The world would be in the dark without journalism. It is significant because it provides the public with current and timely information and news. Nobody goes into journalism intending to earn a fortune. It entails following and connecting the leads at unusual hours, double-checking information, and meticulously connecting the dots until you get the entire picture.
It’s a calling, like many artistic activities, and reporting is unquestionably an art form. Movies such as Nothing but the truth, Philomena, Morning Glory, and Zodiac reflects the art of journalism phenomenally.
Here is a list of 50 movies that involve journalism, journalists, or characteristics essential to journalists, such as free speech, acting as a watchdog, delivering information, raising awareness, investigative journalism, and establishing discussion topics.
Morning Glory (2010)
A young and dedicated TV producer is recruited as an executive producer on a morning show at a once-famous but now-failing New York City station. She hires a former news journalist and anchor who is opposed to co-hosting a show that does not deal with genuine news events in order to keep the show on the air.
Despite some of the characters being rude and self-absorbed, the movie eventually conveys an optimistic message about the importance of genuine effort and being your authentic self.
- Release Date: November 10, 2010
- Genre: Romance, Comedy
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Roger Michell
- Written By: Aline Brosh McKenna
- Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $31.0M
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Apple TV
Shattered Glass (2003)
The story of Stephen Glass, a fraudulent Washington, DC journalist who soared to unimaginable heights as a young writer in his twenties, eventually becoming a staff writer at The New Republic spanning three years. Looking for a shortcut to fame, Glass invented references, quotes, and even entire articles, but his deception didn’t go unnoticed for long, and his world finally came crashing down.
This film contains harsh language as well as references to drug usage and prostitution. There are very difficult and unpleasant sequences in the film, including a suicide threat.
- Release Date: November 14, 2003
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Billy Ray
- Written By: Billy Ray
- Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $2.2M
- Distributor: Lionsgate Films
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
The Post (2017)
A four-year cover-up forced the country’s first female newspaper publisher and a tough editor to enter an unprecedented war between journalists and the government. True incidents served as inspiration.
The film emphasizes the importance of press freedom and its capacity to uncover governmental deception and wrongdoing. Graham’s portrayal also demonstrates how difficult it was (and continues to be) for female executives to lead without being looked down upon for their abilities or being bullied.
- Release Date: January 12, 2018
- Genre: History, Drama
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Steven Spielberg
- Written By: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer
- Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $81.4M
- Distributor: 20th Century Fox
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Nightcrawler (2014)
Lou Bloom, desperate for a job, enters the world of Los Angeles crime journalism, blurring the boundary between spectator and participant in order to become the protagonist of his own narrative. Nina, a TV news veteran, is supporting him in his efforts.
The movie is brilliantly directed and performed. It’s also a morality play, a mockery of television news. It contains foul language and graphic visuals of violent scenes throughout the movie.
- Release Date: October 31, 2014
- Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Dan Gilroy
- Written By: Dan Gilroy
- Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $32.4M
- Distributor: Open Road
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, HBO Max
Spotlight (2015)
‘Spotlight,’ by Tom McCarthy, depicts the Boston Globe’s investigative pieces on the Catholic Church’s cover-up of child molestation and abuse by a major proportion of its priests in Boston, which shook the entire Catholic Church community.
As the reporters examine abuse tales, it takes a profound toll on their emotional and spiritual life. It is a superbly crafted and intriguing film. It demonstrates the effort and dedication that goes into investigative journalism as well as the repercussions that a tragic story can have on those who cover it.
- Release Date: November 20, 2015
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Tom McCarthy
- Written By: Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy
- Runtime: 2 Hours 8 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $45.0M
- Distributor: Open Road
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, HBO Max
Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
“Good Night, and Good Luck” is a film about a gang of professional newsmen who eliminate cancer from the body politic with surgical precision. They believe in core American liberties, and they perceive Sen. Joseph McCarthy as a guy who would destroy those liberties in the guise of preserving them.
