What Documentary Movies to watch on Pluto
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Made in Japan
'Made in Japan' is the remarkable story of Tomi Fujiyama, the world's first Japanese country-music superstar. It is a funny yet poignant multicultural journey through music, marriage, and the impact of the corporate world on the dreams of one woman.

- 2015
Generation Zapped
GENERATION ZAPPED is an eye-opening documentary, which reveals that wireless technology poses serious health risks, from infertility to cancer. Through interviews with experts in science and public health, along with people who suffer from high sensitivity to wireless radiation, the film suggests ways to reduce your exposure and protect your family.

- 2017
Cesar Chavez
Chronicling the birth of a modern American movement, Cesar Chavez tells the story of the famed civil rights leader and labor organizer torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. Passionate but soft-spoken, Chavez embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle to bring dignity to people. Chavez inspired millions of Americans from all walks of life who never worked on a farm to fight for social justice. His triumphant journey is a remarkable testament to the power of one individual's ability to change the world.

- Metascore51
- 2014
The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James
This movie looks at the last years (not days, as implied in the title) of famous outlaws, Frank and Jesse James. The film opens in 1877 with the brothers trying to settle down after 15 years of thievery. Frank is shown to be a book-loving and family-oriented man, while brother Jesse is a money-hungry womanizer. The movie follows their lives through Jesse's death at the hands of the "rotten little coward" Bob Ford and Frank's death in 1915.

- 1986
Koyaanisqatsi
This experimental film looks at the world and more specifically the effect that humankind has had on the landscape and the environment. Without narration or story, the film shows the world in a pristine condition and untouched: blue skies, beautiful landscapes, and endless vistas. The human-made world is much less appealing. Essentially a montage using a variety of film techniques to provide a visually stunning variety of images.

- Metascore72
- 1982
Last Call
Renowned writer F. Scott Fitzgerald is living the last months of his life with his youthful secretary, confidant and protege who later wrote a memoir of their time together.

- 2002
Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!
Morgan Spurlock reignites his battle with the food industry - this time from behind the register - as he opens his own fast food restaurant.

- Metascore61
- 2017
Hwang Jin Yi
HWANG Jin-yi was one of the most legendary women in the 500-year reign of the Joseon Dynasty. Born into nobility, she made the startling choice to become a gisaeng at age 15. By 18, she was the object of desire of all men and the envy of all women. As both a poet and a courtesan, HWANG Jin-yi was a woman ahead of her time who embraced her work and life with gusto, and become a role model for women in the 21st century. Her only love, however, was a man nobody ever knew. The man she chose was compelled to abandon his identity and cross class lines. A revolutionary who dreamed of a new world, HWANG Jin-yi became a heroine for the people. In an age where one's fate was determined by birth, her commitment to her love never wavered

- 2007
The Real Joan of Arc
The myth of Joan of Arc has fascinated people the world over. In the collective memory, she is the young shepherd girl who died at the stake having saved France. But 15th century chronicles report that following events in Rouen, certain people refused to believe she was dead and that another woman was burned instead. Five years after the stake, an astonishing rumour began to circulate - the "Pucelle" was back ! So extraordinary it has become enigmatic, the story of Joan of Arc has been revisited by Martin Meissonnier, who leads us on a detailed and fascinating enquiry. Based on numerous unquestionable archive documents, he blends historical thoroughness with a highly entertaining approach using reconstructions in period clothing and film excerpts.

- 2008
The Nature of Existence
Filmmaker Roger Nygard (TREKKIES) takes on THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE, roaming the globe to interview spiritual leaders, scientists, and artists who have influenced, inspired, or terrified humanity.

- Metascore41
- 2009
Eight Men Out
A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.

- Metascore71
- 1988
Moulin Rouge
A fictionalized account of the latter part of the life of French artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec (1864-1901) is presented, he who is arguably most renowned professionally for immortalizing the characters of the Paris can-can dance hall, the Moulin Rouge, on canvas. This phase of his story begins in 1890. Born into aristocracy, Toulouse-Lautrec moves to Paris to pursue his art as he hangs out at the Moulin Rouge where he feels like he fits in being a misfit among other misfits. His misfit status is due to his diminutive physical stature, his legs which were broken and stopped growing following a childhood fall down some stairs. Because of the way he looks, he believes he is never destined to experience the true love of a woman. That lack of love in his life may change as he meets two women. The first is prostitute Marie Charlet, who he saves from imprisonment in a white knight act. Their relationship ends up being a turbulent one, the downs where each feels the need to hurt the other with their core issues, namely Toulouse-Lautrec's disability and Marie's profession. The second is socialite Myriamme Hayam. In more indirect acts, Toulouse-Lautrec also ends up being her savior, one of those indirect acts being his painting, one which she has purchased, its subject making her reflect on what she sees as the troubles with her own life.

