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 Journalists and the Media in the Movies
- Absence of Malice (1981)
- Directed by Sydney Pollack. Cast: Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon, Luther Adler, Barry Primus, Josef Sommer, John Harkins, Don Hood, Wilford Brimley. Megan, an ambitious newspaper reporter, based on information from an FBI investigator, writes a scathing article that implicates Gallagher, a reclusive business-owner in the recent disappearance of a labor leader. When Gallagher confronts Megan and sets her straight, the two team together to prove his innocence. 117 min. DVD 2331
 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Ace in the Hole (1951)
- Directed by Billy Wilder. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Bob Arthur, Porter Hall, Frank Cady, Richard Benedict, Ray Teal, Frank Jaquet. An early look at the impact of mass media in the public arena. Ex-New York reporter Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas) lands a job on a Albuquerque newspaper in hopes that a sensational story will return him to the big time. When a man is trapped in an Indian cave, Tatum conspires with an unscrupulous sheriff to keep him there until the story can build to national proportions, which it does. Special features (Disc 2) : "Portrait of a 60% perfect man", featurette (includes in-depth interviews with Wilder by film critic Michel Ciment (60 min.)); excerpts from a 1986 appearance by Wilder at the American Film Institute (24 min.); a 1984 interview with Douglas by Michael Thomas (14 min.); excerpts from a 1970 audio interview with co-scriptwriter Newman (10 min.); new video afterword by filmmaker Spike Lee (6 min.); gallery of production stills and behind-the-scenes photos. Program notes on container insert include an essay "Noir in broad daylight" by writer and film critic Molly Haskell, and an essay "Chin up for mother" on actor Kirk Douglas by director Guy Maddin. 111 min. DVD 8311
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- All the President's Men (1976)
- Directed by Alan Pakula. Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander. A dramatic reconstruction of the true story of the discovery of the White House link with the Watergate affair by two young reporters from the Washington Post. 127 min. DVD 1045; vhs 999:451
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Almost Famous(2000)
- Directed by Cameron Crowe. Cast: Cast: Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Patrick Fugit, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk, Noah Taylor, Philip Seymour Hoffman. It's the opportunity of a lifetime when teenage reporter William Miller lands an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine. Despite the objections of his protective mother, William hits the road with an up-and-coming rock band and finds there's a lot more to write home about than the music. 124 min. DVD 1106
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (1993)
- Director, Adam McKay. Cast: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Chris Parnell, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen, Fred Willard. It's the 70's and Ron Burgundy is the king of San Diego. He's the most popular news anchor in town. He and his all male news team rule the city with their sauve looks, minimal IQ's and unbelievably bad hair. In Ron's world, women don't belong in the newsroom. So when rising star reporter Veronica Corningstone fills in for Ron one night and the ratings soar, it becomes more than a battle ... it becomes war. Special features: Outrageous bloopers and outtakes; over 15 minutes of side-splitting deleted scenes; Bill Kurtis interviewing Ron Burgundy; Ron Burgundy Biography - an A & E special; Ron Burgundy's MTV Music Award interviews; "Afternoon delight" music video; behind-the-scenes of "Afternoon delight" music video; ESPN audition. 102 min. DVD 6444
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Being There (1979)
- Directed by Hal Ashby. Cast: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Warden, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Dysart, Richard Basehart. Circumstances propel a feeble-minded gardener, whose entire knowledge of life comes from watching television, into becoming adviser to a powerful but dying tycoon. Based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski. 130 min. DVD 9640; vhs 999:2524
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- James, Nick. "Being There." Sight and Sound, vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 6-9, Fall 1997.
- Lupack, Barbara Tepa. "Chance Encounters: Bringing Being There to the Screen."
In: Critical essays on Jerzy Kosinski / edited by Barbara Tepa Lupack. New York : G.K. Hall ; London : Prentice Hall International, c1998. (Main Stack PS3561.O8.Z62 1998)
- Lupack, Barbara Tepa. "Hit or Myth: Jerzy Kosinski's Being There." New Orleans Review, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 58-68, Summer 1986.
- Willson, Robert F., Jr."Being There at the End." Literature/Film Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 59-65, 1981.
