Motel (2017)

(0) based on 0 votes
As Niagara Falls transformed from honeymoon capital of the world to Las Vegas North, corporate hotel chains and casinos cast a long shadow over the independent motels that once populated the town. The Continental survived the transition by converting its rooms into affordable housing units, becoming a home for those with few places to go. The night manager, Brian, once a freelance photographer who survived the horrors of war in Vietnam, shares his duties with his colleague Linda. Together they manage both the Continental and the individual struggles of its tenants, providing more than a roof over the heads of those who live under their supervision. Bringing a fresh focus to one of the most photographed places on Earth, director and cinematographer Jesse McCracken develops an intimate and caring portrait of the residents of this modest micro-community set against the backdrop of neon-lit tourist attractions.
Directors
Jesse McCracken
Release Date
Apr 29, 2017
Runtime
00h 57m
Actors
N/D
Genre
Documentary
Available in streaming on

As Niagara Falls transformed from honeymoon capital of the world to Las Vegas North, corporate hotel chains and casinos cast a long shadow over the independent motels that once populated the town. The Continental survived the transition by converting its rooms into affordable housing units, becoming a home for those with few places to go. The night manager, Brian, once a freelance photographer who survived the horrors of war in Vietnam, shares his duties with his colleague Linda. Together they manage both the Continental and the individual struggles of its tenants, providing more than a roof over the heads of those who live under their supervision. Bringing a fresh focus to one of the most photographed places on Earth, director and cinematographer Jesse McCracken develops an intimate and caring portrait of the residents of this modest micro-community set against the backdrop of neon-lit tourist attractions.

Movies like Motel

Waiting for Barcelona

Waiting for Barcelona revolves around the struggles of undocumented immigrants collecting scrap metal and selling illegal replicas in Barcelona. The film centers on the idea of how the dream of the city is very similar to everyone, but in practice differs depending on your wealth and citizenship. Without the right documents for working our protagonists face serious difficulties and even end up on the verge of insanity.
Search similar movies
6.3
Waiting+for+Barcelona
Waiting for Barcelona

2018

Search similar movies
The Police Tapes

The Police Tapes is a 1977 documentary about a New York City police precinct in the South Bronx. The original ran ninety minutes and was produced for public television; a one-hour version later aired on ABC. Filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond spent three months in 1976 riding along with patrol officers in the 44th Precinct of the South Bronx, which had the highest crime rate in New York City at that time. They produced about 40 hours of videotape that they edited into a 90-minute documentary.
Search similar movies
7.0
The+Police+Tapes
The Police Tapes

1977

Search similar movies
The Corporate Coup D'État

A democracy should protect its most vulnerable citizens, but increasingly the United States is failing to do so. This investigation blends the insights of experts with the experiences of citizens of the Rust Belt in the Midwest where the steel industry once flourished, but where closures and outsourcing have left urban areas desolate. It is here where Donald Trump finds some of his most fervent supporters.
Search similar movies
7.6
The+Corporate+Coup+D%27%C3%89tat
The Corporate Coup D'État

2018

Search similar movies
Young @ Heart

Documents the true story of the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young at Heart Chorus in Northampton, MA, and many of whom must overcome health adversities to participate. Their music goes against the stereotype of their age group. Although they have toured Europe and sang for royalty, this account focuses on preparing new songs for a concert in their hometown.
Search similar movies
7.3
Young+%40+Heart
Young @ Heart

2008

Search similar movies
Filhos de João, O Admirável Mundo Novo Baiano

A panorama of Brazilian popular music from the 60s and 70s through the musical group Novos Baianos. A retrospective of the community lifestyle adopted by its members and the influence inherited from singer João Gilberto.
Search similar movies
8.5
Filhos+de+Jo%C3%A3o%2C+O+Admir%C3%A1vel+Mundo+Novo+Baiano
Filhos de João, O Admirável Mundo Novo Baiano

2011

Search similar movies
back home

In 1999, 11-year-old Nisha Platzer lost her older brother, Josh, to suicide. Twenty years later, her search for a specialized medical treatment leads her to the door of someone who was once exceptionally close to Josh. And so it is that she finally has the chance to truly know her brother through his chosen family. Captured over five years in which synchronicities continually manifested, Platzer’s documentation of these encounters gently asserts that both grieving and healing are meant to be communal experiences.
Search similar movies
back+home
back home

2022

Search similar movies
American Jail

In this deeply personal film, director Roger Ross Williams sets out on a journey to understand the complex forces of racism and greed currently at work in America's prison system.
Search similar movies
5.0
American+Jail
American Jail

2018

Search similar movies
Shelter

At the Covenant House, located on the outskirts of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, the doors never close, and there is always room for one more. On any given day, a constant stream of young people carrying everything they own in plastic garbage bags fills the courtyard. The prospective residents are just teenagers, but have already been labeled drug addicts, schizophrenics, criminals and outcasts. As one staff member puts it, “the most damaged population of youth that exists in society today”. Filming over the course of a full year, brothers Brent and Craig Renaud tell the raw and emotional stories of the incredible kids who seek shelter at the Covenant House, and the staff struggling to work miracles everyday on their behalf.
Search similar movies
8.0
Shelter
Shelter

2017

Search similar movies
Dark Days

A cinematic portrait of the homeless population who live permanently in the underground tunnels of New York City.
Search similar movies
7.3
Dark+Days
Dark Days

