TMZ Presents: Hollywood is High (2024)

MC5: A True Testimonial

This documentary, made over a period of eight years, tells the remarkable story of an extremely influential rock'n'roll band. Starting from their mid-60's garage band roots (sounding amazingly like the Sonics), the Motor City 5 deveoped into an icon for a brand of loud, crushing music reflecting their industrial roots. Even if you don't care for their music (and you're bound to like even a few of their songs), their story is fascinating. It combines 60's protest, youthful braggadocio, and a style of music that would help carry one to the likes of Iggy and the Stooges (not to mention certain aspects of punk rock). This film is clearly a labor of love, combining extraordinarily rare live shows, still shots, a nearly-continuous backdrop of MC5 tunes, penetrating interviews with the remaining members and their spouses, and even FBI surveillance shots. It's the ultimate testimonial to a band that only gains in stature as time goes on.

The Audrey Hepburn Story

The film spans from Hepburn's early childhood to the 1950s which details her life as a Dutch ballerina, coming to grips with her parents' divorce, and enduring life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. She then settles in the U.S. where she succeeds in making it big as a movie actress, in such movies as Breakfast at Tiffany's.

The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan

Everyone has a skeleton or two in his or her closet, but what about the director behind some of the most successful thrillers ever to hit the silver screen? Could M. Night Shyamalan be hiding a deep, dark secret that drives his macabre cinematic vision? Now viewers will be able to find out firsthand what fuels The Sixth Sense director's seemingly supernatural creativity as filmmakers interview Shyamalan as well as the cast and crew members who have worked most closely with him over the years. Discover the early events that shaped the mind of a future master of suspense in a documentary that is as fascinating as it is revealing.

Mel Brooks: Unwrapped

At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical "Young Frankenstein" opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan Yentob visits Mel at home in Hollywood, at work and at play.

Heval

When a British-born actor abandons his Hollywood career to volunteer to Join the Kurdish YPG to fight ISIS in Syria, many see him as a selfless hero battling America's most insidious enemy. But others think he's a hot-tempered narcissist, staging a publicity stunt to further his career - and when his service ends, neither the UK nor the US welcome him back. Through incisive interviews with the actor, his supporters, his detractors, and top-tier experts - and featuring the actor's own jaw-dropping helmet-cam video of deadly battles with and interrogations of ISIS fighters - Heval gives viewers unprecedented access into a war against evil and one man's controversial role in it.

Look Away

Interviews from women involved in the 70's and 80's rock music industry. An examination of the people taking advantage of underage fans and calling for a "Me too" movement in the music world

David Blaine: Beyond Magic

In his most revealing performance yet, the one-hour special features an exploration into Blaine’s trademark style of street magic as he once again stuns his audience.

Wasted Talent

Plot unavailable

Gideon's Daughter

Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson star in a story of grief and celebrity, set in the intense spring and summer of New Labour's election victory and Diana's death. Nighy is a PR guru who has to stop and re-evaluate his world when his daughter threatens to leave his life, perhaps as revenge for his serial infidelities. Richardson plays a mother trying to bury her grief in an unconventional way after the loss of her young son.

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me

A documentary film detailing Glen Campbell's final tour and his struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

Pagan Invasion, Vol. 13: Doorways To Satan

The dawn of the 21st Century has found much of modern society obsessed with occult mysteries, sadistic violence, and evil. Everything from cartoons and video games to recorded music and major theatrical films are being designed and promote to "satisfy" the public's insatiable lust for the macabre. Most disturbing is the rise in the practice of Satanism. Law enforcement agencies are unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of heinous, Satanically inspired crimes. Basically a remake of Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism (1989) using the same footage.

The Arbor

The lives of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar and Lorraine, one of her daughters, and the community of Bradford, in the 30 years since the 18-year-old Andrea penned a play about growing up in the community titled "The Arbor".

Love Parade: When Love Learned to Dance

At the end of the Cold War, something new arised that should influence an entire generation and express their attitude to life. It started with an idea in the underground subculture of Berlin shortly before the fall of the Wall. With the motto "Peace, Joy, Pancakes", Club DJ Dr. Motte and companions launched the first Love Parade. A procession registered as political demonstration with only 150 colorfully dressed people dancing to house and techno. What started out small developed over the years into the largest party on the planet with visitors from all over the world. In 1999, 1.5 million people took part. With the help of interviews with important organizers and contemporary witnesses, the documentary reflects the history of the Love Parade, but also illuminates the dark side of how commerce and money business increasingly destroyed the real spirit, long before the emigration to other cities and the Love Parade disaster of Duisburg in 2010, which caused an era to end in deep grief.