- The Big Clock (1948)
- Directed by John Farrow. Cast: Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, George Macready, Rita Johnson, Elsa Lanchester, Harold Vermilyea. A hotshot crime magazine editor inadvertently becomes the subject of a murder investigation after spending an evening with his boss' mistress. She ends up dead and he is being framed by the actual killer. As his competent staff scurries for clues the description they uncover of the murderer matches himself! 95 min. DVD 2745; vhs 999:1879
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Blood on the Sun (1945)
- Director: Frank Lloyd. Cast: James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, Porter Hall, Wallace Ford, Rosemary De Camp, Robert Armstrong, John Emery, Leonard Strong, John Halloran. 94 min.
An American newspaper editor working in pre-World War II Japan tries to expose the menace of a Japanese militarist plan for world conquest. DVD 7128
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Broadcast News (1987)
- Directed by James L. Brooks. Cast: William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, Robert Prosky, Joan Cusack. Tom Grunick is the perfect modern anchorman, with charm and good looks but no background for the job. Jane Craig, the brilliant producer, has the job of trying to make Tom look like a newsman. Then there is Aaron Altman, a dedicated reporter, utterly devoid of on-camera charisma, and jealous of Tom's success - with the public and Jane. 132 min. DVD 5359; vhs 999:2420
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
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- Call Northside 777 (1948)
- Directed by Henry Hathaway. Cast: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker. Acclaimed for its authenticity, realism and suspense, this documentary-style drama is the powerful true story of a newspaper reporter who corrects a miscarriage of justice. Assigned to investigate a murder case, he uncovers evidence indicating that the convicted man is innocent and then convinces the governor to hold a hearing. Based on articles by James P. McGuire. 111 min. DVD 7671; vhs 999:325
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Lipkin, Steven N. Real Emotional Logic: Film and Television Docudrama as Persuasive Practice Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, c2002. pp: 14-27. (PN1995.9.H5 L56 2002)
- Mnookin, Jennifer; West, Nancy. "Theaters of Proof: Visual Evidence and the Law in Call Northside 777." Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, Summer 2001
- Rosenberg, Norman
"Law Noir." In: Legal reelism: movies as legal texts Edited by John Denvir. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, c1996. (Main Stack PN1995.9.J8.L45 1996; Moffitt PN1995.9.J8.L45 1996)
- Capote (2005)
- Directed by Bennett Miller. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins, Jr., Bruce Greenwood, Bob Balaban, Mark Pellegrino, Chris Cooper. Based on true events. Truman Capote was a popular writer for The New Yorker. In 1959, when he learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Halcomb, Kansas, Capote and his partner, Harper Lee, travel to the town to do research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, "In Cold Blood." He arranges extensive interviews with the prisoners, especially with Perry Smith. However, his feelings of compassion for Perry conflict with his need for closure for his book which only an execution can provide. That conflict and the mixed motives for both interviewer and subject make for a troubling experience that produced an literary account that redefined modern non-fiction. 114 min. DVD 5329
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Celebrity (1998)
- Directed by Woody Allen. Cast: Hank Azaria, Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Melanie Griffith, Winona Ryder. Following their divorce, the lives of a restless writer and his inhibited ex-wife take off in unpredictable directions. While Lee explores the wilder side of his newfound freedom, Robin begins an improbable transformation from neurotic schoolteacher to high-profile TV talk show host where she encounters movie stars and the cream of high society. 113 min. DVD 109; VHS 999:2504
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
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- The China Syndrome (1979)
- Directed by James Bridges. Cast: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Richard Herd, Peter Donat, Scott Brady.
It started as just another assignment. Reporter Kimberly Wells and cameraman Richard Adams were covering the daily routine at an Los Angeles power plant when the unthinkable occurred: a nuclear accident that could have wiped out Southern California. And Richard caught it all on tape. When their TV station refuses to air the footage, Wells and Adams recruit plant supervisor Jack Godell to expose the terrifying truth: the facility is a ticking bomb. But with millions of dollars at stake, company officials cannot let the story break. When the trio attempts to broadcast live from the plant's control room, the utility company does everything in its power to silence Godell permanently, as the world watches. Special features: Two exclusive documentaries featuring new interviews with stars Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas ; deleted scenes ; filmographies ; previews. Associate producer, James Nelson ; executive producer, Bruce Gilbert. 122 min. DVD 8912
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Directed by Orson Welles. Cast: Welles, Joseph Cotten, William Alland, Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead. When one of the world's richest and most influential men dies muttering the word "Rosebud", a newspaper's managing editor insists that Kane's obituary film is missing something and "needs an angle." He orders his top reporter Thompson (Alland) to discover what "Rosebud" means. Thompson searches for, finds, and interviews five key figures, but ulimately does not solve the mystery. Because Kane was purportedly based on newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, efforts were made to surpress the film, by 'Hearst hatchet woman' Louella Parsons, among others.