2000

Search similar movies
49 Up

49 Up is the seventh film in a series of landmark documentaries that began 42 years ago when UK-based Granada's World in Action team, inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man," interviewed a diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Michael Apted, a researcher for the original film, has returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now again at age 49.In this latest chapter, more life-changing decisions are revealed, more shocking announcements made and more of the original group take part than ever before, speaking out on a variety of subjects including love, marriage, career, class and prejudice.
Search similar movies
7.3
49+Up
49 Up

2006

Search similar movies
Bangla Surf Girls

Three working-class teenage girls in a port city in Bangladesh escape daily hardships and stifling family lives by riding waves on their surfboards and grabbing hold of the fleeting and thrilling sense of freedom that brings.
Search similar movies
9.0
Bangla+Surf+Girls
Bangla Surf Girls

2021

Search similar movies
Baraka

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
Search similar movies
8.2
Baraka
Baraka

1992

Search similar movies
Il Centro per i Giovani - volti, racconti ed esperienze sotto la mascherina

Plot unavailable
Search similar movies
Il+Centro+per+i+Giovani+-+volti%2C+racconti+ed+esperienze+sotto+la+mascherina
Il Centro per i Giovani - volti, racconti ed esperienze sotto la mascherina

2021

Search similar movies
Polvere in Sala

Plot unavailable
Search similar movies
Polvere+in+Sala
Polvere in Sala

2023

Search similar movies
Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club

Supper club restaurants were the hot dinning trend in the mid twentieth century. They provided a place for people to spend their evenings enjoying cocktails, home cooked, high quality food and entertainment. The supper club scene slowly faded from the rest of the country, but kept a strong hold in Wisconsin due to a culture that allowed it to thrive. Around for decades, supper clubs in Wisconsin have been able to hold their own style and traditions. While chain restaurants continue to expand and threaten their future, supper clubs are fighting to survive while continuing to offer the same exceptional dinning experience and a personal touch that is not seen in the modern lifestyle of dine and dash. Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club takes you into this uniquely Wisconsin institution.
Search similar movies
10.0
Old+Fashioned%3A+The+Story+of+the+Wisconsin+Supper+Club
Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club

2015

Search similar movies
No Address

This feature-length documentary by Alanis Obomsawin examines the plight of Native people who come to Montreal searching for jobs and a better life. Often arriving without money, friends or jobs, a number of them quickly become part of the homeless population. Both dislocated from their traditional values and alienated from the rest of the population, they are torn between staying and returning home.
Search similar movies
8.0
No+Address
No Address

1988

Search similar movies
Methadonia

Shot over the course of 18 months in New York City's Lower East Side, METHADONIA sheds light on the inherent flaws of legal methadone treatments for heroin addiction by profiling eight addicts, in various stages of recovery and relapse, who attend the New York Center for Addiction Treatment Services (NYCATS).
Search similar movies
4.8
Methadonia
Methadonia

2005

Search similar movies
Pier Paolo Pasolini: An Italian Journey

In the summer of 1959, as a magazine correspondent, writer and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-75) traveled along the Italian coast. In 1963, he documented the sexual behavior of the Italians. In the winter of 1970-71, he witnessed the hardships of the most impoverished Italian population suffering from the boot of state power. After these three trips, he came to the conclusion that Italian society had changed drastically for the worse over the years.
Search similar movies
7.0
Pier+Paolo+Pasolini%3A+An+Italian+Journey
Pier Paolo Pasolini: An Italian Journey

2018

Search similar movies
Laissez-faire

A historical perspective to understand Neoliberalism and to understand why this ideology today so profoundly influences the choices of our governments and our lives.
Search similar movies
10.0
Laissez-faire
Laissez-faire

2015

Search similar movies
Isle of Flowers

A tomato is planted, harvested and sold at a supermarket, but it rots and ends up in the trash. But it doesn’t end there: Isle of Flowers follows it up until its real end, among animals, trash, women and children. And then the difference between tomatoes, pigs and human beings becomes clear.
Search similar movies
8.1
Isle+of+Flowers
Isle of Flowers

1989

Search similar movies
Persecution Blues: the Battle for the Tote!

In 2010, the iconic Tote Hotel – last bastion of Melbourne’s vibrant music counterculture – was forced to close by unfair laws. Filmed over 7 years, “Persecution Blues” depicts the struggle of more than 20,000 fans – and the bands who inspire them – to preserve their history and protect their future, and puts the audience on the front line of an epic-scale culture war.
Search similar movies
6.3
Persecution+Blues%3A+the+Battle+for+the+Tote%21
Persecution Blues: the Battle for the Tote!

2011

Search similar movies
Cinema Morocco

For two decades, Cine Marrocos, a movie theatre in the heart of São Paulo, was one of the most popular and opulent of the city. After it was closed, in 1972, it was occupied by a homeless workers' movement. The documentary tells the story of the people who lived there, alternating scenes from an acting class with those of the movies exhibited there in the past.
Search similar movies
8.0
Cinema+Morocco
Cinema Morocco

2021

Search similar movies
We Met in Virtual Reality

Filmed entirely inside the world of virtual reality (VR), this immersive and revealing documentary roots itself in several unique communities within VR Chat, a burgeoning virtual reality platform. Through observational scenes captured in real-time, in true documentary style, the film reveals the growing power and intimacy of several relationships formed in the virtual world, many of which began during the COVID-19 lockdown, while so many in the physical world were facing intense isolation.
Search similar movies
6.0
We+Met+in+Virtual+Reality
We Met in Virtual Reality

2022

Search similar movies