McCarthy had immense authority for a while because he was a fraud and a dictator, surrounded by yes-men, and recklessly called his opponent’s traitors. He destroys people with lies, only to be devastated by the truth.
- Release Date: October 7, 2005
- Genre: History, Drama, Biography
- Rated: PG
- Directed By: George Clooney
- Written By: George Clooney, Grant Heslov
- Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $31.5M
- Distributor: Warner Independent
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Zodiac (2007)
Zodiac is a gripping mystery movie about the Zodiac serial murderer who terrorized Northern California in the early 1970s. Based on a novel, the film follows two cops on the hunt for the murderer and two journalists who get obsessed with the case. In addition, one of the journalists embarks on his own personal campaign to identify the killer, which lasts years. His infatuation begins to cause havoc in his life.
- Release Date: March 2, 2007
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: David Fincher
- Written By: James Vanderbilt
- Runtime: 2 Hours 37 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $33.0M
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
- Available on: Showtime, Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Apple TV
The Insider (1999)
The Insider is a well-made and well-shot film about a producer who assists a scientist in blowing the whistle on some shady operations in huge tobacco businesses. Harassed by the scientist’s old employer, a huge tobacco business, both the manufacturer and the scientist struggle to reveal the truth about the chemical composition of tobacco products.
- Release Date: November 5, 1999
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Michael Mann
- Written By: Eric Roth, Michael Mann
- Runtime: 2 Hours 37 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $29.0M
- Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Almost Famous (2000)
The protagonist is a 15-year-old William Miller, who stays with his single mom yet is brilliant enough to be about to graduate from high school. Against her own will, William’s mother agrees to let him travel on a lucrative Rolling Stone magazine assignment to tour with a budding band named Stillwater. The essential thing William learns is that moral integrity is more important than attempting to be “cool” like the rock musicians he idolizes.
- Release Date: September 15, 2000
- Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Cameron Crowe
- Written By: Cameron Crowe
- Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $32.5M
- Distributor: DreamWorks SKG
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Paramount Plus
Network (1976)
When an experienced anchorman Howard Beale is forced to step down from his 25-year position due to his age, he tells viewers that he will commit himself during his last show. When his zealous outburst results in a jump in ratings, network officials reconsider their choice.
- Release Date: November 27, 1976
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Sidney Lumet
- Written By: Paddy Chayefsky
- Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute
- Language: English
- Box Office: $23.7M
- Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Safety not Guaranteed (2012)
This is a unique, amusing romantic comedy with science fiction and journalistic elements. Jeff, a Seattle reporter, goes to a rural village with two teenage interns. One of them is Darius, a meek, aimless young woman. They are looking into a man who posted a Craigslist ad looking for a time travel partner. They track down the man, Kenneth, a foolish grocery shop employee. Jeff pretends to respond to the advertisement, but Kenneth is skeptical.
- Release Date: June 8, 2012
- Genre: Comedy
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Colin Trevorrow
- Written By: Derek Connolly
- Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $4.0M
- Distributor: FilmDistrict
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
The French Dispatch (2021)
This is a witty comedy with a large cast. It presents four stories set in the French village of Ennui-sur-Blasé. The authors of four distinct articles published in a magazine produced by an American migrant whose family owns a newspaper in Liberty, Kansas, describe each story. The first author takes a bicycle tour of the town, focusing on its seedier characteristics. The second narrative is about a painter who lives in a criminally insane institution.
The final narrative is about a modest college student demonstration that ultimately shuts down the entire country. In the fourth narrative, a reporter’s investigation of the police commissioner’s personal chef is cut short when the commissioner’s son is kidnapped by a local crime syndicate.