119 min. DVD 852; Video Disc 124; VHS 999:85
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- Death Watch (La mort en direct)(France / West Germany / UK, 1980)
- Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Romy Scheider, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton, Therèse Liotard.
Roddy has a camera implanted in his brain. He is then hired by a television producer to film a documentary of terminally ill Katherine, without her knowledge. His footage will then be run on the popular TV series, "Death Watch"... 128 min. DVD 8817
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- La Dolce Vita(Italy, 1960)
- Directed by Federico Fellini. Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimee, Lex Barker. A gossip columnist yearns to write seriously and become a journalist, but he makes more money with his negligible newspaper pieces and is too lazy to change. Much disillusioned after mixing in the hedonistic Roman high society, he concludes that even though his lifestyle is shallow and pointless, he will enjoy what he can. Special DVD features: Disc 1. Audio commentary by noted critic and film historian Richard Schickel; Disc 2. Fellini TV - collection of never-before-seen Fellini shorts; Remembering the sweet life, interviews with Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg; Cinecitta, the house of Fellini, musical montage of Fellini's beloved studio; Fellini, Roma and Cinecitta, interview with Fellini; extensive photo gallery; restoration demo; biographies; filmographies. 175 min. DVD 2986; vhs 999:42 (2 tapes)
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- A Face in the Crowd (1957)
- Directed by Elia Kazan. Cast: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick, Kay Medford, Bennett Cerf, Virginia Graham, Burl Ives, John Cameron Swayze, Mike Wallace, Walter Winchell. Lonesome Rhodes, a big ol' teddy bear of a man, sits in a dusty, squalid Arkansas jail, swapping stories with his fellow drifters and plunking on his guitar. It's not much of a life -- until a chance encounter skyrockets Lonesome to TV fame and more money, and power than even the greediest man can handle. 126 min. DVD 3923; vhs 999:880
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
- Directed by Terry Gilliam. Cast: Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Craig Bierko, Ellen Barkin, Gary Busey.. Fueled by a suitcase full of pharmaceuticals, journalist Raoul Duke and his sidekick Dr. Gonzo set off on a fast and furious ride in Las Vegas through nonstop neon, surreal surroundings and a crew of crazy characters. 119 min. DVD 508
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Fingerprints Don't Lie (1951)
- Directed by Sam Newfield. Cast: Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, Sid Melton, Tom Neal, Margia Dean, Lyle Talbot.
The identity of the murderer of a town's mayor is decided by fingerprints on the weapon ... case closed. But is it? A reporter sets out to prove otherwise. Based on a story by Rupert Hughes. 56 min. DVD 8250
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Foreign Correspondent (1940)
- Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders. A naive reporter is dispatched to Europe on the eve of World War II to cover a pacifist conference in London, where a secret treaty between two European countries is supposedly being negotiated. Producer Walter Wanger brought the movie adaptation of war correspondent Vincent Sheehan's Personal History to the screen with Foreign Correspondent. Wanger stayed abreast of breaking news events all through the filming to keep the picture "hot": the final scene, with the reporter broadcasting to America from London during a Nazi bombing attack, was filmed a short time after the actual London blitz. 120 min. DVD 3144; VHS 999:565
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
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- The Front Page (1931)
- Directed by Lewis Milestone. Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton. The first version of "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht and Charlie McArthur. Top reporter Hildy Johnson (O'Brien) is about to marry and retire from the 'dirty little tabloid' run by newspaper editor Walter Burns (Menjou), but agrees to cover one last big story: the politically-motivated execution of a convicted killer, Earl Williams. Williams escapes, and Burns and Johnson conspire to keep him out of sight in the hopes of getting an exclusive interview, while the corrupt sheriff and mayor try to suppress the news that the governor has commuted Williams' sentence. 101 min. DVD 309; vhs 999:265
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Ehrlich, Matthew C. "The Front Page" In: Journalism in the movies Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2004
- Gussow, Mel "Front Page' affirms the melodrama of journalism." The New York Times Dec 7, 1986 v136 s2 pH7(N) pH7(L) col 1 (25 col in)
- Stevens, John D. "The Unfading Image from the Front Page." Film & History 1985 15(4): 87-90.
