire Chambers, a celebrated cover girl, daughter of the mine administrator. She is visiting the man she loves, Mike Bradley, who is responsible for security at the mine. Nelson, the mine administrator, gives Bradley a curious mission - to steal a diamond. He wants to implicate Bradley in order to bring him into contact with a certain Lewis who is preparing to rob the mine with the aid of a group of mercanaries and a local accessory known as Father Christmas. Webb, not being informed of the deceit, relentlessly pursues Bradley, who is contacted by Lewis. With the mercanaries in the process of penetrating the mine. Bradley reveals himself to be Father Christmas, the organiser of the entire operation...

Dean Martin had a laid-back charm that made him successful in everything from big-screen comedies to television variety shows to live acts in Las Vegas. Filmmaker Tom Donahue explores Martin’s varied career, including his complicated relationships with Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and others. We hear from admirers such as critic Gerald Early, actor Jon Hamm, and Hip-Hop artist RZA who testify to Martin’s enduring mystique.

A narcotics detective, played by Fred Williamson, lets nothing stand in the way of his bringing down a major drug dealer. After a bust gone awry, he's accused of stealing a lost briefcase filled with money and both the mob and the police are looking for him. A ruthless hit man, played by Bruce Glover, will stop at nothing to get what his boss wants; the money!

After making a disastrous 3-hour documentary on New York City's water supply, two young filmmakers focus on the goings-on of life in the LA offices of Boone and Murphy, private investigators. Cheating husbands and missing dogs fail to bring in the big bucks, however, and after sleeping with the wife of one of their clients Murphy leaves. To stop Boone from having to close down the business, the filmmakers must resort to a more hands-on approach in the investigations to ensure the completion of their movie.

An inspirational true story. On what seemed like any other day, Elders Travis Tuttle (Corbin Allred) and Andrew Propst (Maclain Nelson) are approached by Nikolai (Nikita Bogolyubov) to teach a friend. But then the missionaries experience the unimaginable - they are kidnapped, beaten, and held for ransom. While their families, friends, and the world pray for their safe release, Tuttle and Propst are tested physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually.

J. D. Forbes, head of the almost-bankrupt Four Star Studios in Hollywood contacts band leader Kay Kyser, who puts on a radio and-live theatre program called "The Kollege of Musical Knowledge," to appear in films. When manager Chuck Deems gets the studio offer, he and band members Ginny Simms, Sully Mason, Ish Kabiddle, Harry Babbitt and the others are all fired up at the prospect of going to Hollywood and working in the movies, but band-leader Kay is all against it and says his old grandmother has told him to stay in his own back yard, but he relents. Once there, Stacey Delmore, a Four Star associate producer left in charge of the studio while Forbes is out of town, discovers that the screenplay writers have prepared a script that has Kay Kyser playing a glamorous lover in an exotic European setting.

David Janssen (The Fugitive) portrays dogged detective Harry in the telefilm that was the second of two pilots preceding his memorable Harry O series. Among the highlights: young Jodie Foster as Liberty, the wise-beyond-her-years homeless waif Harry befriends.

Charlie Chan comes out of retirement to investigate a murder case aboard the yacht of a wealthy Greek shipping tycoon.

As a string of brutal murders plague the city, two undercover detectives race to solve the mystery and unmask the killer. Their only clues: each victim is a former cop and each has a blood-red letter painted on their body. How many will have to die before the killer spells out their message in blood?

When a holiday rom-com movie shooting in her town needs a costume designer, Kerry, a local shop owner, steps into the role. While working on the movie, she rediscovers her passion for costume design and finds herself falling for Brad, the film’s famous leading man.

Suave amateur detective Tom Lawrence--aka Michael Arlen's literary hero The Falcon--arrives in Hollywood for some rest and relaxation, only to find himself involved in the murder of a movie actor. There's no shortage of suspects: the costume designer to whom he was married, a tyrannical director, a beautiful young French starlet, a Shakespeare-quoting producer, even a New York gangster. Helping The Falcon solve the crime is a cute, wise-cracking cab driver and a pair of bumbling cops.

Joe Mulholland, Head of Production at a Hollywood studio, makes a rather fool-hardy promise to a dying friend. He undertakes to make a major movie using the title - if not the content - of a best-selling sex manual "Love in Sex". Enlisting the help of depressed screenwriter Herb Derman and rather off-centre director Sid Spokane to try and come up with an idea or two, Joe soon wishes he was not one of those people who always try to keep their promises.