- Release Date: October 29, 2021
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Wes Anderson
- Written By: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness
- Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $16.1M
- Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV
All the President’s Men (1976)
On June 17, 1972, the lights went on in the Watergate Building, and four burglars were captured breaking into the Democratic National Headquarters offices. That night, disclosures occurred that would eventually force a US President from office. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post seized the original break-in story and stuck with it despite doubts, denials, and discouragement.
- Release Date: January 1, 1976
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: PG
- Directed By: Alan J. Pakula
- Written By: Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman
- Runtime: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $70.6M
- Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV
Frost/Nixon (2008)
Nixon kept silent for almost three years after already being removed from his post. But, in the summer of 1977, the steely, clever former commander-in-chief consented to appear for one all-encompassing interview to answer the questions about his presidency and the scandal that ended it.
Nixon startled everyone by choosing Frost as his television confessor, expecting to easily outwit the breezy British showman and gain a position in Americans’ hearts and minds.
- Release Date: December 25, 2008
- Genre: History, Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Ron Howard
- Written By: Peter Morgan
- Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $18.6M
- Distributor: Universal Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Philomena (2013)
Judy Dench plays an Irish Catholic mother looking for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago. Philomena became pregnant outside of wedlock when she was young. Her father, unsure what to do, placed her in a convent. Her son, Anthony, was later adopted by the nuns. Philomena has been searching for Anthony ever since he was kidnapped.
When a journalist called Martin Sixsmith hears her tale, he vows to assist Philomena. They fly to America in search of Anthony. The journalist is an agnostic who spends most of the time in the movie ridiculing religion.
- Release Date: November 22, 2013
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Stephen Frears
- Written By: Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
- Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $37.7M
- Distributor: Weinstein Co.
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Netflix
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
J.J. Hunsecker, a Broadway columnist for a New York City newspaper, wields enormous power over public opinion, but he has little influence over his younger sibling, Susan, who is dating promising jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker passionately opposes the romance and hires publicist Sidney Falco to figure out how to divide the pair, however harsh the approach is.
- Release Date: June 27, 1957
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Alexander Mackendrick
- Written By: Ernest Lehman, Clifford Odets
- Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $2.25M
- Distributor: United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Kill The Messenger (2014)
Gary Webb, a journalist for the San Jose Mercury News, released a critical three-part article in 1996. According to the tale, the CIA stood by as some anti-communist organizations it sponsored in Nicaragua trafficked cocaine and marijuana into the United States in the 1980s.
The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, both jealous of the news, begin finding holes in Gary’s account, so much so that its own publishers turn away from Gary’s story and Gary.
- Release Date: October 10, 2014
- Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Michael Cuesta
- Written By: Peter Landesman
- Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $2.4M
- Distributor: Focus Features
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
His Girl Friday (1940)
Hildy, the love interest of the editor working for a newspaper, Walter Burns, comes to his office to tell him she’s engaged and will be wedded the next day. Walter would not allow this to happen and frames Hildy’s fiancé, Bruce Baldwin, for one thing after the other in order to keep him briefly imprisoned while attempting to persuade her to return to her previous work as his employee.
- Release Date: January 11, 1940
- Genre: Comedy
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Howard Hawks
- Written By: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Charles Lederer
- Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
- Language: English
- Distributor: Columbia Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Capote (2005)
Capote began investigating the killings shortly after they occurred in 1959. When the murderers are arrested, he develops feelings for the delicate, silent suspect, Perry Smith. Capote lies to Perry all the time in an attempt to get him to talk about what happened the night of the killings. He then prays desperately for Perry’s execution so that he may complete and publish his book.
His deeds, however, come at a steep personal cost. It’s difficult to sympathize with Truman Capote, let alone the two murderers he interviews. Still, Philip Seymour Hoffman seems to deliver a wonderful performance as this odd, often unpleasant, tiny guy.