- The Front Page (1974)
- Directed by Billy Wilder. Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Vincent Gardenia, Susan Sarandon, Allen Garfield, David Wayne, Charles Durning, Austin Pendleton, Carol Burnett. Earl Williams, a convicted killer, escapes, throwing the Criminal Courts Building into chaos. Newspaper reporters attempt to "scoop" the story by holding Williams in a roll top desk in the press room. 101 min. DVD 309
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Ehrlich, Matthew C. "The Front Page" In: Journalism in the movies Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2004
- Gussow, Mel "Front Page' affirms the melodrama of journalism." The New York Times Dec 7, 1986 v136 s2 pH7(N) pH7(L) col 1 (25 col in)
- Stevens, John D. "The Unfading Image from the Front Page." Film & History 1985 15(4): 87-90.
- Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
- Directed by Elia Kazan. A journalist who is assigned to do a magazine series on anti-Semitism decides to pose as a Jew, and soon discovers what it is like to be a victim of religious intolerance. 118 min. DVD 2808; vhs 999:987
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
- Directed by George Clooney. Cast: David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey, Jr., Frank Langella. Takes place in the 1950's America, during the early days of broadcast journalism. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom - defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental. min. DVD 5223
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- His Girl Friday (1940)
- Directed by Howard Hawks. Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart. The second version of "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht and Charlie McArthur, with the main character as a woman reporter. The editor feigns happiness over his ace reporter and former wife's upcoming re-marriage, but plots to win her back by asking her to cover the one big story she can't resist: the impending execution of an anarchist, and how and why some crooked politicos are involved. 92 min. DVD 240; DVD 6635; vhs 999:334
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- The Insider (1999)
- Director, Michael Mann. Cast: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Debi Mazar, Stephen Tobolowsky, Colm Feore, Bruce McGill, Gina Gershon, Michael Gambon, Rip Torn. Based on true events, this is the story of executive Jeffrey Wigand who was fired by his employer, one of the largest tobacco companies in America, when he expressed reservations about the tobacco industry's manipulation of the truth regarding the severe health consequences of tobacco use. He agreed to become a paid consultant for a story by 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, regarding alleged unethical practices within the tobacco industry. But what began as a temporary alliance led to a lengthy battle for both men to save their reputations and more. Based on the Vanity fair article: The man who knew too much / by Marie Brenner. 158 min. DVD 890
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
- Directed by Rene Clair. Cast: Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie, Edgar Kennedy, John Philliber, Edward Brophy, George Cleveland, Sig Ruman, Paul Guilfoyle.
An ambitious newspaper reporter, eager to scoop the competition, wishes he could know the news before it happens. A mysterious old man grants the reporter that power, even as he cautions against using it. Now able to predict the news 24 hours in advance, the reporter goes about scooping all the other papers, picking sure-fire winners at the race track, and enjoying life... until he learns -- in advance, of course -- of his own death. Our hero's problem: How can he keep the future from happening? 85 min. DVD X562
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Killing Fields (1984)
- Directed by Roland Joffe Cast: Sam Waterston, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, Craig T. Nelson, John Malkovich, Athol Fugard. Dith Pran is an aid, translator and friend of two journalists who are covering the war in Cambodia. He saves them from execution but they in turn cannot save him. He is eventually exiled to the labor camps in Cambodia's countryside, where he endures four years of starvation, torture and war before escaping to Thailand. Based on the novel "The Death and Life of Dith Pran" by Sydney Schanberg. 142 min. DVD 6935; 999:762
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Live from Baghdad (2002)
- Director, Mick Jackson. Cast: Michael Keaton, Helena Bonham Carter, Lili Taylor, Bruce McGill, Robert Widsom, Joshua Leonard, Paul Guilfoyle, Michael Murphy, Clark Gregg, David Suchet. In 1990, CNN was a 24-hour news network in search of a 24-hour story. They were about to find it in Baghdad. Up against the three big networks, Robert Wiener, a veteran producer, along with his longtime producing partner and their team of rebels with a cause, take the biggest risks to get the biggest stories - unlike their rivals - live at a moment's notice. 108 min. DVD 1642
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Livin' Large (1991)
- Directed by Michael Schultz. Cast: Terence "T.C." Carson, Lisa Arrindell, Blanche Baker, Nathaniel "Afrika" Hall, Julia Campbell.