The Concert for Bangladesh

A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened? feature film documents the process of development of the ill fated "Superman Lives" movie, that was to be directed by Tim Burton and star Nicolas Cage as the man of steel himself, Superman. The project went through years of development before the plug was pulled, and this documentary interviews the major filmmakers: Kevin Smith, Tim Burton, Jon Peters, Dan Gilroy, Colleen Atwood, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and many many more.

Art & Krimes by Krimes

While locked-up for six years in federal prison, artist Jesse Krimes secretly creates monumental works of art—including an astonishing 40-foot mural made with prison bed sheets, hair gel, and newspaper. He smuggles out each panel piece-by-piece with the help of fellow artists, only seeing the mural in totality upon coming home. As Jesse's work captures the art world's attention, he struggles to adjust to life outside, living with the threat that any misstep will trigger a life sentence.

The Two Escobars

Pablo Escobar was the richest, most powerful drug kingpin in the world, ruling the Medellin Cartel with an iron fist. Andres Escobar was the biggest soccer star in Colombia. The two were not related, but their fates were inextricably-and fatally-intertwined. Pablo's drug money had turned Andres' national team into South American champions, favored to win the 1994 World Cup in Los Angeles. It was there, in a game against the U.S., that Andres committed one of the most shocking mistakes in soccer history, scoring an "own goal" that eliminated his team from the competition and ultimately cost him his life. The Two Escobars is a riveting examination of the intersection of sports, crime, and politics.

Controlling Britney Spears

Britney Spears has said that her conservatorship had become “an oppressive and controlling tool against her”. This New York Times investigation reveals much of how it worked, including an intense surveillance apparatus that monitored every move she made.

Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star

Tom Cruise - actor, producer, daredevil. The face of Hollywood in the 1980s, after a mid-career meltdown, his future looked in doubt. But through a single-minded commitment to entertaining audiences worldwide, he has risked life and limb and fought his way back to the very top. In an entertainment world dominated by superheroes and fantasy franchises, he stands alone… the last movie star.

Paul Newman: The Restless

Multi-talented, Paul Newman is one of the greatest American actors of all time. With his silhouette of a Greek statue and his unreal blue eyes, he embodied the quintessential Hollywood star. But he never seemed satisfied. The son of a Jewish sporting goods retailer who despises him and a Catholic mother who adores him, driven by self-doubt and an inherited need for approval from his childhood, he has worked throughout his fifty-year career to break the image of the pretty boy. He made his first experiences in the famous Actors Studio. The breakthrough as a screen star came in 1958 with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". From then on he preferred characters on the edge of the American dream. With archive images and film excerpts, the documentary paints a portrait of a socio-politically committed man with many facets and also pays tribute to the role of his wife Joanne Woodward.

Dream Girl: The Making of Marilyn Monroe

How did Marilyn Monroe become one of the greatest sex symbols of all time? What drove a prudish little Californian girl, who was not especially pretty nor exceptionally talented, to become this incredibly striking platinum blonde superstar? How did she become the icon capable of balancing innocence with raw sensuality, whilst continuing to captivate the masses to this day? How did she achieve this? And what price did she pay?

Faye

Through honest reflection, complemented by insight from colleagues and friends, Faye Dunaway contextualizes her life and filmography, laying bare her struggles with mental health while confronting the double standards she was subjected to as a woman in Hollywood.

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.

Imagine… Pet Shop Boys: Then and Now

Featuring exclusive access to their recent tour and their new album, this documentary reveals the fascinating world of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.

Cutaway

The successful undercover agent Victor Cooper is assigned for his ninth mission: to find how the loadings of drug is being brought to Miami. He suspects that the drug is coming through the air and joins a team of sky diving, under the leadership of Red Line, a fanatic and considered the athlete number one in this sport in the world. Due to his profile of winner, Vic gets involved with the group and he "disconnects" from his position of infiltrated agent, "connecting" with the team.

James Dean

The man behind the legend and a knowing look at 1950s Hollywood are revealed in this dynamic biopic of the meteoric star whose troubled life echoed his gut-grabbing performances in East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant.

Love in Paradise

When a Western movie star is forced to spend a PR weekend at a dude ranch, his fans are horrified to learn he's actually a city slicker who's afraid of horses and has never been west of the Hudson River.

The Legend of Glynn Turman

Actor Glynn Turman makes his Broadway debut at 12 years old in the original production of “A Raisin in the Sun” opposite Sidney Poitier and becomes a silver screen legend for six decades.

Super High Me

Determined to find out the true effects of marijuana on the human body, stand-up comedian and former Stoner of the Year Doug Benson documents his experience avoiding pot for 30 days and then consuming massive amounts of the drug for 30 days. More than just an amusing story of one man's quest to get superhigh, this documentary also examines the hotly contested debate over medical marijuana use.