- Release Date: September 30, 2005
- Genre: Biography, History, Drama, Crime
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Bennett Miller
- Written By: Dan Futterman
- Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $28.7M
- Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Citizen Kane (1941)
As the movie begins, Charles Kane is dying in his magnificent fortress, Xanadu (reminiscent of Khubla Khan), enveloped by his great wealth. Then, as he begins to die, he says, “Rosebud. The death scene is abruptly shattered, and the screen comes to life as the media reenacts Kane’s life from poor origins to immense wealth and power.
It relates how, as a young man, he became a newspaper publisher; how he aspired to politics but was defeated due to a personal scandal; how he committed himself to material accumulation; and, eventually, how he died.
- Release Date: May 1, 1941
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: PG
- Directed By: Orson Welles
- Written By: Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles, John Houseman
- Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $977.3K
- Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
State of Play (2009)
This is a thriller involving two journalists who stumble across a political scheme and put themselves in danger to reveal it. Russell Crowe portrays McAffrey, a tough-guy print journalist who becomes involved in a double homicide investigation.
They learn, working with a female blogger called Frye, that the deaths may be tied to a political controversy involving McCaffrey’s college buddy, who is currently a Congressman.
- Release Date: April 17, 2009
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Kevin Macdonald
- Written By: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Billy Ray
- Runtime: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $37.0M
- Distributor: Universal Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Control Room (2004)
Control Room is a sobering yet compelling look at media outlets and journalists reporting the Iraq war. It compares the infamous Arab station Al-Jazeera to American cable networks, attempting to go through the biased coverage on both sides to the root of cultural confusion. At its core, this is a film about media – how it manipulates and is controlled – and views, with the message that no one human viewpoint can be comprehensive and accurate.
- Release Date: January 21, 2004
- Genre: Documentary
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Jehane Noujaim
- Written By: Julia Bacha, Jehane Noujaim
- Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
- Language: Arabic
- Box Office: $2.6M
- Distributor: Magnolia Films
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video
Runaway Jury (2003)
Runaway Jury is a propaganda film about a weapons maker on trial. The film shows none of the numerous facts and arguments in favor of owning guns and against gun control, and practically all of the people supporting the gun maker are dishonest and rude. Watch the movie to know the role of journalism and its impact.
- Release Date: October 17, 2003
- Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Gary Fleder
- Written By: David Levien, Brian Koppelman, Matthew Chapman, John Grisham
- Runtime: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $49.4M
- Distributor: 20th Century Fox
- Available on: Apple TV, Prime Video
Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)
The movie not only has substance abuse, adultery, deception, and corruption, but it also obviously attempts to argue that a snotty left-wing Congressman won the war in Afghanistan. The movie plainly does not understand people, revises history, and devotes so much time to distorting policies that it leaves little opportunity for drama.
- Release Date: December 21, 2007
- Genre: Drama, Comedy
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Mike Nichols
- Written By: Aaron Sorkin
- Runtime: 1Hour 42 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $66.6M
- Distributor: Universal Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Syriana (2005)
Clooney portrays a disillusioned CIA operative who must race against time to protect a prince he was hired to assassinate, but the film’s sympathies clearly align with two young Middle Eastern men who seek approval and purpose in the teachings of a bunch of radical Islamic fundamentalists trying to train to become terrorists, or martyrs, in their definition.
The film’s ideologies, on the other hand, are exceedingly harmful. It portrays the US government as murderous profiteers while elevating terrorists to the status of noble martyrs.
- Release Date: December 9, 2005
- Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Stephen Gaghan
- Written By: Robert Baer, Stephen Gaghan, John Bowker
- Runtime: 2 Hours 8 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $50.8M
- Distributor: Warner Bros.
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
A Mighty Heart (2007)
Angelina Jolie portrays Mariane Pearl, the widower of Wall Street Journal writer Daniel Pearl, who was assassinated by Muslim terrorists in 2002 because he was Jewish. The film opens on the final day Mariane saw her husband, Daniel, alive in Karachi, Pakistan. Mariane is expecting their baby, Adam, and they are preparing to leave the nation.