Dexter Jackson will let nothing stop him from getting rich as a TV news anchor, until he realizes he's losing touch with his roots. A high-spirited comic fable about going from downtown to uptown, from hip-hop to straight to the top! 95 min. DVD 9611
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Making a Living (1914)
- In Chaplin's first film appearance, in Making a Living, he is a con man who takes a job as a reporter, and steals and passes off a rival reporter's photos of an accident as his own. Included in the collection of ten short silent comedy films, Chaplin Keystones, Volume 1. 9 min. 999:1457, and 999:1465
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- Medium Cool (1969)
- Directed by Haskell Wexler. Cast: Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill, Harold Blankenship. Filmed against the backdrop of the 1968 Democratic National Convention and ensuing riots, this story is about a television cameraman who chooses not to get personally concerned about the ugliness he must film each day for his station. But the hate and hypocrisy command his attentions at last, and he becomes increasingly involved in the realities he finds with his camera. 111 min. 999:1122
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Cronin, Paul. "Mid-Summer Mavericks." Sight and Sound, vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 24-27, September 2001.
- "Medium Cool." Sight and Sound, vol. 8, no. 8, pp. 12-15, August 1998.
- Renov, Michael. "The "Real" in Fiction: Brecht, Medium Cool, and the Refusal of Incorporation." In: The subject of documentary Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2004. (Main Stack PN1995.9.D6.R44 2004; PFA PN1995.9.D6.R44 2004)
- Meet John Doe(1941)
- Directed by Frank Capra. Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Brennan, Edward Arnold, James Gleason, Gene Lockhart, Irving Bacon, Rod LaRocque. A genial homeless unemployed baseball pitcher is hoaxed into protesting against existing social evils as a newspaper circulation stunt. He pleas to the "little man" for brotherly love and democratic good will and John Doe clubs are formed. Because of his simple sincerity, he becomes a national hero, but he is shocked when he discovers that it's all a plot by the owner of the paper, who plans to use the voting strength of the clubs to bludgeon his way to power. 165 min. DVD 413
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- A Mighty Heart (2007)
- Directed by Michael Winterbottom. Cast: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Irrfan Khan, Archie Panjabi, Will Patton.
Jewish-American journalist, Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan in January of 2002. The violent act became an international scandal as the group that claimed responsibility for the crime demanded the liberation of prisoners from the American detainee prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The American government did not give in to the terrorists' demands. Pearl's wife, Mariane, traveled to Pakistan alone knowing the odds were against her. Holding onto hope became all the more complicated when she was surrounded by chaos, yet she must remain calm. After all, she is the heart of this operation. Based on true events. Special features: "Journey of passion : the making of A mighty heart" ; Public service announcement ; Committee to Protect Journalists. 108 min. DVD 9401
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Natural Born Killers (1994)
- Directed by Oliver Stone. Performers: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey, Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield. A frenetic, bloody look at mass murder and the mass media. Fugitive lovers Mickey and Mallory Knox embark on a record-breaking, exceptionally gory killing spree that captivates the sensation-hungry tabloid media. Their fame is ensured by one newsman, Wayne Gale, and even the duo's eventual capture by the police only increases their notoriety, as Gale develops a plan for a Super Bowl Sunday interview that Mickey and Mallory twist to their own advantage. 118 min. DVD 773; VHS 999:2153
- Director's cut with unseen, unedited footage, letterboxed version. 121 min. DVD 1271
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
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- Network (1976)
- Directed by Sidney Lumet. Cast: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall. An incisive satirical comment on the sorry state of telecasting. Veteran newscaster Howard Beale drives up his network's ratings when he rants about the state of the world and threatens to commit suicide on TV. The nightly newscast becomes tawdry entertainment until Beale changes his tune, and when his ratings go down, the programming exec works with the head of a media-savvy terrorist group to assassinate the newsman during a broadcast. 116 min. DVD 5781; vhs 999:827
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- Nothing Sacred (1937)
- Directed by William Wellman. Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly, Margaret Hamilton. Classic comedy about a hotshot reporter who exploits a Vermont girl's "imminent" death from radium poisoning for headline value in New York City. Based on a story by James H. Street. 100 min. DVD 324
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- The Paper (1994)