- 1952
Salvador
A journalist, down on his luck in the US, drives to El Salvador to chronicle the events of the 1980 military dictatorship, including the assasination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. He forms an uneasy alliance with both guerillas 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. Meanwhile he has to find a way of protecting his Salvadorean girlfriend and getting her out of the country.

- Metascore69
- 1986
Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor
A story of Mother Teresa, beginning in Calcutta, India, where she faces adversity from every direction and where she lays the foundation for her crusade to help the poorest of the poor.

- 1997
Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman
Feature length documentary chronicling the 35 year racing career of Paul Newman -- Showcasing Newman's prolific racing career as both a driver and an owner. As a driver Paul Newman won four SCCA National Championships, 24 Hours of Daytona, took true second at Le Mans (winning his class) and won multiple professional Trans Am races. Newman also owned Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas. Together with drivers Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and others, they were one of the most prolific Indycar teams in history, winning 8 Championships. Newman lived and breathed racing -- This is his story.

- 2015
Southside with You
Barack Obama, a freshman at Harvard Law School, gets a job at a Chicago law firm under the orders of young Michelle Robinson. After some reluctance, Michelle accepts Obama's invitation for a trip that will change her life.

- Metascore74
- 2016
Machine Gun Preacher
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, addicted gang biker Sam Childers is released from prison and learns that his wife Lynn is no longer a stripper but has converted to Christianity. One night, Sam and his best friend Donnie give a ride to a hitchhiker who threatens Donnie with a pocketknife; however Sam reacts and turns the tables on the stranger. Sam is affected by the incident and is convinced by Lynn and his mother Daisy to join their church, and he is baptized. Sam finds a straight job in construction. When he meets a preacher from Africa, he decides to visit the continent. Sam travels to Northern Uganda and South Sudan many times and builds an orphanage for the victims of the cruel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Further, he fights whenever necessary and becomes a legend known as The Machine Gun Preacher.

- Metascore43
- 2011
A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story
A documentary following the life of Lizzie Velasquez, her triumphant journey to the other side of bullying, and her mission to inspire and empower a more positive online environment.

- Metascore70
- 2015
Champs
This epic story of the rise of three of the most successful boxers of our time challenges the perception of the American Dream through the intimately personal life trajectories of Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins and Mike Tyson. Much like modern day gladiators, our protagonists come from the bottom rungs of society, choosing the path of boxing or "the poor man's sport," as a last resort, and an alternative to much bleaker options such as prison or, worse yet, death. Following these fighters' paths from success to self-discovery, they recount their battles while illuminating our country's most critical social issues, including the struggle with poverty, racial inequality, broken homes, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and the failures of our educational and prison systems. CHAMPS unearths the unique resilience of these men in the face of life's most difficult obstacles - from personal finance to sustained brain injury - and highlights how our society and their industry exalts their fleeting success, but leaves them without the skills, protections, medical care and training that they need to succeed outside of the ring. We call them "champs" in sport, but cannot help but ask whether they can truly be champions in life.

- Metascore59
- 2014
The Man Who Saved Christmas
Although their own father, bank Charles, refuses them a loan to start a novelty American toys company to rival the established German import, the brothers A.C. and Frank succeed, especially with constructive and educational products. When the US gets dragged into Word War I, Frank enlists and Woodrow Wilson's government recruits A.C. as consultant to convert factories like theirs for the war effort. Yet his gifted preteen son, whose schoolmates meanly turned on the 'Christmas killer's kid', ends up convincing him to refuse canceling Christmas and even resume toy production.

- 2002
K-19: The Widowmaker
The story of USSR's first nuclear ballistic submarine, which suffered a malfunction in its nuclear reactor on its maiden voyage in the North Atlantic in 1961. The submarine's crew, led by the unyielding Captain Alexi Vostrikov, races against time to prevent a Chernobyl-like nuclear disaster which threatens not only the lives of his crew, but has the potential to ignite a world war between the super powers.

- Metascore58
- 2002
Bent
Set amidst the decadence and terror of pre-war Fascist Germany, the multi award-winning Bent is above all a powerful and moving love story. Recounting the fate of three homosexual men during the rise of Nazism, the film is a harrowing but inspirational tale of struggle against oppression.

- 1997
A Wink and a Smile
Ten ordinary women learn the art of the striptease when they dive into the glamorous world of burlesque in this musical documentary of diva proportions.
- Metascore41
- 2008
An Inconvenient Truth
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows Al Gore on the lecture circuit, as the former presidential candidate campaigns to raise public awareness of the dangers of global warming and calls for immediate action to curb its destructive effects on the environment.

- Metascore75
- 2006