Daniel, on the other hand, has consented to meet with a famed Sheikh who may have met Richard Reed, a shoe bomber. The US Consulate and Pakistani officials are prepared within 24 hours to find out when and where Daniel has been detained and perhaps rescue him.
- Release Date: June 22, 2007
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Michael Winterbottom
- Written By: John Orloff
- Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $9.2M
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Paramount Plus
Richard Jewell (2019)
Richard Jewell meets a lawyer called Watson Bryant in 1986. Richard is still attempting to get a job in law enforcement ten years later. After many failed employment, he finds up working as a security officer for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. When Richard discovers a bomb, he saves hundreds of lives.
He is hailed as a hero, but the FBI and the mass media turn against him, making him the major suspect. As a result, he seeks assistance from his legal buddy Watson. It contains moments of comedy, suspense, drama, and truly emotional, sincere moments.
- Release Date: December 13, 2019
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Clint Eastwood
- Written By: Billy Ray
- Runtime: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $22.3M
- Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
The Hunting Party (2007)
Following the death of his pregnant Muslim girlfriend by a Serbian politician and his men, TV journalist Simon Hunt, portrayed by Richard Gere, suffers an on-air meltdown that leads to his expulsion. Hunt’s cameraman, the Duck, portrayed by Terrence Howard, returns to Sarajevo five years later, established in a comfortable network position. He guarantees Duck an interview with a Serbian war criminal accountable for his wife’s death, who has remained unpunished for almost a decade.
- Release Date: September 7, 2007
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Richard Shepard
- Written By: Richard Shepard
- Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $876.7K
- Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Harrison’s Flowers (2000)
This is the distressing and gruesome story of Sarah, a woman who embarks on a dangerous trip in 1991 to find her missing husband, Harrison, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, parent, and amateur florist who goes lost in Croatia in the former Yugoslavia.
Against all obstacles, she persuades some of Harrison’s coworkers to assist her in her hunt for her husband. Sarah must determine if she has the guts to continue the hunt for a guy who may be dead after seeing hundreds of explosions, killings, and the aftereffects of rape.
- Release Date: March 15, 2002
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Élie Chouraqui
- Written By: Élie Chouraqui, Isabel Ellsen, Michael Katims, Didier Le Pêcheur
- Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $1.8M
- Distributor: Universal Focus
- Available on: Prime Video, Apple TV
Nothing But the Truth (2008)
Nothing But The Truth follows political writer Rachel Armstrong as she writes for a newspaper column on a political scandal that uncovers the name of a secret CIA spy. Because confidential material has been exposed, the government insists that Rachel reveal her source.
Rachel refuses to provide the source’s name, claiming that she is safeguarded and follows her duties as a journalist. She discovers herself behind bars, battling for the ideas that have guided her career.
- Release Date: December 17, 2008
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Rod Lurie
- Written By: Rod Lurie
- Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $3.0K
- Distributor: Yari Film Group
- Available on: Prime Video, Apple TV
The Constant Gardener (2005)
The film is a slow-moving riddle about a British agent who discovers a government plot while searching for the murderer of his wife. Unfortunately, more emphasis is placed on making a communist political statement than on creating a good narrative.
His wife, Tessa, is deeply committed to assisting Africa’s ailing people, but she is assassinated shortly after investigating a medical business that donates medicine to Africans. Justin is forced to conduct his own investigations into her death, and he uncovers a plot involving the pharmaceutical business as well as the British government.
- Release Date: August 31, 2005
- Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Fernando Meirelles
- Written By: Jeffrey Caine, John le Carré
- Runtime: 2 Hours 8 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $33.6M
- Distributor: Focus Features
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Federico Fellini’s epic follows a week of the life of a newspaper journalist as he witnesses the excesses of contemporary Roman society.