- Directed by Ron Howard. Cast: Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Randy Quaid, Robert Duvall. In this stop-the-presses comedy the fast paced,cutthroat, frequently hilarious world of newspaper journalism is brought vividly to life. 111 min. DVD 2332
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- The Passenger (Professione: Reporter) (1975)
- Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider. Disillusioned TV reporter David Locke endures a world of defeat and hopelessness - the wars and grandstand politics of his public life and the empty monotomy of his marriage. On a grueling mission to North Africa he stumbles across a dead man, and wishing to start life over again, takes on the corpse's identity along with his wardrobe, passport, appointment book, and profession as an international gun smuggler. 119 min. 999:663
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- Peep "TV" Show (Japan, 2003)
- Directed by Yutaka Tsuchiya. Cast: Takayuki Hasegawa, Shiori Gechov. Two mixed up misfits have a meeting of the minds when they run into each other on a Tokyo street. Shooting video of unsuspecting people which they broadcast over the Internet, together the jaded couple takes the concept of reality TV to a new, hideous level in a post 9-11 world of surveillance and paranoia. Blending factual images and fiction, the film offers compelling insight into a media-driven society and how it rules lives with images of fear, terror and torture. 98 min. DVD 5154
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- The Pelican Brief (1993)
- Director, Alan J. Pakula. Cast: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, John Heard, Tony Goldwyn, James B. Sikking, William Atherton, Robert Culp, Stanley Tucci, Hume Cronyn, John Lithgow. "In this film based on John Grisham's novel, Denzel Washington plays Gray Grantham, a reporter at the fictitious Washington Herald. After two Supreme Court justices are murdered, law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) comes up with a theory about their deaths and writes it in a brief. Her boyfriend and professor, Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepherd), shows the brief to a friend who is an FBI legal analyst. Callahan is then killed with a car bomb meant for Shaw. She contacts Grantham because her boyfriend was a fan of his writing and reporting. With help from the FBI director, Shaw and Grantham uncover evidence to prove her brief to be true. Washington visited The Washington Post to research his role. The movie made $100.6 million at the box office." [Slovick, Matt. "Journalists in the Movies." Washington Post] 141 min. DVD 1438
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- Grant, J. "Lawyers as superheroes: The Firm, The Client, and The Pelican Brief." University of San Francisco Law Review v. 30 (Summer 1996) p. 1111-21
- Phase IV (2001)
- Director, Bryan Geores. Cast: Dean Cain, Brian Bosworth, Mimi Kuzyk, Heather Mathieson, Richard Donat, Nigel Bennett.
Reporter, Simon Tate, is trying to clear a friend's name when the trail leads him to a series of "accidental" deaths and a conspiracy involving an experimental drug. There are those who don't want the truth to be told. Now they are about to teach Simon the new meaning of the word "deadline." 100 min. DVD 7431
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- Picture Snatcher (1933)
- Director, Lloyd Bacon. Cast: James Cagney, Ralph Bellamy, Patricia Ellis, Alice White, Ralf Harolde, Robert Emmett O'Connor.
James Cagney plays a con fresh from Sing Sing and putting his criminal skills to work as a sneaky, snaky tabloid photographer. He falls for the daughter of the cop who put him away and the father is not impressed by his new career, especially when he takes a daring shot of a woman being executed (based an actual incident when a New York Daily News photographer got a photo of Ruth Snyder in the electric chair). Kean isn't allowed to see Patricia any longer. But when one of his former friends kills two policemen, Kean sees his chance.... Special features: Commentary by film historians Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta ; Warner Night at the Movies 1933 Short Subject Gallery: vintage newsreel ; musical short, "Plane Crazy" ; classic cartoon, "Wake Up the Gypsy in Me" ; theatrical trailers. 77 min. DVD X129
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Platinum Blonde (1931)
- Directed by Frank Capra. Cast: Jean Harlow, Loretta Young. An heiress plans to marry a newspaperman and turn him into a gentleman, but he's not suited for that. A newswoman comes to his rescue in this romantic comedy. 89 min. 999:2703
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- Public Access (1993)
- Directed by Bryan Singer. Cast: Ron Marquette, Dina Brooks, Burt Williams, Larry Maxwell, Charles Cavanaugh, Brandon Boyce. A stranger comes to a small congenial town. The town is a perfect example of idyllic America, an almost too perfect town. He rents a room in the home of the ex-mayor and begins a public access TV show. Eventually his subtle manipulations disintegrate the tranquil town. Now it may be too late to restore the town to its placid veneer. 90 min. DVD 5510
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Salvador (1986)
- Directed by Oliver Stone. Cast: James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo, Cindy Gibb.