After Col. Steve Austin fails to retrieve the contents of a safe owned by arms dealer Arlen Findletter, he takes up an friendly offer of a holiday in the Bahamas. There he runs into Soviet Agent Alexi Kaslov and his lovely assistant Katrina Volana, who also happen to be out to find Findletter. Is it a coincidence, or was Steve's trip all part of one of Oscar Goldman's missions?

The story of the 10-year rocky relationship between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Two down on their luck childhood friends struggle to figure out their lives. Ray a drummer in a rock and roll band, and Owen an aspiring film maker spend most of their time working menial jobs and drinking. When Owen's fiancé Lynn breaks off their engagement he finds himself spiraling, and allows Ray to come along with him to a two bit film festival he has been invited to in Kansas. There Owen makes several attempts to patch up his relationship, while Ray scams them into a deluxe suite at the local Four Seasons hotel by posing as Wally Shawn's son (who happens to be receiving a lifetime achievement award) and generally causes a major ruckus. By the end, Owen decides to make some changes in their relationship and in his life.

The homespun Nelson family must deal with various comical situations, including an encounter with gangsters.

In 1915, Kansas theatre usher Merton Gill is a rabid silent-movie fan. When he brings Mammoth Studios free publicity by imitating star Lawrence Rupert's heroics, they bring him to Hollywood to generate another headline; he thinks he'll get a movie contract. Disillusioned, he haunts the casting offices, where he meets and is consoled by Phyllis Montague, bit player and stunt-woman. When Merton finally gets his "break," though, it's not quite what he envisioned.

It'll be a slippery slope until their big day! Best friends since childhood, Tao and Bren are preparing to live out their dreams of an extravagant double-wedding in Hawaii. As the ladies' big day approaches, their jitters, envy, and outrageous expectations are met with emotional highs and lows. With faith and a little bit of luck, the brides-to-be just might make it to the chapel on time.

Jamal and Dex, out of work actors, come to terms with reality when they realize they've been pursuing their dreams for over ten years and still haven't booked a single speaking role. When the two run out of cash and face eviction they hit the pavement in search of a job. With no experience, no skill set and little ambition, the audience gets a front row seat to this hilarious journey in which these two characters can't seem to catch a break

A former LA cop runs a top-flight private detective agency that caters to spoiled Hollywood types.

An actor at the end of the line who used to play a PI on TV turns to real detective work when a fan of his begs him to help her.

Playwright James Lee adapted his off-Broadway play for the screen in this high-strung adaptation, directed by Joseph Anthony. In this simplistic, backroom show-business-success saga, Anthony Franciosa plays Sam, a struggling young actor who will forsake his family and take any type of menial job in order to become a Broadway star. Dean Martin is on hand as Maury, an aspiring director also trying to claw his way up the ladder of success. When Maury gets his big break, Sam wants a part in his show, but when Maury, who is unwilling to cast Sam in the production, turns down Sam's request, Sam seduces and marries Maury's girlfriend (Shirley MacLaine). In spite of everything, Maury wants his girl back, and Sam agrees to a divorce on the stipulation that Maury cast him as the star in his next show. Once again, Maury reneges and, before Sam can exact his revenge, Uncle Sam comes to the rescue and he is drafted into the army.

An opportunistic young Hollywood singer, loyal only to himself, steps on everyone he meets in order to achieve success and fame.

His love of film began as an escape from a rocky childhood. From underdog to Hollywood legend, Sylvester Stallone tells his story in this documentary.

Honing his craft as an indie filmmaker in Germany in the early 90s, Uwe Boll never could have imagined the life that lay before him. From working with Oscar-winning actors and making films with US$60million budgets to having actors publicly disparage him and online petitions demanding he stop making films, Boll continued to work; he has a filmography of 32 features, a career that has led to his new life as a successful high-end restauranteur. Already a cult legend, he will be remembered forever in the film world; for some, as a modern-day Ed Wood, who made films so bad, they're good, while for others, a prolific filmmaker who came from a small town in Germany and never compromised his integrity while forging his own unique Hollywood trajectory.

In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. However, when the New York magazine cover story in 1985 dubs them the Brat Pack, stars in the making suddenly find themselves losing control over the trajectory of their careers. Now, almost forty years later, McCarthy looks to reconnect with peers and co-stars — Emilio Estevez, Jon Cryer, Lea Thompson, Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy, and Demi Moore — so that together they can reflect on their respective legacies.