La Dolce Vita is a famous comedy-drama by Federico Fellini about a journalist named Marcello Mastroianni and his hunt for love in postwar Rome’s upper society, notably with an heiress, Maddalena, and a movie actress, Sylvia.
- Release Date: April 19, 1960
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: PG-13
- Directed By: Federico Fellini
- Written By: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Tullio Pinelli
- Runtime: 2 Hours 55 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $19.5M
- Distributor: Astor Pictures Corporation, American International Pictures, Republic Pictures
- Available in: Prime Video, Apple TV
Lions For Lambs (2007)
Three stories are told in Robert Redford’s left-wing critique of President Bush’s War on Terror. In the first narrative, a Republican politician (Tom Cruise) tells a reporter (Meryl Streep) about a new strategy to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. The second narrative involves two wounded Special Forces men who were stuck on a high plateau during the winter.
The third scenario, performed by Robert Redford, a professor of political science, tries to persuade a skeptical student to improve the world and resist the bad Republican ideas. The professor is a previous teacher of the captive troops.
- Release Date: November 9, 2007
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Robert Redford
- Written By: Matthew Michael Carnahan
- Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $15.0M
- Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, HBO Max
Page One: Inside The New York Times (2011)
It provides a comprehensive look at the life of America’s most renowned newspaper. The main subject is the struggle for this print company to survive the assault of online media and changing circumstances, which has driven rival newspapers to close or lay off large numbers of employees.
Philosophical debates about whether subjects deserve front-page coverage every day are among the other events featured in the storyline. In addition to dealing with a sensitive matter like the Wikileaks war footage event. While the daily is shown with great respect, the filmmakers give the impression that it, like other news media, has been losing respect.
- Release Date: June 17, 2011
- Genre: Documentary
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Andrew Rossi
- Written By: Kate Novack, Andrew Rossi
- Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $1.1M
- Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
True Story (2015)
True Story is a gripping yet sad and distressing film based on true events. Michael Finkel is a respected and skilled New York Times journalist who gets dismissed after twisting the truth in a story. Trying to put his life back together, Michael learns about a man named Christian Longo who murdered his family and then pretended to be Michael Finkel as from New York Times.
Michael, now imprisoned, seeks to see Christian figure out why he impersonated him. Christian informs Michael that he admires his work and will tell him about his family’s murder.
- Release Date: April 17, 2015
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Rupert Goold
- Written By: Rupert Goold, David Kajganich
- Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $4.7M
- Distributor: Fox Searchlight
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Christine (2016)
Christine was a determined news reporter in Sarasota, Florida, in 1974. She’s not just driven to achieve but also the sharpest person in the news station. Being a motivated woman in the 1970s, on the other hand, has its own set of obstacles, particularly when rivalry for a promotion, infatuation for a colleague, and a chaotic family life contribute to a disintegration of the self.
As a result, Christine is forced to answer the fundamental questions she typically keeps for her subjects: “What am I doing? What exactly am I? What am I doing here?” The narrative is based on genuine events and is as important today as it was then.
- Release Date: October 14, 2016
- Genre: Biography, Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Antonio Campos
- Written By: Craig Shilowich
- Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $298.5K
- Distributor: The Orchard
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Netflix
Live from Baghdad (2002)
During the Gulf War, a group of CNN reporters battle with journalism standards and the life-or-death dangers of reporting. CNN was indeed a 24-hour news station looking for a 24-hour story in 1990. They were on their way to Baghdad to find it. On the brink of war, experienced CNN producer Robert Wiener and his long-term production companion Ingrid Formanek find themselves in Iraq.
When it comes to competing with the big three channels, Weiner and his staff are rebels with a purpose, eager to take risks to capture the biggest stories and, unlike their competitors, take them to live at any time.