In 1980, Richard Boyle, a veteran war photographer heads for El Salvador to cover the civil war there. He forms an uneasy alliance with both guerrillas in the countryside who want him to get pictures out to the US press, and the right-wing military, who want him to bring them photographs of the rebels. After the murder of Archbishop Romero, the rape and murder of an American nurse and three nuns, and the death of a fellow journalist, Boyle attempts to escape El Salvador with his Salvadorean girlfriend and her family. Based on the life of photojournalist Richard Boyle. Special features: "Into the valley of death" documentary with interviews of Oliver Stone, James Woods, Jim Belushi and others; audio commentary by Oliver Stone; 25 min. of deleted scenes; photo gallery; original theatrical trailer. 123 min. DVD 763; vhs 999:3020
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Scoop (2006)
- Directed by Woody Allen. Cast: Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Geoff Bell, Christopher Fulford, Nigel Lindsay, Ian McShane, Fenella Woolgar.
While inside of a magician's magic cabinet, aspiring journalist Sondra Pransky is visited by the ghost of a dead reporter who has received a very hot tip in the afterlife. He tells Sondra about a rising young politician named Lord Peter Lyman who may be the notorious tarot card serial killer. With the magician in tow, Sondra sneaks her way into Lyman's life. Sondra finds increasing evidence that the tip from the ghost is true, but finds herself falling in love with Lord Peter. 96 min. DVD 7133
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Woody Allen bibliography
- Scotland Yard Inspector (aka Lady in the Fog)(UK, 1952)
- Directed by Sam Newfield. Cast: Cesar Romero, Lois Maxwell, Bernadette O'Farrell, Geoffrey Keen. Cesar Romero stars in this Hammer mystery as a Yank newspaperman in London who sets out to solve a murder, American style when an English woman asks him to help find her brother's killer. Adapted from the popular B.B.C. serial by Lester Powell. 73 min. DVD X919
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Shattered Glass (2003)
- Directed by Billy Ray. Cast: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Rosario Dawson, Melanie Lynskey, Hank Azaria, Mark Blum, Simone-Elise Girard, Steve Zahn. Based on the true story of Stephen Glass, a staff writer for the well respected current events and policy magazine 'The new republic'. He was also a freelance writer featured in 'Rolling Stone', 'Harper's Bazaar' and 'George'. By the mid 1990's, Glass' articles had turned him into one of the most sought-after young journalists in Washington. That is until a new managing editor was hired and Glass's pieces came under greater scrutiny, revealing completely fabricated stories. Special features includes an interview with the real Stephen Glass on the TV program 60 Minutes. 94 min. DVD 2391
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
- Directed by Alexander Mackendrick. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene. Film about a popular and powerful newspaper columnist and a slimy press agent in New York City. The columnist is obsessed with dominating the city, his readers and his lovely young sister. 97 min. DVD 1883; vhs 999:2262
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Talk Radio (1988)
- Directed by Oliver Stone. Cast: Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C. McGinley, John Pankow, Michael Wincott. An acerbic Dallas talk radio host, discovers that his skills in pushing people's buttons has won him a chance for national syndication. But instead of celebrating, he subjects his ex-wife and co-workers to a darkly comic marathon bout of compulsive risk-taking with his unstable radio audience -- the lonely, the angry and the dangerous. 109 min. DVD 774
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- To Die For
- Directed by Gus Van Sant. Cast: Nicole Kidman , Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Illeana Douglas, Matt Dillon. In a small town in New Hampshire, a media sensation erupts over a murder case against Suzanne Stone. She is accused of persuading teenagers to kill her husband, Larry Maretto. Obsessed with becoming a TV personality, she views her husband's desire for children as an impediment to her career. 107 min. DVD 1186
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
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- Tough Assignment (1949)
- Directed by William Beaudine. Cast: Don "Red" Barry, Steve Brodie, Marjorie Steele, Marc Lawrence, Iris Adrian.