LSD: The Beyond Within

This refreshingly frank and impartial study of the discovery and development of the notorious hallucinogenic drug is notably free of moral judgmental, and features contributions from such legendary heroes of psychedelia as Albert Hoffman - the Swiss scientist who discovered the drug - Aldous Huxley - author of 'The Doors of Perception' - Ken Kesey - author of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Always at The Carlyle

The iconic Carlyle hotel has been an international destination for a particular jet set as well as a favorite haunt of the most discernible New Yorkers.

Woodstock

An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

Die Musterknaben 2

A new case for "The Model Boys": The two Cologne commissioners Docker and Dretzke to take the next 14 days a journalist to their missions.

Dig!

A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.

Bearing Witness Native American Voices in Hollywood

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Grass

Marijuana is the most controversial drug of the 20th Century. Smoked by generations to little discernible ill effect, it continues to be reviled by many governments on Earth. In this Genie Award-winning documentary veteran Canadian director Ron Mann and narrator Woody Harrelson mix humour and historical footage together to recount how the United States has demonized a relatively harmless drug.

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical

From an ominous Lecturer, a small 1930s middle American community learns of the Harper Affair, in which young Jimmy Harper finds his life of promise turn into a life of debauchery and murder thanks to the new drug menace marijuana. Along the way, he receives help from his girlfriend Mary and Jesus Himself, but always finds himself in the arms of the Reefer Man and the rest of the denizens of the Reefer Den.

The Brothers Warner

An intimate portrait and saga of four film pioneers--Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack who rose from immigrant poverty through personal tragedies persevering to create a major studio with a social conscience.

Accidentally Engaged

When unsuccessful actress Clarissa returns to her hometown for a wedding and tries to impress her old friends by claiming she's dating big time celebrity Chas Hunter, she suddenly finds herself in a comically false engagement when her lies go public and Chas decides to join the festivities in a stunt to escape bad press.

Altman

Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.

Don't Look Back

Los Angeles heroin addict Jesse endangers the lives of his childhood friends after he discovers a briefcase full of money from a drug deal gone bad, and returns home with it to Texas. Hoping to turn his life around with his newfound wealth, Jessie endures detox with the support of his friends. However, the gang leader behind the drug deal, along with his cronies, trace Jesse's footsteps to Texas to exact revenge and take back their money.

The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring

In a candid, first-time interview with Rachel Lee, the so-called teenage mastermind behind a string of high-profile celebrity robberies in 2008 and 2009, the film examines the motivations of Lee and a group of her friends who broke into celebrity homes in Hollywood to ransack and steal, exploring the possible reasons behind her actions including mental health issues and addictions, as well as the climate of celebrity excess that fueled the teens, recontextualizing the events behind the sensational headlines.

The CEO of Sinaloa

The CEO of Sinaloa takes an objective, in-depth, and original approach to the story of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the head of a violent, criminal drug empire known as the Sinaloa Cartel. We tell the story through a business lens, breaking down the business models used by the Sinaloa Cartel to become one of the wealthiest organizations on the planet. Our film will focus on cartel strategies in terms of distribution, accounting, branding, mergers and acquisitions, human resources, termination, and of course - product. But we will never lose sight of the terrible violence this organization employed to reach its success.

Dread Beat and Blood

Follows dub poet master Linton Kwesi Johnson out of the recording studio onto the Brixton streets.

Star Struck

A farm boy (Kirk Cameron) travels to Hollywood to rekindle a romance with a childhood sweetheart (Chelsea Noble), who's now an actress on the road to stardom---and soon to wed her costar (D.W. Moffett)

Jewel's Catch One

With four strikes against her (black, female, poor and a lesbian), our trailblazer, Jewel Thais-Williams, helped changed laws, save lives and influence communities across Los Angeles, California as she opened her legendary nightclub's door for 42 years.

Montgomery Clift

A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with family and friends, and rare archival material stretching back to his childhood. What develops is the story of an intense young boy who yearned for stardom, achieved notable success in such classic films as From Here to Eternity and I Confess, only to be ruined by alcohol addiction and his inability to face his own fears and homosexual desires. Montgomery Clift, as this film portrays him, may not have been a happy man but he never compromised his acting talents for Hollywood.

Elvis Presley: Shook Up

Behind the glitz and glamour of rock 'n' roll royalty is the haunting tale of Elvis Presley. Many question his moral fiber and notorious violent temper. Devilish charm dressed in angelic white had friends and fans fooled for too long.

Randy Wants To Try Marijuana

Randy Liedtke (Last Comic Standing) has never smoked weed, so it was important for him to have the most authentic experience imaginable. Join Randy on his quest as he prepares himself to get high for the very first time.

The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee

Aristocratic Italian roots, a close family connection to James Bond novelist Ian Fleming, wartime experiences in the British and Finnish military, post-war Nazi-hunting adventures and a side career as a heavy metal rock singer. And one of the most iconic actors of all time.

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood

A look at the past, present and future of Hollywood as seen through the eyes of the movie columnist.