- Release Date: December 7, 2002
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: TVMA
- Directed By: Mick Jackson
- Written By: Richard Chapman, Timothy J. Sexton, John Patrick Shanley, Robert Wiener, Robert Wiener
- Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
- Language: English
- Distributor: HBO Films
- Available on: Netflix, Apple TV
She Said (2022)
A New York Times piece by writers Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor on October 5, 2017, revealed publicly what had been whispered about for decades. Harvey Weinstein, one of Hollywood’s most influential men, was a serial sexual predator whose assaults were kept under wraps by his company with bribe money payments.
Weinstein directed pictures that grossed millions at the box office and had scores of Oscar nominations, and 3 Top Picture wins. That investigation helped lead to many #MeToo revelations, the departure of other top management officials, and institutional changes that have given women more opportunities and safety, and security in the film industry.
- Release Date: November 18, 2022
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Maria Schrader
- Written By: Rebecca Lenkiewicz
- Runtime: 2 Hours 9 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $5.8M
- Distributor: Universal Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Peacock, Apple TV
Vengeance (2022)
This is a thriller mystery. Ben, a shallow, arrogant, aspiring New York City magazine reporter, is tempted by Ty, a “good old boy” from West Texas, and investigates Ty’s sister, Abby’s, strange drug overdose.
When Abby resided in New York, Ty, and his family mistook her for Ben’s girlfriend. In truth, she was one of Ben’s several conquests. Ty wants Ben to assist him in locating and killing the person or individuals responsible for Abby’s death.
- Release Date: July 29, 2022
- Genre: Comedy, Mystery & Thriller, Drama, Horror
- Rated: R
- Directed By: B.J. Novak
- Written By: B.J. Novak
- Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $4.2M
- Distributor: Focus Features
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Snowden (2016)
Edward Snowden revealed to journalists the degree to which the American government monitors its citizens. The movie follows Snowden’s work as well as his relationship with his long-term lover. It deals with the internal conflict he has when he realizes how grievously the government agencies wherein he works appear to be breaching the law and what he should do about it.
- Release Date: September 16, 2016
- Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller, Biography
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Oliver Stone
- Written By: Oliver Stone, Kieran Fitzgerald
- Runtime: 2 Hours 14 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $21.6M
- Distributor: Open Road
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
The Last Thing He Wanted (2020)
Elena McMahon, a courageous investigative journalist reporting on the 1984 US campaign for president, puts herself at risk as she abandons her assigned duty to fulfill the dying desire of her sick father, a mystery man whose previous acts she hardly understands about.
- Release Date: February 21, 2020
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Dee Rees
- Written By: Dee Rees, Marco Villalobos
- Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
- Language: English
- Distributor: Netflix
- Available on: Netflix
City of Lies (2021)
Depp plays a real guy named Russell Poole, and he plays him twice: once in 1997 as an unaware gumshoe who sticks his nose into something whose stink covers the entire LAPD, and again almost 20 years later as an underemployed Miss Havisham in his late fifties who cosplays as a detective because he’s still tormented by the case that ruined his life.
- Release Date: March 19, 2021
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Brad Furman
- Written By: Christian Contreras
- Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $565.7K
- Distributor: Saban Films
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Mr. Jones (2019)
Set on the brink of WWII, Agnieszka Holland’s thriller depicts Hitler’s ascent to power and Stalin’s Soviet propaganda machine promoting their “utopia” to the Western world. Meanwhile, Gareth Jones (James Norton), a bright young journalist, heads to Moscow to find the truth behind propaganda but receives a tip that might reveal a worldwide conspiracy, one that may cost him and his source their lives.
Jones embarks on a life-or-death quest to unearth the reality beneath the façade that inspired George Orwell’s groundbreaking novel Animal Farm.
- Release Date: February 10, 2019
- Genre: History, Drama, Biography, Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Agnieszka Holland
- Written By: Andrea Chalupa
- Runtime: 1 Hour 58 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $2.8M
- Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
- Available on: Vudu, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV
The Parallax View (1974)
Investigating the killing of a senator, an ambitious reporter learns that witnesses to the crime are methodically dying and uncovers a multi-million dollar organization that acts as a disguise for recruiting political assassins.