A newspaper reporter pursues a modern-day rustling gang whose truck driving 'cowboys' are far more dangerous than their horse riding counterparts. 66 min. DVD 8249
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- The Truman Show (1998)
- Directed by Peter Weir. Cast: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor, Ed Harris. Truman's life is a fake. He lives in a big studio with hidden cameras everywhere. His friends and people around him are actors who play their roles in the most popular television series in the world: The Truman show. He thinks he is an ordinary man and has no idea about how he is being exploited. What will he do when he finds out? Special features: How's it going to end?, the making of the Truman show parts 1-2; Faux finishing, the visual effects of the Truman show; photo gallery, 2 theatrical trailers; 2 TV spots. 113 min. DVD 7383; vhs 999:2522
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
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- The Underworld Story (1950)
- Directed by Cyril Endfield. Cast: Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Gale Storm. In this powerful indictment of sensationalist journalism, Dan Duryea portrays an unscrupulous reporter who stumbles onto a cover-up that may get him killed. 90 min. vhs 999:468
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Veronica Guerin (2003)
- Director, Joel Schumacher. Cast: Cate Blanchett, Gerard McSorley, Ciaran Hinds, Brenda Fricker, Don Wycherley, Barry Barnes, Simon O'Driscoll, Emmet Bergin, Charlotte Bradley.Based on true events, investigates the life of Veronica Guerin, a relentless crime reporter for The Dublin Sunday Independent during the early '90s. Guerin's violent murder in 1996 led to a revision of Ireland's laws and the creation of the Criminal Assets Bureau. Picks up with her pursuit of the underground drug trade in Dublin, which she suspects is led by mobster Martin "The General" Cahill. When Cahill's gang is attacked, she suspects mobster Gerry "The Monk" Hutch is responsible. Not deterred by threats or gunshot wounds, she uses thug John Traynor as an informer to help out her investigation of psychotic mobster John Gilligan. 98 min. DVD 2416
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Wag the Dog (1997)
- Directed by Barry Levinson. Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Willie Nelson. When the President is caught in a sex scandal less than 2 weeks before the election, a Presidential advisor brings in a spin doctor, who decides they need a war to distract the media's attention and he calls on Hollywood's top producer to create it. 96 min. vhs 999:1995
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- War Stories (2003)
- Directed by Robert Singer. Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Lake Bell, Louise Lombard, Jeffrey Nordling, Noam Jenkins, Christina Chang, Mark Harelik. Civil war has broken out in Uzbekistan between the repressive Uzbek government and the Al Qaeda and Taliban-backed Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and journalist Ben and his new assistant Nora, set out to reveal a story which becomes a front-page scoop. 88 min. DVD 2842
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Without Anesthesia (Bez znieczulenia) (1981)
- Directed by Andrzej Wajda. Cast: Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, Ewa Dalkowska, Andrzej Seweryn, Krystyna Janda. Tells the story of Jerzy, a famous journalist just returned from as assignment abroad. Despite his success, his wife leaves him for an obnoxious young writer and refuses to explain why. Against everyone's advice, Jerzy fights the divorce and searches in vain for an explanation for why she left. At the same time, Jerzy finds that he has fallen out of official favor, for reasons no less mysterious. 111 min. vhs 999:3787
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Wrong is Right (1982)
- Directed by Richard Brooks. Cast: Sean Connery, George Grizzard, Robert Conrad, Hardy Kruger, Ron Moody, Leslie Nielsen, Katharine Ross, Dean Stockwell. Political double-talk, dirty tricks, hidden microphones, spy satellites, bugging in the Oval Office and a nuclear bomb for sale are the ingredients in this amusing satire of American news reporting, covert agencies and the political system. 117 min. DVD 2414
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
- Directed by Peter Weir. Cast: Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Murphy, Linda Hunt. Guy Hamilton, an ambitious Australian reporter on his first overseas assignment, is befriended by a short Eurasian cameraman who has connections in high places. Hamilton soon gains an entree to Indonesian Communist Party leaders, as well as insight into Jakarta's grim realities on the eve of a major political upheaval. 115 min. vhs 999:782
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
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