- Release Date: June 14, 1974
- Genre: Mystery & Thriller
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Alan J. Pakula
- Written By: David Giler, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Loren Singer
- Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
- Language: English
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Paramount Plus
Truth (2015)
Mary Mapes, a respected producer, and Dan Rather’s close partner feel she has broken the greatest story of the 2004 presidential election: discoveries of a current US President’s military service. However, as allegations rise, informants change their accounts, document validity is called into doubt, and casualties begin to pile.
- Release Date: October 30, 2015
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: James Vanderbilt
- Written By: James Vanderbilt
- Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute
- Language: English
- Box Office: $2.5M
- Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
- Available on: Vudu, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Bombshell (2019)
Bombshell is a fascinating look into the world’s most influential and controversial media empire, as well as the dramatic narrative of the women who dragged down the infamous man who built it.
- Release Date: December 20, 2019
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Jay Roach
- Written By: Charles Randolph
- Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $31.7M
- Distributor: Lionsgate Films
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Rosewater (2014)
Maziar Bahari, an Iranian Canadian journalist, reported Iran’s tense elections for Newsweek in 2009. He appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in a filmed interview with comic Jason Jones as one of the very few reporters residing in the nation having access to US media.
The interview was meant to be satirical, but if the Tehran authorities caught the joke, they didn’t like it – and it returned to haunt Bahari when he was dragged from his family home and placed in prison.
- Release Date: November 7, 2014
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Jon Stewart
- Written By: Jon Stewart
- Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $3.1M
- Distributor: Open Road
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
Kim Barker, a cable news producer, decides to spice up her routine in 2002 by accepting a risky new job in Kabul, Afghanistan. Barker is thrown from her cushy American dream and lands in the center of the war zone. Tanya Vanderpoel, a colleague journalist who takes the reporter under her wing, comes to her rescue when Kim is shocked because of the experience.
Barker uncovers the secret to becoming a successful journalist amidst the militants, warlords, and night partying. The film has a high moral and patriotic perspective that honors American soldiers while also exposing the flaws of Taliban civilization and Islamic terrorism.
- Release Date: March 4, 2016
- Genre: Comedy, Drama, Biography, War
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
- Written By: Robert Carlock
- Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $23.0M
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
The Rum Diary (2011)
Johnny Depp plays Kemp, an alcoholic journalist in Puerto Rico, in 1960. Kemp is the editor of a fading English language newspaper’s final chance. The editor assigns him to investigate the bowling lanes where overweight mainland foreigners congregate. Kemp develops feelings for a gorgeous, superficial blonde who also happens to be the lover of cutthroat billionaire Hal Sanderson.
Sanderson is a quick-witted tycoon with extensive relationships and contacts. He intends to make a fortune by constructing a multimillion-dollar resort on the scenic island of Vieques, just across the ocean from San Juan. Kemp must eventually choose between taking a stand against such a wealthy criminal or for the underprivileged.
- Release Date: October 28, 2011
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Bruce Robinson
- Written By: Bruce Robinson
- Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $30.1M
- Distributor: FilmDistrict
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
Ace in the Hole (1951)
A disgruntled former big-city writer now working for a small Albuquerque newspaper tries to revive his career by exploiting a story about a guy trapped in a cave, but the scenario swiftly develops into an out-of-control media circus.
The film depicts bad journalism and the public’s unquenchable thirst for it. It’s easy to condemn the media for portraying self-destructive celebrities, philandering pastors, crooked politicians, or people that make serial killers, but who cares? The general public does.
- Release Date: June 29, 1951
- Genre: Drama
- Rated: R
- Directed By: Billy Wilder
- Written By: Walter Newman, Lesser Samuels, Billy Wilder
- Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes
- Language: English
- Box Office: $1.3M
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
- Available on: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV
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